Home Came the Old Man- (NC?) pre1943 Chase
[From: American Folk Tales and Songs by Richard Chase. I was hesitant to include this version because of the lack of details, however, I'm including it primarily for the melody (upcoming).
R. Matteson 2013]
Home Came the Old Man
Chase's notes: The late Dr. Reed smith (died in 1943), ballad scholar of the University of South Carolina, told me that this is one of the old tunes for this ballad. College songsters some generations back set 'I'm a Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech' to this tune. This ballad is also known in Maine, Florida, and Ohio.
Oh home came the old man and home came he;
He saw a strange horse in the stall where his horse ought to be,
My dear wife, my darling wife, my loving wife, said he,
Whose horse is this with-in the stall where my horse ought to be?
You old fool, you blind fool, you dodderin' fool, said she;
It's nothing but a milk-cow my mammy sent to me.
A thousand miles I've travelled, a thousand miles or more,
But a saddle on a milk-cow I never did see before.
Oh home came the old man and home came he;
he saw a strange coat on the rack where his coat ought to be.
My dear wife, my darling wife, my loving wife, said he,
Whose coat is upon the rack, where my coat ought to be?
You old fool, you blind fool, you dodderin' fool, said she;
it's nothing but a bed-quilt my mammy sent to me.
A thousand miles I've travelled, a thousand miles or more,
But- buttons on a bed-quilt I never did see before.
Oh home came the old man and home came he;
he saw a strange hat on the hook where his hat ought to be.
My dear wife, my darling wife, my loving wife, said he,
Whose hat is this upon the hook where my hat ought to be?
You old fool, you blind fool, you dodelerin' fool, said she;
It's nothing but a dinner pot my mammy sent to me.
A thousand miles I've travelled, a thousand miles or more,
But a ribbon on a dinner pot I never did see before.
Oh home came the old man and home came he;
He saw strange boots beneath the bed where his boots ought to be.
My dear wife, my darling wife, my loving wife, said he,
Whose boots are these beneath the bed, where my boots ought to be?
You old fool, you blind fool, you dodderin' fool, said she;
It's nothing but some milk jugs my mammy sent to me.
A thousand miles I've travelled, a thousand miles or more,
But-spurs on a milk jug I never did see before.
Oh home came the old man and home came he;
He saw a strange head on the pillow where his head ought to be.
My dear wife, my darling wife, my loving wife, said he,
"Whose head is this upon the pillow where my head ought to be?
You old fool, you blind fool, you dodderin' fool, said she;
It's nothing but a cabbage-head my mammy sent to me,
A thousand miles I've travelled, a thousand miles or more,
But a moustache on a cabbage-head I never did see before.