As The Dew Flies- Weeks (VT) 1932 Flanders F
[My title replacing the generic- Wife Wrapt. The fragmented text can be sung to the "family tune" of Flanders G. The possibility exists that the "dew" was originally the British "doo" or "dove." The opening verse is commonly found in the related "Slattern Wife" songs- see Appendix to child 277. Flanders' extensive notes are below. She refers to the "Dandee" refrain which is almost always "Dandoo" in the South, not 'Dandee." This version dates back to the when the informant was a boy (he was born c. 1857) -I've dated it 1870.
R. Matteson Jr. 2013]
The Wife Wrapped in Wether's Skin (Child 277)
This ballad derives from an old tale which Child, v, 104, cites under the title "The Wife Lapped in Morrel's Skin" and is related to a whole host of stories on similar themes. See Aarne-Thompson, Mt. 1370*.
The ballad is still popular in America, where the basic outline of the story remains constant, but where the minor details vary greatly. william H. Jansen has made a careful study (HFQ IV, #3,41) of the ballad and its developments in America [see article attached to Recordings & Info page], and from his remarks two groupings of the American texts emerge: songs with the "dandee, clish maclinge" refrains, popular in the South and Midwest; and songs with the "juniper, gentian, and rosemary" refrains, popular in the South and Northeast. The plant refrains of the latter group have caused some comment. Phillips Barry, British Ballads from Maine, 324-5, suggests, on the authority of Lucy Broadwood (JFSS, II, 12-15), that the wife originally was beaten to exorcise the evil spirits that infested her and that "juniper, gentian, and rosemary" were regarded as charms against the demons. Later the names of the plants were forgotten and confused with the names of girls, June, Jenny, and Rose Mary.
The Flanders texts are highly representative of the American forms of the ballad. A-I, with the plant refrain, relate to Child F (from Massachusetts) and are normal Northeastern versions. J-L illustrate the "dandee" refrain and the common "old man who lived in the West" opening.
M-N (see also Child C) are from the Scottish tradition. Text L, which concerns "Riddleson's daughter Dinah," is the only unusual version in the group. See Coffin, 146-8 (American); Belden, 92-94 (English); and Greig and Keith, 218-20 (Scottish) for bibliographical material and discussion.
All of the tunes for child 277 except the Richards tune are members of the same tune family. Within this group, the Prevost and Baldwin tunes are especially close, as are the Hayward and Hall tunes. The Monson tune is slightly outside the group.
F. [As The Dew Flies] Luther Weeks of Springfield, Vermont, recalled the following lines. The words fit the tune given in version G by his sister, Mrs. Wallace Baldwin. H. H. F., Collector; Late 1932
She would not card and she would not spin,
Jinny fare jintle, Rose-a-Marie, [1]
For fear of spoiling her gay gold ring,
As the dew flies over the green vallee.
She would not into the kitchen go,
Jinny fare jintle, Rose-a-Marie,
For fear of spoiling her high-heeled shoe,
As the dew flies over the green vallee.
(When he kills a wether and puts its skin over her back before beating it- and her- she sings;)
"I'll tell my parents and my kin,
Jinny fare jintle, Rose-a-Marie,
That you've whipped my back till I'm sore within,"
As the dew flies over the green vallee.
"You may tell your parents and your kin,
Jinny fare jintle, Rose-a-Marie,
whipped your back till you're sore within,
But I've whipped nothing but my old sheep skin,"
As the dew flies over the green vallee.
Footnote:
1. usually "gentle"