86. The Soldier's Wooing
This old broadside ballad — it goes back at least to the seventeenth century — bears some resemblance in its central scene to 'Earl Brand' (Child 7) and to 'Erlinton' (Child 8) but is quite different in temper and has maintained an identity of its own through many generations. It is widely known and sung. See B.SI-I 103, and add to the references there given Virginia (FSV 66), North Carolina (FSRA 88-90), Tennessee (BTFLS 11 9-10), the Ozarks (OPS I 303-7), Ohio (B.SO 14-17), Illinois (JAFL LXX 215-16), and Michigan (BSSM 380-1).
A. No title. Obtained by Mrs. Donald MacRae from Betty Coffey of Avery county in November 1917.
1 There was a rich young lady of very high renown,
She had a large fortune of silver and gold.
Her fortune was so great it scarcely could be told,
And she loved a soldier because he was so bold.
2 'O soldier, O soldier, I'm feared to be your wife;
My father is so cruel, I'm feared he'll take your life.'
He drew his sword and pistol and hung them by his side
And swore that he'd get married, let what might betide.
3 He drew his sword and pistol and caused them to rattle;
The lady held his horse while the soldier fought the battle.
The first one he came to he pierced him through the maid.*
The next one he came to he served him just the same.
4 'Let's run,' said the rest, 'I fear that we'll be slain.
To fight a bold soldier is all in vain.'
'Oh stop, bold soldier,' the old man replied ;
'You shall have my daughter to be your bride.'
5 'Fight on,' said the lady, 'your portion's yet too small,'
'Hold your hand,' said her father, 'and you shall have it all.
6 Now all ye rich ladies who have money in store,
Never slight a soldier, though sometimes they be poor.
The soldier's brave, jolly, brisk, and free,
And will fight for his wife and her liberty.
* Other texts from the South show that this probably should be "main." The Missouri text has "brain."
B. No title. From a manuscript notebook lent to Dr. Brown in 1943 by Mrs. Harold Glasscock of Raleigh. Most or all of her songs Mrs. Glasscock learned from her parents, and she herself can sing them, but no recording of this one has been made.
1 'Oh, soldier, oh, soldier, I fain would be your wife.
But my father is so cruel he soon would end my life.'
Away to the parson's; returning home again,
They met her old father with seven armed men.
2 'Oh, daughter, oh, daughter, oh, daughter,' said he,
'Did ever I think you'd bring such a scandal on me.
Did ever I think you'd be young Carvender's wife!
How* down in yonder valley I soon shall end your life.'
3 'Oh, stop,' said the soldier, 'I have no time to prattle.'
He drew his sword and pistol and caused them to rattle.
. . . . .
The ladies held the horses while the soldier fought the battle.
4 The first one he came to he run him through the main ;
The next one he came to he served him the same.
'Let's run,' says all the rest, 'for I fear we will be slain.
To fight a valiant soldier I see it's all in vain.'
5 'Oh, hold your hand, ye soldier . . .
You shall have daughter, house, and land.'
'Fight on,' said the lady, 'the portion is too small.'
'Oh, hold your hand, ye soldier, and you shall have it all.
6 She got on their horses and homeward they did ride ;
A fine wedding dinner for them he did provide.
He called him his son and made them his heir;
'Twas not through love but through pure fear."
7 Come all ye young maidens with money laid in store,
Never slight a soldier because he's sometimes poor.
A soldier, a soldier, both jolly, brave, and free,
They fight for their wives and their rights of liberty.
* So the manuscript; miswritten for "Now"?
* Grammatical number is curiously mishandled in this stanza.
C. 'The Yankee Soldier.' From an anonymous typescript which Dr. White, both from the manner of the accompanying note and from the mention of Mrs. Buchanan of Horse Creek, assigns confidently to Mrs. Sutton. The note says in part : "It seems strange that there are so few Civil War ballads in the mountains. . . . 'The Yankee Soldier' is neither pretty nor gruesome. ... I am indebted for this copy to Mrs. Buchanan of Horse Creek." Of course it is not really a Civil War ballad; merely an adaptation. Dr. White notes on the typescript that he found this song in Alabama in 1916.
1 A story about a Yankee a-comin' from the war.
He courted Lilly Marrit, a secret from her pa.
Her pa was so wealthy it scarcely can be told.
She loved that Yankee soldier because he was so bold.
2 'Lilly Margaret, daughter, my word you'd better mind.
I'll shut [you] in a cave, your body I'll confine.'
'O father, cruel father, my body you can confine.
But you can't put the Yankee soldier from out my mind.'
3 Then up spoke the Yankee soldier: 'Oh, never mind the tattle.
If I'm to be a married man I shore can fight a battle.'
So his bride she hel' the horses and the Yankee fought the battle,
So his bride she hel' the horses and the Yankee fought the battle.
4 The first man that come he shot through the brain,
An' the next man that come he served him the same.
'Fly,' said the others, 'your sons will all be slain;
To fight the Yankee soldier you see it is in vain,'
5 'O Yankee, O Yankee, don't strike your licks so bold.
Fur I'll give to you my daughter and forty pounds o' gold.'
'No,' says the daughter, 'the sum it is too small.
Fight on, my Yankee soldier, you soon will git it all.'
D. 'The Bold Soldier.' One of the songs collected by Professors W. A. Abrams and Cratis D. Williams in 1945 from the singing of Pat Frye of East Bend, Yadkin county. See headnote to 'Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight' G. Pretty much the same as B and yet with sufficient variations to justify giving the text here. The spelling and pointing have been normalized, but the idiom is retained.
1 There was a young soldier, he lately came from war,
He courted a lady with fortune and rich store.
Her fortune was so great it scarcely could be told,
Although she loved a soldier because he was so bold.
2 'Bold soldier, bold soldier, I cannot be your wife ;
My father is so cruel, I'm afraid he'd take your life.'
He drew his sword and pistol and he hung them by his side
And he swore he would get married, let what would provide.
3 They were going to the priest, and, returning home again,
They met her old father and seven armed men.
He drew his sword and pistol and he caused them to rattle.
And the ladies belt their horse while the soldier fought the battle.
4 The first one he came to he fought him in the main.
The next one he came to he served him just the same.
'Let's run,' says the rest, 'we find we shall be slain ;
Till fighting with yon soldier we find it all in vain,'
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86. The Soldier's Wooing
A. 'The Rich Lady from London.' Sung by Mrs. Nora Hicks. Recorded at Mast's Gap, Watauga county, August 28, 1940. This tune also furnishes a fine example of what difference the use of a given material can make. Much of the melodic material is the same as in one of Cecil Sharp's version (see below), but what a difference in the result!
For melodic relationship cf. **SharpK i 355, No. SiE, general melodic line. Scale: Hexatonic (6), plagal. Tonal Center: a. Structure: abca1 (2,2,2,2).
A(I) The Soldier's Wooing' or 'Yankee Soldier.' Sung by C. K. Tillett. Recorded at Wanchese, Roanoke Island, December 29, 1922. Another title given is 'The Lady Held the Horse of a Soldier.' The first stanza is a compound of two others; the second is the same as stanza 4 of version 86C, II 289. For another version by the same singer, but sung two years later, cf. FSRA 88, No. 50.
Scale: Heptachordal, plagal. Tonal Center: f. Structure: abb1a1 (2,2,2,2). Circular Tune (Vj.
'The Bold Soldier.' Sung by M. T. Barnes. Recorded at Alliance, Pamlico county, in 1927. Another title given is 'A Jolly Soldier.' The story and text are very similar to SharpK i 333-7, No. 51 A, C, E, and G.
Scale: Heptachordal, plagal. Tonal Center: e-flat. Structure: abab1cciaib (2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2) = aa1ba1 (4,4,4,4) = Reprisenbar.