"One Night As I Lay On My Bed" is a traditional folksong.

Synopsis

A young woman lies in bed thinking of her lover. She hears him tapping at her window, asking to be allowed in. She warns him that her parents will hear them. He replies that they are sound asleep. She lets him in.

Commentary

The theme of the song is so common in the UK, USA and Canada that the phrase "Night-visiting song" has been coined to cover all possible versions. This category is so huge that even minor variations are classed as being a different song. "Cold Haily Windy Night" has the same story but takes place in the rain. It is Roud 135. "Blow The Candle Out" has the same story but has the discussion taking place inside the bed rather than outside the house. It is classed as Roud 368. In addition there is "The Grey Cock" (Child 248, Roud 179) where the couple are woken by a cock, and "I'm A Rover" (Roud 3135) where alcohol is a significant element.

Historical background

A fragment of a song in Johnson's "Scots Musical Museum" inspired Robert Burns to write
a fuller version, published in 1803.

Cultural relationships

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...

is the best-known story to contain the theme of a secret sexual liaison.

Standard references

• Roud 672
• Laws M4

Textual variants

The song exists under the titles:

• Go From My Window
• The Drowsy Sleeper
• Farewell to Bonny Galaway
• Katie Dear
• Darling Corey

The tune for "Darlin' Corey" (Roud 5723) is similar to one of the tunes for "Drowsy Sleeper". Most versions concern a hard-drinking woman who is fond of moonshine, and avoids hard work. One version, as sung by The Kingston Trio

The Kingston Trio

The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and Nick Reynolds...

, has the chorus "Wake up, wake up, darlin' Corey. What makes you sleep so sound? The revenue officer's a comin', gonna tear your still house down." This might possibly be a relic of its origins in the song "Who's that Knocking on My Window". It could be considered as a female version of "I'm A Rover".

Literature

The opening paragraphs of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights is a novel by Emily Brontë published in 1847. It was her only novel and written between December 1845 and July 1846. It remained unpublished until July 1847 and was not printed until December after the success of her sister Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre...

might have been inspired by the song, but in this case the lover is a ghost.

Television and movie references

Sung by Dick Dewey (James Murray) and the rest of the church choir to Fancy Day (Keeley Hawes) in Nicholas Laughland's adaptation of Thomas Hardy's "Under the Greenwood Tree", 2005.

Recordings

Album/Single	Performer	Year	Variant	Notes
	Blue Sky Boys	1938	Katie Dear
	Carter Family	1938	Who's That Knocking On My Window
At the Cafe de Paris	Marlene Dietrich	1954	Go 'Way from my Window
Singing Family of the Cumberlands	Jean Ritchie	1955	Awake Awake Ye Drowsy sleeper
I Wander As I Wander	John Jacob Niles	1958	Go 'Way From My Window
Hedy West	Hedy West Hedy West Hedy West was an American folksinger and songwriter.West was of the same generation as Joan Baez, Judy Collins, and others of the American folk music revival. Her most famous song "500 Miles" is one of America's best loved and best known folk songs...	1963	Awake Awake
Old Love Songs and Ballads	Dillard Chandler	1963	Awake Awake
Four Strong Winds	Ian and Sylvia	1963	Katie Dear
Joan Baez 5	Joan Baez	1964	Go 'Way From My Window
Early Morning Rain	Ian and Sylvia	1965	Awake Ye Drowsy Sleeper
Manchester Angel	Ewan MacColl Ewan MacColl Ewan MacColl was an English folk singer, songwriter, socialist, actor, poet, playwright, and record producer. He was married to theatre director Joan Littlewood, and later to American folksinger Peggy Seeger. He collaborated with Littlewood in the theatre and with Seeger in folk music...  and Peggey Seeger	1966	One Night As I Lay On My Bed
Hark! The Village Wait Hark! The Village Wait Hark! The Village Wait was the 1970 debut album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span. The album is the only one to feature the original lineup of the band, as they broke up and reformed with a slightly altered membership immediately after its release, without having ever performed live...	Steeleye Span Steeleye Span Steeleye Span are an English folk-rock band, formed in 1969 and remaining active today. Along with Fairport Convention they are amongst the best known acts of the British folk revival, and were among the most commercially successful, thanks to their hit singles "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat"....	1970	One Night As I Lay On My Bed
Adieu To Old England	Shirley Collins	1974	One Night As I Lay On My Bed
The Rose in June	Louis Killen	1989	One Night As I Lay On My Bed
Voices in Harmony	Swan Arcade Swan Arcade Swan Arcade were a British folk music vocal group formed in 1970. "A leading light of the British folk revival" they sang a wide variety of songs, including blues, pop and rock and roll, as well as traditional folk music, mostly performed a cappella. Swan Arcade also performed with The Watersons...		Go From My window
Lady Diamond Lady Diamond -Synopsis:A great king had a daughter , who fell in love with his kitchen boy. She became pregnant. Her father demands to know the father, and she tells him. He has the kitchen boy secretly murdered, but then, in most variants, brings his heart to his daughter. She dies...	Bryony Griffith & Will Hampson	2011	Arise, arise

Musical variants

• "Silver Dagger
  Silver Dagger (song)
  "Silver Dagger", or "Katy Dear", is an American folk ballad. It likely traces its roots to the British Isles of late 19th century, though possibly much earlier; the first published version appeared in 1907....
  
  ", made famous by Joan Baez, is a related song. (Baez also recorded "Go 'way From My Window")
• "The Grey Cock
  The Grey Cock
  The Grey Cock or Saw You My Father is one of the famous English/Scots Child ballads . and is sometimes known as 'The Lover's Ghost'It has been recorded many times, in particular by Eliza Carthy-Synopsis:...
  
  " is another night-visiting song.

External links

• Bluegrass Messengers