The Devil's Questions- Hugh Stallcup, 1933
[From The Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles; Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1961. The authenticity of Niles ballads have been questioned by many musicologists. Bronson, for example does not include most of Niles collected ballads (with tunes) in his "Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads."
D. K. Wilgus notes in Anglo-American Folksong Scholarship since 1898, p. 213, that 'in recent program and album notes, (Niles) has confessed personal interference ranging from tune alteration to complete composition'. Caveat emptor.
Truth be told- we just don't know- so I'm including Niles versions.
R. Matteson Jr. 2014]
The Devil's Questions by Hugh Stallcup, Murphy NC 1933, by the collector John Jacob Niles
1. If you don't answer my questions well
Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
I'll take you off and I live in hell,
And you are the weavering *bonty.
2. Oh, what is whiter than milk?
Sing ninety-nine and ninety;
What is softer than silk?
And you are the weavering bonty.
3. Oh, snow is whiter than milk,
Sing ninety-nine and ninety;
And down is softer than silk,
And me, the weavering bonty.
4. Oh, what is louder than a horn?
Sing ninety-nine and ninety;
And what is sharper than a thorn?
And you are the weavering bonty.
5. Oh, thunder's louder than a horn,
Sing ninety-nine and ninety;
And death is sharper than a thorn,
And me, the weavering bonty.
6. Oh, what is higher than a tree?
Sing ninety-nine and ninety;
And what is deeper than the sea?
And you are the weavering bonty.
7. Oh, Heaven's higher than a tree,
Sing ninety-nine and ninety;
And hell is deeper than the sea,
And me, the weavering bonty.
8. Oh, what red fruit September grows?
Sing ninety-nine and ninety;
And what round thing the whole world goes?
And you are the weavering bonty.
9. The apple in September grows,
Sing ninety-nine and ninety;
And air around the whole world goes,
And me, the weavering bonty.
10. Oh, what is wicked man's repay?
Sing ninety-nine and ninety;
And what is worse than woman's way?
And you are the weavering bonty.
11. Now Hell is wicked man's repay,
Sing ninety-nine and ninety;
And the she-devil's worse than woman's way,
And me, the weavering bonty.
12. Oh, you have answered me questions nine,
Sing ninety-nine and ninety;
But I'll take you off, 'cause I live in Hell,
And you are the weavering bonty.
*bonny