US & Canada Versions: 278. The Farmer's Curst Wife
[This humorous ballad was recorded twice by early country artists: 1928 Bill and Bell Reed (Listen: Old Lady and the Devil) and 1939 Billy Cox and Cliff Hobbs (Battle Axe and the Devil). It was recorded as an Ohio River song, "Daddy Be Gay," by Captain Pearl Nye in 1937 by John Lomax. Nye learned it from his father certainly around the 1880s and Lomax titled it, "The Old Woman Under the Hill." It was also recorded by African-American songsters "Iron Head" Baker and in Virginia, Joe Hubbard (Listen: The Farmer's Wife) , both in 1939. Horton Barker's well-known version was recorded for the LOC in 1933 (Listen: Farmer's Curst Wife- Barker).
Popular in the US and Canada, The Farmer's Curst Wife appears in most collections. It was collected in 1906 by Belden and Phillips Barry first published US versions in his 1908 book, Folk-Songs of the North Atlantic States. Shortly thereafter John Lomax published a cowboy version in his 1910 book, Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads (reprinted various times- view 1922 edition online). Attesting to its popularity, the Moores collected 37 versions in the Southwest (mainly Oklahoma) and only published one in 1964.
There's a possiblility Horton Barker's version (and any c. 1930s version onward) was influenced by, or was a cover of, the 1928 Bill and Bell Reed recording. See my occasional footnote for versions with the Bill and Bell Reed verse "come waggin' her back"= "come wagonin' her back" (i.e. Bringing her back in a wagon.) In most cases it appears to mean "lugging" or dragging" her back.
Gardner E tells why the farmer had to plow with hogs instead of horses or oxen: "The devil keeps coming around and taking things away from the farmer according to some pact between them. His cows and horses are taken, until he has only hogs left to plow with." Barry C provides a similar reason:
1. There was an old man, he had a farm,
Whack-fol-la, fol-lidle, fol-lee;
He had no oxen for to plough for his corn,
To my fa-la, ludy, fol-lidle, fol-lee.
2. So he hired the old devil to help him one day,
Whack-fol-la, fol-lidle, fol-lee;
Then the old devil came after his pay,
To my fa-la, ludy, fol-lidle, fol-lee.
Usually the ballad starts without giving the background of why the devil has come to the farmer and asked him for-- one of the farmer's family. It's clear to me (as referenced by Gardner E and Barry C) that the farmer has entered into a pact with the devil and that the devil has already come and first taken the farmer's oxen-- so that the farmer must plow with his hogs, "the devil know's how." The devil then returns for the farmer's scolding wife, and the farmer, relieved the devil doesn't take his son, thanks the devil and wishes them a happy life and hopes that "they will never part." Next is the common verse about the woman climbing or mounting the devil's back (or the devil putting her on his back or hump) which may come from the ancient 1500s British broadside, 'A Pleasant new Ballad you here may behold How the Devill, though subtle, was guld by a Scold' when the devil takes the form of a horse.
According to Ashton: The story of this ballad is, that the Devil, being much amused with this scolding wife, went to fetch her. Taking the form of a horse, he called upon her husband, and told him to set her on his back. This was easily accomplished by telling her to lead the horse to the stable, which she refused to do.
'Goe leade, sir Knave, quoth she, and wherefore not, Goe ride?
She took the Devill by the reines, and up she goes astride.'
And once on the Devil, she rode him; she kicked him, beat him, slit his ears, and kept him galloping all through Hell, until he could go no longer, when he concluded to take her home again to her husband.
'Here, take her (quoth the Devill) to keep her here be bold,
For Hell would not be troubled with such an earthly scold.
When I come home, I may to all my fellowes tell,
I lost my labour and my bloud, to bring a scold to Hell.'
Kittredge made an observation in 1917 about one of the concluding verses sometimes present in US/Canadian versions:
Miss Josephine McGill, in a brief paper on the "Survival of the English Folk Ballad" (in the Louisville "Courier-Journal" for Jan. 14, 1917), quotes the concluding couplet-stanza of a Kentucky version: -
She was seven years going, and seven coming back,
But she asked for the baccy she'd left in the crack.
This recalls the end of the Scottish text in Child (version B), -
She was seven year gaun, and seven year comin,
And she cried for the sowens she left in the pot.
R. Matteson 2013]
CONTENTS (Click on individual versions- left hand column):
A Woman and the Devil- Williams (MO) 1906 Belden A
The Farmer's Curst Wife- J. H. W. (MA) 1908 Barry A
The Farmer's Curst Wife- H. J. C. (MA) 1908 Barry
The Devil and the Farmer- E. W. H. (MA) 1909 Barry
The Farmer's Curst Wife- Buckner (NC) 1916 Sharp A
The Farmer's Curst Wife- Chisholm (VA) 1916 Sharp B
The Old Woman & the Devil- Scaaf (MO) 1914 Belden B
The Farmer's Curst Wife- Brown Collection from NC- dating 1917-1940 (5 versions, 4 tunes)
'The Farmer's Wife.' Secured by Mrs. Sutton (who was then Miss Maude Minish) at a "lassy bilin' " from a "master banjo picker" who lived on Upper Hinson's Creek in Avery county and was at the time (1917).
A. 'Farmer's Curst Wife.' Sung by Horton Barker. (Barker's version was recorded in at Chilhowie, Virginia, 1939 by LOC.)
45(1) 'The Farmer's Curst Wife.' Sung by Mrs. J. Church. Recorded at Heaton, Avery county, August 10, 1939.
45(2) 'The Farmer's Wife.' Sung by Mrs. Laura B. Timmons previous recording of Dr. W. A. Abrams, Boone, August 8, 1940.
45(3) 'Farmer's Curst Wife.' Sung by Mrs. James York. From previous recording of Dr. W. A. Abrams, Boone, August 8, 1940.
Farmer's Curst Wife- Barker (VA) 1939 LOC REC
The Old Man under the Hill- (West) 1910 John Lomax
Old Lady And The Devil- Reed (VA?) 1928 REC
Tee Roo- Grant (TX) 1934 Lomax
The Farmer's Wife- Hubbard (VA) 1939 Halpert
Poor Old Anthony Rolly- Barhight (PA-NY) pre-1920
The Devil and the Farmer's Wife- Grover (ME) 1941
Farmer's Curst Wife- Harmon (TN) 1930 Henry
Little Devils- Ritchie (KY) 1961 REC
The Young Devils' Song- Lund (ME) 1959 REC
The Farmer's Curst Wife- Ritchie (KY) 1917 Sharp C
Daddy Be Gay- Nye (OH) 1937 REC John Lomax
The Devil out of Hell- Vinton (CA) 1938 REC Crowell
The Farmer's Curst Wife- Ball (VA) 1959 REC Lomax
Farmer's Curst Wife- Eskin (SC) 1950 REC
Farmer's Curst Wife- Schaupp (CO) 1970 REC
Devil and the Farmer's Wife- Workman (KY) 1978 REC
Devil & the Farmer's Wife- Grover (ME) 1941 Lomax
Devil & the Farmer's Wife- Hicks (NC) 1951 Warner
The Farmer's Curst Wife- Black (WV) 1917 Cox
The Devil and the Farmer- Gladden (VA) 1941 REC
The Curst Wife- Webster (MI) pre1941 Beck
The Old Woman and the Devil- (KY) 1912 Niles A
The Farmer and the Devil- (NC) c.1940 Niles B
The Devil's Song- Cobb (KY) 1956 Roberts
The Farmer's Curst Wife- Storey (TN) 1917 Sharp D
The Farmer's Curst Wife- Moberly (KY) 1917 Sharp E
The Farmer's Curst Wife- Pace (KY) 1917 Sharp F
The Farmer's Curst Wife- Morgan (KY) 1917 Sharp G
The Farmer's Curst Wife- Sours (VA) 1922 Davis A
The Farmer's Curst Wife- Arthur (VA) 1876 Davis B
The Farmer's Curst Wife- Vest (VA) 1917 Davis C
The Farmer's Curst Wife- Mitchell(VA) 1920 Davis D
The Farmer's Curst Wife- Commins (VA) 1917 Davis F
The Farmer's Curst Wife- Mayo (VA) 1920 Davis G
The Farmer's Curst Wife- Sprouse (VA) 1915 Davis H
The Farmer's Curst Wife- Carpenter (VA) 1920 Davis I
The Old Man Under the Hill- Byrd (VA) 1885 Davis J
The Farmer's Curst Wife- Moseley (VA) 1921 Davis K
The Farmer's Curst Wife- Weathers(VA) 1917 Davis L
The Farmer's Curst Wife- Carpenter-VA 1920 Davis M
The Old Scolding Wife- Lorette (VT) 1930 Flanders A
Fie-lillie, Fie-lillie; Wade (VT) 1800s Flanders B
The Scolding Wife- Burditt (VT) 1931 Flanders C
The Farmer's Curst Wife- George (VT) 1948 Flanders D
There Was An Old Man- Williams (WV) 1924 Woofter
The Farmer's Curst Wife- Davis(VT) 1939 Flanders E
Anthony Rowley- Weeks (VT) 1939 Lomax Flanders F
Bonnie Muriley- Moses (NH) 1939 Lomax Flanders G
The Farmer's Curst Wife- (VT) 1932 Flanders H
Farmer's Curst Wife- Ordway (VT) 1945 Flanders I
Farmer's Curst Wife- Welsh (VT) 1937 Flanders J
Farmer's Curst Wife- Blake (VT) 1870 Flanders K
Farmer's Curst Wife- Barton (VT) 1945 Flanders L
The Scolding Wife- Farnham (VT-MA) 1930 Flanders M
The Scolding Wife- Underhill (VT) 1938 Flanders N
Old Man A-Jogging the Plow- Kennison (VT) 1930 Flanders O
Old Man Hitched Up His Hogs- Lane (ME) 1942 Flanders P
The Scolding Wife- Brackett (ME) 1942 Flanders Q
Fie Diddle O Day- Degreenia (CT) 1954 Flanders R
Fi-Lay Fi-Little: Taggart (MA) 1939 Flanders S
Farmer's Curst Wife- Blake (VT) 1935 Flanders T
Farmer's Curst Wife- Johnson (NC) c.1940 Abrams REC
Farmer's Curst Wife- Williams (NC) 1943 Abrams REC
There Was an Old Farmer- Evilsizer(MI) 1934 Gardner A
Kellyburnbraes- Laidlaw (MI) 1916 Gardner B
Hi Randy Dandy O- Fisher (MI) 1934 Gardner C
Brave Old Anthony Marala- Chickering (MI) 1934 Gardener D
Farmer's Curst Wife- Demorest (MI) c1900 Gardner E
The Devil Came to the Farmer's- Waller (IN) 1935 B
Farmer's Curst Wife- Decker (NL) 1959 Peacock A
Farmer's Curst Wife- Nash (NL) 1961 Peacock B
Farmer's Curst Wife- Morry (NL) 1961 Peacock C
The Divil And The Farmer- Burl Ives (IL) 1955
REC Old Lady Grant- Hathaway (AL-FL) pre1962 Rountree
The Old Devil- Presnell (NC-AR) pre1966 Burton
Farmer's Curst Wife- Barlow (UT) c1888 Hubbard A
Devil & the Farmer's Wife- Jepson(UT-VA) 1874 Hubbard B
Jack's Wife- Smith (FL) pre1950 Morris A
Jack- Foley (FL) pre1950 Morris B
The Old Farmer- Broadbent (TN) 1952 Boswell
Ten Little Devils- Criss (MS) pre1936 Hudson A
The Scolding Wife- Lewellen (MS) 1936 Hudson
The Devil's Song- Rogers (NS) pre1928 Mackenzie
The Devil's Song- (TX) pre-1950 Owens
Farmer's Wife & the Devil- Gainer(WV) 1800s Gainer
Devil & the Farmer's Wife- Prescott (MA) 1939 Linscott
Old Jokey Song- Provance (PA) 1943 Bayard
Old Farmer- Goodell (ME) pre1929 Young; Barry A
Old Farmer- Young (ME) pre1929; Barry B
The Old Scolding Wife- DeCoster (ME) 1925 Barry C
Farmer Jones's Wife- Peak (AK-OK) pre1964 Moore
The Farmer's Curst Wife- Gibbs (NC) 1924 Chappell
Old Farmer- Robbins (ME) 1929; Barry D
Devil and the Farmer's Wife- Grover (ME) 1944 Wells
Two Little Devils- Gladden (VA) 1932 Davis AA
The Farmer's Curst Wife- Barker (VA) 1932 Davis BB
Old Man Went Out to Plow- Ware (VA) 1932 Davis CC
Farmer's Curst Wife- Baylor (VA) 1931 Davis DD
Farmer's Curst Wife- Williamson (VA) 1934 Davis EE
Farmer's Curst Wife- Smith (VA) 1932 Davis FF
The Farmer's Wife- Goin (VA) 1931 Davis GG
The Farmer's Wife- Johnson (VA) 1932 Davis HH
Farmer's Curst Wife- Henneberry (NS) 1950 Creighton A
Farmer's Curst Wife- Bates (NS) 1901 Creighton B
Farmer's Curst Wife- Sweeney (NS) 1950 Creighton C
Farmer's Curst Wife- Grover (NS) 1950 Creighton D
The Old Devil- Huskins (NS) 1950 Creighton E
Farmer's Curst Wife- Rohrbaugh (WV) 1942 Botte A
Farmer's Curst Wife- Tuckwiller (WV) 1971 Boette B
The Curst Wife- Webster (MI) pre1941 Beck
Old Man Lived Under the Hill- Spradley (AR) 1929 R
Old Man Lived on a Farm- Lain (MO) 1930 Rand B
Farmer's Curst Wife- Stubblefield (DC) 1938 Lomax
The Devil and Scolding Kate- Cole(KS) 1880 Lumpkin
Devil Doings- Ripley (MO) 1959 Hunter
Farmer's Curst Wife- McCord (MO) 1960 Hunter
Devil's Curst Wife- Morris (MO) 1960 Hunter
Old Man Under the Hill- Gilbert (AR) 1970 Hunter
Devil & the Farmer's Wife- Williams (AR) 1967 Hunter
_____________
The Devil and the Farmer's Wife (Child 278, Roud 160), recorded 18 January 1998 from Dick Richards (76), of Lake Lucerne, New York
A farmer was ploughing beneath the sun,
Singing Miranda, Miraye-ay,
A farmer was ploughing beneath the sun
When up from the earth the Devil come
With his right leg, left leg, upper leg, under leg
Singing Miranda Miraye-ay
It is my son that you have come, etc
Oh no, said the Devil, 'tis not your son
'Tis your wife, that son of a gun, etc
Oh take her, oh take her with all of my heart, etc
I pray every day that you never do part, etc
And so he slung her right over his back, etc
Down the hill he went wickety-wack, etc
Oh when she got there, she did very well, etc
She said some day, I'll be queen of hell, etc
One little devil peeped over the spire, etc
She threw ten others right into the fire, etc
Another little devil peeped over the wall, etc
Saying, take her back, daddy, she'll kill us all, etc
The farmer was peeping through the crack, etc
He saw the old Devil come lugging her back, etc
So now she'll do whatever she will, etc
If the Devil won't have her, now who in hell will, etc
Note: widely known throughout the English-speaking world. Mr Reynold's version is the only one I have come across with this distinctive chorus.
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The Old Woman and the Devil (Child 278)
[This is a version of Child 278: The Farmer's Curst Wife. The humorous ballad was recorded twice by early country artists: 1928 Bill and Bell Reed (Listen: Old Lady and the Devil) and 1939 Billy Cox and Cliff Hobbs (Battle Axe and the Devil).
R. Matteson 2014]
The Old Woman and the Devil (Child 278)
The old man went to the field one day
Hitched up his mule and he ran away.
Singing yi-i-doddle, i-doddle-i,
Yi-i-doddle-i-day.
The old devil came to the field one day,
Said, "One of your family, I'm going to take away."
Singing yi-i-doddle, i-doddle-i,
Yi-i-doddle-i-day.
The old devil started wit the woman on his back.
Looked like a camel with a hump on his back.
Singing yi-i-doddle, i-doddle-i,
Yi-i-doddle-i-day.
The old devil came to the forks of the road,
Saying, "Old woman, you are a hell of a load."
Singing yi-i-doddle, i-doddle-i,
Yi-i-doddle-i-day.
One little devil peeping round the wall.
Said, "Take her home, daddy, she's killing us all."
Singing yi-i-doddle, i-doddle-i,
Yi-i-doddle-i-day.
One little devil peeping through the crack
Said, "Take her home and don't bring her back."
Singing yi-i-doddle, i-doddle-i,
Yi-i-doddle-i-day.
Two little devils dragging a chain,
I [She] picked up a hammer and knocked out their brains.
Singing yi-i-doddle, i-doddle-i,
Yi-i-doddle-i-day.
Went to the barn and looked out the crack,
Saw the old devil wagging her back.
Singing yi-i-doddle, i-doddle-i,
Yi-i-doddle-i-day.
Come on, Mama, Let's go to the show,
You can wear out the devil and the old woman[man] too.
Singing yi-i-doddle, i-doddle-i,
Yi-i-doddle-i-day.
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Excerpt from: Old Ballad Burthens
by Josephine McGill
The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 4, No. 2 (Apr., 1918), pp. 293-306
The various refrains accompanying different versions of a ballad frequently offer interesting material for comment and comparison. The mountain version of The Farmer's Curst Wife (278), called The Old Farmer's Wife, contains a refrain which has neither beauty nor sense: "Ti o raddleing day," in contrast with that of the Burns version, Kellyburn Braes, which the Scotch poet claimed was traditional: "Hey and the rue grows bonny wi' thyme," "and the thyme it is withered and the rue is in prime." The mountain version is more closely allied in spirit to the Sussex Whistling Song, (Percy Society, Vol. XVII), sung to the tune of Lilliebullero, the whistlers joining in with zest on the refrain.
_____________________
Ballads and Songs
G. L. Kittredge
The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 30, No. 117 (Jul. - Sep., 1917), pp. 283-369
THE FARMER'S CURST WIFE (Child, No. 278).
Belden printed a text from Missouri in JAFL 19:298-299; and Barry has since published three copies, - two from Massachusetts
and one from Maine [actually it's also from Mass.] (JAFL 24:348-349; 27:68), - but none of these are complete. A curious version (without the devil) may be found in Lomax, "Cowboy Songs," pp. 110-111 ("The Old Man under the Hill"). Texts are reported from Virginia by C. Alphonso Smith, Bulletin, No. 4, p. 8; No. 5, P. 9. Reed Smith reports the ballad from South Carolina (JAFL 28: 201). Miss Josephine McGill, in a brief paper on the "Survival of the English Folk Ballad" (in the Louisville "Courier-Journal" for Jan. 14, 1917),[1] quotes the concluding couplet-stanze of a Kentucky version: -
She was seven years going, and seven coming back,
But she asked for the baccy she'd left in the crack.
This recalls the end of the Scottish text in Child (version B), -
She was seven year gaun, and seven year comin,
And she cried for the sowens [2] she left in the pot.
For recent English tradition see "Journal of the Folk-Song Society," 2 : 184-185; 3:131-132 (and references). The Harvard College Library has the piece in a slip issued by Pitts, "The Sussex Farmer" (25242.25, P. 97).
Footnotes:
1 In a series of articles on Kentucky folk-lore published in the Courier-Journal on the second Sunday of every month, under the auspices of the Kentucky Folk-Lore Society.
2. Oatmeal soured and then boiled thick.
____________________
Excerpt from The British Traditional Ballad in North America by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America
278. THE FARMER'S CURST WIFE
Texts: Barry, Brit Bids Me, 325 / Beck, Sgs Mich Vjks, 107 / Belden, Mo F-S, 947 Brewster, Bids Sgs Ind, 155 / Brown Coll/ Bull Tenn FLS, VIII, #3, 73 / Chappell, F-S Rnke Alb, 42 / Cox, F-S South, 164.1 Crabtree, Overton Cnty, 98 / Creighton, Sgs Bids N Sc, 18 / Cutting, Adirondack Cnty, 71 / Davis, Trd Bid Va, 505 / Downes and Siegmeister, Treasry Am Sg, 228 / Duncan, No Hamilton Cnty, 108 / Flanders, Vt F-S Bids, 226 / Gardner and Chickering, Bids Sgs So Mich, 373 / Garrison, Searcy Cnty, 13 / Haun, Cocke Cnty, 69 / Henry, F-S So Hghlds, 125 / Hudson, F-S Miss, 124 / Hummel, Oz F-S / JAFL, XIX, 2985 XXIV, 3485
XXVII, 68; XXX, 329; XLVIII, 299 / Kolb, Treasry F-S, 8 / Linscott, F-S Old NE, 188 / Lomax, Cowboy Sgs Frntr Bids, 110 / Lomax and Lomax, Our Sgng Cntry, 152 / Louisville Courier-Journal, 114 '177 MacKenzie, Bids Sea Sgs N Sc, 647 Mason, Cannon Cnty, 75 / Morris, F-S Fla, 472 / Musick, F-L Kirksmlle, 11 A / Niles, Anglo-Am Stdy Bk, 31 / Niles, BldsLvSgs TgcLgds, z/ PTFLS,X, 1 64 /Randolph, Os F-S, I, 1 89 / Randolph, Oz Mt Flk, 227 / SharpC, EngF-S So*Aplchns, #34/ SharpK, EngF-S So Aplchns, I, 275 / Siegmeister, Sgs Early Am, 44 / Smith and Rufty, Am Anth Old Wrld Bids, 53 / SFLQ, II, 77; IV, 157 / Va FLS Bull, #s 4 6, 8 10. Korson, Pa Sgs Lgds, 39.
Local Titles: A Woman and the Devil, Brave Old Anthony Marela, Hi Lum Day, Jack, Jack's Wife, Kellyburnbraes, Ten Little Devils, The Devil and the Farmer's Wife, The Devil Came to the Farmer's One Day, The Devil's Song, The Farmer's Curst Wife, The Old Devil Come to my Plow, The Old Jokey Song, The Old Man under the Hill, The Old Woman and the Devil. The (Old) Scolding Wife.
Story Types: A: The Devil comes to take the farmer's shrewish wife, much to the farmer's delight. The woman is no more controllable in Hell than she was on earth. She kicks the imps about and is generally unmanageable. For the sake of peace and his own safety, the Devil is forced to take her back to the farmer. Upon her return, she sometimes asks for the food she was cooking in the pot when she left. Once and awhile she hits her husband, too. There is usually a comic, philosophic last stanza.
Examples: Belden (A), Davis (A), SharpK (A).
B: The story is like that of Type A. However, this feature is added: the farmer, having no oxen to plow his farm, lores the Devil, who abducts the wife as payment. Examples: Barry (C).
C: The Devil takes so many things from the farmer in accordance with a pact between them that soon the poor man has only his hogs left to plow with. The Devil then abducts the wife, and the usual story ensues.
Examples: Gardner and Chickering (E).
D: The usual story is told. In the end, however, the farmer welcomes his wife back and congratulates her for killing the imps and ruling Hell.
Examples: Barry (D).
E: The usual story is told, but, as in some of the Type A texts, the woman asks for the food in the pot on her return, only to find that is has all been eaten up. She also brags to her husband of her accomplishments in Hades.
Examples: Cox.
F: The usual story is told. As in Types A and E the woman asks for the food in the pot on her return. She follows this query by beating her husband, who is sick in bed, on the head with a pipe.
Examples: Randolph, OzF-S (B); SharpK (B).
Discussion: This ballad and a related song, The Devil in Search of a Wife, were London broadsides of the nineteenth century. Child prints only two versions of the traditional song, of which the A text is most like the majority of the American ballads. In this country, however, a mock aphoristic closing stanza on shrewish women is almost universally found, and the Child B
ending, in which the returning wife asks for the food (mush, chicken, bread, etc.) she was cooking when abducted is not at all uncommon. See Types E and F.
Barry, Brit Bids Me y 332, pieces together his conception of the original story. The farmer has made a pact with the Devil for aid, as he has no oxen to plow his fields. Satan returns for the soul of one member of the family as payment. As in Child A, the farmer is relieved that his eldest son is not desired. This explanation would account for Type B stories and is lent support by the Maine, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia versions that find the farmer yoking the swine to his plow. (In Siegmeister, Sgs Early Am, 44, from New York the farmer uses his wife as well as the swine.) See also the Gardner and Chickering, Bids Sgs So Mich, E text (Type C) which was recited as a story outline, the exact words of the song having been forgotten.
Beck, Sgs Mich Lmjks, 107 prints a text from the woodsmen that substitutes a lumberjack for the farmer, and the Randolph, OzF-S 9 1, 189 version is long, with many added details. Nevertheless, the story matter of both these texts can be said to be Type A. Note that the American stories have a number of varied endings, all, expecting Type D, being in the same mood.
There is something of the sentimental in Type D.
The American refrains are whistles, as in Child A, and/or nonsense lines of the "sing fol-roll dolli", etc. sort.
Belden, Mo F-S, 95 expresses the belief that the devils dancing on a wire, as they do in Missouri and Nova Scotia, may hark back to the mystery plays.
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Southern Folklore Quarterly - Volume 2 - Page 78
1938 -
To my hi-lum, hi-lum day.
"Your oldest daughter I do not crave,
But your old scolding wife, 'tis she I must have."
"Well," said the old man, "if the rest you will leave,
My old scolding wife, 'tis she you may have."
So he packed her off till he came to Hell,
And he pitched her in saying, "There you may dwell."
Came old Beelzebub, rattling his chains;
She picked up a poker and beat out his brains.
Came three little devils to raise her up higher;
She up with her foot and kicked nine in the fire.
Then the old she-devil looked over the wall,
Saying, "Take her 'way, Master Devil, or she'll kill us all."
So he picked her up all on his back,
Like an old
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NINE LITTLE DEVILS
Dust Bowl Ballads
Estella Spurlock
Arvin, 1940
Early one morning I went out to plow
(Yodel) I went out to plow
With an old blind ox and an old blind cow
(Yodel) an old blind cow.
Ol' daddy, the devil, he came to my plow
(Yodel) he came to my plow
Says one your family I'm after right now
(Yodel) I'm after right now.
Oh, leave my oldest son to plow
(Yodel) my son to plow
It's the wife of yours I'm after right now
(Yodel) I'm after right now.
He slung her over acrost his back
(Yodel) acrost his back
Her old long legs went wiggledy-wack
(Yodel) went wiggeldy-wack.
He carried her on and sat down to rest
(Yodel) and sat down to rest
She up with her foot and kicked him her best
(Yodel) and kicked him her best.
He carried her 'bout half of the road
(Yodel) 'bout half of the road
And says, Old woman you're a heavy load
(Yodel) you're a heavy load.
He carried her on to the devil's den
(Yodel) to the devil's den
There was her prisoner tied up with a chain
(Yodel) tied up with a chain.
The nine little devils peeped over the wall
(Yodel) peeped over the wall
Says, Take her back daddy she'll murder us all
(Yodel) she'll murder us all.
Early one morning I peeked out a crack
(Yodel) peeked out a crack
And saw the old devil come wagging her back
(Yodel) come wagging her back.
Oh, Daddy why did you return so soon
(Yodel) return so soon
She swept up hell and burnt up the broom
(Yodel) and burnt up the broom.
Now men you see what women can do
(Yodel) what women can do
They murder their men and the devil too
(Yodel) and the devil too.
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'Brave Boys' CD Track 2
The Farmer's Curst Wife (Child 278) (Traditional)
Sung by Lewis Lund, Jacksonville, Maine. Recorded by Dr. Edward D. Ives, October 1959. (Used by permission of the Northeast Archive of Folklore and Oral History.)
A humorous ballad of this sort might often have been sung, together with regional ballads of lumbering tragedies, sea songs, music-hall ditties, and popular parlor songs, from the "deacon's seat" in the lumbermen's shanty. Horace Beck tells us:
By far the most important aspect of camp life, as far as folklore was concerned, was the singing. After work in the evenings the card games, storytelling, and making of axe handles was liberally interspersed with singing.
A Michigan singer placed this story in context by explaining: "The devil keeps coming around and taking things away from the farmer according to some pact between them. His cows and horses are taken, until he has only hogs left to plow with" (E. E. Gardner and G. J. Chickering, Ballads and Songs of Southern Michigan, Hatboro, Pennsylvania, 1967). In most versions of this "very old ballad, steeped in demonology," that have been recovered from tradition, such a pact is only implied. Generally, the farmer appears to be relieved that the devil is after his wife rather than himself or his oldest son, but the D text in British Ballads from Maine, edited by Barry, Eckstorm, and Smyth, which closely resembles Lewis Lund's, suggests that the farmer "cares for his wife, but considers her capable of holding her own even against the Devil, who in the end has to acknowledge himself beaten and brings her back in order to get rid of her." The editors of that excellent collection remark that all their Maine texts are "characteristically English" in origin, but the ballad itself may have come to England from Scotland centuries ago. The one text from oral tradition published by Francis J. Child was collected in Scotland, and Robert Burns's "Carle of Kelly-Burn Braes" is actually an adaptation of the ballad. Child notes that "a curst wife who was a terror to demons is a feature in a widely spread and highly humorous tale, Oriental and European."
Lund, who sings the ballad here in a fine north-woods style, called it "The Young Devils' Song" and seemed surprised that Dr. Ives would be interested in recording "that old thing!" "Scratch" has been used in England as a nickname for the devil since the eighteenth century.
This recording is from the Northeast Archive of Folklore and Oral History at the University of Maine, Orono.
There was an old man, he had a large farm,
Fee-fol-diddle-fee-dum,
There was an old man, he had a large farm,
He had no oxen to carry it on,
Scratch-a-fol-dee fiddle-fi-dee-fi-dum.
Similarly:
He yoked up his pigs in order to plow,
And down come the devil, sayin', "How are you now?"
"Oh," says the old man, "you're after my life."
"But no," says the devil, "I'm after your wife."
"Go take her, go take her, with all of my heart,
And I hope to God you never will part."
The devil he took her up onto his back,
And down to hell he went clickity-clack.
She saw the young devil preparin' their chains;
She up with the foot and kicked out all his brains.
The young devils began to boost her up higher;
She swung round her leg and knocked nine in the fire.
5
The young devils began to howl and to bawl,
Say, "Take her out of this, or she will kill us all."
The old devil he done her up into a sack,
And like a damn fool he went luggin' her back.
He lugged her right back to the man with the plow,
Sayin', "Here is your wife, you can live with her now."
"Oh," says the old man, "you've done very well!
You've killed all the devils and reigned over hell."