Bluegrass Messengers

Recordings & Info 278. The Farmer's Curst Wife

CONTENTS:

 1) Alternative Titles
 2) Traditional Ballad Index 
 3) Child Collection Index
 4) Excerpt from The British Traditional Ballad in North America by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America
 5) Folk Index
 6) Mainly Norfolk (lyrics and info)
 7) Oh Johnny Be Gay
    
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
  1) Roud No. 160:  The Farmer's Curst Wife (349 Listings) 

Alternate Titles

The Old Man under the Hill
The Farmer's Old Wife
The Devil and the Farmer's Wife
Blow the Man Down
Brave old Anthony Marala (Michigan)
The Old Woman and the Devil
The Farmer and the Devil
The Carle o' Killyburn Braes [Burns]
The Battle Axe and the Devil
The Farmer's Wife
A Woman and the Devil
Brave Old Anthony Marela
Hi Lum Day
Jack
Jack's Wife
Kellybumbraes
Ten Little Devils
The Devil and the Fanner's Wife
The Devil Came to the Farmer's One Day
The Devil's Song
The Old Devil Come to my Plow
The Old Jokey Song
The Old Woman and the Devil
The (Old) Scolding Wife.

Traditional Ballad Index:  Farmer's Curst Wife, The [Child 278]

NAME: Farmer's Curst Wife, The [Child 278]
DESCRIPTION: The Devil comes to claim a farmer's wife. She causes great trouble in Hell, attacking the imps with all the vigor she had once used on her family. For safety's sake, the Devil is forced to return her to her family (not necessarily to their joy)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1846 (Dixon-Peasantry)
KEYWORDS: family Devil humorous Hell wife feminist
FOUND_IN: US(All) Britain(England(South,North),Scotland(Aber,Bord)) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES: (58 citations)
Child 278, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (2 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #41}
Bronson 278, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (71 versions+2 in addenda)
Dixon-Peasantry, Song #24, pp. 210-211, "The Farmer's Old Wife" (1 text)
Bell-Combined, pp. 424-425, "The Farmer's Old Wife" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 320, "Kellyburn Braes" (2 texts, 1 tune); also p. 575 (1 fragment) {Bronson's #48}
SharpAp 40, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (6 texts plus 1 fragment, 7 tunes) {Bronson's #31, #54, #53, #35, #56, #66, #50}
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 326-333, "The Farmer's Cursed Wife" (4 texts plus a fragment, 1 tune) {Bronson's #61}
Belden, pp. 94-97, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (2 texts)
Randolph 36, "The Old Man under the Hill" (2 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #63}
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 63-66, "The Old Man Under the Hill" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 36A) {Bronson's #63}
Flanders/Brown, pp. 226-228, "The Scolding Wife" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #13}
Flanders/Olney, pp. 49-51, "Farmer's Curst Wife" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #60}
Flanders-Ancient4, pp. 99-135, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (15 texts plus 5 fragments, 13 tunes) {L=Bronson's #60, M=#13}
Linscott, pp. 188-191, "The Devil and the Farmer's Wife" (1 text, 1 tune)
Davis-Ballads 46, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (13 texts, 7 tunes; 2 more versions mentioned in Appendix A) {Bronson's #37, #54, #11, #46, #24, #36, #25}
Davis-More 40, pp. 316-327, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (7 texts plus a fragment, 5 tunes) {BB=Bronson's #33; EE=#10}
BrownII 45, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (1 text)
BrownSchinhanIV 45, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (2 texts plus 2 excerpts, 4 tunes)
Chappell-FSRA 20, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (1 fragment)
Hudson 24, pp. 124-125, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (2 texts)
Boswell/Wolfe 22, pp. 42-43, "The Old Farmer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shellans, pp. 18-19, "The Evil Woman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Wells, p. 122, "The Devil and the Farmer's Wife" (1 text, 1 tune) {from the same informant, although not the same session, as Bronson's #67}
Brewster 24, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #65}
Gardner/Chickering 154, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (4 texts plus a fragment, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #27, #23}
Grimes, p. 94, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (1 text)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 95-99, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (5 texts, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #4, #38}
Creighton-NovaScotia 9, "Farmer's Curst Wife" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #5}
Peacock, pp. 265-268, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Mackenzie 15, "The Devil's Song" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 660-662, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 452, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (1 text)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 172-173, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 75, "The Farmer and the Devil" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 89, "The Devil and the Farmer's Wife" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 137, "The Devil and the Farmer's Wife" (1 text, 1 tune)
Niles 60, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 27, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #54}
Williams-Thames, p. 211, "There Was an Old Farmer in Sussex Did Dwell" (1 text) (also Wiltshire-WSRO Wt 471)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 34-35, "The Devil and the Ploughman" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #1}
OLochlainn 54, "The Women Are Worse Than the Men" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #7}
Hayward-Ulster, pp. 33-35, "The Ould Man of Killyburn Brae" (1 text)
Scott-BoA, pp. 152-154, "The Farmer's Curst Wife (The Devil and the Farmer)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 92, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 131-132, "[Little Devils]" (1 text, 1 tune) {cf. Bronson's #52}
Ritchie-Southern, p. 25, "The Little Devils" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #52}
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 26 "Old Lady and the Devil" (1 text, 1 tune)
TBB 39, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (1 text)
Beck 43, "The Curst Wife" (1 text)
JHCox 164, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (1 text)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 58, "The Devil And The Farmer's Wife" (1 text, 1 tune)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 99-101, "The Devil and the Farmer's Wife" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 81-83, "The Farmer's Curst Wife"; "Randy Riley" (2 texts)
Silber-FSWB, p. 22, "The Devil and The Farmer's Wife" (1 text)
BBI, ZN960, "Give eare, my loving countrey-men"
DT 278, DEVLWIFE  DEVLWIF2* DEVLWIF3* DEVLWIF4*
ADDITIONAL: Leslie Shepard, _The Broadside Ballad_, Legacy Books, 1962, 1978, p. 179, "The Women are worse than the Men" (reproduction of a broadside print of a short version)
Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 274-275, "Killyburn Brae" (1 text)
Roud #160
RECORDINGS:
James "Iron Head" Baker, "The Rich Old Lady" (AFS 201 B1, 204 A1, 206 A1, all 1934);  "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (AFS 617 A4, 1936)
Horton Barker, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (on Barker01) {Bronson's #33}
Bill Cox, "Battle Axe and the Devil" (Vocalion 04811, 1939)
George Davis, "Buggerman in the Bushes" (on GeorgeDavis01)
Texas Gladden, "The Devil and the Farmer" (Disc 6082, 1940s)
Carrie Grover, "The Devil and the Farmer's Wife" (AFS, 1941; on LC58) {Bronson's #67}
Thomas Moran, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (on FSB5, FSBBAL2)
Howard Morry, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (on PeacockCDROM)
Maggie Murphy, "Killyburn Brae" (on IRHardySons)
Lawrence Older,  "Randy Riley" (on LOlder01)
Bill & Belle Reed, "Old Lady and the Devil" (Columbia 15336-D, 1928; on AAFM1) {Bronson's #32}
Jean Ritchie, "Little Devils" (on JRitchie02) {cf. Bronson's #52}
Pete Seeger, "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (on PeteSeeger16) (on PeteSeeger24); "Old Woman and the Devil" (on AschRec2)
Pete Steele, "Lack Fol Diddle I Day" [fragmentary version] (AFS, 1938; on KMM)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(1855), "The Sussex Farmer", J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Devil Came to My Door" (plot)
cf. "The Massacre of Glencoe" (tune,according to GreigDuncan2)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Old Woman and the Devil
The Farmer and the Devil
The Carle o' Killyburn Braes [Burns]
The Battle Axe and the Devil
The Farmer's Wife
NOTES: Linscott lists this as being sung to "Liliburlero," but Bronson (who was aware of though he did not print Linscott's version; it's his "g") says it is "not so close to our pattern here." - RBW
Dixon-Peasantry, like Linscott, writes "[t]he tune is 'Lilli burlero.'"
Compare, for example, Bill & Belle Reed, "Old Lady and the Devil" verse 1 ("There was an old man lived the foot of the hill If he ain't moved away he's a-living there still") with Opie-Oxford2 541, "There was an old woman" ("There was an old woman Lived Under a hill, And if she's not gone She lives there still"). [Also in Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #4, p. 28. - RBW]  Neither of Child's versions use this verse (earliest date in Opie-Oxford2 is 1714). - BS

Excerpt from The British Traditional Ballad in North America

by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America

278. THE FARMER'S CURST WIFE

Texts: Barry, Brit Bids Me, 325 / Beck, Sgs Mich Vjks, 107 / Belden, Mo F-S, 947 Brewster, Bids Sgs Ind, 155 / Brown Coll/ Bull Tenn FLS, VIII, #3, 73 / Chappell, F-S Rnke Alb, 42 / Cox, F-S South, 164.1 Crabtree, Overton Cnty, 98 / Creighton, Sgs Bids N Sc, 18 / Cutting, Adirondack Cnty, 71 / Davis, Trd Bid Va, 505 / Downes and Siegmeister, Treasry Am Sg, 228 / Duncan, No Hamilton Cnty, 108 / Flanders, Vt F-S Bids, 226 / Gardner and Chickering, Bids Sgs So Mich, 373 / Garrison, Searcy Cnty, 13 / Haun, Cocke Cnty, 69 / Henry, F-S So Hghlds, 125 / Hudson, F-S Miss, 124 / Hummel, Oz F-S / JAFL, XIX, 2985 XXIV, 3485 XXVII, 68; XXX, 329; XLVIII, 299 / Kolb, Treasry F-S, 8 / Linscott, F-S Old NE, 188 / Lomax, Cowboy Sgs Frntr Bids, 110 / Lomax and Lomax, Our Sgng Cntry, 152 / Louisville Courier-Journal, 114 '177 MacKenzie, Bids Sea Sgs N Sc, 647 Mason, Cannon Cnty, 75 / Morris, F-S Fla, 472 / Musick, F-L Kirksmlle, 11 A / Niles, Anglo-Am Stdy Bk, 31 / Niles, BldsLvSgs TgcLgds, z/ PTFLS,X, 1 64 /Randolph, Os F-S, I, 1 89 / Randolph, Oz Mt Flk, 227 / SharpC, EngF-S So*Aplchns, #34/ SharpK, EngF-S So Aplchns, I, 275 / Siegmeister, Sgs Early Am, 44 / Smith and Rufty, Am Anth Old Wrld Bids, 53 / SFLQ, II, 77; IV, 157 / Va FLS Bull, #s 4 6, 8 10. Korson, Pa Sgs Lgds, 39.

Local Titles: A Woman and the Devil, Brave Old Anthony Marela, Hi Lum Day, Jack, Jack's Wife, Kellybumbraes, Ten Little Devils, The Devil and the Fanner's Wife, The Devil Came to the Farmer's One Day, The Devil's Song, The Farmer's Curst Wife, The Old Devil Come to my Plow, The Old Jokey Song, The Old Man under the Hill, The Old Woman and the Devil. The (Old) Scolding Wife.

Story Types: A: The Devil comes to take the farmer's shrewish wife, much to the farmer's delight. The woman is no more controllable in Hell than she was on earth. She kicks the imps about and is generally unmanageable. For the sake of peace and his own safety, the Devil is forced to take her back to the farmer. Upon her return, she sometimes asks for the food she was cooking in the pot when she left. Once and awhile she hits her husband, too. There is usually a comic, philosophic last stanza.

Examples: Belden (A), Davis (A), SharpK (A).

B: The story is like that of Type A. However, this feature is added: the farmer, having no oxen to plow his farm, lores the Devil, who abducts the wife as payment. Examples: Barry (C).

C: The Devil takes so many things from the farmer in accordance with a pact between them that soon the poor man has only his hogs left to plow with. The Devil then abducts the wife, and the usual story ensues.

Examples: Gardner and Chickering (E).

D: The usual story is told. In the end, however, the farmer welcomes his wife back and congratulates her for killing the imps and ruling Hell.

Examples: Barry (D).

E: The usual story is told, but, as in some of the Type A texts, the woman asks for the food in the pot on her return, only to find that is has all been eaten up. She also brags to her husband of her accomplishments in Hades.

Examples: Cox.

F: The usual story is told. As in Types A and E the woman asks for the food in the pot on her return. She follows this query by beating her husband, who is sick in bed, on the head with a pipe.

Examples: Randolph, OzF-S (B); SharpK (B).

Discussion: This ballad and a related song, The Devil in Search of a Wife, were London broadsides of the nineteenth century. Child prints only two versions of the traditional song, of which the A text is most like the majority of the American ballads. In this country, however, a mock aphoristic closing stanza on shrewish women is almost universally found, and the Child B
ending, in which the returning wife asks for the food (mush, chicken, bread, etc.) she was cooking when abducted is not at all uncommon. See Types E and F.

Barry, Brit Bids Me y 332, pieces together his conception of the original story. The farmer has made a pact with the Devil for aid, as he has no oxen to plow his fields. Satan returns for the soul of one member of the family as payment. As in Child A, the farmer is relieved that his eldest son is not desired. This explanation would account for Type B stories and is lent support by the Maine, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia versions that find the farmer yoking the swine to his plow. (In Siegmeister, Sgs Early Am, 44, from New York the farmer uses his wife as well as the swine.) See also the Gardner and Chickering, Bids Sgs So Mich, E text (Type C) which was recited as a story outline, the exact words of the song having been forgotten.

Beck, Sgs Mich Lmjks, 107 prints a text from the woodsmen that substitutes a lumberjack for the farmer, and the Randolph, OzF-S 9 1, 189 version is long, with many added details. Nevertheless, the story matter of both these texts can be said to be Type A. Note that the American stories have a number of varied endings, all, expecting Type D, being in the same mood.
There is something of the sentimental in Type D.

The American refrains are whistles, as in Child A, and/or nonsense lines of the "sing fol-roll dolli", etc. sort.

Belden, Mo F-S, 95 expresses the belief that the devils dancing on a wire, as they do in Missouri and Nova Scotia, may hark back to the mystery plays.

Folk Index: The Devil and the Farmer's Wife [Ch 278/Sh 40/Me I-A15]

Rt - With a Fie Fie ; Sussex Whistling Song
At - Old Man Under the Hill ; Battle Axe and the Devil
Rm - Lillibullero
Mf - Hi-Fi Stereo Color TV
Dunson, Josh; & Ethel Raim (eds) / Anthology of American Folk Music, Oak, Sof (1973), p 26 (Old Lady and the Devil)
Scott, John Anthony (ed.) / Ballad of America, Grosset & Dunlap, Bk (1967), p152 (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p452 [1846ca] (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Lynn, Frank (ed.) / Songs for Swingin' Housemothers, Fearon, Sof (1963/1961), p218 (Old Man Who Lived Near Hell)
Lomax, Alan / Folk Songs of North America, Doubleday Dolphin, Sof (1975/1960), p187/# 92 (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Luboff, Norman; and Win Stracke (eds.) / Songs of Man, Prentice-Hall, Bk (1966), p318
Fowke, Edith and Richard Johnston / Folk Songs of Canada, Waterloo Music, Bk (1954), p172 (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Ives, Burl / Irish Songs, Duell-Sloan, Bk (1958/1955), p 30 (Women Are Worse than the Men)
Silverman, Jerry / How to Play Guitar, Doubleday, Sof (1968), p126
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p661A (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p661B (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Leach, MacEdward / The Heritage Book of Ballads, Heritage, Bk (1967), p124 (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Ancient Orphic Mystery Band. Ancient Orphic Mystery Band, Troubadour TR 09, LP (1977), trk# A.06 (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Anderson, Casey. Casey Anderson "Live" at the Ice, Atco 33-172, LP (1963), trk# A.01 (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Armstrong, Frankie. And the Music Plays So Grand, Sierra/Briar SBR 4211, LP (1980/1978), trk# B.01
Armstrong, Lena; & Etta Jones. Traditional Music of Beech Mountain, NC, Vol I, Folk Legacy FSA 022, LP (1964), trk# 9 [1963] (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Ashlaw, Ted. Adirondack Woods Singer, Philo 1022, LP (1976), trk# 8 [1973/07ca] (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Baker, Nova. Land of Yahoe, Rounder 8041, CD (1996), trk# 18 (Old Lady and the Devil)
Ball, E. C. (Estil C.). Sounds of the South, Atlantic 7-82496-2, CD( (1993), trk# 1.03 [1959/07ca] (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Barker, Horton. Anglo American Ballads, Library of Congress AFS L 1, LP (1956), trk# A.02 [1939] (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Barker, Horton. Lomax, Alan / Penguin Book of American Folk Songs, Penguin, sof (1969/1964), p 43/# 23 (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Barlow, Susie S.. Hubbard, Lester A. / Ballads and Songs from Utah, Univ. of Utah, Bk (1961), P 39/# 17A [1948/10/18] (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Black, Mrs.. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p164/# 30 [1917/01/03] (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Broadbent, Peter. Wolfe, Charles K.(ed.) / Folk Songs of Middle Tennessee. George Boswell, Univ. Tennesse, Sof (1997), p 42/# 22 [1952/06/27] (Old Farmer)
Buckner, Sarah. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p275/# 40A [1916/09/19] (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Burstow, H.. Williams, R. Vaughan; & A. L. Lloyd (eds.) / Penguin Book of English Fol, Penguin, Sof (1959), p 34 [1903] (Devil and the Ploughman)
Campbell, Gerard. Wandering Minstrel, London LL 1714, LP (195?), trk# B.08 (Killyburn/KillieBurne Brae)
Chisholm, N. B.. Sharp, Cecil & Maude Karpeles (eds.) / Eighty English Folk Songs from th, MIT Press, Sof (1968), p 51 [1917ca] (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Chisholm, N. B.. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p276/# 40B [1916/09/21] (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Clayton, Paul. Unholy Matrimony, Elektra EKL 147, LP (1958), trk# B.02 (Farmer's Nagging Wife)
Clayton, Paul. Asch, Moses (ed.) / 124 Folk Songs as Sung and Recorded on Folkways Reco, Robbins, fol (1965), p 41 (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Collins, Judy. Maid Of Constant Sorrow, Elektra EKLS 209/7209, LP (1961), trk# B.02 (Oh Daddy Be Gay)
Collins, Judy. Folk Music Scene, M. Witmark, Sof (1967), p 95 (Oh Daddy Be Gay)
Collins, Mitzie. Sampler of Folk Music, Sampler aafm 7601, LP (1976), trk# A.07 (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Cottrell, Jenes. 2nd Annual Brandywine Mountain Music Festival, 1975., Heritage (Galax) 012, LP (1976), trk# 12
Cuddihey, Michael. Fowke, Edith (ed.) / The Penguin Book of Canadian Folk Songs, Penguin, Sof (1973), p174/#75 [1957] (Farmer and the Devil)
Dubliners. Ballads and Booze, Chyme CHLP 1007, LP (1978), trk# B.05 (Killyburn/KillieBurne Brae)
Dyer-Bennet, Richard. Twentieth Century Minstrel; Folk Songs & Ballads, Decca DL 9102, LP (196?/1946), trk# 1
Dyer-Bennet, Richard. Richard Dyer-Bennet 13, Dyer-Bennet 13, LP (1964), trk# A.05
Ennis, Seamus. Bonnie Bunch of Roses, Tradition TLP 1013, LP (195?), trk# A.04 (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Farnham, George. Flanders, Helen H. & George Brown / Vermont Folk Songs and Ballads, Folklore Associates, Bk (1968/1931), p226 [1930/08/28] (Scolding Wife)
Faulkner, Mr.; and Ben Henneberry. Creighton, Helen / Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia, Dover, sof (1996/1933), p 18/# 9 [1927-32]
Gainer, Patrick. Folk Songs of the Alleghenies, Folk Heritage, LP (1963), trk# A.06 (Farmer's Wife and the Devil)
Gant, Foy and Ado. Lomax, John A. & Alan Lomax / Our Singing Country, Dover, Sof (2000/1941), p152 [1934] (Tee Roo)
Gingerthistle. Grandad's Porch, Kudzu KPP 007, CD (1998), trk# 5
Gladden, Texas. Ballad Legacy, Rounder 1800, CD (2001/1941), trk# 1 [1946]
Gladden, Texas. Ballad Legacy, Rounder 1800, CD (2001/1941), trk# 37 [1938]
Grover, Carrie. Wells, Evelyn Kendrick (ed.) / The Ballad Tree, Ronald, Bk (1950), p122 [1944/05]
Hildebrand, David & Ginger. Out on a Limb, Hildebrand H101, LP (198?), trk# 9 (Daddy Be Gay)
Hinton, Sam. Singing Across the Land, Decca DL 8108, LP (1955), trk# A.01c (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Ives, Burl. Wayfaring Stranger, Columbia CS 9041, LP (1964/1955), trk# B.02
Ives, Burl. Ives, Burl / Burl Ives Song Book, Ballantine Books, Bk (1953), p194 (Divil and the Farmer)
Ives, Burl. Coronation Concert, Decca DL 8080, LP (1954), trk# A.01a (Divil and the Farmer)
Jepson, James. Hubbard, Lester A. / Ballads and Songs from Utah, Univ. of Utah, Bk (1961), p 40/# 17B [1947/09/11]
Kahn, Kathy. Working Girl. Women's Songs from Mountains Mines and Mills, Voyager VRLP 305-S, LP (1972), trk# B.05
Keefer, Jane. Banjo Newsletter, BNL, Ser (1973-), 1979/11,p10
Koerner, John ("Spider" John). Some American Folk Songs Like They Used To, Sweet Jane SJL 1024, LP (1974), trk# A.01 (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Lain, Myrtle. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p191/# 36B [1930/02/14] (Old Man Under the Hill)
Langstaff, John. Water Is Wide. American and British Ballads and Folksongs, Revels 2202, CD (2002), trk# 5 [1959] (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Lund, Lewis. Brave Boys, New England Traditions in Folk Music, New World NW 239, LP (1977), trk# 2 [1959/10] (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Maguire, D.. O Lochlainn, Colm (ed.) / Irish Street Ballads, Corinth, Sof (1960/1939), p108/# 54 [1912ca] (Women Are Worse than the Men)
Marks, Phyllis. Folksongs and Ballads, Vol 2. Phyllis Marks, Augusta Heritage AHR 008, Cas (1991), trk# 1.13 (Devil and the Old Woman)
McBee, Hamper. Raw Mash, Rounder 0061, LP (1978), trk# 20
McCutcheon, John. How Can I Keep from Singing?, June Appal JA 003, LP (1975), trk# 2
McMillon, Bobby. Carolina Sampler, Global Village C 312, Cas (1992), trk# 9 [1980s]
Mills, Nellie. Morris, Alton C. / Folksongs of Florida, Univ. Florida, Bk (1950), p324/#173B [1934-39]
Moberly, Susan. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p279/# 40E [1917/08/20] (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Moran, Thomas. Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 5. The Child Ballads, Vol. II, Caedmon TC 1146, LP (1961), trk# B.07 [1950s] (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Morgan, William. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), P281/# 40G [1917/10/05] (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Niles, John Jacob. American Folk and Gambling Songs, Camden CaL 219, LP (1956), trk# A.07 (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Older, Lawrence. Adirondack Songs, Ballads and Fiddle Tunes, Folk Legacy FSA 015, Cas (1964), trk# A.02 (Randy Riley)
Owens, William A.. Owens, William A. (ed.) / Texas Folk Songs. 2nd edition, SMU Press, Bk (1976/1950), p 36 [1930s] (Devil's Song)
Pace, Eliza. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p280/# 40F [1917/10/01] (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Peak, Mrs. Georgia. Moore, Ethel & Chauncey (ed.) / Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwest, Univ. of Okla, Bk (1964), p127/# 53 [1940s] (Farmer Jones's Wife)
Peters, Jack. Songs of Early Times, Early Times, LP (1961), trk# A.08 (Farmer's Scolding Wife)
Pitt, Everett. Up Agin the Mountain, Marimac 9200, Cas (1987/1944), trk# 2 [1944/12/03] (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Prescott, Henry. Linscott, Eloise Hubbard (ed.) / Folk Songs of Old New England, Dover, Bk (1993/1939), p188 [1920-30s]
Provance, F. P. (Fillmore Peter). Korson, George (ed.) / Pennsylvania Songs and Legends, Univ. of Penna., Bk (1949), p 39 [1943] (Old Jokey Song)
Reed, Bill and Belle. Anthology of American Folk Music, Smithsonian/Folkways SFW 40090, CD( (1997), trk# 5 [1928/10/17] (Old Lady and the Devil)
Ritchie, Frank. The Singing Ulsterman, Request RLP 8057, LP (196?), trk# B.03 (Old Man from Killyburn Brae)
Ritchie, Jean. Folk Box, Elektra EKL 9001, LP (1964), trk# 71 (Little Devils)
Ritchie, Jean. O Love Is Teasin', Elektra 60402-1-U, LP (1957), trk# 2.06 (Little Devils)
Ritchie, Jean. Best of Jean Ritchie, Prestige International INT 13003, LP (196?), trk# 12 (Little Devils)
Ritchie, Jean. British Traditional Ballads in the Southern Mountains (Vol. 2), Folkways FA 2302, LP (1961), trk# A.02 (Little Devils)
Ritchie, Jean. Ritchie, Jean / Singing Family of the Cumberlands, Oak, sof (1955), p131 (Little Devils)
Ritchie, Sabrina. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p277/# 40C [1917/09/20] (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Seeger, Peggy. Folksongs and Ballads, Riverside RLP 12-655, LP (1959), trk# 7
Seeger, Peggy. Everybody Sing, Vol 3., Riverside RLP 1420, LP (196?), trk# A.05b (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Seeger, Peggy. Seeger, Peggy / Five String Banjo American Folk Styles, Hargail, sof (1960), p 8/# 4 (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Seeger, Pete. American Ballads, Folkways FA 2319, LP (1957), trk# 9 (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Seeger, Pete. Seeger, Pete / American Favorite Ballads, Oak, fol (1961), p58
Seeger, Pete. American Favorite Ballads, Smithsonian/Folkways SFW-CD 40155, CD( (2009), trk# 2.23 [1957] (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Sky, Patrick. Harvest of Gentle Clang, Vanguard VSD7 9207, LP (1966), trk# B.03 (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Smith, Hobart. Hobart Smith, Folk Legacy FSA 017, LP (1964), trk# 10
Smith, Mrs. J. H.. Morris, Alton C. / Folksongs of Florida, Univ. Florida, Bk (1950), p323/#173A [1934-39] (Jack's Wife)
Spradley, Isabel. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p189/# 36A [1929/11/07] (Old Man Under the Hill)
Stekert, Ellen. Songs of a New York Lumberjack, Folkways FA 2354, LP (1958), trk# A.06 (Poor Anthony Rolly)
Storey, (Mr.) Sandy Stuart. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p278/# 40D [1917/04/19] (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Sturdivent, Pina. Abrahams, Roger; & George Foss / Anglo-American Folksong Style, Prentice-Hall, Sof (1968), 6-3 [1965]
Summers, Andrew Rowan. Seeds of Love, Folkways FA 2021, LP (1951), trk# B.02 (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Todd, Dylan. American Folk Songs, Overland OLM 101, LP (1958?), trk# B.03 (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Unidentified Singer. Niles, John Jacob / Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, Bramhall House, Bk (1961), p315/N 60A [1912/10] (Old Woman and the Devil)
Unidentified Singer. Niles, John Jacob / Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, Bramhall House, Bk (1961), p318/N 60B [1930s] (Farmer and the Devil)
Vass, John Daniel. Shellans, Herbert (ed.) / Folk Songs of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Oak, Sof (1968), p18 [1959/03/27] (Evil Woman)
Warner, Jeff; and Jeff Davis. Days of Forty Nine, Minstrel JD 206, LP (1977), trk# A.06 (Farmer's Curst Wife)
Waterson - Carthy. Waterson - Carthy / The Definitive Collection, Highpoint HPO 6012, CD (2005), trk# 11 [2002ca]
Weavers. Gilbert, Ronnie, et.al (ed.) / Weavers' Song Book, Harper & Row, Sof (1960), p134
Weavers. Brand, Oscar / Folk Songs for Fun, Berkeley Medallion, Sof (1961), p105
West Orrtana String Band. Orrtana Home Companion, Revonah RS 932, LP (1978), trk# A.02
Workman, Nimrod. Mother Jones' Will, Rounder 0076, LP (1978), trk# 16
Yale, Marvin. Cazden, Norman (ed.) / Merry Ditties, Bonanza Books, Bk (1958), p 74
Yale, Marvin. Cazden, Norman, et.al. / Folk Songs of the Catskills, SUNY Press, sof (1982), p508/#137 [1940s]

With a Fie Fie - Darling, Erik/Traditional

Rt - Devil and the Farmer's Wife
Darling, Erik. Child, Child, Wind River WR 4013, CD (2000), trk# 2 (Old Ben Johnson) 

The Devil and the Ploughman / The Farmer's Curst Wife / Lily Bulero

[Roud 160; Child 278; Ballad Index C278; trad.]

This song was collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1903 from Henry Burstow, Horsham, Sussex, and published by him and A.L. Lloyd in The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. In 1960, A.L. Lloyd recorded it for the album A Selection from the Penguin Book of English Folk Songs with concertina accompaniment by Alf Edwards. Like all tracks from this LP it was reissued in 2003 on the CD England & Her Traditional Songs. Lloyd wrote in the album's sleeve notes:

The tale of the shrewish wife who terrifies even the demons is ancient and widespread. The Hindus have it in a sixth century fable collection, the Panchatantra. It seems to have travelled westward by Persia, and to have spread to almost every European country. In early versions, the farmer makes a pact with the Devil and hands over his wife in return for a pair of plough oxen. Vaughan Williams got the present ballad from the Horsham shoemaker and bell-ringer, Henry Burstow. Mr Burstow whistled the refrains that in our performance are played by the concertina. Whistling was a familiar way of calling up the Devil (hence the sailors' dread that whistling may raise a storm).

Martin Carthy sang this song in 2002 as The Devil and the Farmer on Waterson:Carthy's fourth album, A Dark Light. He commented in the record's sleeve notes:

The Copper Family, Packie Manus Byrne, Séamus Ennis, Sam Larner, Almeda Riddle, Cecil Sharp and A.L. Lloyd, who, in this case, co-produced The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, were some of the people who had a profound effect on one or other of us at some stage in our musical lives, and, in part, this CD reflects that involvement. In the end all our choices wouldn't fit on to one balanced CD and there were glum faces at the end of the sessions. But, since everybody lost something, we ended up sort of happy.

For myself, there were two people in the late 1950s whose unforgettable wildly different performances—one at the Troubadour Folk Club in Earl's Court and the other at Ewan MacColl's Ballads and Blues Club in the upstairs room of a pub in the Edgware Road (the name of which I can't remember)—decided for me the musical direction which my life was going to take. That pub, close to the old Metropolitan Theatre, may lie buried along with that famous theatre under the flyover which leads on to the M40 westway, but the memory will never, ever fade. The people I'm talking about are Séamus Ennis, whose version of The Devil and the Farmer starts this CD off, and Sam Larner, whose mighty telling of the Henry Martin story in Lofty Tall Ship was probably the single moment that ensured—bewildered though I was by what I thought of at the time at its baffling tune—that this music would embed its hooks into me for life.

Brian Peters sang The Farmer's Curst Wife in 2008 on his album of Child ballads, Songs of Trial and Triumph.

Barry Dransfield sang a variant called Lily Bulero in 1994 on his CD Be Your Own Man. He commented in the liner notes:

I heard this from Joe Skeaping, a wonderful early music player, in a Mayfair restaurant in the seventies. The song has Celtic connections in the lyrics and is more usually heard from the Irish (The Devil and the Farmer's Wife). The tune is reckoned to have been William of Orange's marching tune as he came up from Cornwall.

Jon Boden sang Lillibulero as the May 19, 2011 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day. This song will also appear in October 2012 on Bellowhead's forthcoming CD Broadside.

Compare to this the loosely related The Devil and the Feathery Wife sung my Martin Carthy on his album Out of the Cut. Both feature the farmer, his wife and the devil but the stories turn into quite different ways.

Lyrics
A.L. Lloyd sings The Devil and the Ploughman

There was an old farmer in Sussex did dwell,
And he'd a bad wife as many knew well,
To me fal-de-ral little law-day.

The devil he come to the old man at plough,
Saying, “One of your family I must have now,”
To me fal-de-ral little law-day.

“Now it isn't for you nor yet for your son,
But that scolding old wife as you've got at home.”

“Oh take her, oh take her with all of me heart,
And I wish she and you never more part.”

So the devil he took the old wife on his back,
And lugged her along like a pedlar's pack.

He trudged along till he reached his front gate,
Says, “Here, take in an old Sussex chap's mate.”
  
There was thirteen imps all dancing in chains,
She up with her pattens and beat our their brains.

Well, two more little devils jumped over the wall,
Saying, “Turn her out, father, she'll murder us all.”

So he bundled her up on his back again,
And to her old husband he took her again.

“Well, I've been a tormentor the whole of me life,
But I was never tormented till I met your wife.”

And now to conclude and make an end,
You see that the women is worse than the men:
If they get sent to hell, they get kicked back again,
To me fal-de-ral little law-day.

Waterson:Carthy sing The Devil and the Farmer 

 Oh there was an old farmer in Sussex he dwelt,
He had an old wife he didn't love well,
With me whip fol day
Fol lickety dee folder ol dee.
 
 And the devil he came to the farmer at plough,
Say, “One of your family I got to have now,”
With me whip fol day
Fol lickety dee folder ol dee.
 
 “Oh see here, good farmer, I've come for your wife,
Ay, she's the bane and torment to your life.”
 
 “Oh take her, oh take her with all of my heart,
I hope that you and she never shall part.”
 
So the devil he hoisted her up on his back,
Down to Hell he has gone with a crack.
 
 There were two little devils a-playing with chains,
She upped with her foot, she clattered their brains.
 
 There were two little devils a-playing the ball,
“Oh take her away, father, she'll murder us all.”
 
 So the devil he hoisted her back on his back,
Down to the farmer he's come with a crack.
 
 There were nine years going and one coming back,
Down to the farmer he's come with a crack.
 
 “Oh I've been a tormentor for most of my life,
But I never knew how till I met with your wife.”
 
 This shows up that women do better than men,
They go to hell and get sent back again.
 
   
Barry Dransfield sings Lily Bulero  

There was an old Farmer in Sussex did dwell
  Lily Bulero bullen a lar
He had an old wife and she gave him hell
  Lily Bulero bullen a lar

Chorus (after each verse):
Lero, lero, Lily Bulero, lero, lero bullen a lar
Lero, lero, Lily Bulero, lero, lero bullen a lar
So the devil he came to him at the plough,
“I want your wife and I want her now.”

The devil he hoisted her upon on his hump
And down to hell with her did he jump.

Two little devils were playin' with chains;
She took up a stick and she knocked out their brains.

Two more devils looked over the wall,
They said, “Take her back or she'll murder us all.”

So the devil he put her back on his hump
And back to earth with her did he jump.

“Now I've been a devil the whole of my life
But I never know hell 'til I met your wife.”
 
Links
See also the Mudcat Café thread Lyr Add: The Devil and the Ploughman. The Wikipedia article Lillibullero has more information on William of Orange's marching tune and has completely different lyrics.

 ----------------
JOHNNY BE GAY IF YOU CAN BE
As sung by Terry Callier on "The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier" (1968)

1. There was an old man lived over the hill.
        Oh, Johnny, be gay.
There was an old man lived over the hill.
If he ain't moved away, he's a-livin' there still.
        Johnny, be gay if you can be.

2. The devil come up to the old man one day.
        Oh, Johnny, be gay.
The devil come up to the old man one day,
And he says, "Your old lady I'm takin' away."
        Johnny, be gay if you can be.

3. "Well, take her, please take her with all o' my heart.
Oh, yeah, you can have her with all o' my heart.
I hope to my soul you two never part."

4. The devil he packed her up on his back.
The devil he packed her up on his back.
Straight down the hill he went clickety-clack.

5. Well, ten little devils said, "Welcome to hell."
Yeah, ten little devils said, "Welcome to hell.
Pa, turn up the fire; we'll sizzle her well."

6. She caught four little devils out playin' tricks.
She caught four little devils out playin' tricks.
She bound 'em up tightly an' beat 'em with sticks.

7. Well six scared little devils they run down the hall.
Six little devils they run down the hall,
Cryin', "Take her back, daddy; she's killin' us all."

8. Oh, the devil he flung her up on his back.
The devil he flung her up on his back.
Straight out o' hell he come clickety-clack.

9. She found her ol' man layin' late in his bed.
She found her ol' man layin' late in his bed,
An' she picked up a butterknife, went to his head.

10. The old woman went whistlin' over the hill.
        Oh, Johnny, be gay.
The old woman went whistlin' over the hill.
"Devil won't have me; I wonder who will?"
        Johnny, be gay if you can be.
        Johnny, be gay if you can be.
        Johnny, be gay if you can be.