Bonnie Muriley- Moses (NH) 1939 Lomax Flanders G
Flanders' Ancient Ballads- 1965; Notes by Coffin
The Farmer's Curst Wife
(Child 278)
Coffin's notes: There is an old proverb that says there are but two places where a man wants to have his wife- in bed and in the grave. Certainly, the scolding wife, one who can rout the devil himself, has left her mark on folklore from India and Russia to the western countries. This particular anecdote concerning her is a favorite of the American informant with a similar song, "The Devil in search of a wife," it was also popular among the printers of nineteenth-century London broadsides. ["The Sussex Farmer" being close to, or the origin of, Child A. "The Devil in search of a wife" is quite different- see English & Other versions- except for the last few stanzas.]
Originally, it must have concerned a contract in which a farmer hired the devil to do some plowing in exchange for a member of the family. The farmer, in many texts, worries that he may lose his eldest son and is relieved when his wife is taken. The American versions follow Child A as a rule, it being rare that the wife come back to her cooking as in Child B. However, the yoking of the dogs and hogs to the plow and the proverbial sayings at the close of the song are frequently added to the Child A base in the New world.
The Flanders material needs little comment. Texts A and B, in which the farmer seems to be rather proud of his wife's triumph over the forces of hell are not common, though Phillips Barry, British Ballad's from Maine, 330-1, prints an example from Northeast Harbor. Nor are the C-I "Anthony Rowley" texts with the "right leg, left leg," refrains. But C in which the wife is the farmer, harnesses the cattle herself, and goes to the gates of hell, is the only text that introduces a really radical story variation. C is a noteworthy find.
American references for Child 278 may be found in Coffin, 148-50. see also Dean-Smith, 66, and Belden, 94-95, for English citations. Barry, op. cit., 332, cites local uses of the motif in New England.
The tunes for child 278 all belong to one tune family. A large proportion of them are especially closely related; the following tunes are slightly divergent: Ordway, Davis, Weeks, Brackett. The Underhill, Farnham, and Lorette tunes are very similar, as are the Moses and Blake tunes.
For general relationship to the larger group of tunes, see FCBa, 116, 117, 119; DV, 598 No. 46 (c), 599 No. 46 (E) and (F), 601 No. 46 (L); GCM, 373; Sharp I, 215, 278.
Flanders G. As sung by Jonathan Moses of Orford, New Hampshire. Alan Lomax, Collector November, 1939; Structure: A B C D E F (2,2,2,2,2,1 1/2); Rhythm A; Contour: approaching an arc; Scale: hexatonic; t.c. G. For mel. rel. see RO 1, 189.
Bonnie Muriley
There was an old man; he bought him a farm;
O bonnie Muriley.
There was an old man; he bought him a farm;
He hadna no oxen to carry it on.
To my right leg, left leg, over leg, under leg,
Bonnie Muriley.
(Follow pattern of first stanza 1 or all stanzas.)
He yoked up his dog beside the old sow,
Went walloping 'round, the devil knows how.
He saw the old devil on one certain day,
Saying, "One of your family I'll carry away!"
Out cries the old man, "I am undone
For the devil has came for my oldest son!"
"It's not your oldest son," he replied,
"But your old scolding wife I will carry away."
"Oh, take her, oh, take her, with all my heart!
I hope you and she never will part!"
The old devil he swung her across his back
And up to hell's glory went clickety-clack.
Oh, when he got her up to hell's door,
For when he got her up to hell's door
He threw her down there- "Lie there, you whore!"
He saw a young devil preparing his chains;
She up with her foot and she kicked out his brains.
Another young devil--"Let's hitch her up higher";
She up with her foot and kicked nine in the fire.
Another young devil peeped over the wall;
"Carry off, Master Devil, she will kill us all!"
The old devil he swung her acrost his back
And like a damn fool he went lugging her back.
He came to the old man who was jogging his plow,
Saying, "Take your old wife for I cannot keep her now."
Out cries the old man, "You're born with a curse.
You've been to hell and you're back--a damn sight worse!"