Bluegrass Messengers

The Farmer's Curst Wife- Bruce (VA) 1935 Wilkinson MS

[Wilkinson worked with Davis in Virginia and his collected songs appear in "More Ballads." The informant Bruce apparently worked with Smithsonian Folkways years later.]

"The Farmer's Curst Wife"- Sung by Alice Bruce, Oct. 23, 1935, in Harriston, Va. From Wilkinson's MS p. 99 B

1. There was an old woman living on a hill,
If she ain't moved away she's living there still.
Sing fie diddle I diddle I fie,
Fie diddle I day.

2. Old man hitched up his horse and went out to plough,
How he got along, well I don't know how.
Sing fie diddle I diddle I fie,
Fie diddie I day.

3. Old devil came to him in the field one day,
Said: One of your family I'm going to take away.
Sing fie dlddle, etc.

4. "Take her on, take her on, by the joy of my heart,
I hope  by golly, you never shall part."
Sing fie diddle, etc.

5. Old devil went a-wagging her down the road,
Say, old lady, you're a hell of a load.
Sing fie diddle, etc.

6. Old devil got her to the gates of hell,
Said; Stir up the fire we'll scorch her well.
Sing fie diddle, etc.

7. Came two little devils a-dragging a chain,
She picked it up and dashed out their brains.
Sing fie diddle, etc.

8. There [were] two little devils sick in the bed,
She picked up a butter-knife and paddled their heads.
Sing fie diddle, etc.

9. Come two little devils skipping up the wall,
Says: Take her back daddy, she'll murder us all.
Sing fie diddle, etc.

10. There two little devils peeping through the crack,
Saw their daddy a-wagging her back,
Sing fie diddle, etc.

11. Old woman a-walking over the hill,
Says: Devil won't have me and I wonder who willl
Sing fie diddle, etc.

12. So now you see what a woman can do,
She can outdo the devil and her old man too.
Sing fie diddle, etc.