Lowry refers to a "comic song", which is mentioned in the William Henry Schofield's book, in a letter to Carol Brown dated April/May 1926 as he describes to her his love saying that the song; "....expresses exactly my state of mind. I can't believe that anybody loved like me. 'For her love I cark and droop' Another comic song. (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 18)
The quote's context is detailed below:
"Refrains from, folk -songs seem to have been adopted by trained writers to accompany their art-lyrics, which were probably composed with popular airs in mind To a charming poem of the troubadour style, for example, is attached the following refrain :
Blow, northern wind,
Send thou me my sweeting,
Blow, northern wind, blow, blow, blow
The author of this poem offers a very graceful, somewhat allegorical, description of his lady. He appeals to Love for counsel in trouble; and is advised to plead with his sweetheart and implore her to relieve his pain. Thus he concludes :
For her love I cark and care,
For her love I droop and dare (decline).
For her love my bliss is bare,
And all I wax wan.
For her love in sleep I slake,
For her love all night I wake,
For her love mourning I make,
More than any man."
Schofield's book is most likely Lowry's source for the song though there was an earliersources e.g. New Monthly Magazine, Volume 11 edited by Thomas Campbell, Samuel Carter Hall, Edward Bulwer Lytton Baron Lytton, Thomas Hood, Theodore Edward Hook, William Harrison Ainsworth (1819) Pg. 338 and Thomas Campbell Essay on English Poetry (1819) as well as various other 19th Century texts. It is possible that Schofield's book was a text book at The Leys School.
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