Last Night When I Came Home- Smith (DC) 1957 Flanders A
[My title. Form Flanders; Ancient Ballads, 1965. Her notes follow. This is obviously much older than 1957.
R. Matteson 2013]
Our Goodman (Child 274)
Mrs. Sullivan's statement that "Our Goodman" is a drinking song" into which is "put anything they like" is an accurate description of this usually bawdy piece. It has been known in Britain at least since the end of the eighteenth century and a German translation of an English broadside started its spread across Europe during the early nineteenth century. Generally, the American texts are Scottish in form, like Child A, but as a rule they attempt to soften the cuckolding of the husband by making him a drunkard. Note, however, Flanders G.
See Coffin, 144-b (American); Dean-Smith, 70 (English); and Greig and Keith, 214-6 (Scottish) for a start on a bibliography. Child, V, 88 f., discusses the use of the motif in literary and folk tales.
Many informants refuse to sing this ballad on moral grounds, though the lines that have caused them to feel this may are not to be found in print.
A. (Last Night When I Came Home) Our Goodman- As given H. H. F. by Herbert Wilson Smith, mining engineer in Washington, D. C., as handwritten by his father, Franklin Smith. In parentheses are given different ways the song was remembered. Copied literatim et punctatim. H. H. F., Collector. August 7, 1957.
Last night whne I came home,
As drunk as I could be
I thought I saw another hat
Where my hat ought to be.
"O dear wife O fond wife
O darling wife says I
Whose hat is that hat
With the gautlet gloves near by?" (Where my hat ought to be?) -alternate
"O you big fool, you old fool
You're drunk as drunk can be
It's nothing but a stewing pot
My mother sent to me."
"O dear wife O fond wife
I've travelled the wide world o'er
But a stew pot with a lining in
I never saw before."
Last night when I came home
As drunk as I could be
I thought I saw another coat
Where mY coat ought to be
"O dear wife O fond wife
O darling wife says I
Whose coat is that coat
With the stirrup boots near by?" (Where my coat ought to be?")
"O you big fool, you old fool
You're drunk as drunk can be
It's nothing but a dinny bag
My father sent to me."
"O dear wife, O fond wife
I've travelled the wide world o'er
But a dinny bag with a collar on
I never saw before."
Last night when I came home
As drunk as I could be
I thought I saw another horse
Where my horse ought to be.
"O dear wife, O fond wife
O darling wife says I
Whose horse is that horse
What made my horse to shy?"
"You big fool You old fool
You're drunk as drunk can be
It's only that old muley cow
MY brother sent to me."
"O dear wife, O fond wife
I've travelled the wide world o'er
But a muley cow with a saddle on
I never saw before."
Last night when I came home
As drunk as drunk could be
I thought I saw another head
Laid where my head should be.
"O dear wife, O fond wife
O darling wife says I
Whose head is that head
Where my head ought to be?"
"You big fool, you old fool
You're drunk as drunk can be
It's nothing but my sister's head
Who's come to visit me."
O dear wife O fond wife
Don't tell me any more (I've travelled the wide world o'er)
Your sister with a mustache on,
I never saw before."