Our Goodman [Old man Come Home at Night]- Wilson (KY) 1917 Sharp D
[From: English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians; collected by Olive Dame Campbell and Cecil J. Sharp, 1917 and Karpeles/Sharp 1932 edition (Versions D)
The title Our Goodman is the generic title ascribed by Child. A local title is found in brackets. The additional text came from Sharp's MS 3803/2797, Bronson 58.
R. Matteson Jr. 2013]
Sharp's notes- No. 32. Our Goodman:
Texts without tunes:—Child, No. 274. Ford's Vagabond Songs of Scotland, II, 31. Texts with tunes:—Songs of the West, 2d ed., No. 30. Chambers's Songs of Scotland
Prior to Burns, p. 184. American variants:— Journal of American Folk-Lore, XVIII, 294. Musical Quarterly, January, 1916, p. 17 (tune only).
Our Goodman [Old Man Come Home at Night]- Sharp D. Sung by Mrs. WILSON at Pineville, Bell Co., Ky., June 5, 1917
Pentatonic. Mode 3 (Tonic F)
Old man come home at night,
The place he ought to be;
Another man's horse is standing in the stable
Where his horse ought to be.
You old fool, you blind fool, can't you never see?
Nothing but a milking cow my mamma sent to me.
I've rambled, I've travelled ten thousand miles or more;
Never saw a milking cow with the saddle on before.
Old man, etc.
Another man's boots a-sitting in the corner where his boots ought to be.
You old fool, etc.
Nothing but a coffee pot my mamma sent to me,
I've rambled, etc.
Never saw a coffee pot with a heel-irons on before.
Old man, etc.
Another man's hat a-laying in the bed where his hat ought to be.
You old fool, etc.
Nothing but a cabbage head my mamma sent to me.
I've rambled, etc.
Never saw a cabbage head with mustashe on before.
Old man, etc.
Another man's feet a-laying in the bed where his feet ought to be.
You old fool, etc.
Nothing but a whole cake of bread my mamma sent to me.
I've rambled, etc.
Never saw a whole cake of bread with the toe-nails on before.