As I Walked Out in Yonder Dell- Josiah Combs Collection "from the singing of William Bush, Index, West Virginia" (no date given- circa 1924)
The Elfin Knight (Child, No. 2) Wilgus believes that this particular text of "The Elfin Knight" may have been "collected" for Combs by Carey Woofter while Combs was teaching at West Virginia University from 1922 to 1924. This is the "controversial text" that Bernth Lindfors wrote an article about entitled, A Fraudulent "Elfin Knight" from West Virginia in Western Folklore, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Apr., 1968), pp. 107-111. (See article attached to Recordings & Info)
Curiously, Patrick Gainer, another WV student who collected ballads with Woofter, had a version with the same nonsense refrain (A-hie-a-marukee-mirandy-o) that led Bernth Lindfors to conclude that Woofer's collected version was fradulent. You can listen to Gainer's variant here: http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/wvconline/patrickgainer/Sng2Goingto%20CalhounFair.mp3] Are both versions legit- or doctored? We'll never know for sure.
As I Walked Out in Yonder Dell- William Bush, Index, West Virginia; circa 1924
1. As I walked out in yonder dell,
A-hie-a-marukee-mirandy-o,
I met a fair damsel, her name it was Nell,
Rollickum-bollickum-dandy-o.
2. "I want you to make me a cambric shirt
Without any seam or needlework,
And then you shall be a true sweetheart of mine.
3. "I want you to wash it on yonder hill,
Where dew never was nor rain never fell,
And then you shall be a true sweetheart of mine.
4. "I want you to dry it on yonder bush,
Where tree never blossomed since Adam was born,
And then you shall be a true sweetheart of mine."
5. "And since you have asked three questions of me,
And now I will ask as many of thee,
And then I will be a true sweetheart of thine.
6. "I want you to buy me an acre of land
Between the salt sea and the salt sand,
And then I will be a true sweetheart of thine.
7. "I want you to plow it with an ox's horn,
And plant it all over with one kernel of corn,
And then I will be a true sweetheart of thine.
8. "I want you to hoe it with a peacock's feather,
And thrash it all out with the sting of an adder,
And then I will be a true sweetheart of thine."