The Curst Wife- Webster (MI) pre1941 Beck
[From Songs of the Michigan Lumberjack by E.C. Beck, 1941. The notes to his ballad begin, "The woodsman had their version of what the collectors know as Child 605." Fortunately Child only included 305 ballads in his English and Scottish Popular Ballads
and, in my humble opinion, he should have left some of the ones included off!
The Curst Wife is not the local title, probably applied by Beck who knew about the ballad.
R. Matteson 2013]
The Curst Wife- Webster (MI) pre1941 Beck
1. The old devil he came to a woodsman one day.
Said, he, "one of your family I would take away."
Tirum-ti-diddle-dum-dido.
2. "Oh," said the woodsman, "I'm all undone.
For I hate to lose my oldest son."
Tirum-ti-diddle-dum-dido.
3. 'It's not your oldest son I crave,
But your scolding wife I'm bound to have."
Tirum-ti-diddle-dum-dido.
[text upcoming]