No Sir- Lucy Garrison (KY) 1917 Sharp MS
[From Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) (CJS2/9/2813). There is an additional stanza missing in Sharp's text that is found in both recordings by Lomax in 1937. This is a composite"No Sir" and "Madam, I am Come a-Courting." There is a "she answered No" chorus but then it stops after the second stanza. it's assumed that she still answers No but in stanza 4, for example, the maid is singing and the chorus could be different.
The first 4 stanzas are "Madam" whilst the last are Spanish Sailor/No Sir" stanzas. This version was found in Kentucky in 1917 and surely dates back to the 1800s. Even though it has stanzas from the printed No Sir versions of the late 1800s -- it would seem to pre-date those.
Recorded by Lomax twice in 1937 when she was 66 years old.
R. Matteson 2017]
No Sir- sung by Lucy Garrison of Manchester, Kentucky on 11 August, 1917 as collected by Cecil J. Sharp. Listen Lomax: https://archive.org/details/afc1937001_1503A1 also (solo): https://archive.org/details/afc1937001_1504A1
1. Yonder stands a pretty fair maiden
With her hands as white as snow,
I'll go and court her for her beauty,
Till she answers Yes or No,
Yes or no, yes or no,
Till she answers Yes or No.
Yes or no, yes or no,
Till she answers Yes or No.
2. "Madam, I am come a-courting,
If your favor I do gain,
And [if] you'll kindly entertain me,
Then perhaps I'll come again."
Aha no, no, sir no,
Every Answer to me was No.
Aha no, no, sir no,
Every Answer to me was No.
3. "Madam I have gold and silver,
Madam I have house and land,
Madam I have a ship on ocean,
It may be at your command."
CHORUS
4. "I don't want any of your gold and silver
I don't want any of your house and land,
I don't want any of your ship on the ocean
All I wants is a handsome man."
CHORUS
[Oh my darling how I love you
It breaks my heart to treat me so.
[ ] there's nary above you,
Kiss me once before you go
5. Tell me one thing; tell me truly,
Tell me why you scorn me so,
Tell me why when I ask a question
You will always answer, No.
CHORUS
6. My father was a Spanish sailor
And before he went to sea,
Told me to be sure to answer, No Sir,
To everything you said to me.
CHORUS
7. If you're walking in your garden
Plucking flowers all wet with dew,
Tell me would you be offended,
If I walked and talked with you?
CHORUS
8. If when walking in your garden
I should ask you to be mine,
If I tell you that I love you
Would you then my heart decline?
CHORUS
9. If you're sitting in your parlour,
Well content as you'd wish to be,
Would it be a misbehaviour
For me to come and sit with thee?
CHORUS
10. There we sat and there we courted,
Till the chickens began to crow.
All in the world I had to ask her,
Open her arms and let me go.
CHORUS