277 A. The Slattern Wife ("Risslety, Rosslety," "Robin-A-Thrush")
[under construction]
[Appendix 277 A has all the versions of "Robin-A-Thrush," "Risslety, Rosslety," "Nickety Nackety," "Nick Nack Song," "Risslety, Rosslety" and other titles with the same form, that do not have elements of the ballad present (there are rarely versions that have the ballad present- see Nickety Nackety- Barker and Riggsby). Bronson includes these versions in 277, Class F. Other collectors and musicologists lump these versions about the inept and untidy (slattern or slatternly) wife with Child 277. They should not be included as versions of 277 without the elements of the ballad which are 1) a man marries a wife (sometimes a gentiel wife, one who is of high social standing) who will not do chores or fix a meal; 2) after she lazily refuses to fix a meal or do chores the man goes to the sheep fold and kills a wether (male sheep), strips his skip and wraps it around his wife's back; 3) he takes a stick or switch and tans (beats) the sheep skin with his wife inside- giving her also a beating; 4) She threatens to tell her mother (father) and all her kin-- he says he was only tanning his sheepskin; 5) the wife is usually reformed at the end. In some versions the man just beats his wife- the sheepskin being left off through oral transmission.
Recent versions of 277 A from the 1930s on have been influenced by two recordings: Chubby Parker's 1927 "Nickety Nackety, Now, Now Now" and "The Nick Nack Song" sung by Ridgel's Fountain Citians on 27th August, 1929, Vocalion Vo 5455.
R. Matteson 2013]
CONTENTS:
1. Narrative (Child did not include any information about the related "Slattern Wife" songs. Bronson lists 6 songs under Child 277 55-62 that are realted in form and melody to Child 277.)
2. Brief (Matteson)
3. Ballad Texts: The Slattern Wife ("Risslety, Rosslety," "Robin-A-Thrush")
ATTACHED PAGES (see left hand column):
1. Recordings & Info: 277 A. The Slattern Wife ("Risslety, Rosslety," "Robin-A-Thrush")
A. Roud 2792: The Slattern Wife ("Risslety, Rosslety," "Robin-A-Thrush") ( Listings)
2. Sheet Music: 277. The Slattern Wife ("Risslety, Rosslety," "Robin-A-Thrush") (Bronson's Class F music examples and texts)
3. US and Canadian Versions The Slattern Wife ("Risslety, Rosslety," "Nickety, Nackety")
4. English and Other Versions (Including "Robin-A-Thrush")
Narrative:
A "slattern wife" is a slovenly, untidy wife. According to Steve Gardham, "Slattern Wife" is a completely separate piece that has been crossed with Child 277 at some later date, probably no earlier than the 18th century and likely not until the 19th century."
The Broadwood version, titled Robin-A-Thrush, was taken from A. H. Frere, Esq. who said it was "sung by a nurse towards the end of 18th century." Below is a fragment titled "The Slattern Wife" collected by Gilchrist:
THE SLATTERN WIFE- Sung about 25 years ago (c. 1912) by a Scots friend. Noted by A. G. Gilchrist.
She weish her face but ance a year,
Sing dhu and dhu, Sing dhu and dhu,
She sweept her flure but ance a year,
Cloch ma clairy clinkie O.
Bronson lists several related versions in his Group (Class) F under Child 277 that do not tell the ballad story. These titles include "Robin-a-Thrush" and "Hobbelty Bobblety How Now," as well as the US versions- "Risslety, Rosslety" and "John Dobber." Chubby Parker's 1927 recording "Nickety Nackety, Now, Now Now," not mentioned by Bronson, would be part of the F group, and has been adapted to include the text of the ballad- a version being published by Richard Chase.
According to Gardham another piece even earlier may have had soe influence on both songs. It has no text in common with either but the ideas and sentiment are there. It is 'The Tyrannical Wife' in Merry Drollerie, 1661, which starts:
It was a man and a jolly old man
Come love me whereas I lay
And he would marry a fair young wife
The clean contrary way.
He woo'd her for to wed, to wed
Come...
And even she kickt him out of the bed
The clean....
Gardham also provided me an excerpt from 'The Oxford Drollery' being New Poems and Songs by W. Oxford, 1679. BL ref. 11621 a 19. (Inside the front cover is inscribed 'Heber, 1834') 'The first part composed by W. Hickes. Printed by B. G. and are to be sold by Dan. Major and Tho. Orrel at the Flying-horse, and Hand and Scepter against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleet Street, 1679.
p. 1 A Bull Droll, Tune- 'I prethee sweetheart come tell me and do not lye now'.
Ile tell you a jest I never did know in my life
..........
My mother was cleanly too, I now must tell ye,
Both for the back and also for the belly.
She once did go to milk in dirty weather,
And dagl'd her coats so that they stuck together,
And there it hung from Candlemas until May,
Then she took a Hatchet and chopt it clean away.
And when she went ith' field to milk her Cow
She milkt in the paile wherein she serv'd her Sow.
She always set her foot upon a block,
And strain'd her Milk through the skirt of her Smock
And when she laid her Cheese upon the shelf,
She never would touch it till't could turn it self.
And when she went with her Butter toth' market cross
no other signe was but the print of her thumb.
She never us'd to make her Butter I'th Churm,
For she said neither would be good nor firme
Nor made it not as other women do,
But with her Bum she kneads it to and fro.
.................................
Second Part
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This later version of the broadside, The Tidy One (prior in 1819) is found in J. O. Halliwell, The Nursery Rhymes of England (5th ed., 1886), p. 243.
I married my wife by the light of the moon,
A tidy housewife, a tidy one;
She never gets up until it is noon,
And I hope she'll prove a tidy one.
And when she gets up, she is slovenly laced,
A tidy, etc.
She takes up the poker to roll out the paste,
And I hope, etc.
She churns her butter in a boot,
A tidy, etc.
And instead of a churnstaff she puts in her foot,
And I hope, etc.
She lays her cheese on the scullery shelf,
A tidy, etc.
And she never turns it till it turns itself.
And I hope, etc.
The following broadsides are part of the "Slattern Wife" group. The print details and dates are provided by Steve Gardham:
'Thrifty Housewife' Kendrew of York is part of a 2 ballad broadsheet with imprint. 1801-1841. On printing evidence I'd say c1835.
'The Tidy One’ Pitts is 14 Gt St Andrew's St so prior to 1819
The Tidy Hussey has no imprint but on printing evidence seems to be the oldest probably c1790-1810.
'The Tidy One’ Birt is roughly contemporary with Pitts/Catnach and a date range can be gotten from Bodlean.
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ROBIN-A-THRUSH (from Broadwood)
From English County Songs,: Words and Music edited by Lucy Etheldred Broadwood and John Alexander Fuller-Maitland (London: Leadenhall Press, 1893), page 92:
ROBIN-A-THRUSH
1. Robin he married a wife in the West
Moppety, moppety, mono.
And she turned out to be none of the best,
With a high jig jiggety, tops and petticoats,
Robin-a-Thrush cries mono.
2. When she rises she gets up in haste
And flies to the cupboard before she is laced.
3. She milks her cows but once a week,
And that's what makes her butter so sweet.
4. When she churns she churns in a boot,
And instead of a cruddle she puts in her foot.
5. She puts her cheese upon the shelf
And leaves it to turn till it turns of itself.
6. It turned of itself and fell on the floor,
Got up on its feet and ran out of the door.
7. It ran till it came to Wakefield Cross,
And she followed after upon a white horse.
8. This song was made for gentlemen.
If you want any more you must sing it again.
(Words and tune from A. H. Frere, Esq.; sung by a nurse towards the end of 18th century.)
For other variants, see The Besom Maker and Miss Mason's Nursery Rhymes and Country Songs
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From American Ballads and Songs by Louise Pound (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1922), page 236:
I BOUGHT ME A WIFE
I bought me a wife the tenth of June,
Nickety nackety, now, now, now,
I brought her home by the light of the moon.
High, willy, wally, and Jenny bang,
Doodle, sandy go restego, now, now, now.
I bought two cows; they both were good.
I told her to milk whichever she would.
For want of a churn she used the old man's boot.
For want of a dasher she used his foot.
She made some cheese and hung it on a pin.
The grease ran out and the dirt sucked in.
The old book lies on the shelf.
If you want any more you can sing it yourself.
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From Our Singing Country: Folk Songs and Ballads by John A. Lomax and Alan Lomax (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1941), page 131:
MARRIED ME A WIFE
e'. No. 648. Acc. on guitar and sung by Gant family, Austin, Texas, 1936.
Married me a wife in the month of June.
Rissolty, rassolty, row, row, row.
I carried her home in a silver spoon.
Hey, gee-wallity, nickety-nollity, rest of your quality,
Nickety, nackety, now, now, now.
2. She combed her hair but once a week.
She says that combs are all too cheap.
3. She sweeps the floor but once a year.
She says that brooms are all too dear.
4. She churns her milk in the old man's boot.
For the sake of a dasher she uses her foot.
5. The butter is made of old grizzly gray.
The milk takes legs and walks away.
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From The Lotus Dickey Songbook edited by Nancy Cassell McEntire, Grey Larsen, and Janne Henshaw (Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 2005), page 198:
93. NICKETY NACKETY NOW
Lotus's brother Cyprian liked to sing this song. This is transcribed from one of many late-night sessions at Cyprian's house. Here Cyprian sings the lead and Lotus plays the guitar. The song may have Scottish antecedents: The song "The Wee Cooper o' Fife" has the same nonsense refrain line of "Nickety nackety noo noo noo," and a similar description of an uncooperative or unattractive wife. Cyprian had sheet music for this song, but he also mentioned learning it from a musical friend and neighbor, Own Stout.
Canadian folklorist Edith Fowke linked this song to "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin," which is No. 277 in Francis James Child's famous work, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. Here the uncooperative wife is beaten into submission. North American versions of this song are more silly than violent. Fowke collected a text from Manitoba which contained these lines: "She baked a pie and called it mince / Nickety nackety now now now/ I've never known such misery since" (Canadian Journal for Traditional Music, 1975).
1. I married my wife in the month of June.
Nickety nackety now, now, now.
And I courted her home by the light of the moon.
Nickety nackety, hey John Dackerty,
Willety wallety, russiko quality,
Nickety nackety now, now, now.
2. So me and the woman got ready to start.
I said, "Old woman, get into the cart."
3. When we went in the house, she stepped on a cat.
Her feet flew up and down she sat.
4. She weighs in a lump about three hundred pound.
When she sits in a chair the thing breaks down.
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NICK NACK SONG
As sung by the New Lost City Ramblers on "The New Lost City Ramblers, Volume 5" (1963).
[I have omitted the patter between verses.]
I married me a wife on the eighth of June,
To risselty-risselty row, row, row.
I took her home by the light of the moon,
To risselty-risselty, rustico-quality,
Hickety-hackety, old John Dobbison,
Nickety-nackety now, now, now.
I sent her out to milk the old cow.
She set right down; she milked the old sow.
She churned our butter in dad's old boot,
And for her dasher she used her foot.
She swept her floor but once a year,
And for her broom she used a chair.
She keeps her shoes on the pantry shelf.
If you want any more you can sing it yourself
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A Nursery Song and Two Game Songs
by Anne G. Gilchrist
Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Dec., 1937), pp. 120-125
THE SLATTERN WIFE
Sung about 25 years ago by a Scots friend.
Noted by A. G. GILCHRIST.
She weish her face but ance a year,
Sing dhu and dhu, Sing dhu and dhu,
She sweept her flure but ance a year,
Cloch ma clair - y clink-ie O.
I regret that I have retained no particulars of this fragment, which was jotted down in pencil from the singing of a Scots friend soon after my other versions of the same Scottish song, " The Wee Cooper o' Fife," and "My brother Robert has gotten a wife,"
were contributed to the Journal. See Vol. II (I906), P. 223-225, where also will be found a note which links this nursery-song-which in this version sounds like a lullaby-with " The Wife wrapt in Wether's Skin " and other earlier versions of the chastised and chastened wife story, which is also to be found in Boccaccio's Decameron (Ninth Day). The English nursery version "Robertin Tush" is in Miss Mason's Nursery Rhymes (I877). - A. G. G.
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THERE'S A PIECE OF BREAD A-LAYING ON A SHELF
There's old song books a-laying on the shelf.
Nickety nackety, now, now, now
If you want any more you can sing it yourself
Nickety nackety, age of laffety
Whillecky whollecky Rusco quality
Nickety nackety, now, now, now
There's a piece of bread a-laying on the shelf.
Nickety, etc.
If you want any more you can sing it yourself.
Nickety, etc.
From the singing of Julie Hefley, Mt. Judea, Arkansas (June 1985).
Source:
Lucille Burdine, William B. McCarthey, "Sister Singers," Western Folklore Vol. 49, No. 4 (October 1990), p. 410
Notes:
"This relic of Child 277 seems to be a composite, drawing on several strands of tradition. We have not encountered the ballad with this particular combination of elements in any collection . . . . It may, in fact, be an example of the sort of 'degeneration' of a narrative folk song under play party conditions which B. A. Botkin discusses in his The American Play Party."
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NIGGL'JY NAGGL'JY
I bought my wife three milking cows
Niggl'jy naggl'jy now, now, now
And she milked them 'til they all went dry
Niggl'jy naggl'jy bengy bo riggl'jy
Ruffl'jy, ruffl'jy now, now, now.
She milked her milk in the old slop pail
Niggl'jy, etc.
She strained her milk through the child's old clout
Niggl'jy, etc.
She churned her milk in . . . .
Niggl'jy, etc.
She took up her butter with the old pot hooks
Niggl'jy, etc.
She had two eyes like two rotten pears
Niggl'jy, etc.
And she had two teeth like two wiry pins
Niggl'jy, etc.
From the singing of Janie Barnard Couch, who said "I think this has an Irish background also."
Source: Byron Arnold, Folksongs of Alabama (University, Alabama: University of Alabama Press, 1950), p. 36
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There's also a version I learned form the singing of Hedy West, which starts:
A little old man lived away out west
Dan do dan do
A little old man lived away out west
Clash to my klingo
A little old man lived away out west
He had him a wife she was none of the best
Splatter me latter me lingo.
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RISSELTY-ROSSELTY- As Recorded by Seeger
I married me a wife in the month of June,
Risselty-rosselty now, now, now!
I carried her home in a silver spoon,
Risselty-rosselty, hey bom-bosselty,
Nicklety, knacklety, rustical quality,
Willaby-wallaby now, now, now !
She swept the floor but once a year
She swore her brooms were all too dear
She combed her hair but once a year
At every rake she shed a tear
She churned the butter in dad's old boot
And for a dash she used her foot
The butter came out a grisly grey
The cheese took legs and ran away
The butter and cheese are on the shelf
If you want any more, you can sing it yourself
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Willy went to Westerdale
Performed by: John Greaves
Recorded in: Harrogate (11th March 2007) by Steve Gardham
1
Willy went ti Westerdale,
Aye do a dandy,
Willy went ti Westerdale,
Clish, clash, mi clandy,
Willy went ti Westerdale,
’E married a wife an browt ’er ’eame, (home)
Sing a-ler-o, tak ’er amang yer.
2
’E bowt ’er twenty good milk kye, (cows)
She let nineteen o’ them go dry.
3
She only milked ’er once a year,
An’ that was ti mak butter dear.
4
When she kenned she kenned in ’er beeats, (churned in her boots)
Ti mak a print she put in ’er feeat. (foot)
5
She made a cheese an’ put it on t’ shelf,
She never tonned cheese while cheese tonned self. (turned)
6
She roasted a hen both feather and gut,
’Eead an’ tail an’ wattles an’ foot.
(head) (wattles=loose folds of skin on a hen’s neck)
7
She did a far dottier trick than that, (dirtier)
She let bairn shit in ’is father’s neet-cap. (night-cap)
Accompanied on refrains by Steve Gardham, Ray Padgett, Sam Dodds and Ray Black.
Recorded by Ray Padgett at Ray Black’s Harrogate home, 11th March, 2007.
Provenance
Here is a localized version of a widely known song found all over the English-speaking world. Its evolution can be traced back to broadsides of the early nineteenth century but it probably is much older as these are widely differing texts. Certainly the Crome and Birt texts show signs of having come from oral tradition. In fact the wide variety of texts and choruses of both oral and printed versions suggest the song has been in existence for a long period and may even be as old as the song it has become crossed with and indeed confused with, the Child ballad ‘The Wife Wrapped in Wetherskin’ (Child 277, Roud 117).
However the two songs must be considered separate songs. Though ‘Robin-a-Thrush’ has a wide stock of verses (26) cataloguing the slatternly behaviour of the wife, rarely do any of these verses occur in the Child ballad and no versions of ‘Robin-a-Thrush’ contain the curing of the wife by beating, either with a holly twig or the excuse of the sheepskin, the main motif in the Child ballad.
What they do have in common is the theme and some choruses. The probability is that there has been cross-pollenation on several occasions. Particularly Scottish versions have a chorus that is closely related to ‘The Wee Cooper of Fife’ a version of the Child ballad, and this in turn is related to southern English choruses of ‘Robin-a-Thrush’. Curiously the Yorkshire version is quite different from other British versions, yet the chorus is related to American versions of the Child ballad.
It is perhaps significant that of the three extant broadside texts, all early nineteenth century, two were printed in Yorkshire, a fourteen-stanza version from York and a five-stanza version from Sheffield, the only other extant version being the seven-stanza version printed by Birt of London. (The song printed by Pitts of London and Coates of Alfreton ‘The Tidy One’ is a complete rewrite in a literary vein wherein all of the wife’s faults are caused by reading novels)
Thrifty housewife
I married a wife in the full of the moon,
A thrifty housewife to be,
’Twas a year too late and a month too soon,
As such was the luck for me,
She gaes to bed when the clock strikes twelve,
So cleanly and tidy was she,
The fleas, lice and bugs, the bed make themselves,
No rest there is for me.
She gets up in the morn when the clock strikes ten,
So clean and so tidy is she,
And she makes her tea in the frying pan,
But no such mess for me,
She sweeps the chamber once a week,
So cleanly and tidy is she,
When she goes out to work she falls asleep,
She is such a thrifty wife to me,
She milks the cow in the chamber pot,
So cleanly and tidy is she,
And she strains the milk in the tail of her s---k,
She is rather too nasty for me.
Instead of the churn staff she puts in her foot,
She may eat all the butter for me,
She sets all the cheese on the shelves,
So cleanly and tidy is she,
And there they may stand and turn themselves,
She is such a thrifty wife to me,
She salts my beef in a two bushel bag,
So cleanly and tidy is she,
There’s maggots crawls out as big as my leg,
She is a thrifty wife to me,
My wife is called the queen of sluts,
So cleanly and tidy is she,
She roasted a hen with feather and guts,
A delicate morsel for me,
She has two teeth in her head like two harrow tines,
An ugly wife is she,
Her ears are like jack asses all hanging behind,
She thinks she is a beauty for me,
She has a nose and a face like a bugle horn,
An ugly wife is she,
And the slaver it hangs down sir as long as my arm,
And a puking it often sets me,
She has eyes in her head like rotten plumbs,
So cleanly and tidy is she.
She is cover’d with scabs as big as my thumb,
The d---l may take her for me.
I pray for the same both morn and noon,
From this plague of my life to be free,
I’ll marry no more in the full of the moon,
For the sake of this torment to me,
Each night I have trouble to put her to bed,
For as drunk as a sow is she,
For seven long years I’ve wished her dead,
So d---l come take her from me.
J. Kendrew, York (York Publications 97)
The Tidy Hussey
I Married my Wife
In the Full of the Moon,
A tidy hussy, a tidy one,
She made me a Cuckold
Before it was noon,
And was not she a tidy One
My wife she would a milking go
A tidy hussy a tidy one,
She milk’d in the Pail,
And she serv’d the old sow,
And I hope she’ll prove a tidy one.
My wife she would go sile the milk,
A tidy hussy, a tidy one,
She siled it through the tail of her Smock,
Was not she a tidy one.
My wife she would to market go
For to sell her Butter and Eggs,
She suck’d all the yolks,
And Shit in the Shells,
So I hope she’ll prove a tidy One.
My wife she would go make a Cheese,
A tidy hussey, a tidy one,
But she never turn’d the Cheese
So the Cheese it turn’d itself.
And I hope she’ll prove a tidy one.
Crome, Sheffield. Bodleian Ballads Harding B28 (247)
‘Willy went to Westerdale’ was widely sung in the Whitby area and it appears in several collections. Westerdale is a small village at the head of Eskdale just up from Castleton. Littlebeck, where John Greaves comes from, is down the valley nearer to Whitby.
It was first recorded in the 1960s by Mary and Nigel Hudleston from the singing of Johnny Gibbons of Sleights.(See ‘Songs of the Ridings’, Pindar, 2001, p161)
The song is a good example of an enumerative catalogue song (Renwick, Recentering Anglo/American Folksong, University Press of Mississippi, 2001, Chapter 3) in that it consists of a list of the wife’s failings in no particular order, with the exception of her cheese-making efforts, which would qualify it as an incremental catalogue song. In the longer broadside version all of the milking/cheese-making takes place in the space of two and a half stanzas, the rest of the song being in no particular order.
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Mention of the Scottish Student's Song Book recalls the following takeoff from the University of St. Andrews Students' Union Song Book (1958):
There once was a student in college in Fife,
Nickety nackety noo noo noo,
That lived a very exemplary life,
Hey Willie Wallacky, ho John Dougal, the Keys and the Central and whisky-o.
He wadna smoke and he wadna drink,
And on bonnie bejantines never did think.
He went down at last wi' and honours degree,
That's something that few of us ever will see.
But he's deid noo and buried despite a' his merit,
Whit use is a chiel wha's lackin' in spirit?
The (Cross) Keys and the Central were pubs in St Andrews. A bejantine was a female first-year student
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34. TEXAS FOLK SONGS
RISSLETY ROSSLETY
This song is derived from an English ballad, "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin." In the latter the husband cannot beat his wife, but when she becomes unbearable, he wraps her in a sheepskin and beats the skin until she reforms and becomes a good wife. I have not been able to find a complete version of the ballad in Texas, though the portion printed here is quite well known. In Texas versions
the story is lost and the ballad becomes a nonsense song to which singers make up stanzas as they go.
a. Sung by R. R. Denoon, Springfield, Missouri, 1919.
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Another song that had to be cut down to fit a three minute side of a 78rpm record was The Nick Nack Song as sung by Ridgel's Fountain Citians, who, presumably, came from Fountain City, a suburb of Knoxville, TN, where their recording was made. Their song was a version of the Child ballad The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin and was also recorded in 1927 as Nickety Nackety Now Now Now by the singer and banjo player Chubby Parker, who also recorded a well-known version of the British song Frog Went a-Courting which he called King King Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O.23
The Nick Nack Song
I married me a wife on the eight of June
To rissolty-rissolty, row, row, row
And I took her home by the light of the moon
To rissolty-rissolty, ruisticle quality
Hickety-hackety, old John Dobson
Nickety-nackety, now, now, now
I sent her out to milk the old cow
She sat right down, she milked the old sow
She churned her butter in dad's old boots
And for her dasher she used her foot
She swept her floor but once a year
And for her broom she used a chair
She keeps her shoes on the pantry shelf
If you want anymore, you can sing it yourself
(Spoken asides omitted)
The Nick Nack Song (Child 277) sung by Ridgel's Fountain Citians. Recorded on 27th August, 1929, Vocalion Vo 5455, Re-issued on JSP box set Appalachian Stomp Down, JSP7761 - 4 CDs.
In the complete song the husband, exasperated by his wife's inability to work on the farm, covers her back with a sheep-skin, which he beats with a stick, saying that he wouldn't beat his wife, but he has nothing against beating an old sheep's skin. The song, once highly popular (as The Wee Cooper o' Fyfe for example) has, understandably, lost some of its appeal in recent years.
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Roberts: In the Pines
SCALE: Hexatonic (g u b d e f#). MODE: Plagal. RANGE: d'-b'
(Major 6th). TONAL CENTER: c. PHRASE STRUCTURE: A B A B
ll C C B (2,2,2,2, ll, 2, 2,2) or A A ll B (4,4, 6) barform. MELODIC
RELATIONSHIP: The initial strophe of this nonsense song consists chiefly
of rapidly moving eighth-note rhythms in scalewise diatonic fashion, with a
refrain of patter-like character, and consisting almost wholly of the chant-like
repetition on the dominant tone D.
Cf. OFS III, p. 191, No. 439A, for general pitch levels and rhythmic pattern.
I married a wife in hte month of June,
Risselty, rasselty, now, now, now,
Carried her home in a silver spoon
Risselty, rasselty, now, now, now.
REFRAIN: Risselty, rasselty, hay bum-bossity,
Nickety, nackety, ridicule quality
Willow-by wallow-by, now, now, now.
2. She combed her hair but once a year,
Risselty rasselty now, now, now,
With every rake she gave a tear,
Risselty rasselty now, now, now.
Refrain
3. She swept the floor but once a year,
Risselty rasselty now, now, now,
She swore the broom was far too dear,
Risselty rasselty now, now, now.
Refrain
4. She churned the butter in dad's old boot,
Risselty rasselty now, now, now,
And for a dasher she used her foot,
Risselty rasselty now, now, now.
Refrain
5. The butter came out a grizzley gray,
Risselty rasselty now, now, now,
The cheese took legs and ran away,
Risselty rasselty now, now, Row.
Refrain
6. The saddle and bridle are on the shelf,
Risselty rasselty now, now, now,
If you want any rnore you can sing it yourself,
Risselty rasselty now, now, now.
Refrain
--------------
Two Folksongs from Ohio
by J. A. C. Leland
Western Folklore, Vol. 7, No. 1 (Jan., 1948), pp. 64-66
Two Folksongs from Ohio.-These songs were current in Muskingum County, Ohio, in the 188o's
THE SHIFTLESS WIFE
1. I bought me a wife the tenth of June.
Nickety Nackety, no, no, no.
And drove her home by the light of the moon,
Hi Willy Wally and Charlie Bill Doodle
And Sandy go, Rusty go, no, no, no.
2. I bought her two cows, they were both very good.
Nickety, etc.
And told her to milk whichever she could.
Hi Willy, etc.
3. She milked the cow in an old tin pan.
Nickety, etc.
And out of the seams the milk it ran.
Hi Willy, etc.
4. She strained the milk in an old grease crock.
Nickety, etc.
And for want of a strainer she used her sock.
Hi Willy, etc.
5. She churned the milk in the old man's boot.
Nickety, etc.
And for want of a dasher she slapped in her foot.
Hi Willy, etc.
6. The dirty old thing she went to bed.
Nickety, etc.
And there she stayed until she was dead.
Hi Willy, etc.
Berkeley, California J. A. C. LELAND
"The Shiftless Wife" is not so frequently found as the other song. It may be a nursery offshoot of "The Cooper of Fife" (from which its refrain is borrowed). The Cooper is itself a secondary form of "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" (Child, 277, q.v.), which has ancient connections. The present form of the song appears in Louise Pound, American Ballads and Songs (1922), P. 236. An older variant is found in J. O. Halliwell, The Nursery Rhymes of England (5th ed., 1886), p. 243. This is worth giving here for the sake of comparison.
I married my wife by the light of the moon,
A tidy housewife, a tidy'one;
She never gets up until it is noon,
And I hope she'll prove a tidy one.
And when she gets up, she is slovenly laced,
A tidy, etc.
She takes up the poker to roll out the paste,
And I hope, etc.
She churns her butter in a boot,
A tidy, etc.
And instead of a churnstaff she puts in her foot,
And I hope, etc.
She lays her cheese on the scullery shelf,
A tidy, etc.
And she never turns it till it turns itself.
And I hope, etc.
The editors will be glad to learn of any variants, especially also the music for the songs, that are known to our readers.-THE EDITORS.]
---------------------
I’m On My Journey Home: New World Records 80549
Vocal Styles and Resources in Folk Music
Track 8
Risselty Rosselty
Ray R. Denoon, vocal.
Recorded 1936 in Springfield, Missouri, by Sidney Robertson [Cowell]. Library of Congress Archive of American Folk Song
3204 B2.
The nonsense song.which uses meaningless words or syllables as a major part of the text.has a venerable
folk lineage that can be traced back to British and Continental origins. The nonsense sections are pure vocal
music in which the sound of the voice is an end in itself; there is no message to distract the listener from
appreciating the basic vocal style. Such wordless song sometimes appears in American folk music as .chin
music. or diddling, where the voice imitates the fiddle in traditional instrumental dance numbers.
Some superb string-band examples of this practice can be heard in a series of 1928 recordings by the
Mississippi band Carter Brothers and Son (reissued on County LPs 520 and 528 and on New World Records
NW 236, Going Down the Valley). In well-constructed nonsense songs, in which the nonsense lines have rhyme
and rhythm, the voice becomes almost an instrument, and the effect is not unlike the scat singing of jazz
performers like Louis Armstrong, Jon Hendricks, and Ella Fitzgerald. An important difference is that the jazz
singer usually improvises his singing, whereas in the traditional nonsense song the syllables, though perhaps
quite complicated, are rigidly fixed. Also, in most traditional nonsense songs the nonsense lines function as
the chorus or refrain, while the verses are coherent, if wildly humorous or surrealistic, lines. To some extent
the nonsense song may be seen as a transitional form between wordless vocal resources.like the holler, the
auctioneer.s call, or the musical imitation.and the textual song.
Most traditional nonsense songs have been classified as children.s songs (for example Almeda Riddle.s
excellent .Chick-A-Li-Lee-Lo. on NW 245, Oh My Little Darling), and young children, for whom so much
language is meaningless, doubtless delight in wordplay so full of assonance, consonance, and rhythm.
Children.s authors like Dr. Suess often capitalize on this delight. Yet the nonsense song has been
commercialized surprisingly little throughout the twentieth century. The late thirties and the forties saw a
certain number of popular hits like .Flat Foot Floogie,. .Three Little Fishies,. and .Chickery Chick.; the
fifties yielded Johnnie Lee Wills.s .Rag Mop,. David Seville.s .Witch Doctor. (.Oo ee, Oo ah ah, Ting tang,
Walla walla bing bang.), and any number of early rhythm-and-blues songs like the Silhouettes. influential
.Get a Job,. with its .Sha da da da. refrain.
.Risselty Rosselty. is a remarkably widespread song, and versions very similar to this one have been collected
in southern Missouri, in Nebraska, and in Oklahoma. It is a variant of .The Wife Wrapt in Wether.s Skin.
(Child 277), an old British ballad that combines the features of the shrewish-wife plot with various nonsense
refrains. (A wether is a castrated sheep.an appropriate symbol for the song.) Many versions in the South use
nonsense refrains like .Bandoo,. .Dandoo,. or .Gentle Virginia. (which makes no sense in its context). An
eighteenth-century British version contains the refrain .Riftly raftly, now now now,. and an 1844 version
from Scotland contains the stanza
There was a wee cooper who lived in Fife,
Nickity nackity, noo noo noo,
And he has gotten a gentle wife,
Hey Willie Wallacky, how John Dougall,
Alane, que Rushety, roue roue roue.
It is easy to see how, through oral transmission, these nonsense words could be translated into the ones sung
by Ray Denoon. His version was preceded by several commercial recordings, including one by Chicago
radio personality Chubby Parker (1926) and one by a Knoxville string band, Ridgel.s Fountain Citians
(1930). With his family, Colonel Ray Denoon had a popular radio show in Springfield, Missouri, in the midthirties.
He recorded several numbers during Sidney [Mrs. Henry Cowell] Robertson.s field trip there for the
Library of Congress in 1936 and was an informant for Vance Randolph two year later. By 1940 he had
moved to the West Coast, where his son, Big Jim Denoon, achieved fame as a country singer, recording for
labels like 4-Star. Ray.s style here is relaxed, though the nature of the nonsense song forces him into a highly
regular beat. He comes in on pitch, uses little vibrato, and releases his phrases rather abruptly, creating a
clipped effect similar to that in early recordings by the old-time singers Ernest .Pop. Stoneman and Charlie
Poole.
Oh, I married me a wife in the month of June,
Risselty rosselty, now now now,
And I took her home by the light of the moon.
Risselty rosselty, hey don dosselty,
Nickelty nackelty, rustico quality,
Willowby wallowby, now now now.
Similarly:
Oh, she swept her floor but once a year,
She swore her brooms was all too dear.
Oh, she combed her hair but once a year,
And ever rake, she give a tear.
Oh, she churned her butter in dad's old boot,
And for the dash she used her foot.
Oh, the butter come to a grisly gray,
And the cheese took legs and run away.
Oh, the saddle and bridle is on old Jeb,
An you want any more you must sing it yourself.
--------------------
NAME: Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now
DESCRIPTION: The singer marries a woman who, from laziness, ignorance or slovenliness, does nothing right (milks the cow in the chamber pot, churns butter in a boot). In some versions she dies of shame (because "she pishit in the bed").
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1888 (Sumner)
KEYWORDS: marriage food humorous husband wife
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond),Scotland(Bord)) US(Ap,MW,NE,So)
REFERENCES: (14 citations)
Lyle-Crawfurd2 150, "Robin o Rasheltree" (1 text)
Broadwood/Maitland, pp. 92-93, "Robin-a-Thrush" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck-Maine, p. 112, "Nickerty, Nackerty Now, Now, Now" (1 text)
Randolph 439, "Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now" (2 texts, 1 tune)
LPound #118 pp. 236-237 "I Bought Me a Wife" (1 text)
JHCoxIIA, #13A-C, pp. 57-60, "The Wife Wrapped in Wether's Skin," "Dandoo" (3 texts, 1 tune, but the "B" text omits the beating and has the husband run away; it may well be a version of this although it might alternately be Child #277 mixed with "Devilish Mary" [Laws Q4] or something like it)
BrownSchinhanIV 327, "He Courted Her in the Month of June" (1 short text, 1 tune)
DT 277, RISSROSS
ADDITIONAL: Lucille Burdine and William B McCarthy, "Sister Singers" in Western Folklore, Vol. IL, No. 4 (Oct 1990 (available online by JSTOR)), pp. 408-410 "There's a Piece of Bread A-laying on the Shelf" (1 text)
James Orchard Halliwell, The Nursery Rhymes of England (London, 1886 ("Digitized by Google")) #477 p. 243, ("I married my wife by the light of the moon") (1 text)
J.A.C. Leland, "Two Folksongs from Ohio" in Western Folklore, Vol. VII, No. 1 (Jan 1948 (available online by JSTOR)), pp. 65-66 "The Shiftless Wife" (2 texts, including one added by the editors from Halliwell 1886)
Heywood Sumner, The Besom Maker (London, 1888 ("Digitized by Google")), pp. 15-16, "Hobbelty Bobbelty How Now" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lucille Burdine and William B McCarthy, "Sister Singers" in Western Folklore, Vol. IL, No. 4 (Oct 1990 (available online by JSTOR)), pp. 408-410 "There's a Piece of Bread A-laying on the Shelf" (1 text)
Lucy E. Broadwood and J.A. Maitland, editors, English County Songs, (London, 1893), pp. 92-93, "Robin-a-Thrush" (1 text, 1 tune) [Not yet indexed as Broadwood/Maitland pp. 92-93].
Roud #117
RECORDINGS:
Chubby Parker, "Nickety Nackety Now Now Now" (Gennett 6077/Champion 15247 [as Smilin' Tubby Johnson]/Silvertone 5011, 1927; Supertone 9189, 1928) (Conqueror 7889, 1931)
Ridgel's Fountain Citians, "The Nick Nack Song" (Vocalion 5455, 1930; on CrowTold01)
Pete Seeger, "Risselty-Rosselty" (on PeteSeeger02, PeteSeegerCD01) (on PeteSeeger12)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" [Child 277] (theme: difficult wife) and references there
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Cooper of Fife
The Wee Cooper of Fife
Bandoo
Gentle Virginia
Kitty Lorn
Kitty Alone
Dan-you
The Old Man Who Lived in the West
NOTES: This song is usually considered a variant of "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" [Child 277]. We (PJS and BS) believe this is a different song.
A text is "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" if:
* the wife is beaten under a sheep's skin, or
* the wife's relatives and class are mentioned, or
* the wife states high-flown reasons for not working [for example, she fears "soiling a gay gold ring" or "high heeled shoe" or "shaming her gentle kin"] or
* the wife's high class is an issue, or
* when the husband asks for dinner she tells him to make it himself, or
* the wife mends her ways, or
* the husband is a "wee cooper", or
* as a last resort for a small fragment, the chorus is a "Dandoo, dandoo ..." or "For gentle, for Jenny, my rosamaree ... As the dew falls over the green valley" variation.
If the wife is beaten the sheep's skin is crucial to distinguish the song from other wife beating songs like "The Holly Twig" [Laws Q6], "The Wicked Wife o' Fife" [GreigDuncan7], "The Daughter of Peggy-O," or even Sumner's version of "Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now" [he beats her in the chorus, to no effect].
A text is "Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now" if:
* the wife is ignorant, slovenly, or stupid, but not shrewish or too fine to work, or
* the wife dies in bed
A "Risselty, Rosselty" wife never improves.
Most refrains follow the pattern also found in "The Wee Cooper of Fife" version of Child 277 -
"Nickety, nackity, noo, noo ... Sing, hey Willy Wallachie, how John Dugal alane, quo' rushitie rue, rue, rue" (DBuchan) -
but the usually nonsense words vary widely. For example
* "Nickety-nackety now, now, now ... Nickety-nackety hey John Dafferty, willopy, wallopy, rusty coke wallacky, nickety-nackety, now, now, now" (Chubby Parker)
* "Nickety nackety, now, now, now ... High, willy, wally, and Jenny bang, doodle, sandy go vestego, now, now, now" (LPound)
* "Nickety Nackety, no, no, no ... Hi Willy Wally and Charlie Bill Doodle and Sandy go, Rusty go, no, no, no" (Leland)
* "Nickety nackety, now, now, now ... Nickety nackety, age of laffety, whillecky whollecky, rusco quality, Nickety nackety, now, now, now" (Burdine/McCarthy)
* "Risselty-rosselty now, now, now ... Risselty-rosselty, hey bom-bosselty, nicklety, knacklety, rustical quality, willaby-wallaby now, now, now" (Pete Seeger)
* "Risselty-rosselty now, now, now ... Risselty-rosselty, hey
bombosity, nickety nackity, retrical quality, willaby wallaby now, now,
now" (also Pete Seeger)
* "Moppety, moppety, mono ... With a high jig jiggety, tops and petticoats, Robin-a-Thrush cries mono" (Broadwood/Maitland)
* "Neagletie, neagletie, now, now ... Heich, wullie, williecoat, bang John Douglas, Robin o Rasheltree, now, now" (Lyle-Crawfurd2)
* "Hobblety bobblety how now ... With a heigh down ho down duffle green petticoat Robin he thrashes her now now" (Sumner)
* "A tidy housewife, a tidy one ... And I hope she'll prove a tidy one" (Halliwell)
The Lyle-Crawfurd2 150 "Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now" text, "Robin o Rasheltree" [E. B. Lyle, editor, Andrew Crawfurd's Collection of Ballads and Songs, Volume 2 (1996)], includes verses like "My wife she's a hure of aw the sluts She roastit a hen baith feathers and guts." Maybe the common form of "Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now" was a bawdy text that editors and some singers cleaned up: "this song was made for gentlemen, If you want any more ...." [Broadwood/Maitland]. Crawfurd seems never to censor a text. - BS, PJS
Broadwood/Maitland: "Sung by a nurse towards the end of 18th century." - BS
---------------------
Source O'Bryant, Folksongs & Ballads (in Koch, Kansas Folklore)
Folksongs and Ballads Kansas
RISSELTY ROSSELTY (secondary version of "Wife Wrapped")
[Collected from Mrs. Lizzie Troup, Winfield, Kansas, May, 1958. Mrs. Troup came to Kansas from Missouri as a child and
learned from her father a number of songs, including this one, which went by the. name of "Nickerty Nockerty Now, Now,
Now." In Mrs. Troup's version the nonsense phrase "risselty rosselty," which gives the song its standard title, has been replaced
by "wisselty wosselty." A Missouri version of this song is recorded by Vance Randolph, IV, 190-193, and he refers to a ver-
sion recorded in Nebraska by Louise Pound. Some folklorists
consider the song a secondary version of "The Wife Wrapt in
Wether's Skin" (Child 277) omitting the narrative element,
which consists of the slattern's punishment: her husband would
not thrash her but took her out to his wool shack, laid a sheep-
skin across her back, and thrashed the sheepskin.]
I married me a wife in the month of June,
With a wisselty wosselty wow, wow, wow,
Took her home by the light of the moon,
With a wisselty wosselty, ho John bobberty,
Nickerty nockerty now, now, now.
She swept her floor but once a month,
With a wisselty wosselty wow, wow, wow.
And every stroke it brought a grunt,
With a wisselty wosselty, ho John bobberty,
Nickerty nockerty now, now, now.
She combed her hair but once a year,
With a wisselty wosselty wow, wow, wow,
And every stroke it brought a tear,
With a wisselty wosselty, ho John bobberty,
Nickerty nockery now, now, now.
She churned her butter in dad's old boot,
With a wisselty wosselty wow, wow, wow,
Instead of a dash she wiggled her foot,
With a wisselty wosselty, ho John bobberty,
Nickerty nockerty now, now, now.
She peddled her butter all over town,
With a wisselty wosselty wow, wow, wow,
The print of her foot was on every pound,
With a wisselty wosselty, ho John bobberty,
Nickerty nockerty now, now, now.
She strained her cheese through dad's old sock,
With a wisselty wosselty wow, wow, wow,
The toe jam run down into the crock,
With a wisselty wosselty, ho John bobberty,
Nickerty nockerty now, now, now.
She went upstairs to make the bed,
With a wisselty wosselty wow, wow, wow,
She fell over the chair and bumped her head,
With a wisselty wosselty, ho John bobberty,
Nickerty nockerty now, now, now.
She went outdoors to milk the cow,
With a wisselty wosselty wow, wow, wow,
She made a mistake and milked the sow,
With a wisselty wosselty, ho John bobberty,
Nickerty nockerty now, now, now,