7Ka. Oh Johnny, Johnny
A. "Oh Johnie Johnnie." From the recitation of Mary O'Donnell, Toberdoney, Dervock, Co. Antrim before 1897. Published in the 1897 article: On the Antrim version of "Waly, Waly" in Ulster Journal of Archaeology, Series II Vol. 3 Pages 144/148 by J. Johnston Abraham, T.C.D.
B. "Oh Johnny, Johnny" collected by Sam Henry from Maud Houston, first printed 1924 (stanza 9 did not appear in the 1924 version Henry published in his newspaper column), pp. 392-393, "Sam Henry's Songs of the People," Univ. Georgia Press, 1990. This does not appear in the recent Huntington edition.
* * * *
["Oh Johnny, Johnny" ("Oh Johnie Johnnie") is an Irish ballad that has an opening stanza similar to both Waly, Waly, and Love is Teasing. I'm listing it here as 7Ka, an appendix to 7K Love is Teasing. A complete ballad version was presented in the 1897 article: On the Antrim version of "Waly, Waly" in Ulster Journal of Archaeology, Series II Vol. 3 Pages 144/148; published by J. Johnston Abraham, T.C.D. It was taken from the recitation of Mary O'Donnell, Toberdoney, Dervock, Co. Antrim.
A second version was collected by Sam Henry from Maud Houston which was published in 1924. The identifying stanza was first collected in 1825 by Motherwell and it was published by Child in his English and Scottish Popular Ballads[1]. It appears as the 2nd stanza of Motherwell's version of Jamie Douglas, a ballad associated with Waly, Waly[2]:
Verse 2: "Oh! Johnie, Johnie, but love is bonnie,
A little while when it is new
But when love grows aulder, it grows mair caulder,
And it fades awa like the mornin' dew."
[Motherwell's MS., p. 299. Child's version, J - 2.]
This stanza is very similar to both extant versions of "Oh Johnny, Johnny." Rather that giving just the first stanza from the Antrim version, I give the whole text:
Oh Johnie Johnnie- From the recitation of Mary O'Donnell, Toberdoney, Dervock, Co. Antrim before 1897.
1. Oh! Johnnie, Johnnie, but love is bonnie,
A wee while just when it is new;
But when it's old, love, it then grows cold, love
And fades away like the morning dew.
2. Oh! Johnnie, Johnnie, but you are nice, love,
You are the first love that ere I had;
You are the first love that ere I had,
So come kiss me, Johnnie, before ye gang.
3. One kiss of my lips you ne'er shall get, love,
Nor in my arms you ne'er shall lie,
Until you grant me that one request, love,
That oftentime you did me deny.
4. All for to grant you that one request, love,
I might as well on you my heart bestow;
For as good a lover as you may come,
And who can hinder your love to go.
5. It's love doth come, yes, and love doth go,
Like the wee sma' birds intill their nests;
If it's to tell you all that I know,
The lad's naw here that I love best.
6. If he was here that's to be my dear
I'd cast those angry frowns away;
If he was here that's to be my dear,
I'd scarce have power to say him nay.
7. It's ower the moss, love, ye needna cross, love,
Nor through the mire ye needna ride;
For I hae gotten a new sweetheart, love,
And you may to choose your ain self a bride.
8. It's had I known, the first time I kissed you,
Young woman's heart's love were so hard to win.
I would have locked it all in a chest, love,
And screwed it tight with a silver pin.
Notice that stanza 2 line 3 is a repetition indication that the informant could not remember the third line. This missing line is present in B, collected by Sam Henry. The article by J. Johnston Abraham is comprehensive and includes some detailed notes. What Abraham does not do is give a convincing argument that the "Antrim version" is based on Waly Waly-- although they have some stanzas in common. There are two significant problems with the article (see it attached to my Recordings & Info page):
1. The identifying stanza does not appear with "Waly Waly" in the text. Instead it's "Johnnie, Johnnie." The stanza is independent and related to "Waly Waly" but is modified. Without "Waly, Waly," it's more properly a stanza of "Love is Teasing" which has an ancient history[3].
2. The rest of the text shows "Oh, Johnnie, Johnnie" to be a different song. The theme is found in stanzas of "The Rejected Lover" (Jilted Lover) from version of that title collected by Sam Henry in 1935 (Sam Henry's Songs of the People, p. 344).
Stanzas 1, 5 and 8 show a relationship with the Waly, Waly songs but also to the broadsides aligned with Waly, Waly. Those broadsides include "Arthur's Seat" and "Wheel of Fortune." This second version collected by Sam Henry has a last stanza which is a floating stanza that also appears in the Died for Love songs:
OH, JOHNNY, JOHNNY- sung by Maud Houston. With music and extended comments, first printed 1924, pp. 392-393, "Sam Henry's Songs of the People," Univ. Georgia Press, 1990
1. Oh, Johnny, Johnny, but love is bonny,
A little while when it is new.
But when it's old it groweth cold
And fades, fades away like the morning dew.
2. Oh, Johnny, Johnny, but you are nice, love,
In keeping company with me sae lang,
You are the first boy that e'er I had, love,
So kiss me, Johnny, before ye gang.
3. One kiss of my lips ye ne'er shall get, love,
For you have caused me sore to sigh,
Nor will I grant you that sweet request, love,
That oftentimes you did me deny.
4. If I would grant you that sweet request, love,
My heart on you I might then bestow,
But as good a lover as you may come, love,
So I'll not hinder you for to go.
5. For I have stepped the steps of love, dear,
And I have stepped a step too low;
Was it to be done that I have done,
It would never be done by me, I know.
6. It's ower the moss, love, you need'na cross, love,
And ower the moor ye needna ride,
For I have gottn a new sweetheart, love,
And you may go get yourself a bride.
7. For love does come and love does go, love,
Like a little small bird unto its nest.
Was I to tell you, love all I know, love,
They're far away that I love best.
8. It's had I known the first time I kissed you
That women's hearts were so ill to win,
I would have locked mine all in a chest, love,
And screwed, screwed it tight with a silver pin.
9. Oh, I wish my father had never whistled,
And I wish my mother had never sung,
And I wish the cradles had never rock-ed
When I was a boy and so very young.
Stanza 9 was not printed by Sam Henry in 1924 and was added on by and editor. It's found as a floating stanza in several Died for Love songs and also Willie Mathieson's Love is Bonnie. Stanza 8 (chest screwed tight with a silver pin) is found in the related broadsides (see: Silver Pin).
These two Irish ballads make up the entire oeuvre of a ballad that is distinct and not an Irish version of Waly, Waly as proposed by Abraham but rather an independent ballad with some common stanzas. Clearly A and B are derived from an unknown antecedent print version which may someday be discovered.
R. Matteson 2017]
________________________
Footnotes:
1. Child No. 204, "Jamie Douglas" in The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Volume 7: Ballads 189-225; published December 1890.
2. Waly, Waly, Gin Love Be Bony was first published in Ramsay's Tea-Table Miscellany, the second volume, before 1727. See also Thomson's Orpheus Caledonius, second edition, 1733, I, 71; four stanzas appear in the first edition, 1725, No 34.
3. Child points out that a "stanza closely resembling the third of this song occurs in a Yule medley in Wood's Manuscripts, about 1620." A recent edition suggests that the identifying stanza is even older-- as the same stanza appears in Stewart Style, 1513-1542: Essays on the Court of James V, p. 175 by Janet Hadley Williams, 1996.