Farmer's Curst Wife- Morry (NL) 1961 Peacock C
[This variant C was collected in 1961 from Howard Morry of Ferryland, NL, by Kenneth Peacock and published in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 1, p.266, by The National Museum of Canada (1965). Kenneth Peacock noted that women who are too much of a handful, even for the devil, are found in folklore right across Asia and Europe. These three Newfoundland versions of the tale, which are surprising dissimilar both in text and tune, have been reproduced in full. Mr. Morry's Irish variant is very similar to a version sung by Burl Ives and collected from Irish immigrants in the American midwest.]
C. The Farmer's Curst Wife - Sung by Howard Morry of Ferryland, NL 1961 (Collected by Kenneth Peacock)
There was an old (wee) man of the Hebridean race
With a rye fall and all, diddy fall dah,
There was an old (wee) man of the Hebridean race
With a nagging old wife the most of his days,
With a rye fall and all, diddy fall dah,
Rye fall die fall diddy fall day.
One day the old man was a-walking the glen,
With a rye fall and all, diddy fall dah,
One day the old man was a-walking the glen,
And he met the old devil saying, "How have you be'n?"
With a rye fall and all, diddy fall dah,
Rye fall die fall diddy fall day.
Says he, "My good man, I have come for your wife,
With a rye fall and all, diddy fall dah,
Says he, "My good man, I have come for your wife,
For I've heard that she is the plague of your life."
With a rye fall and all, diddy fall dah,
Rye fall die fall diddy fall day.
The old devil he got her up on his back,
With a rye fall and all, diddy fall dah,
The old devil he got her up on his back,
And he set her off for hell with a terrible crack.
With a rye fall and all, diddy fall dah,
Rye fall die fall diddy fall day.
And when the old devil arrived at Hell's Gate
With a rye fall and all, diddy fall dah,
And when the old devil arrived at Hell's Gate
He tumbled her down with a bump on her pate.
With a rye fall and all, diddy fall dah,
Rye fall die fall diddy fall day.
And then the old woman got up on her pins,
With a rye fall and all, diddy fall dah,
And then the old woman got up on her pins,
And she gave the old devil a lash in the shins.
With a rye fall and all, diddy fall dah,
Rye fall die fall diddy fall day.
There were three more devils a-climbing the wall
With a rye fall and all, diddy fall dah,
There were three more devils a-climbing the wall
Saying, "Take her away or she'll murder us all!"
With a rye fall and all, diddy fall dah,
Rye fall die fall diddy fall day.
The old devil again got her into the sack,
With a rye fall and all, diddy fall dah,
The old devil again got her into the sack,
He was three weeks going, three weeks coming back.
With a rye fall and all, diddy fall dah,
Rye fall die fall diddy fall day.
Says he, "My good man, here's your wife safe and well,
With a rye fall and all, diddy fall dah,
Says he, "My good man, here's your wife safe and well,
For the likes of herself we won't have in hell!"
With a rye fall and all, diddy fall dah,
Rye fall die fall diddy fall day.
Now this proves that the women are worse than the men,
With a rye fall and all, diddy fall dah,
Now this proves that the women are worse than the men,
When they go down to hell they're sent back again.
With a rye fall and all, diddy fall dah,
Rye fall die fall diddy fall day.