The Farmer's Curst Wife- Sours (VA) 1922 Davis A
[I've kept the generic title given by Davis and his collectors. No informant unfamiliar with the ballad's provinence would title it- Farmer's Curst Wife- since it is not part of the text. The title should be taken in most cases from the first line.]
46. THE FARMER'S CURST WIFE
(Child, No. 278)
Davis' Notes: The ballad is represented by fifteen texts and six tunes in the Virginia archives, Of these, thirteen texts and all six tunes are here printed. Most of the Virginia texts show a likeness to the Child A version, but some exhibit features found only in Child B. It is clear that both versions are represented, with many interesting variations, not least in the philosophical stanza or stanzas at the end. The tripping tunes, some of them with a whistled burden, fit perfectly the comic story of the ballad, which is thus summarized by Child: "The devil comes for a farmer's wife and is made welcome to her by the husband. The woman proves to be no more controllable in hell than she had been at home; she kicks the imps about, and even brains a set of them with her pattens or a maul. For safety's sake, the devil is constrained to take her baik to her husband." The moral of the tale is often pointed. "The Old Man under the Hill" seems to be the only unusual Virginia title; it is not, of course, the usual song of that name, though the title of that song may have been appropriated.
The material here given more than doubles the American store of this ballad. Other American references are Barry, No. 28; Belden, No. 13 (fragment); Bulletin, Nos. 4-6, 8-10; Campbell and Sharp, No. 34 (North Carolina, Virginia); Cox, No. 30; Journal, XIX, 298 (Belden, Missouri); XXIV, 348 (Bairy, Massachusetts, fragment, Maine), XXVII, 68 (Barry, Massachusetts); XXX, 329 (Kittredge, Missouri, fragments); Mackenzie, Ballads, No. 15; Sharp, Songs, 11, No. 3 (Kentucky). For additional references, see Cox, p. 164; Journal, XXX, 329.
A. "The Farmer's Curst Wife." Collected by Mr. John Stone. Sung by Mr. C. A. Sours, of Bentonville, Va. Warren County. September 23, 1922.
1 There was an old man, he had a farm,
Sing fol-e-rol- dolli-sing-fol-e-rol-da,
Sing fol- e-rol-dolli-si ng- fol-e-rol-da.
He had no oxen to carry it on,
Sing fol-e- rol- dolli-si n g-fol-e-rol-da,
Sing fol-e-rol-dolli-sing-foi-e-rol- da.
2 He hooked up his pig and began to plow;
He seen the old devil coming over the brow.
3 "And now, old devil, I'll have you undone;
For I believe you're after my oldest son."
4 "It's not your oldest son I crave,
But it's your scolding wife I am determined."
5 "O take her on with all your heart!
Be sure that you and her don't part."
6 He picked her up all on his back,
And away to hell clickety-clack.
7 He took her to the devil's door;
He threw her sprawling in the floor.
8 One little devil came running with a chain;
She up with her foot and kicked out his brains.
9 One little devil called her a liar;
She up with her foot, kicked nine in the fire.
10 One little devil peeped over the wall,
Cried, "Take her away, daddy, she'll murder us all."
10 He picked her up all on his back,
And away he went a-lugging her back.
11. Seven years going, seven years coming,
She called for the pie she left in the oven.
13 That's where the women got the advantage of the men:
They can go to hell and get back again.