US & Canada Versions: 277. Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin
[The Ballad of Sweet William and Gentle Jenny is the earliest known US or Canadian version dating back to the early 1800s. It was collected by William Wells Newell and printed in Child's Additions and Corrections and before that in the JOAFL in 1894. Since Lydia R. Nichols of Salem, Mass. learned it in the early 1800s we can safely assume the unknown person she learned it from knew it in the 1700s. Therefore, this ballad dates back to the 1700s in the US. The possibility of an even earlier US date is found in Lena Bourne Fish's version (see Flanders A). Her father's side her family were early settlers of Cape Cod, MA circa 1640. However, it's impossible to document when the ballad was learned by the Bourne family.
The basic form in most cases is derived from the old nursery/nonsense songs from the 1500s in England: Martin and his Man and Froggie Went A-Courtin'. Of which the latter is most popular in the US and Canada. The form has been extended by adding a longer nonsense chorus.
Be sure to read William Hugh Jansen's article, Changes Suffered by "The Wife Wrapped in Wether's Skin", from Hoosier Folklore Bulletin, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Sept., 1945), pp. 41-48 found attached to my Recording & Info page. This article analyzes about 40 US versions before 1945- however there are many texts that have been found since.
To help understand the "plant-burdens" i.e. "Jennifer, Gentle and Rosemarie," and other burdens such as "As the dew flies over the green valley" and also "Dandoo" I've included 3 articles (excerpts) by Lucy Broadwood, A. G. Gilchrist and Phillips Barry at the bottom of the page. It's possible that "gentle" refers to "gentiel" as in a gentiel wife (wife of high social standing or royalty). This occurs in the "Wee Cooper" versions.
One possible source of "Dandoo" can be found in Gilchrist's 1937 article and the nursery song she titles "The Slattern Wife," dates c. 1912:
She weish her face but ance a year,
Sing dhu and dhu, Sing dhu and dhu,
She sweept her flure but ance a year,
Cloch ma clairy clinkie O.
Dandoo may be a corruption of "Sing dhu and dhu." "Dhu" in Gaelic means "black" as in Scott's "Pibroch of Donal Dhu." Realize that it is a nonsense chorus and not much meaning may be derived from examinging it or the other choruses.
Some variants "Nickety Nackety, Now, Now Now," and "Risslety, Rosslety" (in Britain there's "Robin-a-thrush") have extented nonsense refrains much like some versions of "Kemo Kimo." The Traditional Ballad Index lists these variants under "Risslety, Rosslety, Now, Now, Now." Horton Barker's melody (see Chase p. 122-123) uses the "Wife Wrapt" text with the nonsense refrain that I believe he adapted from Chubby Parker's 1927 recording, titled, "Nickety Nackety, Now, Now Now." Bronson includes these versions as his F types but the texts are usually random verses about the problems with the wife (Slattern Wife)and the story of taming the wife is generally lost.
According to Steve Gardham, the Slattern Wife (Slattern= a slovenly, untidy woman or girl) is a completely separate piece that has been crossed with Child 277 at some later date, probably no earlier than the 18th century and likely not until the 19th century.
The Broadwood/Maitland version was "Sung by a nurse towards the end of 18th century." Sumner's version was published in 1888. Even though Bronson lists these as his Type F (because of the melodies and same form) the texts are clearly not sufficiently related to be part of Child 277. There is no mention of the "wether skin" and the wife is not "reformed" at the end. These versions of the "Slattern Wife" will be added as an appendix: 277 A. The Slattern Wife (Risslety, Rosslety).
The US/Canadian "Wee Cooper o'Fife" version are a more recent arrival-- according to Bayard the first version in PA was brought by a Scottish minor in the late 1800s. Flanders M version is dated 1885 and was learned from a Scottish immigrant. Sharp collected a version in NYC in 1917. Burl Ives recording was made in 1941.
R. Matteson 2013]
CONTENTS: (To open individual versions, click on page attached to this page on left-hand column)
Dandoo- Cotton (MO) 1904 Johnson, Belden A
Dandoo- Proffitt (NC) 1937 Abrams, Brown C, Warner
Sweet William and Gentle Jenny- Nichols (MA) 1800s
Danu- Timmons/Chester (NC) pre1940 Brown 4 D(1)
The Wife Wrapped- Case (MO) c.1890 Belden B
As The Dew Flies- Elizabeth Ford (CA) 1942 Cowell
As The Dew- Longworth/W. Ford (WS) 1938 Cowell
Jenny Fair Gentle Rosemarie- Barlow (UT) c.1896
The Wife Wrapt- Jepson (UT) 1947 Hubbard B
The Old Wether's Skin- Fish (NH) 1941 Warner B
Dan Doo- Chisholm (VA) 1916 Sharp A, Davis D
Dan Du- Large (KY) 1916 Sharp B
As The Dew Falls- Dunagan (KY) 1917 Sharp C
As The Dew Flies- Kelly (KY) 1917 Sharp D
Dan Doo- Pace (KY) 1917 Sharp E
Gentle Fair Jenny- Ritchie(KY) 1953 Sharp D, Lomax
Tinna Clinnama Clinchama Clingo- Wagner (NY) 1940s
Danyou- Miller (NC) pre1915 Smith; Brown A
The Unwilling Bride- Howard (KY) c.1940 Niles
Dandoo- Bird (NC) pre1950 Brown B
Danu- Edith Walker (NC) pre1937 Brown D
Dandoo- Sexson (NE) 1917 Pound B
Nickety Nackety- Barker (VA) pre1956 Chase
Jinny Come Gentle- Young (ME) pre1929 Barry B
Gentle Jinnie- York/Priest (ME) c.1885 Barry A
Dandoo- Barnett (WV) c.1898 Cox A
Dandoo- Courtney (WV) 1918 Cox B
Dandoo- Johnson/McMillon (WV) c.1896 Cox C
Bandoo- Cutlip (WV) 1921 Cox D
Gentle Virginia- Miller (WV) 1919 Cox E
He Tuk A Sheep's Skin- Harmon (TN) 1930 Henry
The Old Man Who Lived in the West- Long (MS) 1926
Jenny Go Gently- Judkins (OR) c.1890s Harrison
There was an Old Man- Davis (NE-OH) c.1849
Dan Doo- Deitz (WS) pre1946 Peters
Dan Dhu- Sickler (KS-NJ) c.1870 Etherton
Dandoo- Mulkey (GA) pre1926 Hedy West REC
Dandoo- Waller (IN) 1935 Brewster A
The Old Sheepskin- Darling (IN) 1935 Brewster B
Dan-Doodle-Dan- Finch (IN) 1935 Brewster C
Dandoo- (KY) pre1911 Shearin-Combs
Dandoo- Knight (WV) pre1971 Gainer
There Was an Old Man- Hart (VA) 1921 Davis A
Dindo-Dan- Stone (VA-LA) 1915 Davis B
Dandoo- Smith (VA) 1916 Sharp A, Davis C
Dandoo- Throckmorton (VA) 1922 Davis E
Dandoo- Mathews (VA) 1922 Davis F
Dandoo- Conway (VA) 1915 Davis G
The Old Man Come In- Plummer (VA) 1921 Davis H
Dandoo- Grinnan (VA) 1916 Davis I
Dandoo- Mitchell (VA) 1920 Davis J
Dandoo- Lawson (VA) 1920 Davis K
He Beat Her Hard- Neighbors (VA) 1919 Davis L
Dandoo- Rowe (OK) c.1929 Moores
Me Old Wether's Skin- Fish (NH-VT) 1942 Flanders A also Warner
As The Dew Flies- Wade (VT) c.1870 Flanders B
As The Dew Flies- Edwards (VT) c.1939 Flanders C
Billy Married A Wife- Prevost (VT) 1931 Flanders D
Billy Got A Wife- Hayward (VT) 1932 Flanders E
As The Dew Flies- Weeks (VT) 1932 Flanders F
As the Dew Flies- Hall (VT) pre1965 Flanders H
As The Dew Flies- Pease (NH) 1942 Flanders I
Dan-do: Richards (CT) 1949 Flanders J
There Was an Old Man- Davis (CT) 1949 Flanders K
Riddleson's Daughter, Dinah- Dix (CA-ME) 1880s
Cooper of Fife- Monson (VT) 1885 Flanders M
There was a Wee Cooper- Houston (RI) 1945 Flanders N
Dandoo- Salswell/Garrett (FL-AL) 1949 Kirkland/Morris
The Wee Cooper o' Fife- Gordon (PA) 1943 Bayard
There Was A Wee Cooper- Clapp (NY) 1917 Sharp MS
Wee Cooper O'Fife- Ives (IL) 1941 REC
As the Dew Flies- Pedneau (VA) 1932 Davis AA
Dandoo- Chisholm (VA) 1932 Davis BB
Old Man That Lived in the West- Keesee (VA) 1932
Kitty Lorn- Lewis (VA) 1931 Davis DD
Dan-You: Smith (VA) 1932 Davis EE
Jenny Flow Gentle Rosemary- Lyons (MA) 1937
Ring Jennifer, Jenny- Fultz (AR) 1960 REC Todd
Gently, Jinny, Fair Rosemary- Grover (ME) pre1973
As the Dew Flies- Gallagher (NS) pre1950 Creighton
As The Dew Flies- Dennis (KY) c.1922 Cox 1939
The Green Valley- Blackston (AR) 1960 REC
While The Dew Flies- Claiborn (AR) 1959 REC
Sing Jennafore- Walters (KY) 1937 REC Lomax
Dandoo- Henderson (WV) pre1957 Musick
Dandoo- Boyd (NC) 1962 Foss
The Old Man in the West- Lambert (AL) 1945 Arnold
Dandoo- Lam (VA) 1935 Wilkinson MS
Geely Don Mac Kling Go- Stevenson (TN) c.1953
Nickety Nackety- Riggsby (KY) 1959 Roberts B
Dandoo- Payne (MO) 1933 Randolph
Little Old Man Come In- Pike (CA) 1941 REC Todd
Gentle Little Jenny- Nye (OH/KY) 1937 Lomax
Dandoo- Adams (OH) c.1950s Ann Grimes
There Was an Old Man- Sincomb (OR) 1946 Alderson
Lazy Woman- Dunn (TN) 1965 Conway
Old Dandoo- Stevenson (IL-CO) c.1895 Lumpkin
Dandoo- Smith (AR) 1958 Max Hunter
Jenny, Fair Jen- Dearmore (AR) 1969 Max Hunter
Dandoo- Ping (CA) 1972 Max Hunter
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(Some missing versions:)
DAN DOO- Sung by Jack Johnson; Tennessee Folklore Soc TFS 108 ('It's Just the Same Today'); Townsend, Tennessee; Collector Barnicle, Mary Elizabeth / Cadle, Tillman
JENNY GO GENTLE- Source Fowke, Penguin Book of Canadian Folk Songs (1973) pp.182-183; Performer sung by Stanley James, from Weston, Ontario Canada : Collector Fowke, Edith
JENNIFER GENTLY- Source Cazden, Abelard Folk Song Book pt.2 (1958) pp.36-37; New York : Catskill mountains
DANDOO- WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No. 1545; Collector Morton, Susan R.
GENTLE JENNIE OF ROSUM-MA-REE sung by M.C. Grein, from Reed City, Michigan; E. C. Beck Collection (Clarke Historical Lib, Central Michigan Univ) [Michigan Miscellany p.14] Collector Earl Clifton Beck.
“Dandoo”—Perry Harper (vocal); Ray, Ohio; 1955 Ann Grimes Collection
The Wife Wrapped Up in a Wether's Skin; W.M. Kent The Library of Congress
THERE'S A LITTLE OLD WOMAN LIVES IN THE WEST- sung by George Tomblin from Rudkin, W. Virginia; Combs, Folk-Songs of the Southern United States (1967) p.207 item 39; Collector Combs, Josiah H. / Woofter, Carey
THE WEE COOPER OF FIFE, Source Family Herald & Weekly Star (Montreal Canada) Old Favourites section 4 July 1934 published several times.
WIFE WRAPT IN WETHER'S SKIN
Source Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Words p.3000 / Folk Tunes p.4160
Performer Clapp, Margaret (Mrs. John)
Place collected USA : New York
Collector Sharp, Cecil J.
DANDOO- (See Henry JOAFL); Sung by Mrs. Edith Harmon, Library of Congress recording 2900 B1; Maryville, Tennessee;
Collector Halpert, Herbert
NICKITTY NACKITTY NOW NOW NOW (may not be the ballad) sung by Bradley Kincaid, Kentucky; Source- Jones, JEMF Quarterly 12 (No.44) (Winter 1976) p. 218
WIFE WRAPPED IN WETHER'S SKIN
Source Helen Hartness Flanders Collection (Middlebury College, Vermont) T6 B 07
Performer Flebbe, Mrs. Beulah Dix
Place collected USA : California : Pacific Pal
Collector Flanders, Helen Hartness
DANDOO- Source West Virginia Folklore 9:2 (Winter 1959) pp.21-22
Performer Potts, Mary
Place collected USA : W. Virginia : Left Hand
Collector Tawney, Mrs. G.G.
WIFE WRAPT IN WETHER'S SKIN, THE
Source Haun, Cocke County Ballads & Songs (1937) p.78
Performer Haun, Mrs. Maggie
Place collected USA : Tennessee : Cocke County
WIFE WRAPT IN WETHER'S SKIN, THE- Source Anderson: Tennessee Folklore Soc. Bulletin 8:3 (1942) p.74
THERE WAS AN OLD MAN LIVED IN OUR TOWN
Source Jean Thomas Coll. (Dwight Anderson Music Lib, Univ. of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky) Box 4A folder 196
Performer Ogden, Ruby Huffman
Place collected USA : Kentucky
OLD MAN WHO LIVED IN THE WEST, THE
Source Missouri Friends of the Folk Arts MFFA 1001 ('I'm Old But I'm Awfully Tough')
Performer Baker, Lawrence
Place collected USA : Missouri
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Davis' Notes: More Ballad of Virginia
THE WIFE WRAPT IN WETHER'S SKIN (Child, No. 277)
The title seems to have been adapted by Child from the oldtale which he supposes to be the sorrce of the ballad, about "the wife lapped in Morrell skin," Morrell being the husband's old horse flayed to excuse the wife-beating. The title does not appear as a local title in any of Child's versions. "Sweet Robin," "The Cooper of Fife," and first lines are the only titles found there.
As main for this ballad Child prints five texts (A-E), all from Scottish sources, and summarizes the story in this fashion (V, 104) : "Robin has married a wife of too high kin to bake or brew' wash or wring. He strips off a wether's skin and lays it on her back, or prins [that is, pins] her in it. He dares not beat her, for her proud kin, but he may beat the wether's skin, and does. This makes in ill wife good."
Not one of these Scottish texts, despite the general outline of their story, bears much formal or verbal resemblance to the well-known American versions. It is therefore a relief to find in the final Additions and Corrections (V' 304-5) two additional texts, one from Massachusetts, with a "Gentle Jenny rosemaree" refrain, and one from Suffolk, England, beginning, "There was a man lived in the West" with a "clashmo" refrain, which immediately suggest two of the types of the ballad found in America, including several of those here printed.
Although the ballad is apparently not known on the Continent or in other languages, it arrives in more recent British tradition, but hardly vigorously. It has been found in the English counties of Somerset and Lancashire, in addition to Suffolk (see above); and Greig-Keith (pp. 218-19) print one text and three tunes and report no others as collected but refer in their headnote to "this exceedingly popular song"--as indeed, one would expect "The Cooper of Fife" to be in Scotland. But the evidence of Old Country popularity is lacking. The ballad seems to have achieved a somewhat wider distribution in America, but still there is no multiplicity of published texts or tunes. Here the statistics of some representative collections:
Cox (I), five texts, no tune, plus cox (2), three texts and one tune; Barry, two texts, one tune; TBVa, tweleve texts, two tunes; Sharp Karpeles, five texts, five tunes; Belden, two texts, one tune; Randolph, one text, one tune; Henry, one text, no tune; Hudson one text, no tune; Morris, one text, one tune; Brown, four texts, four tunes; Eddy, no text or tune; Gardner-Chickering, no text or tune; and so on. As to geographical distribution, the ballad has bean collected in the following states: Maine, Vermont, connecticut, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, North carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska. There are a good many gaps in the list.
Belden (p. 92) has suggested the grouping of texts, roughly by refrains, as follows- (1) the "Cooper of Fife" form, exemplfied by Child C and D, the Lancashire, Aberdeenshire, and Connecticut texts; (2) the "clish-a-ma-cringo" form, exemplified by Child's Suffolk version and TBVa A; (3) the "Iero" form exemplified only by Sharp's Somerset version [see Flanders N] ; (4) the "Dandoo" form, exemplified by most of the TBVa texts except A and by most of the other southern and Midwestern texts; and (5) the "rosemary" form, exemplified by Barry A and B and by most of the other New England texts.
Though we shall undertake no accurate count, it seems obvious that the "Dandoo" form is most common in America, the "rosemary" next, the "clish-a-ma-cringo" third, the "Cooper of Fife" fourth, and the "Iero" so far unknown [Flanders N]. The regional preferences are also of interest, especially New England preference for the "rosemary" form, and the South's preference for the "Dandoo" form, with the "clish-a-ma clingo" next.
Most of these refrains appear to be, so far as is known mere nonsense refrains, or rather, sound rather than sense refrains. Some of them (see below) are elaborately interwoven with the meager two-line text, piling up the jargon at the end for sound effect. There is, however, one exception: the "rosemary" refrain, with its varying forms approximating the "Jenny for gentle Rose Marie," refrain of AA, below. This refrain, incidentairy, may be borrowed from "The Elfin Knight" (Child, No. 2; MTBVa, No. 2, which see) or the two ballads share the refrain. Though the singers seem to understand the line as a combination of proper names and adjectives, it is likely that the original line (preserved in some variants) was "juniper, gentian, and rosemary," a plant-burden which the superstitious supposed would keep off the devil. Miss Broadwood (JEFSS, II, 12-15) suggests that when a demon disappeared from a song, the plant-burden remained. Barry (pp. 324-25) further suggests that "the ungentle wife may have been regarded as possessed of an evil spirit, so that not only the plant-burden, but also the beating would be part of an exorcising ceremony." But this seems to read too much into the ballad before us in the effort to explain its burden.
Of the twelve Virginia texts previously published in TBVa, eight have the "Dandoo" refrain, one the "clish-a-ma-clingo," two are mixed or irregular, and one is without refrain. Of course, all the "Dandoo" texts have some approximation to the "clish-a-ma- clingo" line following the first repetition of the first line of each stanza. The longer refrains following the final lines are extremely varied and extremely nonsensical. Of the seven additional Virginia texts listed in FSVa, one has the "rosemary" refrain, two have new refrains of "Kitty Lorn" or a mixture of "Kitty alone" and "Lorum dan dorum," the rest have "Dandoo."
Of the five Virginia texts and two tunes here printed, AA is especially interesting, not only as the only "rosemary" text so far found in Virginia, but because it is the only Virginia text which makes clear the wife's reformation. It is closest to the Child, V, 304, text from Massachusetts and to Barry A, and is the sole representative here of Coffin's Story Type A. BB, from a member of a famous fiddling and singing family, is of the "Dandoo", type, with a good tune. CC, with an exceptionally fine tune, shifts the refrain lines completely in the third stanza, from the "Lorum, dan do-rum," sequence to the "Kitty alone" sequence. DD, from the same neighborhood and probably representing the same version, has the "Kitty Lorn" sequence throughout. It is given especially for comparison with CC. EE is a later-collected and somewhat shortened form of the version from the same family printed as Brown A (II, 186). It is given especially for comparison with Brown A. Note that all the below texts except AA end directly with the husband's jesting or defensive reply about tanning his old wether's skin and do not suggest that the wife has reformed. coffin, rather unaccountably, does not provide for this story type, which is the usual one for the "Dandoo" texts. See the individual headnotes, below.
Because of minor variations in repeated lines and in refrain lines, the texts are given in full, not in compressed form. See especially CC.
For further discussion concerning this ballad and its sub-divisions, see the article by William H. Jansen in the Hoosier Folklore Bulletin, IV ( September, 1941) , 41.
277. THE WIFE WRAPT IN WETHER'S SKIN- Coffin 1950 edition
Texts: Barry, Brit Bids Me, 322 / Bdden, Mo F-S, 92 / Brewster, Bids Sgs 2nd, 151 / Brown Coll / Bull Tenn FLS, VIII, #3, 74 / Child, V, 304 / Cox, F-S South, 1 59 / Cox, Trd BU W V&, 46 / Cox, W. Va. School Journal and Educator, XLV, 92 / Davis, Trd Bid Va, 497 / Downes and Siegmeister, Treasry Am Sg, 226 / Flanders, Garl Gn Mt Sg, 84 / Flanders, Vt F-S Bids, 222, 224 / Focus, V, 280 / Gordon, F-S Am, 89 / Haun, Cocke Cnty, 78 / Henry, F-S So Hgbldsy 125 / Hudson, F-S Miss, 123 / Hudson, F-T Miss, 12 / Hudson, Spec Miss F-L, #21 / JAFL, VII, 253 ; XIX, 298 ; XXX, 328 ; XXXIX, 109 ; XLVIII, 309 ; LVT, 103 / N.r.
Times Mgz, i S '28 / Pound, Am Bids Sgs, 16 / Randolph, Oz F-S, I, 187 / Ring, NE F-S, 8 / SharpC, Eng F-S So Aplchns, #33 / SharpK, Eng F-S So Aplchns, I, 271 / Shearin and Combs, Ky Syllabus, 8 / SFLQ, XIII, 172 / Smith and Rufty, Am Anth Old Wrld Bids, 49 / Fa FLS Butt, #s 4, 5, 7 10. Korson, Pa Sgs Lgds, 41,
Local Titles: Bandoo, Dandoo, Dan-Doodle-Dan, Dan-you, Dindo-Dan, Gentle Virginia, Jenny Flow Gentle Rosemary, Old Man Come in From His Plow, Robin He's Gone to the Woods, Sweet Robin, The Old Man Who Lived in the West, The Old Sheepskin, The Scolding Wife, The Wee Cooper o' Fife, The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin.
Story Types: A: A man marries a girl who is too proud or too shrewish to work. When he returns from the fields at evening, she will not give him his supper. To reform her, he lolls a sheep, cuts a rod, and beats her after wrapping her in the sheepskin, a device which frees him of responsibility. When she threatens to tell her family, he reminds her that he was only tanning the hide. She reforms completely.
Examples: Barry (A); Child (F); Davis (A); Flanders, Vt F-S Bids, 222.
B: Certain West Virginia versions mention the old man's running away in the end. The Cox, F-S South, C version has four stanzas of nonsense inserted about the old man's running to his father and saying his wife has lice. All omit the bringing home of the bride.
Examples: Cox, F-S South (A, B, C).
C: The "wether's skin" has been forgotten in some texts, and a man merely beats his wife and reforms her.
Examples: Cox, F-S South (E).
Discussion: Barry, Brit Bids Me, 325 states that "Child F may be a possible intermediary between the earlier English texts and the later American". Whether this belief is true or not, the Child version does seem to me to tell the complete American story, and I have therefore used it as a model for Story Type A. As none of the British Child texts include the man's coming home from his plowing and asking for supper, some of the American texts omit this feature also. On the other hand, other American texts that I have grouped in Type A as well, omit the bringing home of the new bride who will not work and begin the story with the husband's return from the fields. Still other American texts can be found which include both opening scenes. See the examples listed under Type A. Types B and C are, of course, degenerations of this material, one through expansion, the other through loss.
Like the story, the refrains of this ballad are varied and change place and character frequently. Belden, Mo F-S, 92, notes that two general divisions may be made with respect to these refrains: the "dandoo-clish ma dingo" types of the South and Midwest, and the "rosemary-thyme" types of the South and Northeast which probably have been borrowed from The Elfin Knight (Child 2). The "rosemary-thyme" lines may derive from the old plant burden, "juniper, gentian, and rosemary", which can be found rationalized to proper names in Child F and Barry, op. cit., A and B and which has created a new title for the song. See Cox, F-S South, 162.
The ballad and its developments are discussed in some detail by William H. Jansen in HFLQ, IV, #3, 41. He divides the American tradition much in the fashion of Belden, and notes that there is no reform of the wife in the Dandoo texts.
Child, V, 104 states that the ballad is, in all likelihood, derived from the traditional tale, The Wife Lapped in Morrell Skin, which he summarizes. The story may have blended with another tale, however, before the present version developed. Lucy Broadwood, JFSS, II, 1215, in a note on plant burdens states that plants were regarded as protection against demons and
when a demon vanished the burden often remained. In that case, and providing the plant refrain has not been recently borrowed by the ballad, the wife may have originally had evil spirits, a feature which was later rationalized to her being too proud of kin or too shrewish by nature to work.
The Brewster, Bids Sgs Ind, A version has almost lost the story, and, instead of the husband's rationalization of his deed at the end, has the cliche, "if you want any more, you can sing it yourself". The JAFL, LVI, 103 fragment may not be from Child 277.
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The Plant Burden by Lucy Broadwood from:
Songs from County Waterford, Ireland
Lucy E. Broadwood, Cecil J. Sharp, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Frank Kidson and A.G. Gilchrist
Journal of the Folk-Song Society, Vol. 3, No. 10 (1907), pp. 3-38
4.-THE SEA SIDE; OR THE ELFIN KNIGHT (excerpt)
Motherwell's MS. and an American traditional version have the same oddlycorrupted burden as Bridget Geary's song. More often the burden is " Parsley, (or ' Savory') sage, rosemary and thyme;" "Juniper, rosemary," etc.; " Gennifer, (i.e., ' juniper') gentle (i.e., hawthorn) and rosemary; " " Lay the bent (i.e., ' rush') to (or 'with') the bonny broom ;" " Sing holly, go whistle, and ivy; " or " Sing ivy O!" On studying this type of riddle-ballads one cannot fail to be struck by the extraordinary frequency with which " plant-burdens" occur in them. Both abroad and in the British Isles one meets still with so many instances of plants
being used as charms against demons, that I venture to suggest that these "plant-burdens," otherwise so nonsensical, are the survival of an incantation[1] used against the demon-suitor. That he should have disappeared from many versions of the riddle-story (where the dialogue only survives), is most natural, seeing that to mention an evil spirit's name is to suwnmnohnitm , in the opinion of the superstitious [2] of all countries. Every one of the plants mentioned in the burdens above quoted is, as a matter of fact, known to folk-lorists and students of the nmythology of plants, as "magical." That is to say, from earliest times they have been used both as spells by magicians, and as counter-spells against the evil powers who employ them. The following notes are of such interest that I make no apology for inserting them.
Those who wish to go more fully into the matter should refer to Flowers and Flower-lore by H. Friend, who has compiled his work from all the most important European books on the subject. It is perhaps hardly neccessary to remind our readers that, from earliest times, the herbs or symbols efficacious against the evil eye, and spirits, are also invariably used on the graves of the dead, or during the laying of the dead to rest.
Footnotes:
1. In one form of this riddle-song we get burdens which seem to be a corruption of a Latin exorcism (see "My true love lives far from me "'in Halliwell's Nursery Rhymes.) "He sent me a goose, without a bone; Perrie, Merric, Dixie, Domine; He sent me a cherry, without a stone, Petrum, Partrum, Paradise, Temporie, Perrie, Merrie," etc. For other examples see "I had four brothers over the sea," etc., in various collections of traditional songs.
2. Curiously enough, Mr. Michael Geary himself gave me a proof of this, last summer, when discussing the virtues of wormwood smoked in Midsummer Eve fires and hung up in cottages till the next year, as is done still in the neighbourhood of Camphire.
PARSLEY - Was used by the ancient Greeks at funerals, and on graves. It was so much associated with death that a Greek army fled in a panic on meeting asses laden with it. It is used magically in Germany, and is in the British Isles and Europe generally ominous of something bad, especially if transplanted.
SAGE - Pepys mentions its use on graves near Southampton. It is used in England still for magical purposes on Midsummer's Eve, and is used against the evil eye in Spain, Portugal, etc.
ROSEMARY.-IS called in Spain and Portugal "Alicrum" or "Elfin Plant." [3] It is there worn against the evil eye. It is hung up still, and burnt against witches, in Devonshire. It is everywhere also associated with funerals and death.
THYME - Is also magical. It forms, mixed with the "' marygold," the chief ingred ient in a recipe (circa i6oo) for an eye-salve or "'urgent" for beholding " without danger the most potent fairy or spirit you may encounter." Wild thyme is considered in England to bring, death into the house with it. Thyme, rosemary and gilliflowers, are the favourite plants on Glamorganshire graves, where only strong smelling herbs and plants are permitted.
JUNIPER - Is sacred to the Virgin in Italy, France, etc., and has especial power to put to flight the spirits of evil, and charms of the magician.
THE GENTLE -(Gentle-thorn or bush) is the name used all over Ireland for the large hawthorns considered so holy. They are sacred to the "gentry"-" gentle people," or fairies who inhabit them.
HOLLY AND IVY - Have been used magically since the earliest heathen times. Holly is "especially abhorrent to witches" in England and other countries of Europe.
BROOM -Twelfth-night broom is held on the Continent, and elsewhere, to be most potent against witches and spirits. It is per contra, much used by witches in their charms. In Sussex and other parts it "brings death into a house with it" (as does
hawthorn).
THE BENT (or Rush) -Is widely used in charms against the evil eye. Combined with the broom it would be doubly powerful, therefore.
Footnote (see above)
3. Interesting, as occurring in the burden of this " Elfin Knight " ballad.
Since forming this theory concerning the plant-burdens I have fortunately met with the following note by Sir Walter Scott, which seems to strengthen it very much. He writes, on the subject of "The Demon Lover " (a ballad absolutely distinct from "The Elfin Knight," of course), in Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border: " I remember to have heard a ballad, in which a fiend is introduced paying his addresses to a beautiful maiden, but, disconcerted by the holy herbs which shle wore in her bosom, "makes the following lines the burden of his courtship:
"Gin ye wish to be leman mine,
"Lay aside the St. John's-wort and the vervain."
"The heroine of the following tale (the " Demon-Lover ") was unfortunately without any similar protection." Both St. John's-wort and vervain'" are famous throughout Europe as magical plants.
Child shows how exceedingly ancient and universal the subject of the " Elfin Knight" ballad is. Kristensen has collected a Danish traditional version. The Danish tune has no likeness to any English air yet noted to the " Elfin Knight" or kindred ballads, as far as I can ascertain; but it has a most remarkable likeness to the tune of " The Knight's Dream " noted in Scarborough (see Folk Song Journal, Vol. ii, No. 9, p. 273).
In its modern traditional forms it is very popular with country-singers. See "There was a Lady in the West," and "Scarborough Fair," (English Country Songs and Traditional Tunes), " Whittinghain Fair," (Songs of Northern Englalnd) and "An Acre of Land," with many other references appended, in Folk Song Journal, Vol. ii, No. 8, p. 212. See also " The Three Sisters " in Davies Gilbert's Antcient Christmas Carols (Second Edition).
Bridget Geary's tune is a variant of another Co. Waterford tune with the title "Druim-Fhionn Donn Dilis " noted by Mrs. Clandillon, (see the " Introduction" to my Waterford Collection).
-L. E. B.
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A Note on the "Herb" and Other Refrains of Certain British Ballads
A. G. Gilchrist
Journal of the Folk-Song Society, Vol. 8, No. 34 (Dec., 1930), pp. 237-250
I. THE HERB REFRAIN
The group of ballads classed by Professor Child as " Riddles wisely expounded" is characterised by various forms of refrain in which certain plants are named or invoked, presumably on account of their protective magic. The Scottish fisherman in the presence of uncanny foes calls out "Cauld aim! "-which is the next best thing to being able to lay hold of the metal itself. In the earliest known version of the duel of wits ballad-Child's "A" version from an MS. of c. I450-the maiden assailed invokes the aid of Jesus Christ that she may answer the Evil One's riddles wisely, and prays to be shielded from the power of the foul wight. In this version no refrain is present (it may have been omitted from the MS.), but in the last verse the mention of the devil by name, thus discovering the maiden's knowledge of his identity, is sufficient to put him to flight. And the carrying or invocation of magical herbs seems to be the pagan prescription for defence against the same peril of falling into the power of an evil spirit.
Miss Broadwood has already dealt with the herb refrain in the Journal, Vol. III, p. 13 et seq., but some additional notes may be of interest. In the riddle ballad, the elfin or demon suitor attempts to conquer the lady by posing her with questions, failing to answer which she will fall into his' clutches. And as Miss Broadwood has suggested, the herbs named in the refrain are evidently considered of magical virtue in protecting their wearer or invoker against evil. This refrain generally belongs to one of two types:
(a) Lay the bent to the bonny broom
(b) Jennifer gentle and Marjory.
The Rev. E. A. White asks whether this northern form (a) may be due to the use of the ballad as a song of labour by broom-makers. But as both bent and broom are accredited with magical properties it does not seem needful to look further afield for
their occurrence in the refrain. It seems quite likely that in this instance "bent" is the later form of "bennet "-i.e. herb-bennet (Herba benedicta), a name given to the common avens (Geum urbanum) because according to traditional belief "where the root is in the house the devil can do nothing and flies from it; wherefore it is blessed above all other herbs. If any should carry this plant about on his person no venomous beast can hurt him, etc." (see Friend's Flowers and Flower-Lore). Other English plants are known as herb-bennet, but it is not of much consequence which particular Fuga demonum is here intended, though herb-bennet seems, I think, more likely than bent grass, as cited by Miss Broadwood. For the use of broom flowers as a protective charm, see " The Broomfield Hill "-f numerous versions of which have appeared in the Journal.
In the second form of refrain (b)
Jennifer gentle and rosemary
As the dew flies over the mulberry tree
Miss Broadwood explains gentle as hawthorn, but though the hawthorn is known by this name in Ireland, I do not think this is the meaning here. The curious
Jury flower gent the rose berry
of one of Mr. Sharp's Appalachian songs, though at first sight a much decayed form, probably comes quite near the original in sound if not sense, for "gelofir gent" is a description, c. 1500, of the gilliflower. The line runs, in more intelligible versions,
Gilliflower gentle and rosemary. The line "Gilliflower gentle or rosemary" occurs in a lyric by Sir Thomas Philipps (temp. Henry VIII) in company with " Marjoram gentle or lavender " and "Camomile, borage, or savory." At that period and later herbs were classed as quick or gentle according to their degree of pungency of taste or smell. One of the cries of London was " Rosemary and bays, quick and gentle! " and Turner, in his Names of Herbes, 1548, includes "Baum [balm] gentle." So that "gentle" as it
occurs in the refrain seems to be merely a descriptive adjective, and not the name of a plant. Prof. Child's guess that "gentle" should be "gentian" goes further astray, for gentian, though a common simple in America, is an unlikely plant to figure in
allusions to old English herbs, and as far as I am aware has no magical uses.
The gilliflower ("July-flower" is a false etymology) is of course the clove carnation, though the name was later loosely given to wallflowers and stocks, the word being ultimately traceable, through French girofle and Latin Caryophyllum, to an Arabic word meaning clove. It seems to have been believed that any plant or flower with an aromatic or pungent scent would frighten evil spirits away. And gilliflowers in balladry are flowers of heaven.
From these considerations, I suspect that all the forms of this herb burden beginning with "Jennifer gentle," and all the "Gentle Jennies " which or who follow her, derive from the gilliflower refrain. But another development is seen when the herb-names are transformed in to the Christian names of three sisters. When the refrain has (apparently) been borrowed, with the tune to which it belongs, for another ballad of three sisters (also in mortal danger), such as "The Banks of Fordie " (Babylon), we not only find it unaltered as thus-
There were three sisters on a road,
Gilly flower gentle rosemary,
And there they met a banished lord,
And the dew it kings over the mulberry tree-
(Motherwell's MS.)
but in another Motherwell version the plant names have become the names of the three sisters:
There were three sisters lived in a bower,
Fair Annet and Margaret and Marjorie,
And they went out to pu' a flower,
And the dew draps aft the hyndberry tree
a hindberry (raspberry) bush being less exotic than a mulberry in Scotland, w here the whitebeam is or was sometimes ignorantly called a mulberry. In a third version, in Herd's MS., the hyndberry or mulberry is lost altogether:
There wond [dwelt] three ladies in a bower,
Annet and Margret and Mariorie,
And they have gane out to pu' a flower,
And the dew it lies in the wood, gay ladie.
There has apparently at some period been a confusion between "dew " and "doo" (dove), e.g. " As the dew flies or ' hings ' over [or lies under] the mulberry tree," or between " dow " (dew) and " dow " (dove), in the second refrain; and if we may
see the idea of the amulet in the first of these antiphonal refrains, there is also a hint of a symbolical contest in the second, in the opposition of dew and bush, or dove and fruit-tree (the ring-dove (wood-pigeon), a greedy bird, devours berries as well as
grain and nuts), particularly if one recalls the old song (re-written by Burns) in its earlier form (see Songs from Herd's MS., p. 98):
0 if my love was a bonny red rose,
And growing upon some barren wa',
And I myself a drap of dew,
Down in that red rose I wad fa'.
and again:
O if my love was a pickle of wheat, [1]
And growing upon yon lilly-white lee,
And I myself a bonny sweet bird,
Away with that pickle I wad flie.
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Notes from British Ballads from Maine, Phillips Barry et all:
When Mr. Priest sang the refrain, "Gentle Jinny fair Rose Marie" he said that these words referred to the heroine of the ballad, but he seemed to think, and rightly, that there was something peculiar in the double name given her, each name being preceded by its own adjective.
In Mrs. Young's version there is a similar refrain, "Jinny, come gentle, Rose Marie," and in still another American text, that of Cox, from the south, we have "Gentle virginia my Rosy my Lee." It is significant also, that text F, as printed in the abridged Child, is a New England text, and that it has the refrain, "Gentle Jenny cried rosemaree." This text may throw some light on the probable corruptions undergone by the refrain in question. In the Jourmal of American Folk-Lore, VII, 232, comment is made
on the fact that in another child ballad, 1 B, the words "Juniper gentle (for gentian) and rosemary," constituting a plant-burden, have been taken for names of persons. And in the Journal of the Folk-song Society, II, 12-15, Miss Lucy E. Broadwood, in a valuable note on plantbo, mentions the old superstition that plants were regarded as charms against demons. She says that when a demon disappeared from a song, the plant-burden survived.
In the case before us, the ungentle wife may have been regarded as possessed of an evil spirit, so that not only the plant-burden, but also the beating would be part of an exorcising ceremony. We should then have, in "The Wife Wrapped in the Wether's Skin', (Child 277), and "The Farmer's Curst Wife" (Child 278), companion pieces. In the former the demon is exorcised; in the latter, he meets his match in the person of the cursed wife herself.
The supposition that gentle Jenny used the old plant-burden to ward off the evil spirit, is borne out by the words in Child's refrain, "Gentle Jenny cried, rosemaree." But by Americans such incantations would, sooner or later, have been changed into something more sensible, and so the names of plants became the names of persons in our American texts. Child F may be a possible intermediary between the earlier English and the later American texts, and the word "cried" will then be significant.
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Ballads and Songs
by G. L. Kittredge
The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 30, No. 117 (Jul. - Sep., 1917), pp. 283-369
THE WIFE WRAPT IN WETHER'S SKIN (Child, No. 277).
A good version from Massachusetts, traceable to the early years of the nineteenth century, was printed in 1894 in this Journal (7 :253- 255), and reprinted by Child (5 :304). Other texts are given by Belden (from Missouri) in JAFL 19:298 (cf. his List, No. 12) and Cox (45 : 92-93; cf. 45 : 159, JAFL 29 :400). Compare Shearin and Combs, p. 8 (Shearin, "Modern Language Review," 6: 514); F. C. Brown, p. 9; Virginia Folk-Lore Society, Bulletin, No. 4, p. 8; No. 5, p. 9; Reed Smith (JAFL 27 :62).
For recent British tradition see Ford, "Vagabond Songs," 2 : 185-187; Gavin Greig, "Folk-Song of the North-East," cxxii; Broadwood and Fuller Maitland, "English County Songs," pp. 92-93; "Journal of the Folk-Song Society," I :223-225 (with references); Sharp, "Folk-Songs from Somerset," No. 97, 4:52-53 ("One Hundred English Folksongs," No. 70, pp. xxxv-xxxvi, 158-159).
A good text from Harrison County, Missouri, with the tune, has been communicated by Professor Belden, to whom it was sent by Mrs. Eva Warner Case in 1916. Mrs. Case wrote the ballad down from memory, with the assistance of her mother and grandmother.2 This version is similar to that printed in JAFL 7 : 253-255 (Child, 5 : 304), but shows many slight variations. The stanzas run even with that version, and the burden is substantially identical. The first four stanzas are as follows:--
I. Sweet William he married him a wife,
(Jennifer, June, and the rosymaree)
To be the sweet comfort of his life
(As the dew flies over the green vallee).
2. It's she couldn't into the kitchen go,
For fear of soiling her white-heeled shoes.
3. It's she couldn't wash, and it's she wouldn't bake,
For fear of soiling her white apron-tape.
1 An English broadside text (in the Scottish dialect) without imprint (but before 1831) is in the Harvard College Library (25242.I8, No. 4).
2 See p. 322.
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Winter Evenings in Iowa, 1873-1880
Catharine Ann McCollum and Kenneth Wiggins Porter
The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 56, No. 220 (Apr. - Jun., 1943), pp. 97-112
My father sang a number of "silly songs," in remembering one of which my brother Samuel has assisted:
I bought my wife two cows and a steer,
Nickeltin nickeltin new but new.
They all went dry in the fall of the year,
It is to be wallowed a bangoree.
Halliday, walliday, bangor, noodelty,
Hoffle come trosselmy, bangoree.
She milks the milk in the slop-pail,
She strains the milk through her shift-tail.
She makes the butter both green and gray,
The cheese takes leg and walks away.
She takes her butter to Huckleberry town,
The print of her foot in every pound.[15]
Of another I remember only the refrain:
Harum, skarum, stand a barum,[16]
Horam skoram skybo.
Stim stam a lababo,
Rinktum bully mus a kybo.
Then rarum skarum skimble arum
Skitty wink skatty wink
Clima cli clash to ma clingo.
15 This fragment is evidently closely akin to a ballad in Louise Pound, American Ballads and Songs (New York, 1922) 236. There is in Alexander Keith, Last Leaves of Traditional Ballads and Ballad Airs (Aberdeen, 1925) a ballad with a very similar refrain but with stanzas which resemble rather the familiar "Farmer's Curst Wife." See also Della I. Young, The Singin' Schule (Folk-Say I, 1929) 86.
16 This first line closely resembles that of a refrain to "Dando" or "The Wife Wrapped in Wether's Skin." See Hubert G. Shearin and Josiah Combs, A Syllabus of Kentucky Folk Songs (Lexington, Ky., 1911) 8-9. See also: "Harum skarum, Virgin Marum," etc., in Henry Carrington Bolton, The Counting Out Rhymes of Children (London, 1888) 1oo-2.
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NAME: Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now
DESCRIPTION: The singer marries a woman who, from laziness, ignorance or slovenliness, does nothing right (milks the cow in the chamber pot, churns butter in a boot). In some versions she dies of shame (because "she pishit in the bed").
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1888 (Sumner)
KEYWORDS: marriage food humorous husband wife
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond),Scotland(Bord)) US(Ap,MW,NE,So)
REFERENCES: (14 citations)
Lyle-Crawfurd2 150, "Robin o Rasheltree" (1 text)
Broadwood/Maitland, pp. 92-93, "Robin-a-Thrush" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck-Maine, p. 112, "Nickerty, Nackerty Now, Now, Now" (1 text)
Randolph 439, "Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now" (2 texts, 1 tune)
LPound #118 pp. 236-237 "I Bought Me a Wife" (1 text)
JHCoxIIA, #13A-C, pp. 57-60, "The Wife Wrapped in Wether's Skin," "Dandoo" (3 texts, 1 tune, but the "B" text omits the beating and has the husband run away; it may well be a version of this although it might alternately be Child #277 mixed with "Devilish Mary" [Laws Q4] or something like it)
BrownSchinhanIV 327, "He Courted Her in the Month of June" (1 short text, 1 tune)
DT 277, RISSROSS
ADDITIONAL: Lucille Burdine and William B McCarthy, "Sister Singers" in Western Folklore, Vol. IL, No. 4 (Oct 1990 (available online by JSTOR)), pp. 408-410 "There's a Piece of Bread A-laying on the Shelf" (1 text)
James Orchard Halliwell, The Nursery Rhymes of England (London, 1886 ("Digitized by Google")) #477 p. 243, ("I married my wife by the light of the moon") (1 text)
J.A.C. Leland, "Two Folksongs from Ohio" in Western Folklore, Vol. VII, No. 1 (Jan 1948 (available online by JSTOR)), pp. 65-66 "The Shiftless Wife" (2 texts, including one added by the editors from Halliwell 1886)
Heywood Sumner, The Besom Maker (London, 1888 ("Digitized by Google")), pp. 15-16, "Hobbelty Bobbelty How Now" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lucille Burdine and William B McCarthy, "Sister Singers" in Western Folklore, Vol. IL, No. 4 (Oct 1990 (available online by JSTOR)), pp. 408-410 "There's a Piece of Bread A-laying on the Shelf" (1 text)
Lucy E. Broadwood and J.A. Maitland, editors, English County Songs, (London, 1893), pp. 92-93, "Robin-a-Thrush" (1 text, 1 tune) [Not yet indexed as Broadwood/Maitland pp. 92-93].
Roud #117
RECORDINGS:
Chubby Parker, "Nickety Nackety Now Now Now" (Gennett 6077/Champion 15247 [as Smilin' Tubby Johnson]/Silvertone 5011, 1927; Supertone 9189, 1928) (Conqueror 7889, 1931)
Ridgel's Fountain Citians, "The Nick Nack Song" (Vocalion 5455, 1930; on CrowTold01)
Pete Seeger, "Risselty-Rosselty" (on PeteSeeger02, PeteSeegerCD01) (on PeteSeeger12)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" [Child 277] (theme: difficult wife) and references there
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Cooper of Fife
The Wee Cooper of Fife
Bandoo
Gentle Virginia
Kitty Lorn
Kitty Alone
Dan-you
The Old Man Who Lived in the West
NOTES: This song is usually considered a variant of "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" [Child 277]. We (PJS and BS) believe this is a different song.
A text is "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" if:
* the wife is beaten under a sheep's skin, or
* the wife's relatives and class are mentioned, or
* the wife states high-flown reasons for not working [for example, she fears "soiling a gay gold ring" or "high heeled shoe" or "shaming her gentle kin"] or
* the wife's high class is an issue, or
* when the husband asks for dinner she tells him to make it himself, or
* the wife mends her ways, or
* the husband is a "wee cooper", or
* as a last resort for a small fragment, the chorus is a "Dandoo, dandoo ..." or "For gentle, for Jenny, my rosamaree ... As the dew falls over the green valley" variation.
If the wife is beaten the sheep's skin is crucial to distinguish the song from other wife beating songs like "The Holly Twig" [Laws Q6], "The Wicked Wife o' Fife" [GreigDuncan7], "The Daughter of Peggy-O," or even Sumner's version of "Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now" [he beats her in the chorus, to no effect].
A text is "Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now" if:
* the wife is ignorant, slovenly, or stupid, but not shrewish or too fine to work, or
* the wife dies in bed
A "Risselty, Rosselty" wife never improves.
Most refrains follow the pattern also found in "The Wee Cooper of Fife" version of Child 277 -
"Nickety, nackity, noo, noo ... Sing, hey Willy Wallachie, how John Dugal alane, quo' rushitie rue, rue, rue" (DBuchan) -
but the usually nonsense words vary widely. For example
* "Nickety-nackety now, now, now ... Nickety-nackety hey John Dafferty, willopy, wallopy, rusty coke wallacky, nickety-nackety, now, now, now" (Chubby Parker)
* "Nickety nackety, now, now, now ... High, willy, wally, and Jenny bang, doodle, sandy go vestego, now, now, now" (LPound)
* "Nickety Nackety, no, no, no ... Hi Willy Wally and Charlie Bill Doodle and Sandy go, Rusty go, no, no, no" (Leland)
* "Nickety nackety, now, now, now ... Nickety nackety, age of laffety, whillecky whollecky, rusco quality, Nickety nackety, now, now, now" (Burdine/McCarthy)
* "Risselty-rosselty now, now, now ... Risselty-rosselty, hey bom-bosselty, nicklety, knacklety, rustical quality, willaby-wallaby now, now, now" (Pete Seeger)
* "Risselty-rosselty now, now, now ... Risselty-rosselty, hey
bombosity, nickety nackity, retrical quality, willaby wallaby now, now,
now" (also Pete Seeger)
* "Moppety, moppety, mono ... With a high jig jiggety, tops and petticoats, Robin-a-Thrush cries mono" (Broadwood/Maitland)
* "Neagletie, neagletie, now, now ... Heich, wullie, williecoat, bang John Douglas, Robin o Rasheltree, now, now" (Lyle-Crawfurd2)
* "Hobblety bobblety how now ... With a heigh down ho down duffle green petticoat Robin he thrashes her now now" (Sumner)
* "A tidy housewife, a tidy one ... And I hope she'll prove a tidy one" (Halliwell)
The Lyle-Crawfurd2 150 "Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now" text, "Robin o Rasheltree" [E. B. Lyle, editor, Andrew Crawfurd's Collection of Ballads and Songs, Volume 2 (1996)], includes verses like "My wife she's a hure of aw the sluts She roastit a hen baith feathers and guts." Maybe the common form of "Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now" was a bawdy text that editors and some singers cleaned up: "this song was made for gentlemen, If you want any more ...." [Broadwood/Maitland]. Crawfurd seems never to censor a text. - BS, PJS
Broadwood/Maitland: "Sung by a nurse towards the end of 18th century." - BS