I Gave My Love A Cherry- Winters (TN) 1966 Burton
[From the East Tennessee State Univ. publication; Folklore: Folksongs; by Burton and Manning. The series of riddles actually comes from the Sloan document which predates "Captain Wedderburn's Courtship."
R. Matteson 2014]
I GAVE MY LOVE A CHERRY
THE RIDDLE SONG (Child 46)
Sung by Mrs. Margaret Winters, October 1966.
(The dynamics and tempo increase at the first of each phrase, then decrease; a definite retard comes at the end of the stanza.)
This series of riddles originates in the British popular ballad, "Captain Wedderburn's Courtship."
1. I gave my love a cherry that had no stone,
t gave my love a chicken that had no bone,
I told my love a story that had no end,
I gave my love a baby with no cryin'.
2. How can there be a cherry that has no stone,
How can there be a chicken that has no bone,
How can there be a story that has no end,
How can there be a baby with no cryin'?
3. A cherry when it's bloomin' it has no stone,
A chicken when it's pippin' it has no bone,
The story of "I love you" it has no end,
A baby when it's sleepin' has go cryin'.