Hobble Bobble- Payne (VA) 1914 Davis B
[From TRADITIONAL BALLADS OF VIRGINIA- Davis, 1929. This version is important for at least two reasons. First is was sung by an African- American man in 1914 and second it has "old cuckold, blind cuckold," for the third stanza (at least those were the intended words originally passed down from an early American source to this man).
R. Matteson Jr. 2013]
OUR GOODMAN (Child, No. 274)
Five texts and five tunes are the harvest of this ballad in Virginia, two of the texts being without tunes, and two of the tunes without words. Virginia A is Child A, Virginia B Child B, both with variations. Virginia C, D, and E are closer to Child A than to B, but show numerous divergences. Virginia B is the rarest version here given, as most of the texts so far recovered in
America have belonged to Child A. As an appendix is printed "A Jacobite Song," which though it comes from a Virginia collector is of West Virginia, Canadian, and British navy ancestry. It seems to correspond to the piece printed in Smith's Scotish Minstrel, where the goodwife is found to be concealing her cousin McIntosh, a Tory. None of the more or less ribald stanza's sometimes added to or superimposed upon this ballad have found access to the Virginia files; hence the problem of their publication does not arise. The Virginia titles are "Our Goodman," "Hobble and Bobble," "Home Comes the Good Old Man," "Down Came the Old Man," "The Old Man," and "Cairo Gal," which the singer also called, "A Blackguard Song."
For American texts, see Barry, No. 17; Brown, p. 9 (North Carolina); Bulletin, Nos. 2-5; Campbell and Sharp, No. 32 (North Carolina); Cox, No. 28; Finger, p. 161; Hudson, No. 20 (Mississippi); Jones, P. 301 (fragment); Journal, XVIII, 295 (Barry, Massachusetts); XXX, 199 (Parsons, North Carolina); Mackenzie, Ballads, No. 14; C. A. Smith, p. 17 (Virginia, fragment and two melodies, British melody); Reed Smith, Ballads, No. 14. For additional references, see Journal, XXXIX, 166; XXXV 328; XXXV, 348.
B. "Hobble and Bobble." Sent in by Miss Juliet Fauntleroy. Collected by Mrs. H. W. Adams. Sung by an old colored man, Henry Payne, near Altavista, Va. Campbell County. May 11, 1914. With music sent June 6, 1914.
1 I walked into my stable,
And the sight that I did see,
It was some gentlemen's horses,
One, or two, or three.
2 I called to my kind wife,
So kindly she answered me." [1]
"What are those horses doing there
Without a lief [2] from me?"
3 "Whole couple, blind couple, [3]
Fool, can't you see?
It's nothing but some old milk cows
My mother sent here to me."
4 "Hobble and bobble,
Very well done,
Saddle and bridle on an old milk cow
Is a thing I never did see."
5 I walked into my yard,
And the sight that I did see,
It was some gentlemen's hound dogs there,
One, or two, or three.
6 I called to my kind wife,
So kindly she answered me.
"What are those dogs doing there
Without a lief from me?"
7 "Whole couple, blind couple,
Fool, can't you see?
It's nothing but the old cow's calves
My mother sent here to me."
8 "Hobble and bobble,
And very well done,
The born cows' calves and the hound dogs' ears
Are things I never did see."
9 I walked into my porch,
The sight that I did see,
It was some gentlemen's hats in there,
One, or two, or three.
10 I called to my kind wife,
So kindly she answered me.
"What are those hats doing there
Without a lief from me?"
11 "Whole couple, blind couple,
Fool, can't you see?
It's nothing but some old wash pans
My mother sent here to me."
12 "Hobble and bobble,
Very well done,
A hat band on an old wash pan
Is a thing I never did see."
13 I walked into my chamber,
The sight that I did see,
It was some gentlemen's big coats there,
One, or two, or three.
14 I called to my kind wife,
So kindly she answered me.
"What are those big coats doing there
Without a lief from me?"
15 "Whole couple, blind couple,
Fool, can't you see?
It's nothing but some blankets,
My mother sent here to me."
16 "Hobble and bobble,
Very well done,
Sleeves and pockets on a blanket
Is a thing I never did see."
17 I walked into my dining room,
The sight that I did see,
It was some gentlemen's boots in there,
One, or two, or three.
18 I called to my kind wife,
So kindly she answered me.
"What are those boots doing there,
Without a lief from me?"
19 "Whole couple, blind couple,
Fool, can't you see?
It's nothing but some coffee pots
My mother sent here to me."
20 "Hobble and bobble,
Very well done,
Boot straps on a coffee pot
Is a thing I never did see."
21 I walked up to my table,
The sight that I did see,
It was some gentlemen sitting there,
One, or two, or three.
22 I called to my kind wife,
So kindly she answered me.
"What are those gentlemen doing there
Without a lief from me?"
22 "Whole couple, blind couple,
Fool, can't you see?
It's nothing but some cabbage heads
My mother sent here to me."
23 "Hobble and bobble,
Very well done,
But hair on a cabbage head
Is a thing I never did see."
Footnotes:
1 Variant two lines: "I hailed to my kind wife,
So kind she answered me.''
2. Almost certainly for leave, (without permission) but the original word is retained.
3. For "old cuckold, blind cuckold." The word cuckold evidently meant nothing to the singer. Cf. Child B.