8. Madam, I Have Come to Court You (Madam, I Am Come to Court You); Roud 542 (Madam, I have Gold and Silver; The Lovely Creature; Yonder Stands a Lovely Creature; Spanish Lady I; Ripe is the Apple Love; Twenty-Eighteen; Ripest Apple; The Disdainful Lady; March Away; I Admire a Black-Eyed Man; As I Walked Up Through London City; Ower Yon Hill There Lives a Lassie; Galway City; Ettrick City; Ower Yon Hill There Lives a Lassie)
Woodcut of an older man courting a "Lovely Creature"
A. Madam I Am/Have Come to Court You ("Yonder sits/stands a Lovely Creature," "Twenty-Eighteen," "Ripe is the Apple Love," "Rioest Apple" "Spanish Lady IV")
a. "The Lovely Creature" ("Yonder sits a Lovely Creature"), broadside printed at Aldermary Churchyard by one of the Dicey/Marshall dynasty and is probably about 1760. It comes from British Library 11621 e 6, items 1 to 26.
b. "A New Song" ("Yonder Sits a Handsome Creature") broadside dated c. 1776. From British Library, item 1346 m 7, Broadsides 1 to 42, this being item 29, 3 songs of which this is the third.
c. "What care I for your golden treasures?" a single stanza learned c.1780 by John Randolph of Virginia. Taken from a letter written by John Randolph in 1822. Published in "John Randolph of Roanoke, 1773-1833: A Biography. . ." by William Cabell Bruce- 1922.
d. "Yonder Stands a Handsome Lady" was collected from the journal of the Diana, a ship harbored in New York under Captain Hay in 1819. The text is given in Hungtington's "Songs the Whalemen Sang."
e. "Madam I Am Come to Court You," from Halliwell's 1846 book, "The Nursery Rhymes of England, obtained principally from oral tradition."
f. "Twenty, Eighteen" - Sung by a carpenter at Besthorpe, Norfolk, to the Rev. J. T. Howard who learned in in 1871, and it was collected by John Graham for The Musical Herald, September, 1891. Reprinted in English County Songs edited by Lucy Etheldred Broadwood and John Alexander Fuller-Maitland, 1908.
g. "There She Stands, a Lovely Creature" from New York Games and songs of American children, collected and compared by W.W. Newell by American children, 1883.
h. "The Disdainful Lady" Sung by Harriet Dowley, of Edgmond, who knew no title to it. From Shropshire Folk-lore, a Sheaf of Gleanings - Part 2, page 552, by Charlotte Sophia Burne, Georgina Frederica Jackson, 1885.
i. "In Yonder Grove," Taken down from George Cole, quarryman, aged 76, Rundlestone, Dartmoor, 1890. Baring-Gould Ms. Ref. PC 1. 194.
j. "Here she stands, a lovely creature," sung by Washington children. From Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, Volume 37, 1886; " Song Games and Myth Dramas at Washington," by W. H. Babcock.
k. "There she stands a lovely creature-," sung by Mrs. Carrie Grover, learned c. 1887 from her mother Eliza Spinney, (born 1840) when she herself was a young girl living in Black River, Nova Scotia. From Carrie Grover's "Heritage of Songs," p.18.
l. "The Spanish Lady" Wehman Universal Songster, Volume 39 published in New York circa 1893.
m. "The (Lincolnshire) Handsome Woman" from an unknown singer in Lincolnshire reported as a footnote to another song by Ebsworth, Roxburghe, 1899. It was taken orally by Colonel F. G. Baylay, R.A.(Royal Artillery; Woolwich), and communicated to the Editor by his friend Hubert Roberts, of Boston.
n. "Madam I have gold and silver," Michigan. "Quite unexpectedly the bride's mother sang to me two verses of a courting song her mother had used to sing to her, about 1902, in the lumber woods." From Hoosier Folklore - Volumes 5-6 - Page 13, 1946.
o. "Madam I am Come For to Court You," sung by William Smith of Twyford, Hampshire in June, 1905. Collected by G.B. Gardiner; George Gardiner Manuscript Collection (GG/1/2/62)
p. "Madam, Madam, I Come a Courting," sung by Mrs. Fortey of Walton Dorset in May 1906; Henry Hammond Manuscript Collection (HAM/3/16/10).
q. "Madam I am Come a-Courting," sung by John Greening of Cuckolds' Corner, North Bridport, Dorset in May 1906. Collector: H.E.D. Hammond, Henry Hammond Manuscript Collection (HAM/3/17/18)
r. "Madam, Madam, I Come a-Courting" sung by Mrs. Elizabeth Simms, Uploders, Dorset in May 1906. Henry Hammond Manuscript Collection (HAM/3/19/5)
s. "Ripest Apples," sung by William Davis of Porlock Weir, Somerset on 7 September 1906. Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) (CJS2/9/1125).
t. "Yonder Stands a Lovely Creature"-- sung by Mrs. Cranstone of Billingshurst, Sussex about 1907, collected and transcribed by George Butterworth Manuscript Collection (GB/4/23).
u. "Yonder Sits a Spanish Lady," sung by William Shepherd of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire on 8 April, 1909. My title. From Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) (CJS2/9/2015).
v. "A Spanish Lady." A Cornwall informant quotes (Dec. 11, 1909) a version formerly heard at Colborne, Ont., which he supposes to be Irish. From Journal of American Folklore, Volume 31, 1917; "Canadian Folk-Lore from Ontario" by F.W. Waugh.
w. "Ripe is the Apple Love" collected from a Hampshire gypsy by Alice Gillington in her book of gypsy songs titled, "Songs of the Open Road," which was published 1911.
x. "Madam I have Gold and Silver," communicated in 1911 by G. C. Broadhead of Columbia, Missouri was published in Belden's "Ballads & Songs" pp. 506-507.
y. "Madam, I have come to court ye" sung by S. C. of Boston, Mass., a native of County Tyrone, Ireland was published with music in the 1912 article "Irish Folk-Song" by Phillips Barry in Journal of American Folklore, Volume 24, page 342.
z. "Madam I have come to court you" Suffolk version (Colchester) sent to Sharp by Miss Harma, May 1914, incorrectly titled Keys of Heaven. From: Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) (CJS2/10/2939).
aa. "Oh Dear, Oh (Spanish Lady)." Sung by Ethel Findlater of Orkney. Learned about 1914 from her cousin Bella who sang a chorus after every two verses, though Ethel thinks even that is too often. From School of Scottish Studies; two recordings one titled Spanish Lady; also printed in Tocher: Tales, Songs, Tradition - Issues 5-8 - Page 166; 1972.
bb. "Spanish Lady." Communicated by Miss Violet Noland, Davis, Tucker County, 1916; obtained from Mr. John Raese, who heard it sung when he was a boy. From Cox; "Folk songs of the South," 1925.
cc. "March Away," sung by David Sawyer of Ogbourne St. Andrew in County Wiltshire published Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard, 22nd January, 1916, p 2, Part 15, No. 2. Collected by Alfred Williams.
dd. "Yonder sits a pretty little creature" sung by Charles Tanner in County Oxfordshire published Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard, 22nd January, 1916, p 2, Part 15, No. 3. Collected by Alfred Williams.
ee. "Madam, I Have Gold and Silver," c. 1919. From Henry "Dutch" Gerlach who taught it before he died, during the World War I influenza epidemic, to Mr. Siemsen. 1963 Folkways Records "New York State Songs and Ballads."
ff. "Kind Miss" sung by Ann Riddell Anderson of the University of Kentucky, from The American Songbag- Carl Sandburg 1927. This is a composite and is listed under composites.
gg. "Yonder Hill There Is a Widow," sung by Mrs. Alma Kidder of Townshend, Vermont on August 23, 1930 from Vermont Folk-Songs and Ballads by Flanders, Brown, pp. 154-155.
hh."The Spanish Maiden," sung in 1931 by Mr. Clarence C. Chickering of Belding, Michigan. From: Ballads & Songs of Southern Michigan by Emelyn-Elizabeth Gardner and Geraldine Jencks Chickering, 1939.
ii. "Madam I Have Come A-Courting" (1933) as sung by by Jonathan Moses at Orford (New Hampshire); recorded by Helen Flanders on 08-24-1951. Learned in North Haven, Maine. From two archival cassettes 1933 and 1951 in the Helen Hartness Flanders Ballad Collection at Middlebury College Special Collections & Archives. The 3rd stanza is only from the 1933 recording which has a different chorus.
jj. "Yonder Comes a Heavenly Creature" sung by O. B. Campbell of Medford, Grant County, Oklahoma, 1934. From the University Studies - Volumes 32-37 - pages 356-77; 1934. Also as "Madam I Have Gold and Silver" in the Max Hunter Collection Cat. #1177 (MFH #470) as sung by O.B. Campbell, Vinita, Oklahoma on August 9, 1971.
kk. "Yonder Sits a Humble Creature." Sung by Mrs. Matilda Keene of Newberry, Fla., recorded by Alton C. Morris, 1937. (AFS979B2) From WPA field recordings in Alachua County (1936-1937 recording expedition) (S 1576, reel T86-220)
ll. "Spanish Lady" sung by Mrs. S. T. Topper, Ashland, Ohio, 1939; from Ballads and Songs from Ohio by Mary Olive Eddy, p. 222.
mm. "I Admire a Black-Eyed Man," vocal performance by Lena Bourne Fish at East Jaffrey (New Hampshire). Dated 08-26-1943. Recorded by Helen Flanders.
nn. "Daddy Addy Doodum," from a voice performance by Laura Britton at Putney, Vermont dated 01-08-1945. Learned from her mother, Jenny Sleeper, who was born in Chelsea, Vermont. From D41A - archival cassette dub, a digitized archival cassette in the Helen Hartness Flanders Ballad Collection at Middlebury College Special Collections & Archives.
oo. "I Come You a-Courting" sung by Matt Linehan of Kerry about 1948 collected by Seamus Ennis. My date, title. Text from Mainly Norfolk.
pp. "Madam, Madam, You Came Courting" sung by William Gilkie, Sambro, NS, September, 1950; from Maritime Folk Songs by Flanders.
qq. "Ower Yon Hill There Lives a Lassie," sung by Belle Stewart (1906-1997) of Blairgowrie , Perthsire in 1955. Learned from her older brother, who got it from an uncle in Perth. From: Recording Collection at School of Scottish Studies; Track ID - 60117; Original Tape ID - SA1955.036.
rr. "Twenty, Eighteen," as sung by George Townsend, Lewes, Sussex, in 1960; recorded by Brian Matthews. From: Musical Traditions MT CD 304: Come Hand to me the Glass.
ss. "Rattle on the Stovepipe," sung by LaRena Clark of Ontario c.1960; collected by Edith Fowke. From: A Family Heritage: The Story and Songs of LaRena Clark by Edith Fowke, Jay Rahn, LaRena LeBarr Clark.
tt. "Madam, I Have Come A-Courting," sung by Mrs. Arlington Fraser of Lancaster, Ontario, 1961. Collected by Edith Fowke. From Fowke's "Ring Around the Moon" pp. 122-123.
uu. "Ripest Apples," sung by Joe Jones of St Mary Cray, Kent between 1972-75. Recorded by Mike Yates. From: Musical Traditions anthology of Gypsy songs and music from South-East England, Here's Luck to a Man, 2003.
vv. "Ripest Apples" sung by Joe Cooper of Biggin Hill, Kent collected by Stephen Sedley in 1966 and Mike Yates in 1970. From: English Dance and Song - Volumes 36-37 - Page 15, 1974 by Yates. Also Stephen Sedley Sound Collection (Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, London) 17 CDA Tape Collection.
ww. "Ripest Apples," as recorded by Mabs Hall of Billingshurst, Sussex in 1987. From: VT107 Ripest Apples and on VT115CD, As I went down to Horsham. Recorded by Mike Yates.
B. "Spanish Lady" ("Spanish Lady I" also "Galway City" and "Ettrick Lady") first two stanzas rewritten from "SONG LXXXIII" in "The Frisky Songster," 1776 edition. Also titled "The Ride in London" in "The Merry Muses: A Choice Collection of Favourite Songs Gathered by Robert Burns" 1827. Two Irish arrangements without stanzas of "Madam" using the early text rewritten are Joseph Campbell's poem "Spanish Lady" c. 1915 (Spanish Lady II) and Herbert Hughes musical arrangement "Spanish Lady," 1930 (Spanish Lady V). See appendix 8E for these versions. Versions with "Madam" stanzas text date to later half of the 1800s in Greig-Duncan collection.
a. "As I Walked Up Through London City," sung by Mrs. Margaret Gillespie (1841-1910) of Glasgow, sister of Rev. Duncan about 1906; collected Duncan, version B from Greig-Duncan Collection.
b. "Edinburgh City," sung by William Wallace of Leochel-Cushnie collected by Greig about 1907, version D from Greig-Duncan Collection 4.
c. "London City," sung by John Johnstone of New Deer collected by Greig about 1907 (As I went up thro' London City) Greig-Duncan Collection 4 pp.66-71 (version E). Mistitled, with music for version F.
d. "Spanish Lady." sung by Belle Robertson of New Pitsligo (b.1841), got her songs from her mother and maternal grandmother. This is also variant of "she answered No." Collected Grieg about 1907, version I from Greig-Duncan Collection 4.
e. "Spanish Lady," sung by Mrs. Longhill Dunbar of Crimond, Aberdeenshire about 1908; b. 1855 married John Dunbar collected by Greig, version A from Greig-Duncan Collection 4.
f. "Dublin City"- sung by Miss Georgina Reid of Collyford, New Deer, married name Mrs Ironside of Tarriff ; collected by Greig about 1908; version F from Greig-Duncan Collection 4.
g. "Spanish Lady," sung by Mary Cruickshank of Aberdeenshire; collected by Greig about 1908, published in 1910 in Greig's weekly folk song column. version C from Greig-Duncan Collection 4.
h. "Twenty-Eighteen." Sung by Fred Yeldam, July 12th, 1911, and on Oct. 5th, 1911 by Mrs. Hollingsworth, Thaxted. Noted by Clive Carey. From Five English Folk Songs taken from Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Dec., 1934), pp. 130-137.
i. "Oh, Dear Oh (Spanish Lady)." Sung by Ethel Findlater of Orkney. Learned about 1914 from her cousin Bella who sang a chorus after every two verses, though Ethel thinks even that is too often. From two recordings at Collection - School of Scottish Studies, 1969.
j. "Galway City" as sung by Clancy Brothers. Recorded in 1965 and released 1966 on their "Isn't It Grand Boys" album. Tommy Makem got this from Sean O'Boyle of Armahg.
k. "Ettrick Lady," sung by The Corries from the Album: Live from Scotland Volume 2; 1975. Based on, or similar to, "Galway City" from Sean O'Boyle.
l. "The Spanish Lady," sung by Martin Howley of Fanore, northwest Clare; as recorded in singer's home, summer 1975. From "Singers and Songs of County Clare," see online at Clare County Library's Jim Carroll and Pat Mackenzie Collection.
C. "She answered No" songs; versions with stanzas primarily of "Madam" with the "No" chorus.
a1. "No Sir, No" (Yonder is a comely flower) c. 1919 from "Kentucky Mountain Songs" by Wyman and Brockway.
a2. "No Sir, No" (Yonder is a comely flower) 1928 Bradley Kincaid, "My Favorite Mountain Ballads and Old-Time Songs" cover of Wyman with stanzas from Wakefield.
b. "Oh No, No Sir, No" sung by Mrs. Mary Brown of Greene County, PA. Collected by Bayard in 1929; from Pennsylvania Songs and Legends, Korson.
c. "Yonder Comes a Heavenly Creature" sung by O.B. Campbell of Medford, OK, 1934.
d. "Madam I Have Come A-Courting" vocal performance by Jonathan Moses at Orford (New Hampshire); recorded by Helen Flanders on 08-24-1951. Learned in North Haven, Maine.
e1. "Uh, uh No," sung by Lannis Sutton of Doxy, Oklahoma, collected by Sam Eskin in 1951. From Lomax, Folk-Songs of North America, 1960.
e2. "All of her answers to me were No," recording by Peggy Seeger, Folk Songs of Courting & complaint; Folkways 1955. Similar to "Uh, uh No," sung by Lannis Sutton of Doxy, Oklahoma.
D. Composite songs, "Vandy, Vandy" and all.
a. "Seven Long Years." c. 1897. Reported by Mrs. R. D. Blacknall of Durham, with the note: "Sung by a Negro servant, Maria McCauley, presumably ex-slave of the Chapel Hill McCauleys. Heard forty-five years ago." Brown Collection volume 3, 1952.
b1. "O Hatty Bell." Sung by Mrs. Godfrey of Marion, NC on September 3, 1918 from Sharp MS
b2 "Hattie Bell" Greer MS http://omeka.library.appstate.edu/items/show/19554; no date c. 1918.
c. "Yonder Stands a Handsome Creature," sung by Jake Sowder of Callaway, Virginia on August 14, 1918. My title. Composite from Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) (CJS2/9/3136).
d. "Yankee Boys." Recorded from Able Shepherd, Bryson City, N. C about 1923. From: Some Songs and Ballads from Tennessee and North Carolina by Isabel Gordon Carter; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 46, No. 179 (Jan.- Mar., 1933), pp. 22-50.
e. "Annie Girl." From Mrs. G. V. Easley of Mississippi, who says that it was one of the most popular songs in her girlhood in Calhoun County. This is a compound of three songs, "The Drowsy Sleeper," "The Spanish Lady" ("No, Sir, No"), and "The Sailor's Return" ("The Broken Token"). From Hudson, Ballads and Songs from Mississippi, JAFL 1926.
f. "Kind Miss" sung by Ann Riddell Anderson of the University of Kentucky, from The American Songbag- Carl Sandburg 1927. Composite of Drowsy Sleep and Madam.
g. "For Gold and Silver" sung by Aunt Mary of Kentucky before 1938. From Marie Campbell "Survivals of Old Folk Drama in the Kentucky Mountains" in The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. LI, No. 199, 1938.
h. "Vandy Vandy" collected by Manly Wade Wellman c. 1946 in Moore County, North Carolina, published in 1953; arranged Bob Coltman.
E. English Traditional- Variants from Tristan da Cunha
a. "Yonder stands a handsome creature," sung by Henry Green of Tristan da Cunha about 1938. From: Munch, "Song Tradition of Tristan da Cunha (1970) pp.90-93 (version A).
b. "Yonder sits a handsome lady," sung by Frances Repetto of Tristan da Cunha about 1938. From: Munch, Song Tradition of Tristan da Cunha (1970) pp.90-93 (version B).
[The English courting song, "Madam, I Have Come to Court You," [hereafter "Madam"] features a humorous dialogue between an aged homely suitor and a young comely maid. Later versions of this courting song are similar to, or derived from the two early English print versions of the mid-1700s[1]. "Madam" was well-known in the UK and North America[2] and has a number of several specific variants which are related but have new stanzas and choruses. The seven related variants (generally with less than half of their stanzas from Madam) have been added as appendices A-G (see attached to this page). Two of the appendices (8B. The Courting Case and 8D. The Quaker's Courtship, or, Quaker's Wooing) only have the opening line in common but the dialogue and setting are very similar to Madam and they may be based on Madam. Some versions of "Madam" have the 8A "she answered No" chorus while others have the opening of 8E. The Spanish Lady.
Because variants of "Madam, I Have Come to Court You" have the "ripest apple" stanza and occasionally use the "wheel of fortune" identifying stanza, I've selected this dialogue ballad to follow the Died for Love appendices. With a wide variety of titles and mixed texts-- this ballad, much like Died for Love, is frequently misunderstood. According to Steve Gardham, the Roud Index master title of Roud 542 is "Ripest Apple[3]." Although a few UK versions have been titled "Ripest Apple," the title clearly should be named after the 2nd stanza opening line, "Madam, I am/have come to court you" since titles based on the first line of the first stanza would resemble "The Lovely Creature" or "Yonder Sits a Handsome Creature" which could be confusing[4]. The Ripest Apple stanza is usually an end stanza that shows the fleeting value of beauty with the passage of time.
The dialogue of this ballad begins after an older, unattractive but wealthy man spies a young lovely woman sitting or standing by the wayside who he immediately decides to court for her comely features. After inquiring if he may court her she flatly refuses saying "I must and I will have a handsome husband, Whether he be rich or poor[5]." The man counters with "Madam I've got gold and treasure, etc." and she replies, "What care I for gold and treasure, etc" and ends with "So I have but a handsome man." The man replies with the "Beauty it will fade" and/or the "ripest apple" stanza which symbolizes the fleeting nature of beauty. Sometimes in the end section (see broadsides, below) there's a pithy line that begins "After cowslips there comes roses/After night there comes day" which similarly shows the fickle nature of love with the passing of time. The last stanza of the 1776 broadside, "A New Song," shows that the maid has given her heart and body away but her love is now gone. In some rare later versions he is a sailor who wears the tarry trousers. This end stanza suggests that the maid's heart is predisposed and offers an alternative explanation for her rejection of the wealthy suitor. This is similar to the plot of the abandoned lover commonly found in the "Died for Love" songs.
The courtship of a young woman by an older man is similarly found in several of the appendices, particularly 8D. The Quaker's Courtship, or, Quaker's Wooing and 8G. Madam, I Have Gold and Silver (Folk Plays). Since the history of the 8G, the folk plays, goes back many centuries and some of the courting or wooing plays have stanzas of Madam-- there has been speculation that Madam perhaps originated from these folk plays. In his article[6], "Mummers' Wooing Plays in England," Charles Read Baskervill says, "The constant element in the wooing plays of England is the wooing of the "Lady" by a man who is usually represented as old. In all in which the wooing is more than a slight fragment he is rejected for another suitor, who is usually a young man and the leader of the games. . ." Although no record that stanzas of "Madam" exist in a play until the late 1800s[7], it has been suggested that the dialogue originated from a folk or mummers' play from wooing customs "surviving from ancient pagan rituals in European folk lore[8]." Steve Gardham's comment echoes those by Baskervill, "I have a theory that 'Madam, Madam' is one of those rare beasts that did not first appear in print. It is typical of the dialogues that were performed on village stages in costume in rural England and this could have been its origin, like a few others of similar type, some dating back several centuries[9]." The stages mentioned by Gardham would be represented by performances of the Elizabethan Stage Jig of the late 1500s and early 1600s. Further evidence of the archaic wooing play is presented by Baskervill who gives this portion of dialogue from the Induction of The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare, 1593):
This fellow I remember
Since once he played a farmer’s eldest son.
'Twas where you wooed the gentlewoman so well.
The farmer and the farmer's son were standard characters in certain plough plays performed around Christmas time (usually the first Monday after Old Christmas). The quote from Shakespeare indicates the wooing or plough play was active in England at that time (1593). A number of plough plays have been collected in England (Plough Jagg’s Play: Bassingham- 1952, E.H. Rudkin) and North America (Kentucky 1930, see: Marie Campbell's "Survivals of Old Folk Drama in the Kentucky Mountains," JAFL, 1938) which have stanzas of "Madam." These stanzas, usually just the two "gold and silver" stanzas, may have been presumed to have originated from the archaic English wooing plays or Elizabethan Stage Jigs but such evidence is wanting. Recent analyses by Peter Millington and others suggest that introduction of stanzas of "Madam" into these "wooing plays" (called "Quack Doctor Plays" by Millington) is recent rather than archaic and certainly no earlier than the printed broadsides of the 1760s. So it's likely the "Madam" stanzas were incorporated into the "plough plays" by the mid-1800s (for details see 8G. Madam I have Gold and Silver).
Baskerville's depiction of the "wooing play" as an older man attempting to court a young maid, who rejects him usually for a younger man, very accurately depicts the early print versions of "Madam." Certainly the "rejected suitor" theme is not new and early examples include "The Scornful Maid" penned by Thomas Robins in the late 1600s published by Phillip Brooksby. In these ballads the suitor or wooer is flatly rejected by the maid. In some of the "Madam" variants this rejection may be, in part, due to a younger, attractive lover, who is sometimes a sailor.
In his book, The Elizabethan Jig, Baskervill explores an alternative venue for the performance of dialogue songs in the wooing play: the Elizabethan Stage Jig, a short dialogue song and dance performed by two or three people representing various character roles. Baskerville says, "much of the dialogue and even some of the whole scenes [of the wooing play] result from the combination of this ritual [Elizabethan jig] with early wooing songs no longer extant, the whole being modified from time to time by new borrowings." He adds, "the folk plays borrowed from songs, jigs and plays, probably as performed in feasts, wakes and fairs."
Whether "Madam" was performed in part or whole as an Elizabethan Stage Jig is speculation-- just as the role of "Madam" in the early folk "wooing plays" is speculation. An early history is undocumented-- the documented print versions of the 1760s and 1770s, which to my knowledge have never been published or made available, follow.
* * * *
The earliest extant version of "Madam," titled "The Lovely Creature" ("Yonder sits a Lovely Creature"), was printed at Aldermary Churchyard by one of the Dicey/Marshall dynasty and is dated about 1760[10]. It comes from British Library 11621 e 6, items 1 to 26, which are a variety of songsters and is mostly material sung at the various London pleasure gardens such as Vauxhall. Most of the songsters are the latest offerings and have about 20 songs in each songster. This one is from item 11, The Tom Tit Part 1 of 17 songs and this is the 4th song, titled "The Lovely Creature[11]." Here is the text:
Yonder sits a lovely creature,
Who is she? I do not know,
I'll go court her for her features,
Whether her answer be "Ay" or "no."
"Madam, I am come to court you,
If your favor I can gain,
Madam if you kindly use me,
May be I may call again."
Well done," said she, "Thou art a brave fellow,
If your face I'll ne'er see more,
I must and I will have a handsome young fellow,
Altho' it keep me mean and poor.
"Madam I have rings and diamonds,
Madam I have got houses and lands
Madam I've got a world of treasure,
All shall be at your command."
What care I for rings and diamonds?
What care I for houses and lands?
What care I for worlds of treasure?
So I have but a handsome man."
Madam, you talk much of beauty,
Beauty it will fade away,
The prettiest flower that grows in summer,
Will decay and fall away.
First spring cowslips then spring daisies,
First comes night love, then comes day,
First comes an old love then comes a new one,
So we pass the time away.
The second print version, a broadside titled "A New Song," is two stanzas longer and is from British Library, item 1346 m 7, Broadsides 1 to 42, this being item 29, which is a group of 3 songs of which this is the third. Here is Gardham's description of the volume[12]:
Large sheet music-size volume containing unusual broadsides, some set out as mid-18th century broadsheets, others as in the Brereton style of several slips together on one sheet. Most take a double page up and look as if they are enlarged copies of originals or else specially printed matter for collectors as most are very well finished and printed. Nearly all are fully dated with day/month/year 1775/6. No imprint though although the dating is very useful.
A New Song ("Yonder Sits a Handsome Creature" or "Madam I am Come a-Wooing[13]") dated c. 1776.
Yonder sits a handsome creature,
What she is I do not know,
But I'll go court her for her feature,
If her answer be not, "no."
"Madam, I am come a wooing,
If I can your favor gain,
And if you make me kindly welcome,
I perhaps will come again."
"Set down you're kindly welcome,
If I never see you more,
But I must and I will have a handsome husband,
Whether he be rich or poor."
"Madam I've got gold and treasure,
Madam I've got house and land
Madam I've got rings and jewels,
And all will be at your command."
What care I for gold and treasure,
What care I for house and land
What care I for rings and jewels,
If I had but a handsome man."
Madam you have much of beauty,
Which is a thing that soon will fade,
For the brightest flower in the summer,
Is the flower that soonest fades.
After cowslips there comes roses,
After night there comes day,
After a false love there comes a true one,
And so we pass the times away.
Ripest apples are the soonest rotten
Hottest love is the soonest cold
Young men's love is soonest forgotten
Maids take care be not too bold.
He that has my heart a-keeping,
O that he had my body too,
For I shall spoil my eyes with weeping,
Crying, "Alas! what shall I do?"
The ending of "A New Song" is reminiscent of Died for Love: A maid falls in love with a false love and after they become lovers he abandons her and she is no longer a maid. He has her heart and had her body too-- but he is gone. The warning to all maids is taken from the Ripest Apple stanza[14]:
Young men's love is soonest forgotten
Maids take care be not too bold.
This message and the ending are delivered by a third party with a moral equivalent of the Died for Love ballads and songs. There is a disconnect between the message delivered by the rejected older suitor and the ending which, although similar, has shifted from the aged suitor to the third person or a narrator. The lack of a cohesive story line makes this courting song seem like a song that is simply about the rejection of the old unappealing suitor by a young beautiful woman who wants not money and possessions but a handsome man. Although her craving for beauty is shallow her rejection of material wealth is not. It shows a confidence of her expressed desires. At the end when the rejected suitor tries to convince her of the temporary value of beauty it seems his argument has fallen on deaf ears-- the maid will have none of it. His argument is in itself contradictory for he desires the very thing which is transient- the maid's beauty (her features). Few versions demonstrate both the suitor and maid's desire for beauty as well as Greig/Duncan B when the maid responds:
4. Young man you think much of beauty
But that is a flower will soon decay.
The fairest flower in all the garden,
Soon will fade and droop away.
The shift to third person or a narrator at the end of the 1776 broadside proves that not only is the aged suitor rejected but the maid's handsome man, who sometimes is a sailor boy, has rejected her as well-- an ironic twist.
This theme of the homely or old suitor rejected by the lovely young maid who only wants a handsome man and the consequences thereof were consistently established by the two mid-1700s English print versions (see above), "The Lovely Creature" and "A New Song." Subsequently, years later, the song has undergone a number of changes-- new added text, new choruses and new settings-- while still retaining the first few core stanzas or theme. The following revisions are listed under appendices A-G. In one revision of the ballad, after it came to North America, the old suitor became an old Quaker and the title is known as "The Quaker's Courtship" or "The Quaker's Wooing." In the UK a new chorus was added and it became "Twenty, Eighteen," a counting song named after the first words of the new chorus (this variant is sometimes titled "Ripest Apple" after the "Ripest Apple" stanza). Another group of related revisions titled "The Spanish Lady[15]," "The Ettrick Lady[16]," "Galway City[17]" or "Dublin City[18]" use the "Madam" stanzas attached to the opening stanzas of a 1776 bawdy song, albeit rewritten. There are at least five distinct uses of the rewritten "Spanish Lady" opening, some of which are songs which are related to "Madam" but all feature a maid called "The Spanish Lady." A version of The Spanish Lady sung by Frank Harte that he called, "Madam, I'm a Darling" has the added "Wheel of Fortune" identifying stanza as a second chorus[19]. A different Scottish version popular with the Stewart family of Blairgowrie is "Ower Yon Hill There Lives a Lassie." In the US a similar courting song titled "Courting Case" was sung by a wooer offering a farm and a horse to his intended wife instead of "gold and silver." A North Carolina composite version was collected by Manly Wade Wellman which he titled "Vandy, Vandy" and published in 1953. A children's game song variant used in a format similar to plough plays and later titled, "There Stands a Lady on the Mountain," was popular in the UK in the late 1800s and has more recently[20] become a "skipping" song. In the US and Canada similar children's songs and traditions were found. Other similar dialogue songs such as "Oh No John" or "No Sir" share the theme and sometimes stanzas of Madam as established in the 1st stanza of the "Madam" ("Whether she answers Yes or No") where the maid answers "No" to a series of queries by the wooer. The "she answers No" songs sometimes have stanzas of "Madam" with the "No" chorus[21]. Despite the variety of the "Madam, I Have Come to Court You" variants and appendices they can all be traced to a similar courting theme and usually have part of the original text or at least the line or opening stanza.
In order to separate the various versions based on, or similar to, "Madam" which are clearly different[22], a number of appendices have been created:
8A. "Oh No, John," "No Sir" and "she answered No."
8B. The Courting Case (Courting Cage); "O Miss, I Have A Very Fine Farm,"
8C. On a Mountain Stands a Lady (Children's game songs)
8D. The Quaker's Courtship, or, Quaker's Wooing
8E. The Spanish Lady ("Dublin City" "Madam, I'm a Darling" or "Chester City," "Galway City," "Ettrick Lady") All Spanish Lady variants (Five basic types).
8F. Come My Little Roving Sailor ("Roving Sailor")
8G. Madam I have Gold and Silver (Folk Plays)
Each of these appendices will briefly be covered here. Since there is overlapping with composite versions, any version with a number (approximately half[23]) of stanzas of Madam will be listed here (see list at the top of this page). For example, the Scottish versions of "Spanish Lady" have one or two stanzas of The Spanish Lady followed by stanzas of "Madam"-- so these would be versions of Madam, whereas versions of 8D. Quaker's Courtship have the first line in common and one similar but different stanza found in Madam. Quaker's Courtship may have been based on Madam but it is made up of different courting stanzas so versions of Quaker's Courtship are found only under 8D. The same is true of 8B. The Courting Case which has no core stanzas of "Madam" as established by the two 1760s English broadsides. Both "The Quaker's Courtship" and "The Courting Case" may have been based on "Madam" but they are different songs and cannot be grouped together since they have no stanzas in common.
* * * *
There are a number of significant versions of "Madam" from North America as well as a traditional stanza from "Madam, I Have Come to Court You" which dates this song to the late 1700s in the US. In 1822 Congressman John Randolph (1773-1833) of Virginia wrote his niece and asked if she had heard a ballad with the following verse that he had heard as a child[24]:
What care I for your golden treasures?
What care I for your house and land?
What care I for your costly pleasures?
So as I get but a handsome man.
The first full US version, "Yonder Stands a Handsome Lady" was collected from the journal of the Diana, a ship harbored in New York under Captain Hay in 1819. Here's the text from Hungtington's "Songs the Whalemen Sang":
Yonder stands a handsome lady
Who she is I do not know
Shall I yon and court her for her beauty
What says you madam yes or no.
Madam I have gold and silver
Madam I have house and land
Madam I have a world of treasures
And all shall be at your command
What care I for your gold and silver
What care I for your house and land
What care I for your world of treasures
All I want is a handsome man.
Madam, do not count on beauty
Beauty is a flower that will soon decay
The brightest flower in the midst of summer
In the fall it will fade away.
The sweetest apple soon is rotten
The hottest love now soon is cold
A young man's word is soon forgotten
The coffin is the end of young and old.
A man may drink and not be drunken
A man may fight and not be slain
A man may court a handsome lady,
And be welcome there again.
The verses are standard except the last verse which is similarly found in Barnyards of Delgaty. In his 1846 book, "The Nursery Rhymes of England, obtained principally from oral tradition," Halliwell gives this English version:
“MADAM, I am come to court you,
If your favour I can gain.”
“Ah, ah!” said she, “you are a bold fellow,
If I e'er see your face again!"
“Madam, I have rings and diamonds,
Madam, I have houses and land,
Madam, I have a world of treasure,
All shall be at your command.”
“I care not for rings and diamonds,
I care not for houses and lands,
I care not for a world of treasure,
So that I have but a handsome man.”
“Madam, you think much of beauty,
Beauty hasteneth to decay,
For the fairest of flowers that grow in summer
Will decay and fade away
Although missing the opening stanza, this short version has many of the core stanzas. The 1883 nursery rhyme published by Newell that he collected from children of New York City is very similar. Both can be compared to the 1886 version collected by Babcock from children in Washington D.C. Other children's versions have been collected both here and abroad which are used in children's play, games and as rope skipping banter.
"Madam, I have/Am Come to Court You" is a humorous dialogue found in North America, the British Isles and the British colony Tristan da Cunha. It is widely know both as a song (ballad), as a children's song (game), and is associated with the older tradition of the mummer's wooing plays (Recruiting Sergeant play) which have collected in the Eastern Midlands (Lincolnshire) and in Appalachia (Kentucky). These performance by local farmers, landowners, farm servants and laborers were called plough plays and performed around Christmas (also the first Monday after "Old Christmas" or Plough Monday).
Versions of "Madam" date to at least the mid-1700s in Britain and to 1780 in Virginia in the US.
* * * *
The Roud 542 master title for "Madam" is "Ripest Apples." The earliest extant stanza of Ripest Apple is found in the c.1776 broadside, "A New Song":
Ripest apples are the soonest rotten
Hottest love is the soonest cold
Young men's love is soonest forgotten
Maids take care be not too bold.
Several short versions titled, "The Ripest of Apples,"were published in the early 1900s which have different stanzas, not associated with "Madam." For details see 7V. The Ripest Apple (Ripest of Apples). The earliest extant traditional version of Madam titled "Ripest Apples," was sung by William Davis of Porlock Weir, Somerset on 7 September, 1906 (Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection at Clare College, Cambridge; CJS2/9/1125).
Ripest Apples- sung by William Davis of Porlock Weir, Somerset, 1906.
Ripest apples soon does a rotten
Young woman's beauty soon does decay,
You pick a flower all in the morning
Until at night it withers away.
Madam I'm a come a-courting
O madam I have house and land;
If I don't follow a world full of treasure
If I could only get a handsome man
So I tucked her up in that very Live chamber
And there we laid all on the bed
And there we laid all cuddled together
And the very next morning, I made her my bride.
This short corrupt version only has one standard stanza and half of the standard "Ripest apple" stanza. Davis last stanzas is similar to some variants of "Oh No John." In 1911 another version of "Madam" was titled after the Ripest Apple stanza. It was collected from a Hampshire gypsy by Alice Gillington in her book of gypsy songs titled, "Songs of the Open Road." Here's the text:
Ripe is the Apple Love
Ripe is the apple love, that soon will be rotten, love,
Hot is the love that will soon be cold,
Young man's beauty will soon be forgotten,
Maids take care be not too bold.
"O madam, O madam, I have gold and silver,
Madam, O madam, I have houses and land;
Madam, O madam, I've a world of treasure,
And to be at your command!"
What care I for the world of treasure,
What care I for the houses and land?
What care I for rings and silver,
So all I gain is a handsome man?
Handsome men are out of fashion!
Young women's beauty will not stay!
like the fairest flower in the midst of summer
It will die and fade away.
The "Ripest Apple" stanza is not present in some versions of "Madam" and usually when it is present it's an end stanza which is part of the wooer's dialogue describing the transient nature of beauty. According to the principles of titling[25], if the "Ripest apple" stanza is the first stanza and opening line the song, it may be titled "Ripest Apple" by the collector. However, the Roud master title for "Madam" became "Ripest Apple" presumably after several UK versions in the 1960s and 70s. Subsequently versions of "Madam" with the Ripest Apple stanza where sometimes referred to as versions "Ripest Apple." Here is another version from the 1980s properly titled Ripest Apples that was collected from Mabs Hall of Billingshurst, Sussex[26]:
Ripest Apples
Ripest apples soon gets rotten,
Hottest love it soon gets cold.
Young man's love is soon forgotten.
Since the girls have been so bold.
Twenty, eighteen, sixteen, fourteen.
Twelve, ten, eight, six, four, two, none.
Nineteen, seventeen, fifteen, thirteen.
Eleven, nine, seven, five, three and one.
Though I never went to college, but I heard the poet say:
Twenty, eighteen, sixteen, fourteen, twelve, ten, eight, six, four, two, none.
The "Twenty eighteen" chorus is one of the fundamental choruses associated with Madam. Several important early versions are titled after the chorus[27] and it is also attach to other variants of the Madam family. The texts of individual versions of "Madam" listed at the top of this page will be found under either 8. US and Canada versions or 8. British and other versions. The main variations are listed as appendices.
* * * *
The courted female is sometimes named "The Spanish Lady" which is covered in detail in appendix 8E, The Spanish Lady. In 1912 Joseph Campbell published two stanzas of The Spanish Lady that he collected from tradition in Donegal about 1911 in his play "Judgment: A Play in Two Acts." The two traditional stanzas are:
As I walked down thro' Dublin City
At the hour of twelve in the night,
Who should I see but a Spanish lady
Washing her feet by candlelight.
First she washed them, and then she dried them
Over a fire of amber coal:
Never in all my life did I see
A maid so neat about the sole!
The lineage of these two stanzas of "Spanish Lady" provide the opening for some versions of "Madam" collected in the UK in the early 1900s. From these two stanzas Joseph Campbell wrote his poem titled, The Spanish Lady, which entered tradition and became a popular Irish song. An antecedent of the two stanzas collected by Campbell is found in the erotic folksong collection of the late 18th century, "The Frisky Songster." The 1776 edition is found online in the Jack Horntip Collection. The remainder of the bawdy song is not applicable to the evolution of the stanzas which become "The Spanish Lady." It was first printed circa 1770 in London, and reportedly also in Dublin. Reprint copies include the Bodleian, Harding Collection; (1802), Kinsey-ISR Library and "The Merry Muses: A Choice Collection of Favourite Songs Gathered by Robert Burns" in 1827 where it's titled, "The Ride in London," with nearly the same exact text: https://books.google.com/books?id=XZVkAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA115&dq=%22AS+I+went+through+London+city%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi3u-K_1MzV
In 1930 Herbert Hughes published a new text using the first two traditional stanzas as his opening. Both Hughes arrangement and Campbell's poem have no stanzas in common with "Madam" although they have been combined and sung with the standard Madam choruses (Twenty Eighteen/Wheel of Fortune). Here are five specific variants and uses of the Spanish Lady, some are used in these Madam courting songs:
Spanish Lady I: The opening first and second stanzas are similar to or derived from the 1770s bawdy song, The Ride in London, which has been reworked with "The Spanish Lady" replacing the "damsel pretty." These two stanzas are followed by stanzas of "Madam" sometimes with the "Twenty-Eighteen" chorus and/or other choruses. See Greig-Duncan for Scottish examples collected c.1907. There are other versions with the archaic opening stanzas which have no stanzas of Madam and are not covered here (See 8D. Spanish Lady).
Spanish Lady II: The Spanish Lady as found in "No Sir," "Oh No, John" and "she answered No." She is the daughter of a Spanish merchant or Spanish sailor or captain who told the Spanish lady to say "No" to all advances. She is not named "Spanish Lady" in most versions. There are three versions that use the opening stanzas of Spanish Lady I which tie the "she answered No" song more closely with Spanish Lady (see 8D, C versions).
Spanish Lady III: The Spanish Lady found as the poem of the same title by Irish poet Joseph Campbell based off the first two stanzas he collected of Spanish Lady I. Campbell's poem is sung and has entered tradition and is sometime sung with the "Twenty-Eighteen" chorus and/or other choruses including the Hughes version chorus. Campbell's text with Hughes chorus became the popular 1960s UK standard version sung by so many UK recording artists-- even recently-- and remains the popular version of Spanish Lady.
Spanish Lady IV: The name "Spanish Lady" is found replacing "lovely creature" in a number of versions including children's game songs. Examples include "Here sits a Spanish lady" [JAF, Ontario, 1909 children's song] and Wehman's "Spanish Lady" printed in Universal Songster No. 39. See also "Spanish Lady" in Cox, Folk Songs of the South, 1925 and the version collected by Eddy.
Spanish Lady V: An arrangement with some new text of Spanish Lady for piano and voice by Irish composer Herbert Hughes. It uses the first two stanzas (1911) supplied by Joseph Campbell from tradition. Hughes text also has entered tradition. Some versions combine Hughes version with Campell's ending stanza (see Dubliners, also Clancy Brothers).
There is no evidence when the 1770s bawdy song, titled "Ride in England" by Burns, was rewritten and the "damsel pretty" became the "Spanish lady" but it must have been shortly after the bawdy song was printed. Versions with the first two stanzas reworked followed by stanzas of "Madam" have been collected in Scotland (also Orkney), England and Ireland. Most of the Irish versions use only stanzas from Campbell's poem or Hughes' arrangement (sometimes the songs are combined) and are not found under Madam (see: 8D. Spanish Lady for those versions). One fairly recent Irish version "Galway City" and its derivative "Ettrick Lady" have stanzas of Madam and will be covered here. Another recent adaptation "Madam, I'm a Darling" (Chester City) also has a stanza of Madam.
In this Scottish versions the first and/or second stanzas of "Spanish Lady I" are used and are followed by stanzas of "Madam." These versions of "Spanish Lady I" are all found under Madam's B, The Spanish Lady I (listed above). Here's a good example:
Spanish Lady - sung by Mary Cruickshank of Aberdeenshire; collected by Greig about 1907 and published in 1910.
As I went up thro' Edinburgh city,
Half-past twelve o'clock at night,
There I spied a Spanish lady
Dressing herself with candle light.
She had a basin full of water
And a towel into her hand.
Five gold rings on every finger,
Like an angel she did stand.
Oh she was a charming creature,
What she is I do not know.
But I'll go court her for her beauty,
Whether she be high or low.
"Madam, I am come to court you,
If your favour I could gain.
If you gently entertain me
Maybe I'll come back again."
"Sit ye doon, ye're hearty welcome,
Whether ye come back or no.
All I want is a handsome young man
Whether he be high or low."
"Madam, ye talk much of beauty,
That's a flower will soon decay.
The fairest flower in all the summer,
When winter comes it doth fade away."
That the Spanish lady is a central figure in many different variants of Madam and its extended family appears to be no coincidence. Because no print antecedent with the "Spanish Lady" opening stanzas has been yet found, it suggests an early dissemination from an unknown print source or sources and/or traditional variants which became attached to stanzas of Madam in the late 1700s or early 1800s.
* * * *
8C. "Quaker's Courtship" or "Quaker's Wooing" are two popular titles of an American adaptation of "Madam" of unknown origin which was either printed in the UK but disappeared or was probably written based on "Madam" after it came to New England[28]. Although the opening line is held in common[29], "Quaker's Courtship" versions feature a similar dialogue with different banter. The title appears to have stemmed from this and other stanzas that mention that the wooer is a Quaker:
6. She) Yes I know you are a flatterer
Fall liddle li dum diddle lalla da
But I never will marry a quaker
Fal liddle li dum diddle lalla da.
This stanza from a New York version dated circa 1850 comes from the Stevens-Douglass MS as printed in the Thompson's book, "A Pioneer Songster." The earliest extant version dated 1835 (no title given) is from an Autograph Album once owned by John Niblo of Poplar Ridge, New York which was reprinted in "Early Cayuga Days: Folk lore and local history of a New York county" by Dorothy E. Snow (1940).
Why is the wooer represented by a Quaker? In the article "Quaker Knowledge of Quaker Folklore" in the Keystone Quarterly (vol. 4) 1959, Maurice Mook found only two examples among over 100 Quakers surveyed. One version's source was from outside the group while the other informant refused to sing the song they knew[30]. Mook concludes that the Quakers are not the source but the Quaker title comes from outside the group. The answer about the mysterious Quaker name may be garnered by a study of the Quaker's history. The Quaker's were a sect founded in England by George Fox about 1650. Fox himself came to America several times and despite early persecution, the Quakers were firmly established in Jersey, Rhode Island and by Quaker William Penn in Pennsylvania by the later part of the 1600s. In the early years of the movement "Quaker" was a term used by outsiders to convey contempt. The religion itself, although eschewing some Christian principles is outside the fundamental Christian denominations. It appears that this is the stereotypical image portrayed in the "Quaker's Courtship" songs of early America. The Quaker in the song is a older man doting on a young attractive maid who is not interested in him.
Although no early date can accurately be given based on empirical evidence, The Quaker's Courtship, was probably crafted from Madam during the latter part of the Colonial Period and certainly no later than the early 1800s. The following text, titled "The Quaker's Wooing," is the earliest complete recovered "Quaker" version[31]:
The Quaker's Wooing
1. He) Madam I have come a courting
Hum hum hi ho hum
More for pleasure than for sporting
Hum hum hi ho hum
2. she) I'll go away 'tis my desire
Fal liddle li dum diddle lalla da
For you may sit and court the fire
Fal liddle li dun diddle lalla da
3. He) I've a ring worth forty shillings
Hum hum hi ho hum;
Thou shalt have it if thou art willing
Hum hum hi ho hum.
4. She) What care I for gold or money
Fal liddle li dum diddle lalla da
I'll have a man that will call me honey
Fal liddle li dum diddle lalla da.
5. He) Madam I know thou art tall and slender
Hum hum hi ho hum
And I know thy heart is tender
Hum hum hi ho hum.
6. She) Yes I know you are flatterer
Fall liddle li dum diddle lalla da
But I never will marry a quaker
Fal liddle li dum diddle lalla da.
7. He) Must I give up my religion?
Oh dear oh dear me;
Must I be a Presbyterian?
Oh dear oh dear me.
8. She) Cheer up cheer up my loving brother
Fal liddle li dum diddle lalla da
If you can't catch one fish catch another,
Fal liddle li dum diddle lalla da.
9. He) Must I leave without a token
Oh dear oh dear me
Must I leave with my heart broken,
Oh dear oh dear me.
10. She) Run right home and tell your daddy
Fal liddle li dum diddle lalla da
That I never will you marry
Fal liddle li dum diddle lalla da.
The opening line is the only line strictly held in common (see: first line, 2nd stanza) with the "Madam" broadsides. The dialogue is similar but the Quaker variants lack any common stanzas like the Ripest Apple type stanzas found at the end of "Madam." Clearly the Quaker's Courtship is similar to "Madam," both are dialogue songs about a young maid who rejects the courtship of an older wealthy man. Because no stanzas of "Quaker's Courtship" are held in common with "Madam" and "Quaker's Courtship" is a different form, the conclusion must be that they are different songs and cannot be grouped together. The similarities are enough to include "Quaker's Courtship" as an appendix of "Madam."
* * * *
Another group of courting songs titled, "Oh No, John," "No Sir" and "she answered No" have borrowed stanzas from "Madam" or some rare versions simply have added the "No" chorus to stanzas of "Madam." Usually the modern "she answered No" songs such as "Oh No, John," and "No Sir" are made ups of mostly different stanzas not common in "Madam." "Oh No, John," and "No Sir" have been lumped under the Roud number, 146. To show their relatedness by borrowing as well as its similar theme, I've designated the "Oh No, John," "No Sir" and "she answered No" songs as 8A, an appendix of Madam. The "she answered No" courting songs are about a young lady who always answers, "No" to any request made by the suitor. The theme and form of "Oh No, John," or "No Sir," date back to the 1600s[32]. In one common modern stanza the wooed maid is the daughter of a Spanish merchant or Captain who tells his daughter to say "No" any advances by young men while he is gone sailing o'er the sea. The maid therefore is a "Spanish Lady" and the inclusion of this stanza is seemingly related to "The Spanish Lady" songs (see: Bell Robertson's version). The maid gives different "No" answers which forms the chorus including "No sir no," "Oh No John (No John No)," as well as third person responses such as "She always answers, No" and "All her answers to me were No." Other modern versions of "No Sir" are similar to Mary Wakefield's 1881 published arrangement titled "No Sir" which has also been titled "Spanish Merchant's Daughter[33]." These versions feature a young Spanish lady who is instructed by her father, a Spanish merchant, captain or sailor, to answer "No" to all requests by any suitor when he is gone. Eventually during the courting dialogue, the suitor asks questions that, even with a "no" response, help him to win the daughter's hand. The first stanza of "Madam" from c.1760 is similar because it sets up a possible "no" response:
Yonder sits a lovely creature,
Who is she? I do not know,
I'll go court her for her features,
Whether her answer be "Aye" or "No."
Versions of "Madam" do not usually have the "Oh No, John" or "No sir" choruses. Versions of the modern "No" songs have frequently shared stanzas of "Madam" as seen in Sharp's sanitized version of "Oh No, John[34]":
Oh No John
1. On yonder hill there stands a creature,
Who she is I do not know
I will court her for her beauty,
She must answer yes or no
Oh no John, No John, No John, No!
2. My father was a Spanish Captain,
Went to sea a month ago
First he kissed me, then he left me,
Bid me always answer no
Oh no John, No John, No John, No!
3. Oh madam in your face is beauty,
On your lips red roses grow
Will you take me for your lover,
Madam answer yes or no
Oh no John, No John, No John, No!
4. Oh madam I will give you jewels,
I will make you rich and free
I will give you silken dresses,
Madam will you marry me?
Oh no John, No John, No John, No!
5. Oh madam since you are so cruel,
And that you do scorn me so
If I may not be your lover,
Madam will you let me go?
Oh no John, No John, No John, No!
6. Then I will stay with you forever,
If you will not be unkind
Madam I have vowed to love you,
Would you have me change my mind?
Oh no John, No John, No John, No!
7. Oh hark, I hear the churchbells ringing,
Will you come and be my wife?
Or dear madam, have you settled,
To live single all your life?
Oh no John, No John, No John, No!
The first stanza of Sharp's composite is held in common with "Madam" while the suitor figures out by stanza 5 how the make the "no" responses work to his favor. Stanzas 3 and 4 resemble stanzas of "Madam"-- albeit rewritten ones. Sharp's composite became very popular and was introduced to American audiences by The Fuller Sisters and numerous reprints of the music with Sharp's text. The first print version of "No Sir" was published in 1881 in "The Peterson magazine," Philadelphia. The print version was a traditional song that was arranged by English musician and vocalist Mary Wakefield from a text obtained from American governess working in England. Here's Wakefield's print text of "No Sir" from: "Songs and Ballads: 96 Songs - Words and Music W.F. Shaw," dated 1882. It's also found in Shaw's "Gems of Minstrel Song" also dated 1882 and later in Delaney's Song book (New York).
No Sir!
Words and Music Arr. by A. M. Wakefield
1. Tell me one thing, tell me truly,
Tell me why you scorn me so?
Tell me why when asked a question,
You will always answer no?
CHORUS: No sir! No sir! No sir! No-- sir!
No sir! No sir! No sir! No.
2. My father was a Spanish merchant
And before he went to sea,
He told me to be sure and answer No!
To all you said to me.
CHORUS
3. If I was walking in the garden,
Plucking flow'rs all wet with dew,
Tell me will you be offended,
If I walk and talk with you?
CHORUS
4. If when walking in the garden,
I should ask you to be mine,
and should tell you that I loved you,
would you then my heart decline?
CHORUS
Wakefield, a native of Kendal, UK took her version from an American governess working in the UK and arranged it. Her reworked traditional version entered tradition itself and was collected a number of times[35]. Clearly, versions of "No Sir," some with the Spanish merchant or captain are much older both in North America and the UK than the 1882 version by Wakefield which has no stanzas in common with "Madam" but common stanzas can be found in one of the earliest traditional versions sung by Bell Robertson of Pitsligo, Aberdeenshire:
1. Walking down through London city,
Between twelve and one at night,
There I saw a Spanish lady
Wash herself by candle light.
CHORUS: She said Aye, no, no, no,
She said Aye, no, no, no,
She said Aye, no, no, no,
Still the lady answered No.
2 Wi' a basin full of water
And a towel in her hand.
And a candle on the table,
Like an angel she did stand.
CHORUS
3 Madam, I am come to court you,
If I could your favour gain.
And gin ye mak me kindly welcome
Maybe I come back again.
CHORUS
4. My father he's a wealthy merchant
He has lately gone from home
He left me strict directions
Never to say Aye to none.
CHORUS
5. Saw ye ever a copper kettle,
Marriet with a brazen pan,
Saw ye ever a Spanish Lady,
Would refuse an Englishman?
CHORUS
This Scottish composite version of "Spanish Lady" and "lady answered No" was sung by Bell Robertson of New Pitsligo (b.1841) which may, through her mother and maternal grandmother of Strichen, date back to the 1700s or early 1800s. It was collected by Grieg about 1907 and is version I from Greig-Duncan Collection, vol. 4. The Scottish versions of Spanish Lady have the opening stanzas of the bawdy 1776 song rewritten as found Bell's stanza 1 and 2. They are followed by stanzas of "Madam" and in Bell's version there is only one. The Spanish merchant stanza is standard in "Oh No John" and "No Sir," while the last stanza is found in "Galway City" and some other versions of Spanish Lady.
Another archaic example is from Kentucky from the Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) (CJS2/9/2813). There is a "she answered No" chorus but then it stops after the second stanza. It's assumed that she still answers No.
No Sir- sung by Lucy Garrison of Manchester, Kentucky on 11 August, 1917 as collected by Cecil J. Sharp.
1. Yonder stands a pretty fair maiden
With her hands as white as snow,
I'll go and court her for her beauty,
Till she answers Yes or No,
Yes or no, yes or no,
Till she answers Yes or No.
Yes or no, yes or no,
Till she answers Yes or No.
2. "Madam, I am come a-courting,
If your favor I do gain,
And [if] you'll kindly entertain me,
Then perhaps I'll come again."
Aha no, no, sir no,
Every answer to me was No.
Aha no, no, sir no,
Every answer to me was No.
3. "Madam I have gold and silver,
Madam I have house and land,
Madam I have a ship on ocean,
It may be at your command."
CHORUS
4. "I don't want any of your gold and silver
I don't want any of your house and land,
I don't want any of your ship on the ocean
All I want is a handsome man."
CHORUS
5. Tell me one thing tell me truly,
Tell me why you scorn me so,
Tell me why when I ask a question
You will always answer, No.
CHORUS
6. My father was a Spanish sailor
And before he went to sea,
Told me to be sure to answer, No Sir,
To everything you said to me.
CHORUS
7. If you're walking in your garden
Plucking flowers all wet with dew,
Tell me would you be offended,
If I walked and talked with you?
CHORUS
8. If when walking in your garden
I should ask you to be mine,
If I tell you that I love you
Would you then my heart decline?
CHORUS
9. If you were sitting in your parlour,
Well content as you'd wish to be,
Would it be a misbehaviour
For me to come and sit with thee?
CHORUS
10. There we sat and there we courted,
Till the chickens began to crow.
All in the world I had to ask her,
[If she would] open her arms and let me go.
CHORUS
The first 4 stanzas are "Madam" whilst the last are Spanish Sailor/No Sir" stanzas. This version was found in Kentucky in 1917 and surely dates back to the 1800s. Even though it has stanzas similar to the printed "No Sir" version of the late 1800s -- it would seem to pre-date that version by many years. Lucy Garrison's version was recorded by Lomax twice in 1937 when she was 66 years old. Listen to the Lomax recording: https://archive.org/details/afc1937001_1503A1 also (solo): https://archive.org/details/afc1937001_1504A1
The "Oh no John," "No Sir" and "she answered No" songs emerged from the early "No" songs of the 1600 and 1700s. The "Oh No John" versions are primarily English collected first in the early 1900s but dating to the mid to late 1800s. The "No Sir" and "she answered No" songs were English then American and the popular print version "No Sir," arranged from an American governess and published in 1882, entered tradition both here and abroad. Many versions of the "No" songs have at least one stanza (usually the second) of "Madam" and some rare versions are composites or versions of Madam with the she answered No chorus. The following short version is one example:
"Madam I Have Come A-Courting" - voice performance by Jonathan Moses at Orford (New Hampshire); recorded by Helen Flanders on 08-24-1951. Learned in North Haven, Maine. Listen, Track 01: https://archive.org/details/HHFBC_tapes_T07A
Madam, I have come a-courting
Your perfection for to win,
If you'll kindly entertain me,
Perhaps I may return again.
CHORUS: No, no, no no no sir,
All of her answers to me was No.
Oh madam I have gold and silver,
Madam I have houses and lands,
Oh madam I have ships on anchor
All to be at your command.
CHORUS
Don't want some[36] of your gold or silver
Don't want some of your houses and lands,
Don't want some of your ships on anchor
All's I want's a handsome man.
CHORUS
A handsome man that I admire,
A handsome man that I adore,
A handsome man that I will have,
Whether he is rich or poor.
CHORUS
Version of "she answered No" here and abroad have used stanzas of "Madam" along with the "My father is a Spanish merchant" stanza which is Spanish Lady II. It's important to realize the even though "Oh No John" and "No Sir" both have a "No" chorus, are part of Roud 126 and mention the Spanish Lady, they are not necessarily the same songs. Both songs have unique textual characteristics that suggest thye are independent songs possibly from a common ancestor.
* * * *
8B. The Courting Case (Courting Cage) is an American or possibly British adaptation of "Madam" with a documented date of the early to mid-1800s that uses the second stanza of "Madam" as its opening (Madam, I've come a-courting) followed by stanzas about a wooer who offers the maid a farm and farm animals. During the dialogue it is revealed that the maid knows the wooer is a gambler and a drinker and she will have nothing to do with him.
This humorous song is usually called "The Courting Case" but Randolph and Brown call it, "The Courting Cage." Both "Courting Case" and "Courting Cage" are mondegreens. Several suggestions as to the meaning have been offered with no satisfactory solution. In my opinion it could be a mishearing of "a-courting come." However, in Randolph's version[37], the "cage" is a physical object:
Madam I have a courtin' cage
It stands in yonder town,
And my estate I'll give to you,
If it be ten thousand pounds,
If it be ten thousand pounds.
Sharp's master title is taken from an 1918 version by Fanny Coffee[38] with a similar stanza:
O madam, I am a courting case,
For you I've lain in woon[ruin],
For you I'd give up all my store,
If it was ten thousand pounds.
The use of the denomination of currency as "pounds" in these two versions is evidence of the songs British or early American origin. The unique variants "Courting Case" or "Courting Cage" were sung with the misheard lyric (case; cage) in Kentucky and Missouri. Of the approximately 40 extant texts recovered in North America only two have the Courting Cage/Case texts proving that Courting Cage/Case is an aberration not the norm. Since the texts from New England, to Michigan, to the Appalachians are remarkably consistent, this is evidence of its origin from print. No versions or partial versions have been found in the UK suggesting that if a print was issued during the 1700s-- it has since completely disappeared. This missing print could have been arranged from "Madam" and published in the US or possibly the UK probably during the 1700s.
The earliest extant version is titled "The Wooing." It was sung in 1934 by Mr. E. W. Harns, Greenville, who learned the song in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, about 1860. Here's the text from Ballads & Songs of Southern Michigan, 1939, version A:
1 "Madam, I have come to marry you
And settle in this town;
My whole estate is worth
Ten thousand pounds.
Which I will will to you,
If you will be my bride."
2 "O that's enough for me,
I don't desire you."
3 "O madam, I have a very fine house,
All neat and rectified,
Which you may have at your command
If you'll but be my bride."
4 "I know you have a very fine house
Besides a clever barn,
But you're too old to think to hold
A bird with a single yarn."
5 "O madam, I have a very fine horse,
Whose face is like the tide,
Which you may have at your command
If you'll but be my bride."
6 "I know you have a very fine horse,
Which you keep in yonders barn,
But his master likes a glass of wine
For fear his horse might learn."
7 "O madam, I have a very fine field,
Full fifty acres wide,
Which you may have at your command
If you'll but be my bride."
8 "I know you have a very fine field
And a pasture at the foot,
And if I had you, I'd turn you in,
For I'm sure a hog would root."
9 "O madam, you are a scornful dame
And very hard to please,
And when you get old and pinched with cold,
I swear I hope you'll freeze."
10 "And when I get old and pinched with cold,
'Twon't be you'll keep me warm;
I'll be single and be free
And stay as I was born."
Some stanzas of the Courting Case have become attached to "Madam." The opening stanza and similar dialogue show Courting Case to be similar to, or based on, "Madam."
* * * *
The identifying stanza of "Madam" has been used as a children's game in the UK and North America by modifying the first line of the opening two lines and combining them with the last two lines of the 2nd "gold and silver" stanza (maid's response). It appears in a variety of ways[39]:
There stands a lady on the mountain,
Who she is I do not know:
All she wants such gold and silver!
All she wants such a nice young man! [adapted from "Old Berkshire School Games" 1893]
The earliest date a similar stanza was published as a children's song in the UK was 1883. It was titled "Yonder stands a lovely lady" and was collected by Robert Charles Hope from a Derbyshire servant-girl (The Folk-lore Journal, Volume 1 - page 387, 1883). When this stanza first appeared in ring games and children's songs in the UK is unknown but the evidence points to the later half of the 1800s although they could have been sung by children anytime after the Madam broadsides were printed (c.1760). The "gold and silver" stanzas with "nice young man" were part of the Recruiting Sergeant type folk plays found in Lincolnshire by the 1880s and the children's game songs may have been adapted from them. Later in the early 1900s this variant of the opening stanza appeared:
On a mountain stands a lady,
Who she is I do not know;
All she wants is gold and silver,
All she wants is a nice young man. [standard "skipping" game text]
This variation was used by Children as a skipping game song and was popular in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia from the 1950s onward.
Different nursery songs and game songs with the same stanzas from "Madam" were also published in the 1800s. Stanzas of Madam were published as a nursery rhyme by Halliwell in 1846 and in the US by Newell in 1883. Other children's game versions include Babcock in 1886 (Washington DC) and Waugh (Ontario/Ireland) in 1909. These nursery rhymes are short versions of Madam using the core stanzas.
The standard "Stands a lady" game songs in the UK found in the late 1800s and later in Canada however include the single stanza derived from Madam (On the Mountain/There stands a Lady) has been combined with other stanzas not associated with Madam[40]. Cecil Sharp published a children's version that combines the "Stands a lady" stanza with "Madam Will You Walk (Keys of Heaven)" and the "she answered No" songs[41]. Here's an excerpt:
Stands a lady on the mountain,
Who she is I do not know.
All she wants is gold and silver,
All she wants is a nice young man.
Madam will you walk,
Madam will you talk,
Madam will you marry me?
No!
Not if I buy you a nice armchair
To sit in the garden when you take the air?
No!
It's unlikely that the above children's game stanza, created from two stanzas of Madam, is a relic of dialogue from an archaic mummer's play. However the "nice young man" and "gold and silver" phrases are unique to the "wooing plays" and "plough plays" from Britain during the 1800s and may be the antecedent of the opening stanza found in the children plays. At least two children's game songs titled "Lady on Yonder Hill" (Gomme, 1894) have similar characters and game actions as those found in the Recruiting Sergeant plays. For more information see: 8C. On a Mountain Stands a Lady, the appendix for the children's game song variants which is Roud number 2649.
* * * *
In 1918 Sharp and Karpeles spent July and August in Virginia collecting songs and ballad. In the St. Peters' Mission area they collected a number of songs from 70 year old Jake Sowder. One of the songs was "Come My Little Roving Sailor," a play-party version of "Madam" that opened with this stanza:
Come my little roving sailor,
Come my little roving bee,
Come my little roving sailor,
Roving sailor, will you marry me?
Sharp collected three versions of the song in that area of Virginia. The indentifying stanza (1st stanza) of this rare song has also been reported in Maryland and Pennsylvania and may be distantly related to an Irish tune with the "Roving Sailor" title. Here's Sowder's text taken from Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection at Clare College, Cambridge (CJS2/9/3132):
Come My Little Roving Sailor- Sung by Mr. Jacob Sowder at Callaway, Franklin Co., Va., August 14th 1918.
Come my little roving sailor,
Come my little roving bee,
Come my little roving sailor,
Roving sailor, will you marry me?
Madam, I have gold and silver,
Madam, I have house and land,
Madam, I have a world of pleasure,
All shall be at your command.
What cares I for your gold and silver?
What cares I for you house and land?
What cares I for a world of pleasure?
All I wants is a handsome man.
Madam, do not stand on beauty,
Beauty is a fading flower;
The best rose in yonders garden
Fade away in one half an hour.
First they'll hug you and then they'll kiss you,
Then they'll call you honey, my dear.
They'll tell you more in half an hour
Than you'll find true in seven long years.
Sowden's last stanza is a floater from "Inconstant Lover (Old Smokey)." Only two complete texts have survived (Sharp A and Sharp C). The text collected by Bayard in Pennsylvania is the opening stanza with a borrowed chorus ("Granny will your dog bite" or "Betty Martin") while the text from Maryland has the "Roving Sailor" stanza but no stanzas of Madam. Since this is a study of "Madam" only the versions from Virginia may be included in appendix F.
* * * *
8G. "Madam I Have Gold and Silver" is the appendix that studies stanzas of Madam found in the English folk plays of the late 1800s and early 1900s. Here's one early script with the Madam "gold and silver" stanzas as they appear sung in a Recruiting Sergeant type folk play. The scene begins with an introduction by the "Lady Bright" which is followed by the Sergeant's Song and then the Lady's response. It's an excerpt taken from the 1923 "Plough Jacks’" play from Kirmington, Linconshire by R. J. E. Tiddy, pp. 254-257. This play dates back to at least 1916 by Rupert Thomson and was performed before World War I by Walter Brackenbury of Kirmington:
Lady: I am a lady bright and fair
My fortune is my charms
It's true that I've been borne away
Out of my dear lover's arms,
He promised for to marry me
As you will understand,
He listed for a soldier
And went into foreign land.
{Sergeant's Song.}
Sergeant: Madam, I've got gold and silver
Madam I've got house and land
Madam I've got world and treasure,
Everything at thy command -
Lady: What care I for your gold and silver
What care I for your house and land?
What care I for your world and treasure
All I want is a nice young man.
The last line sung by the Lady has "nice young man" instead of "handsome man" a change that is also found in the children's game songs. The two stanzas are obviously the same stanzas found in the print versions of Madam dating back to the 1760s-1770s.
* * * *
A connection between "Madam" and the "Died for Love" extended family (including Love is Teasing; Wheel of Fortune; Come All You Fair and Tender Young Ladies) is found in the use of the Wheel of Fortune identifying stanza. Usually it's added to the "Twenty, Eighteen" chorus and sometimes appears as a separate stanza.
There are two US versions that have the Wheel of Fortune stanza and the "Twenty-Eighteen" stanza and both originated in Ireland. A version sung by S. C. of Boston, Mass., a native of County Tyrone, Ireland was published with music in the article "Irish Folk-Song" by Phillips Barry in Journal of American Folklore, Volume 24, page 342. Barry relates[38]:
To Irish folk-singers, at least in the Northern States, we owe the presence of a large part of the folk-song current in this country. ... Yet very few Irish songs have become Americanized, — due doubtless to the exile's love of his native country. Two, however, are notable exceptions. Of these, one [is] a song of the camp, entitled "The Unfortunate Rake".... The other song is as follows:
1. "Madam, I have come to court ye,
If your favor I could gain.
If you highly entertain me,
I will surely call again.
CHORUS: With my 20, 18, 16, 14,
12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, and 1,
With my 19, 17, 15, 13,
11, 9, 7, 5, 3, and 1.
2. "Madam, I have gold and silver.
Madam, I have house and land.
Madam, I have worldly treasures,
. . . . . . . . . . ."
3. "What care I for your gold and silver?
What care I for your house or land?
What care I for your ships on the ocean?
All I want's a nice young man."
4. "Round about the wheel of fortune,
It goes round and wearies me.
Young men's ways are so uncertain,
Sad experience teaches me!"
Barry's Irish version has the Wheel of Fortune identifying stanza as the last stanza when it's likely the second chorus. The first chorus is the "Twenty, Eighteen" chorus which was also known in the UK in the late 1800s. About the same time Barry published "Madam" a similar version was printed from Norfolk, England[39] in English County Songs edited by Lucy Etheldred Broadwood and John Alexander Fuller-Maitland, 1908.
TWENTY, EIGHTEEN.
1 "Ho! yonder stands a charming creature,
Who she is I do not know;
I'll go and court her for her beauty,
Until she do say yes or no."
CHORUS: Twenty, eighteen, sixteen, fourteen,
Twelve, ten, eight, six, four, two, nought;
Nineteen, seventeen, fifteen, thirteen,
Eleven, nine and seven, five, three, and one.
2 "Ho! Madam, I am come for to court you,
If your favour I may gain;
And if you will entertain me
Perhaps I may come this way again,'
Twenty, eighteen, &c.
3 "Ho! Madam I have rings and jewels,
Madam, I have house and land,
Madam, I have wealth of treasures,
Ail shall be at your command."
Twenty, eighteen, &c.
4 "Ho! what care I for your rings and jewels?
What care I for your house and land?
What care I for your wealth of treasures?
All I want is a handsome man."
Twenty, eighteen, &c.
5 "Ho! first come cowslips and then come daisies.
First comes night and then comes day;
First comes the new love, and then comes the old one,
And so we pass our time away."
Twenty, eighteen, &c.
6 "Ho! the ripest apple is the soonest rotten,
The hottest love is the soonest cold;
Lover's vows are soon forgotten,
So I pray, young man, be not too bold."
Twenty, eighteen, &c.
An additional note found in "The Espérance Morris Book" by Mary Neal, Clive Carey, Geoffrey Toye, 1910 about the same version states: Sung by a carpenter at Besthorpe, Norfolk, to the Rev. J. T. Howard [in 1871], and collected by John Graham for The Musical Herald, September, 1891. An old settler in Massachusetts fifty years ago used to sing at the end of the refrain, "I've done," instead of "And one." This suggests that the "Charming creature" had to say "Yes" or "No" by the time the figures were counted.
Another suggestion about the meaning of the Twenty-Eighteen chorus is found in the notes to the two-verse fragment of Dublin City on the 1961 Caedmon album Songs of Seduction which was sung by Seamus Ennis to Alan Lomax in Dublin in 1951:
"In the refrain, she appears to be counting, but in reverse series, running from twenty to nothing and from nineteen to one. If one combines this refrain with the second stanza of the present version, perhaps the song may make sense as a picture of a market girl or a prostitute summing up her day's receipt of coins."
The use of the "Twenty, Eighteen" chorus was also found in "The Queen's Health" given with music in "Songs Collected from Sussex" by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Cecil J. Sharp, G. S. K. Butterworth, Frank Kidson, A. G. Gilchrist and Lucy E. Broadwood (Journal of the Folk-Song Society, Vol. 4, No. 17 (Jan., 1913), pp. 279-324). Broadwood traced the tune for this and "Madam" to scarce ballad-opera of "Achilles" (1733)[40]:
Opinion is divided as to whether this is a Dorian tune or an "everlasting" tune in the Ionian (or major) mode. This is surely a favourite old Irish tune. Wedded to new words about "Sheela of the Silver Eye" it became extremely popular again in one form, a few years ago, owing to the singing of Mr. Plunket Greene. The earliest printed version that I know is in the scarce ballad-opera of "Achilles" (1733). It is worth comparing with the traditional " health," which probably was sung before Queen Victoria's accession seeing that "sing" should rhyme with " king." - L. E. B.
One Scottish version of "O'er Yon Hill" has both choruses as does Frank Harte's version of Spanish Lady which may have coincidentally come from a once Illinois farm-boy living in New York City who collected it from an Irish bartender on Third Avenue. This singer included it on his first album in 1945, "A Collection of Ballads and Folk Songs" (Personality Series. Album No. A-407. New York: Decca Records). Here's the version collected by Burl Ives:
As 1 was a walkin' through Dublin City
About the hour of twelve at night,
It was there I spied a fair, pretty maid,
Washing her feet in candle light.
First she washed them, and then she dried them,
Around her shoulders she pegged a towel,
And in all me life I ne'er did see,
Such a fine young girl, upon my soul.
She had 20, 18, 16, 14;
12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, none;
She had 19, 17, 15, 13;
11, 9, 7, 5, 8 and one:
Round round, the wheel of fortune
Where it stops wearies me.
Fair maids they are so deceivin'
Sad experience teaches me,
She had 20, 18, 16, 14;
12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, none.
She had 19, 17, 15, 13;
11, 9, 7, 5, 3 and one.
None of the stanzas are part of Madam but are part of Spanish Lady (categorized as Spanish Lady I) as found in tradition in Ireland in the early 1900s. An excellent version of Madam with both choruses was recorded from Alexander Harley of Fife. Harvey's version was covered by Michael Stipe of REM fame and Natalie Merchant singing an ad lib duet of "The Counting Song" at a live performance in 1989. How Stipe got Alexander Harley's version of "The Wheels of Fortune" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2id_GPZBGc) I don't know.
"The Wheels of Fortune." Sung by Alexander Harley of Cupar, Fife who was a retired farm servant, born at Lucklaw Farm, Leuchars in 1908. Recorded by Hamish Henderson in 1981. This version was covered by Natalie Merchant & Michael Stipe.
Ower yon hill there lives a lassie
What is her name I do not know.
Some fine nicht I'm going and see her,
Whether she be rich or no.
CHORUS: It's 19, 17, 15, 13, 11, 9, 7, and a 5, 3, 1
20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, none.
'Round and 'round goes the wheels of fortune;
'Round and 'round till they wearie me
Young women's hearts are so uncertain,
Sad experience teaches me.
Oh Lassie I hae gold and silver,
Lassie I hae houses and land
Lassie I hae ships on the ocean,
All to come at your command.
CHORUS:
Oh what care I for your gold and silver?
What care I for your houses and land?
What care I for your ships on the ocean?
When all I wants is a good young man.
CHORUS:
* * * *
Several versions from Scotland and Ireland are titled "Tarry Trousers" or mention "Tarry Tousers" in the text. "Tarry trousers" refers to the sailor's practice of waterproofing their trousers with tar[41]. Here's the chorus of Ethel Findlater's version learned in Orkney about 1914:
Oh, dear Oh, if I had a sailor,
Oh, dear Oh, if I had but one;
Oh, dear Oh, if I had a sailor,
With his tarry trousers on.
The maid wished she has a sailor instead of the old man courting her. In an Irish version title Tarry Trousers published by Sam Henry in 1934 she rejects the suitor for her sailor boy:
My love wears the tarry trousers,
My love wears the jacket blue,
My love ploughs the deep blue ocean,
So, young man, be off with you.
Since these versions are rare, I have not created an appendix for the versions which will be found under "Madam." Findlater's version harkens back to the 1770 broadside of "Madam" which gives another reason for the rejection of the old suitor by the pretty maid: her heart is given to another. In this case "the handsome man" is a sailor.
Some conclusions:
The "Madam" dialogue courting songs are distinctly different than other well-known courting songs such as "The Keys of Canterbury," (AKA "The Keys of Heaven," or "A Paper of Pins"). Another variant of "The Keys of Heaven" is "Madam Will You Walk" which is found composite with Madam text in two versions (Sharp 1908, 1911) of the children's game songs. Whether the composite is reason, several writers have incorrectly grouped "Madam" with "Key's of Heaven/Madam Will you walk" although thye are clearly different courting songs.
The origin of Madam is unknown and it has not been identified as a distinct form by writers and indexers (Roud, Traditional Ballad Index, song notes writers, Keefer's Folk Index) since the print versions of 1760 and 1770 have only recently been discovered. As far as I know this study is the first to print both early texts. This confusion has generally led to grouping Madam and its appendices as the same song when clearly they are different songs. Two of the appendices (Courting Case and Quaker's Courtship) do not even have stanzas in common although the dialogue is so similar that they can be included in the same family. The "Spanish Lady" variants and "she answered No" variants are distinctly different songs that have become composite with "Madam."
Speculation that Madam's comic dialogue originated either from more recent adaptations of the Elizabethan Stage Jig (c.1590) or the archaic Mummer's plays (circa 1300) and wooing plays (plough plays) of England (1600s-1700s) is unproven and for now should be disregarded. Although evidence of the early plough plays dates back hundreds of years and it has been tied to similar customs in Denmark, plough plays with stanzas of Madam (Recruiting Sergeant play) can only be dated to the latter part of the 1800s in the Lincolnshire area. The Kentucky plough play collected in 1930 but dating back to the 1800s show that the plough plays with stanzas of Madam could date to the mid to early 1800s. These plough plays of the 1800s may be the source of the children's game songs that appeared about the same time in England. For the uses of Madam in children's plays and games see 8C, while the use of stanzas of Madam in folk plays is 8G.
The two earliest extant print versions of Madam are from the 1760s-1770s in London. There are several identifying stanzas which are found in the early print versions:
Yonder sits a lovely creature,
Who is she? I do not know,
I'll go court her for her features,
Whether her answer be "Ay" or "no."
"Madam, I am come to court you,
If your favor I can gain,
Madam if you kindly use me,
May be I may call again."
"Madam I've got gold and silver [treasure],
Madam I've got house and land
Madam I've got rings and jewels,
And all will be at your command."
What care I for gold and treasure,
What care I for house and land
What care I for rings and jewels,
If I had but a handsome man."
Ripest apples are the soonest rotten
Hottest love is the soonest cold
Young men's love is soonest forgotten
Maids take care be not too bold.
These identifying stanzas have been used to make the following titles:
1. Yonder sits a lovely creature
2. Madam, I am come to court you
3. Madam I have gold and silver
4. Ripest apples
My master title is "Madam, I am come to court you" and this seem to be the easiest identification. Earlier texts have not been found[42] although the humorous dialogue style suggests a possible earlier print origin. This is suggested by the John Randolph version which dates the song to c.1780 in Virginia.
The stanzas from Madam have attached itself to a number of similar courting songs which share the opening line, the opening stanzas (usually the 2nd stanza) and occasionally the "gold and silver" stanzas. Two humorous variants from North America, "Quaker's Courtship" and "Courting Case" share the theme of the wealthy aged suitor courting the uninterested young maid. Although the dialogue is similar these two songs don't share stanzas with Madam and only hold the first line of the second stanza in common. The "she answered No" songs which evolved from the 1600s to become "Oh No John" and "No Sir" are different songs although Madam has shared stanzas with some variants. Similarly two stanzas of the Spanish Lady which evolved from a 1760s bawdy song were used as the opening of the Scottish and other UK versions of Madam. Stanzas of Madam simply became attached to a variety of different songs and two choruses: The "Twenty-Eighteen" chorus and the "Wheel of Fortune" chorus. Other stanzas about the fleeting nature of love also became attached including: the "brightest flower" stanza; the "ripest apple" stanza and the "after one love/cowslip" stanza.
The goal of this short study of Madam and its appendices is to supply the basic information and early versions necessary to understand the relationships of these related courting songs.
R. Matteson Jr. 2017
Port St. Lucie, Florida
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Footnotes:
1. The two extant mid-1700s English broadsides, "The Lovely Creature," c. 1760 and "A New Song,"c. 1776 may have been preceded by a similar earlier broadside- yet undiscovered. As far as I know neither of these broadside are known or have been reprinted in recent publications. The John Randolph version learned in Virginia about 1780 also indicates the possibility of earlier versions. Speculation that "Madam" may have originated as a Mummer's play (Plough Play) dialogue or as an Elizabethan Stage Jig is not supported by evidence.
2. I use the past tense "was well-known" since most old songs and ballads are no longer current in tradition. This is not the case with some variants of "Madam" especially the Irish variants of "Madam, I'm a Darling" which are covers of Frank Harte's version. The children's game songs and some versions of Spanish Lady may be current.
3. Gardham's comment comes from a private email to me in February of 2017.
4. "The Lovely Creature" would hardly be a reasonable master title since the song would not be readily identified as a courting song.
5. These 2 lines are from "A New Song" ("Yonder Sits a Handsome Creature) dated c. 1776.
6. See in Recordings and Info pages the article: Mummers' Wooing Plays in England by Charles Read Baskervill from Modern Philology, Vol. 21, No. 3 (Feb., 1924), pp. 225-272; published by: The University of Chicago Press.
7. The E. Andrew Elsham-Brigg version dates to circa 1880 and Brattleby, Lincolnshire Mummers' Play is dated 1894-- both were discovered in the 1900s and published after the 1960s.
8. From: Mummers' Wooing Plays in England by Charles Read Baskervill from Modern Philology, Vol. 21, No. 3 (Feb., 1924), pp. 225-272; published by: The University of Chicago Press. Recent theories about the text of these folk plays which Millington calls "Quack Doctor Plays," suggest that "Madam" was incorporated in the folk plays from local folk songs of the 1800s which were similar to or based on the prints of the 1760s and 1770s.
9. Quoted from a post by Gardham on the Mudcat Discussion Forum in Aug. 2017
10. This is reworded from Steve Gardham's emails, Feb. 2017.
11. This last section is directly quoted from Steve Gardham's emails, Feb. 2017.
12. The following quote from Steve Gardham's emails, Feb. 2017.
13. Both of these titles are reasonable replacement titles for "A New Song."
14. From the 1776 broadside, "A New Song."
15. The "damsel pretty" of the bawdy 1776 song was changed to "the Spanish Lady." There are at least 5 distinct uses presented later and it is also used as a floating name (see Spanish Lady IV) in a number of versions. Some versions of the Spanish Lady (Campbell; Hughes) do not have stanzas of Madam. More details are given later.
16. "Ettrick Lady" is a rewrite of "Galway City" and has stanzas of Madam. It was recorded by The Corries from the Album: Live from Scotland Volume 2; 1975 and I don't consider it to be traditional.
17. "Galway City" with stanzas of "Madam" was recorded by the Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem in New York in 1965 and appears on their 1966, "Isn't It Grand Boys" album. Tommy Makem got it from: "Sean O'Boyle, the well-known folk collector and Gaelic scholar."
18. "Dublin City" is an alternative title of Spanish Lady.
19. According to Harte in his album notes: This is another version of the type of song similar to the Spanish Lady. I have no idea of its origin or of the reference in the first line to "Chester City". I heard the song at a session in Kerry where it is Rabelaisian humour was much to the delight of the locals. I am sure that if this song had been collected in Victorian times it would have been stripped of its honest humour to suit the taste of the drawing room, as has been done with the Spanish Lady and so many of the English and Scottish ballads. I give it to you as I heard and enjoyed it. Another version called "As I strayed Through Dublin City" is very similar to this song.
20. The skipping songs date from circa 1950 on and are detailed by Steve Roud and others.
21. See versions listed under C above.
22. For example, The Quaker's Courtship has only the first line in common with Madam and is a different text inspired by or based on Madam's dialogue. Although it's clearly similar in theme (old suitor courts young maid), there are no stanzas held in common.
23. This 50% rule is a general guideline for classification of songs and ballads and common sense sometimes overrules any guideline (see for example, some of the composites, E, are only two stanzas of Madam but may be considered versions).
24. A date of c.1780 is given as the time Randolph learned the stanza from Patience, his cousin's mulatto servant girl. This date is close to the earliest print versions from the 1760s and suggests the possibility of an earlier unknown print origin in England.
25. Creating a title is one problem which has not been codified and titles have been based on the faulty methods of the past traditions usually by collectors.
26. From Veteran Recording VT115, where the notes report: In ‘The Copper Family Song Book - A Living Tradition’ (1995) Bob Copper, while relating to his family's version of this song, says that this was the shortest song Jim (Copper) knew.
27. A typical chorus is:
Twenty, eighteen, sixteen, fourteen.
Twelve, ten, eight, six, four, two, none.
Nineteen, seventeen, fifteen, thirteen.
Eleven, nine, seven, five, three and one.
28. The Quaker sect began in England about 1650. The argument for an English origin has merit (the money denomination is "shillings"/the ballad was disseminated in Maritime Canada/New England and also Appalachia suggesting distribution from England) however, the UK has no tradition of the ballad and the only English version is of an unknown pedigree. In the article, "Quaker Knowledge of Quaker Folklore" by Maurice Mook in Keystone Quarterly (vol. 4) 1959, he has found only two examples among over 100 Quaker's surveyed and he concludes that the Quakers are not the source but the courting song comes from outside the group. Richard M. Dorson's "Sober Quaker," taken from Eddy, uses the word Quaker in the text but is not taken from a Quaker.
29. It's curious that only the first line is held in common and that the the second and fourth lines of Quaker's Courtship are a short refrain.
30. It's obvious that the suitor was called a "Quaker" because of a stereotype of the Quaker sect created by fundamentalists in New England and England where the sect originated. The dialogue is meant to be humorous banter between an older suitor and a young maid who rejects him.
31. This is the New York State version (10 stanzas) dated circa 1850 from the Stevens-Douglass MS as printed in the Thompson's book, "A Pioneer Songster." The earliest version is from an Autograph Album once owned by John Niblo of Poplar Ridge and dated 1835 (no title given) which was reprinted in "Early Cayuga Days: Folk lore and local history of a New York county" by Dorothy E. Snow - 1940.
32. In 8A. four versions from the 1600s are given dating back to the 1630s.
33. For example the Stoneman Family's version is titled "Spanish Merchant's Daughter."
34. The first two stanzas are from William Wooley of Bincombe in 1907, Sharp has indicated that it is a composite of 4 versions he had collected.
35. Two version in Brown Collection of NC and one identical version in the 1916 "Play-Party Songs of Indiana" are obviously taken from Wakefield's 1882 print version.
36. This stanza was taken from Moses' earlier 1933 recording - also by Flanders. He sings: "I want some of" which makes no sense-- so I've changed it to a standard "don't want" instead of "I care not."
37. Randolph 361, "The Courting Cage" from Ozark Folksongs Vol. 3, c.1948.
38. Dated May, 8, 1918 from Sharp's MS; Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) (CJS2/10/4232).
39. That version is older, as it was sung by a carpenter at Besthorpe, Norfolk, to the Rev. J. T. Howard in 1871, and published by John Graham for The Musical Herald, September, 1891.
40. Broadwood's notes about Gay's melody appeared in "Songs Collected from Sussex" by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Cecil J. Sharp, G. S. K. Butterworth, Frank Kidson, A. G. Gilchrist and Lucy E. Broadwood (Journal of the Folk-Song Society, Vol. 4, No. 17 (Jan., 1913), pp. 279-324)
41. See also notes for Tarry Trousers at Contemplator web-site.
42. The stanza given by John Randolph of Virginia is dated c.1780 and suggests the 1760 text may not be the earliest one.
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Supplemental Ballads and Songs
1) Joseph Campbell included two stanzas of The Spanish Lady that he took down in Donegal in 1911 in his play:
Judgment: A Play in Two Acts
By Joseph Campbell, 1912
The Stranger breaks into a verse of a song.
As I walked down thro' Dublin City
At the hour of twelve in the night,
Who should I see but a Spanish lady
Washing her feet by candlelight.
First she washed them, and then she dried them
Over a fire of amber coal:
Never in all my life did I see
A maid. . .
John (endeavouring to talk the song down). When'll the coffin be here, Owen?
Stranger. Can't you listen? It's a good song.
Never in all my life did I see
A maid so neat about the sole!
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Spanish Lady III
"Spanish Lady" by Joseph Campbell (1879-1944) sometime after 1912, no date given.
As I went out through Dublin City,
At the hour of twelve o´clock at night,
Who should I see but a Spanish lady,
Washing her feet by candle light.
First she washed them and then she dried them,
Over a fire of ambery coal,
In all my life I never did see,
A maid so neat about the sole.
I stopped to peep but the watchman passed,
And says, "Young fellow, the night is late,
Get home to bed or I'll wrastle you,
At a double trot through the Bridewell gate!
So I waved a kiss to the Spanish lady
Hot as the fire of cramsey coals
I've seen dark maids though never one
So white and neat about the sole.
Oh she´s too rich for a poddle swaddy
With her tortoise comb and her mantle fine
A hellfire buck would fit her better,
Drinking brandy and claret wine.
I'm just a decent college sizar,
Poor as a sod of smouldering coal,
And how would I dress the Spanish lady,
And she so neat about the sole?
O, she'd make a mott for the Provost Marshal,
Or a wife for the Mayor in his coach so high,
Or a queen of Andalusia,
Kicking her heel in the Cardinal's eye.
I'm as blue as cockles, brown as herrings,
Over a grid of glimmery coal,
And all because of the Spanish lady,
So mortial neat about the sole.
I wandered north and I wandered south,
By Golden Lane and Patrick's Close,
The Coombe, Smithfield and Stoneybatter,
Back by Napper Tandy's house.
Old age has laid its hand upon me
Cold as a fire of ashy coal
And where is the lovely Spanish lady
The maid so neat about the sole?
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Spanish Lady V
The Spanish Lady. "Old Song." Adapted and arranged by H. Hughes. Dedicated to Hugh Campbell Stracathro. Publisher: London and New York : Boosey & Co, 1930. The 1930 recording with Hughes playing piano and McCafferty singing can be heard here: https://www.itma.ie/digital-library/sound/cid-230911
I walked down thro' Dublin city
At the hour of twelve at night,
who should I spy but a Spanish lady
Washing her feet by candlelight.
First she washed them and then she dried them,
Over a fire of ambery coal,
In all my life I ne'er did see,
A maid so neat about the sole.
CHORUS: Whack for the toora, loora lady
Whack for the toora loora lee.
Whack for the toora, loora lady
Whack for the toora loora lee.
As I came back thro' Dublin city
At the hour of half past eight
Who should I spy but a Spanish lady
Brushing her hair in broad daylight.
First she tossed it, then she brushed it,
On her lap was a silver comb
In all my life I ne'er did see
So fair a maid since I did roam.
CHORUS:
As I went down thro' Dublin city,
When the sun began to set,
Who should I see but the Spanish lady
Catching a moth in a golden net.
When she saw me, then she fled me
Lifting her petticoat over the knee
In all my life I ne'er did spy
A maid so blithe as the Spanish lady!
CHORUS:
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Spanish Lady Antecedent- "The Ride in London" from Merry Muses of Caledonia, Burns, 1827 and The Frisky Songster. (London, or Dublin, ca. 1770.) Reprint copies: (1776?) Bodleian, Harding Collection; (1802), Kinsey-ISR Library. Essential erotic folksong collection in English of the late 18th century.
SONG LXXXIII. [edited, for punctuation and minor spelling errors]
"AS I went through London city,
Twas at twelve o'clock at night,
There I saw a damsel pretty,
Washing her joke by candle-light.
"When she wash'd it then she dr'd it,
The hair was black as coal upon it
In all my life I never saw,
A girl that had so fine a c—t.
"My dear said I what shall I give thee,
For a touch at you know what,"
Half a crown if you are willing,
Two shillings or you shall not.
"Eighteen pence my dear I'll give you,"
"Twenty pence or not at all;"
With all my heart it is a bargain,
So up she mounts [in] the Cobbler's stall.
"My dear," said I, "how shall I ride you,
The gallop, amble, or the trot?"
"The amble is the easiest pace sir,"
"With all my heart," so up I got.
The Cobbler hearing of our parley,
Through a hole he thrust his awl;
He prick'd the girl into the a--e,
Which threw the rider from the stall.
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Spanish Lady- Tommy Makem and the Clancy Brothers from "Irish Pub Songs."
[instrumental, fiddle]
As I came into Dublin city,
At the hour of twelve at night,
Who should I spy but a Spanish lady,
Washing her feet by candlelight.
First she washed them, then she dried them
Over a fire of ambery coal,
In all my life I ne'er did see
A maid so sweet about the sole.
CHORUS:
Whack fol the toora, toora laddy
Whack fol the foora loora lay (2x)
As I came back through Dublin city
At the hour of half past eight
Who should I spy but the Spanish lady
Brushing her hair in the broad daylight.
First she brushed it, then she tossed it,
On her lap was a silver comb
In all my life I ne'er did see
A maid so sweet since I did roam.
CHORUS
As [yet again] I came back through Dublin city
As the sun began to set
Who should I spy but the Spanish lady
Catching a moth in a golden net.
When she saw me then she fled me
Lifting her petticoat o'er her knee
In all my life I ne'er did see
A maid so fair as the Spanish lady.
CHORUS
I've wandered north and I've wandered south
Through Stonybatter and Patrick's Close
Up and around the Gloucester Diamond
Back by Napper Tandy's house.
But old age has laid her hand on me [tempo slows]
Cold as a fire of ashy coal
But where is the lovely Spanish lady
Neat and sweet about the sole.
CHORUS 2X [original tempo]
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A second version, "Galway City" with stanzas of "Madam" was recorded by the Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem in New York in 1965 and appears on their 1966, "Isn't It Grand Boys" album. Tommy Makem got it from: "Sean O'Boyle, the well-known folk collector and Gaelic scholar" [born June 14, 1946 in Armagh, Ireland].
Galway City- Clancy Brothers from Sean O'Boyle of Armahg
(He:) As I walked out through Galway City
At the hour of twelve at night,
Whom should I spy but a handsome damsel,
Combing her hair by candlelight.
Lassie, I have come a-courting,
Your kind favors for to win,
And if you'd but smile upon me,
Next Sunday night I'll call again.
Chorus: Raddy at a toodum, toodum, toodum,
Raddy at a toodum, toodum day.
Raddy at a toodum, toodum, toodum,
Raddy at a toodum, toodum day.
(She:) So to me you came a-courting,
My kind favors for to win,
But 'twould give me the greatest pleasure
If you never did call again.
What would I do, when I go walking,
Walking out in the morning dew?
What would I do when I go walking,
Walking out with a lad like you?
Chorus.
(He:) Lassie, I have gold and silver,
Lassie, I have houses and land.
Lassie, I have ships on the ocean,
They'll be all at your command.
(She:) What do I care with your ships on the ocean?
What do I care with your houses and land?
What do I care with your gold and silver?
All's I want is a handsome man.
Chorus
(He:) Did you ever see the grass in the morning,
All bedecked with jewels rare?
Did you ever see a handsome lassie,
Diamonds sparkling in her hair?
(She:) Did you ever see a copper kettle,
Mended with an old tin can?
Did you ever see a handsome lassie
Married off to an ugly man?
Note the last stanza is similar to the one collected in Tennessee in 1953.
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Here are two versions of "Madam, I'm a Darling," also known as "Chester City" (see DT link). The "Madam, I'm a Darling" title is named after the chorus which, in turn, is ironically similar to the words "Madam I'm come a courting." It was recorded in 1975 and is on the "Frank Harte: . . . and Listen To My Song" LP. Here are his notes:
MADAM I'M A DARLING — This is another version of the type of song similar to the Spanish Lady. I have no idea of its origin or of the reference in the first line to "Chester City". I heard the song at a session in Kerry where it is Rabelaisian humour was much to the delight of the locals. I am sure that if this song had been collected in Victorian times it would have been stripped of its honest humour to suit the taste of the drawing room, as has been done with the Spanish Lady and so many of the English and Scottish ballads. I give it to you as I heard and enjoyed it. Another version called "As I strayed Through Dublin City" is very similar to this song.
Madam, I'm a Darling (Chester City)- sung by Frank Harte, 1975
As I came down to Chester City,
In the dark hour late at night
Who should I meet but a fair young maiden
Washing her clothes by the broad moon light
Chorus: Madam I'm a darling a-di-ro-didero
Madam I'm a darling a-di-ro-dee
First she washed them, then she squeezed them
Then she hung them up to dry
Then she folded up her arms
Saying what a nice young girl am I!
Going to the well for a pail of water
Bringing it home for to make the tea
She fell over, I fell under
All the game was above the knee
Madam I will tie your garter,
I'll tie it above the knee
If you like, I'll tie it up farther
Madam I'm a darling a di-ro-dee
Madam you have gold and silver
Madam, you have tracts of land
Madam you ships on the ocean
All you need is a nice young man!
It also appears in "Songs of Dublin" edited by Frank Harte in 1978.
* * * *
A second version can be heard here:
http://www.dublincity.ie/songs-murder-madams-and-mayhem/madam-im-darling They've changed the city to Dublin City.
Madam, I'm a Darling." Performed by Anne and Niamh Buckley
As I rode out through Dublin city
It being the dark hour twelve at night
Who should I see but a fair young maiden
Washing her clothes in the pale moon light
Chorus (after each verse):
Madam, I'm a darling, a di ro, a dither o
Madam, I'm a darling, a di ro dae
First she washed them, then she squeezed them
And then she hung them out to dry
Then she folded up her arms
Saying what a nice, young girl am I.
Going to the well for a pale of water
Fetching it home for to make some tae [tea]
She fell over, I fell under
All the game was above her knee
Madam, I will tie your garter
I will tie it above your knee
And if you like I'll tie it up further
Madam, I'm a darling, a di ro de
Madam, I'm a darling, a di ro de
Have you ever heard of cups and saucers
Rattlin' around in an auld tin can?
Have you ever heard of a fair, young maiden
Married to an ugly, gray old man?
And blue it is a lovely colour
Until it gets the second dip
Well that's the way with the old man courting
You never know till he gets those fits
Madam, you have gold and silver
And madam, you have tracks of land
Madam you have ships on the ocean
All you need is a fine, young man.
There is an additional stanza associated with Spanish Lady/Madam that begins: "And blue it is a lovely colour" See a similar stanza in the several of versions of the "Madam" family ("Madam, Madam, You Came Courting" sung by William Gilkie, Sambro, NS, September, 1950). The "Madam, I will tie your garter" stanza is common to the "Oh No John" songs.
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Given by Baskerville (E) 1924
The scornful maid, and the constant young-man. With mocks and taunts she doth him jear, as in this ditty you may hear; yet no denyal he would have, but still her favour he did crave: yet at the last she granted love, and vowed she would constant prove; yet in this ditty you may find, it is money that doth a bargain bind.
Tune of, Times changling I will never be: or, Sawny, or, A fig for France.
ALL hail, all hail, thou Lady gay,
the glory of the world to me,
More beautious in mine eyes I say,
then Venus in her prime could be:
One smile from thee I now do crave,
If so much favour I could have:
One smiling glance from that twinkling eye,
Will save my life, or else I dye.
Stand back, good sir, what would you have
your speeches let me understand,
What is the thing that you do crave,
do not you think me to trappan:
What beauty here Sir can you spy,
Hands off, I pray come not me nigh:
Either a smile, or else a frown,
I think will serve for such a Clown:
What ails my dearest hearts delight,
sweet Lady now be not so coy,
Thou seem'st to be an Angel bright,
in thee is all my earthly joy:
Then do not seek my life to spill,
But grant me love for my good will:
One glance from that bright twinkling eye,
Will make me for to live or dye.
The Second Part, to the same Tune.
O Fie away, thou fondling now,
my very heart thou vexest sore,
I scorn such py'd-Nose Iacks as thou,
pack, pack, I say, come here no more:
That Maid which sets her love on thee,
May say she is blind and cannot see:
The durtiest Drabin all the Town,
May prove too good for such a Clown.
Oh say not so, my only joy,
I am the man which loves thee dear,
Thy speeches doth me sore annoy,
but yet thy love I do not fear:
In time I hope thou wilt change thy mind,
For all thou seem'st at first unkind:
One smiling glance, &c.
Good Sir, I pray this answer take,
you spend your time in vain on me,
I pray you seek some other Mate,
my heart doth scorn thy base degree:
What do you think I am so blind,
To have a Clown by birth or kind?
Oh no, I pray you come not me nigh,
For I scorn my shooes thou should'st untye.
VVell Lady, now if it be so,
that I no favour here can have:
But now by force from thee must go,
some other Maidens love to crave:
This Gold and Silver I will let flie,
Before the next shall me deny:
For all thou termest me such a Clown,
I have a Year five hundred pound.
Tis not your Gold, good sir, that shall
tempt me to yield unto your will,
That Maid which comes when you do call,
will find you have but little skill:
In this same case, you do profess
To please a Maid, I do protest
I see no skill that you can have,
To give a Maid what she doth crave.
If that be all my dearest Dear,
if that thou please me but to prove,
Then of my skill thou needst not fear,
lo, I have here what Maids do love:
Here is Gold and Silver, come and see,
VVith all delights to pleasure thee:
Therefore some favour to me show,
Before that I from hence do go.
VVhat dost thou think I am so fond,
to yield my freedom here for Gold,
Or dost thou think I dote on means,
O no, it never shall be told
That money shall my Master be,
Therefore come thou no more at me:
Be gone, be gone, stand not to prate,
For fear I break thy Clownish pate.
Then fare you well thou scornful Dame,
for seeing it won't no better be,
Yet I must needs set forth thy fame,
of all the Maids that e're I see,
For beauty rare within mine eyes,
No Man can win a rarer prize:
If thou would yield to me thy love,
I constant always vow to prove.
Well Sir, if you will constant prove,
as now you do profess to me,
Then I do grant to thee my love,
and I vow to prove as true to thee:
Here is hand and heart to thee I give,
And I vow to love thee while I live:
VVhat more can you desire of me,
For a constant wife I will prove to thee.
If it be so my Dearest Dear,
thou shalt never have cause to repent,
For costly cloathing, with Iewels rare,
I have to give my Love content:
Here is my hand, my heart is thine,
And blessed be the hour and time:
That thou didst grant thy love to me,
Come now we will go and Married be.
By T. Robins.
FINIS.
Printed for P. Brooksby, at the Golden-Ball, in West smithfield. written by Robins, Thomas, fl. 1672-1685.
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This old German folk song, an analogue of "Madam," was taken down from a Pennsylvania Dutch woman in the 1940s. It would be sung during European Fastnacht (Carnival), a traditional celebration in Germany. From Songs of the Mahantongo (1951) by Albert F. Buffington, it begins:
Siss net alle Daag luschdig Lewwe,
Siss net alle Daag Faasenacht.
Fastnacht Song (translated)- as sung by Mary Paul of Mahantongo valley, about 1947
1. Every day you can't go a-sporting,
Fasenacht is not every day.
I've given my money to the fiddler,
and I've danced the whole night.
2. Out there stands a handsome boy;
who he is I don't know.
I want to go and caress him,
even though he may love me or love me not.
3. Ah, little boy, I have gold and silver!
Little boy. I have house and lot.
And little boy, I am no miser
With all the riches I have got.
4. Rather than give my fresh, young life
To that widower, that old sot,
I'd rather bullets be a-moulding
To shoot him with a single shot!
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Shakespeare's Greenwood: The Customs of the Country; the Language; the ...
By George Morley (of Leamington, Eng.) 1901
In Shakespeare's greenwood the general rule is to hold the festival on the twelfth of the month—old May Day. The earlier hours of the previous day are occupied by the children in a perambulation of the parish, calling upon the farm folk and other residents for gifts of flowers and finery with which to decorate their maypoles. In the evening the maypole is hoisted on the village green, or in some paddock or orchard lent for the purpose, and the election of the Queen takes place. Some villages have a King and Queen, but the majority elect a Queen only, thus paying a graceful little compliment to the Royal Lady who sways the sceptre and the hearts of the people of "Merrie England."
On the morrow the Queen and her attendants, as richly bedizened as flowers, ground ivy, May blossoms, and patchwork can make them, again parade the boundary of the parish, singing their May songs (first at the doors of the Squire and Parson, and then at the houses of the lesser people) round a portable maypole; finally returning to their ground or play-mead, where the- songs are
sung over again in the following words, to a generally recognised home-made tune.
'Tis always on the twelfth of May,
Wmeet and dress so gaily;
For to-night will merrie be,
For to-night will merrie be,
For to-night will merrie be,
We,ll sing and dance so gaily.
The sun is up and the morn is bright,
And the twelfth of May is our delight,
Then arouse thee, arouse, in the merrie sweet light,
Take the pail and the labour away.
That dear little girl,
Who lives in yon sky,
With the lilies and the roses,
Shall never be forgot.
Yonder stands a lovely lady,
Who she is we do not know,
Who she is we do not know;
We will take her for our beauty
Whether she answers Yes or No.
Then shake the money-box about
And call on every lady.
For to-night will merrie be,
For to-night will merrie be,
For to-night will merrie be,
Will sing and dance so gaily.
After the songs are sung and the day portion of the festival is over, dancing begins, and in some villages (notably in Charlecote, Bidford, Temple Grafton, Hillborough, Long Compton, and other places in the immediate vicinity of Shakespeare's birthplace) the custom is concluded in the Rectory, where children of a larger growth keep up the dance with unflagging energy until the small hours of the next morning in honour of the Queen of the May.
The custom of the Maying wears the dignity of years in Shakespeare's greenwood. In the litde border village of Welford (just below the " Hungry Grafton," and adjoining the "Drunken Bidford" of the well-known verse attributed to the poet) there stands, in the centre of a raised mound, encircled by a hedge, a maypole which is regarded as the successor to one around which Shakespeare himself must have danced with his Shottery lass. The existing maypole stands seventy-five feet in height and bears upon the shaft the now faded colours of the red, white and blue "ribbons " which it was the custom to paint upon the pole in the poet's days.
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