Captain Wedderburn's Courtship (Buff the Quilt)- Smith (NS) 1937
[The second of two Nova Scotia versions of this ballad collected by Doreen H. Senior and Helen Creighton in 1937. This is titled Buff the Quilt ('Bove the Quilt) by Bronson/Coffin.]
From: Folk Songs Collected in the Province of Nova Scotia, Canada
by Doreen H. Senior and Helen Creighton
Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, Vol. 6, No. 3 (Dec., 1951), pp. 83-91
FOLK SONGS COLLECTED IN THE PROVINCE OF NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA
BY DOREEN H. SENIOR AND HELEN CREIGHTON
THESE songs are a few of the many noted down in the Province of Nova Scotia between 1933 and 1939. With the exception of 'The Miracle Flower', of which we have never found the words, all the songs which follow were collected in the vicinity of the port of Halifax. The coast of the province is a very indented one, and it was in the little settlements on the shores of these 'fiords' that most of the singers were discovered. In winter they live very isolated lives, though not many miles fromt he town, and this encourages the gatherings round the stove in friendly kitchens which are the ideal preserving grounds for the songs.
Dennis Smith, well over 80 when we first met him, was perhaps the most prolific singer of this group, with a vigorous voice of true pitch. Walter and John Roast are brothers, and Mrs. Duncan is the sister of another of our singers. In Lloyd Sanford we found the example of the stifling effect upon a folk singer of lack of interest in his family circle, and of the coming of mechanical music. Though he had been a well known singer in his youth, and though he tried valiantly to recall his songs, he was unablet o rememberm ore than fragments. With tears in his eyes he told us, 'My children didn't like the old songs. They wouldn't listen to them. They wanted the new music on a gramophone. So I just stopped singing and now, I've forgotten all the old songs '.
Many of the singers were of Irish Catholic descent, though the songs they sang were not confined to the Irish tradition. As one would expect in a maritime province, the collection includes a good proportion of sea songs, though there are also many fine versions of folk ballads.
DOREEN H. SENIOR.
CAPTAIN WEDDERBURN'S COURTSHIP (Buff the Quilt) Noted from the singing of Dennis Smith, Chezzetcook, N.S., by Doreen H. Senior and Helen Creighton, July 11th, 1937.
(Second variant- 5th verse notated- lyrics from version 1)
1. As a duke's fair daughter of Scot-a-land was riding out one day
Two gentlemen from Ireland by chance did come that way.
Says one un- to the other 'lf it wasn't for the law
l'd take this fair one in my arms ei -ther by stock or wall.'
2. 'Hands off, hands off, young man' said she, 'hands off to hide all shame
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -
But the supper bell will shortly ring and I'll be found awa '
And before I'll be found in your arms either by stock or wall.
3. ' You must get for me some winter fruit that in the summer grew,
You must get for me a silk made cloak that shuttle never went through
You must get for me that bonny bird that flies without a gall
And you and I will 'bove the quilt and you must pay for all '.
4. ' My father he has winter fruit that in the summer grew,
My mother has a silk made cloak that shuttle never went through,
The dove she is a bonny bird that flies without a gall
And you and I will 'bove the quilt and you must pay for all '.
5 O what is rounder than the ring, what higher than the sky,
And what is a worse than a woman, what is deeper than the sea,
What birds sings best, what tree buds first and where does the dew first fall?
And you and I will 'bove the quilt and you must pay for all.
6. ' The globe is rounder than the ring, heaven's higher than the sky,
The devil is worse than a woman, hell's deeper than the sea
The thrush sings best, the oak buds first on the earth when the dew first falls
And you and I will 'bove the quilt and you must pay for all.'
7. ' You must get for me a wedding supper, a chicken without bones,
You must get for me a wedding supper, cherries without stones
A sparrow's horn and a priest unborn to marry us right awa'
Before I will lie in your arms either by stock or wall'.
8. 'O chickens when they're in the shell I'm sure they have no bones,
And cherries when they're in the blossom I'm sure they have no stones,
A sparrow's horns are easily found for there's one on every claw,
Now you and I must 'bove the quilt and you must pay for all'.
Several members of the Editorial Board preferred this version of the tune which contains the tonic instead of the 7th in bars 7 and 10.
Compare also 'I will give my love an apple' and notes on variant texts of the "6 riddle " in Journal of the Folk Song Society No. II, pp. 114-5. The expression "above the quilt" is presumably equivalent to the much commoner expression "wrong side of the blanket ".Cp. "now they are married ...they get the covers all over their head ". - Ed.
Miss Gilchrist's notes were communicated privately to Miss Senior in 1939. We are delighted to be enabled to publish them. - Ed.