US & Canada Versions: 46. Captain Wedderburn's Courtship
[Over twenty-six versions of this ballad have been recovered in North America, mostly in the northeast US and Maritime providence in Canada. I have two without texts (music only) that I may not put on; there are at least two missing, one of which I have the book but can't find it!!
Flanders (Ancient Ballads) has eight versions, A-H with I and J being version of "Perry Merry." Barry (British Ballads from Maine) gives 4 versions (two are fragments B1 and B2) and Creighton (Traditional Songs from Nova Scotia) gives 3 versions (some have been reprinted from JAFL articles). Mackenzie and Karpeles give 3 versions from Newfoundland.
Barry contends that the US and Canada versions originate from Ireland (BBM, 1929) which may be why almost no versions have been found from the Virginia immigrants (Appalachian region) and the few traditional versions that have migrated west (Oklahoma; Moores--Michigan; Gardner and Chickering) may have come from the northeast.
Listed sometimes as a version of Child 46 is "Perry Merry Dictum Dominee" which I've put in the Appendix (46 A). Also found in the Appendix (46A) are all versions of "The Riddle Song" (I Gave My Love a Cherry/Apple) which are also sometimes listed as Child 46 (Scarborough, Leach, for example).
R. Matteson 2012, 2014]
CONTENTS: Individual versions can be accessed by clicking on the highlighted title or by clicking on the versions attached to this page on the left hand column
1) Bold Robbington- Marston (ME) 1867 Barry A -- From British Ballads from Maine, 1929; Barry, Eckstorm, Smyth, Version A. Cf. Michigan A (Gardner). Sent in, 1926, by Mrs. Annie V. Marston, west Gouldsboro, Maine, who learned it in 1867, when a girl of 14, from Alan Brooks of Charleston.
2) The Six Questions- Holcomb (AR-OK) 1902 Moore B -- From Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwest by Ethel and Chauncey O. Moore; 1964. Sung by W. H. Holcomb, Kellyville. Mr. Holcomb was born in Arkansas and came to Oklahoma in 1907. He learned this song, he said, "while in my teens."
3) Captain Wedderburn's Courtship- Smith (MA) 1908 Barry C -- Not a local title, from Barry. From: Irish Folk-Song by Phillips Barry; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 24, No. 93 (Jul. - Sep., 1911), pp. 332-343. This version has been reprinted as Version C in British Ballads from Maine, 1929. From Bronson we get the full name of the informant Elizabeth A. Smith.
4) Six Questions- Adamson (NS) pre-1910 Mackenzie -- From: Three Ballads from Nova Scotia by W. Roy Mackenzie; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 23, No. 89 (Jul. - Sep., 1910), pp. 371-380. also reprinted in Quest of the Ballad. From the singing and recitation of John Adamson, Millsville, Nova Scotia.
5) Duke of Rutland's Daughter- Clements (MA) 1911
6) Captain Wedderburn's- O'Mar (NB) 1929 Barry B1
7) Captain Wedderburn- Nelson (NB) 1929 Barry B2
8) Captain Wedderburn's- McCabe(NL) 1929 Karpeles A
Captain Wedderburn's- Coombs(NL) 1930 Karpeles B
Captain Woodstock- Hartlan (NS) 1932 Creighton
Captain Wedderburn's- Sullivan(VT) 1932 Flanders D
Mr. Woodburn's Courtship- Youngs (MI) 1934; Gard A
Mr. Woodburn's Courtship- Mulcher(MI) 1934; Gard B
Captain Wedderburn's- Young (NS) 1937 Creighton B
Captain Wedderburn's- Smith (NS) 1937 Creighton A
Old Man's Courtship- McPherson (OK) 1937 Moore A
Many Questions- Ford (WI-CA) 1938 Robertson REC
A Strange Proposal- Martin (NH) 1939 Flanders
Captain Wedderburn's- Martin (NH) 1939 Flanders E
Captain Wedderburn's- Fish (NH) 1940 Flanders B
The Rich Man's Daughter- Edwards (VT) c1940s
Captain Wedderburn's- Burditt (VT) 1940s Flanders
Captain Wedderburn's- Richards(NH) 1942 Flanders F
A Gentle Lady- Richter (PA) 1946 Bayard/Korson
Three Dishes and Six Questions- Dietz (WI) 1946
Captain Wedderburn's- Hoskins(NS) 1950 Creighton C
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[From Flanders; Ancient Ballads; 1966. Notes by Coffin:]
Captain Wedderburn's Courtship
(Child 46)
"Captain Wedderburn's Courtship" tells an old tale of the ingenious suitor who must answer riddles to obtain his maid. The situation, as one can easily learn from Child's notes, I, 414 f., goes well back into the Middle Ages. The riddles used are known without the situation at least as far back as the fifteenth century. But the ballad combining the two is relatively modern and urbane-probably no earlier than the 1600's. The American texts are clustered in the northeast, close to the Child versions, and, according to Phillips Barry who includes the song in British Ballads from Maine, 93-99, probably from an Irish source. The
song is rare in England, but not long ago was easy to discover in Scotland.
There are three complications concerning the riddle portion of the ballad. First, it has been general practice by scholars to assume the popular riddle lyric, "I Gave My Love a Cherry," to be a portion of "Captain Wedderburn's Courtship." Even where the music is similar and the informant calls the lyric "Captain Wedderburn's Courtship" this seems a dangerous practice, and it is far more likely that the riddle lyric is not only older than the ballad but attached itself to the ballad while maintaining an independent tradition of its own. "I Gave My Love a Cherry" is known all over America and the British Isles and, unless fused into the "Captain Wedderburn's Courtship" pattern, should be treated as a separate song. Second, the riddles can also be found in a nursely song called "The Four Brothers" or "Perry Merry Dictum Dominee." This song is also more popular than the Child ballad, has been confused with the ballad by scholars and informants alike, and tells a love story quite different from the ballad tale. Its popularity in this country was no doubt stimulated by its inclusion in such songsters as MacCaskey's Franklin Square Song Collection and Mother Goose's Melodies during the post-Civil War period. Third, in New England, it has been common
practice for Child l, "Riddles Wisely Expounded," and 'Captain Wedderburn's Courtship" to intermingle. The fragments from Mrs. Sullivan and Mrs. Hough printed here under Child I, Version F below, and the lyrics given by Barry, op. cit., 95-98, offer illustrations of the confusions. The problem with citations for further study, was touched in the headnote to Child I above. Suffice it to say here that once a song has lost its situation and been reduced to mere riddling it has really lost its identity too and will drift easily.
The Flanders A text follows the normal English pattern in that the couple marries before the "girl lies next the wall." However, this is not always the case in Scotland and America. As with B-F, such formalities need not be observed. The B text, with its footnote, offers a good example of what an informant may change in a song on re-rendering it. C-F are riddle fragments. And the "Perry Merry Dictum Dominee" texts (I and II), at the end of the "Captain Wedderburn's Courtship" variants, offer adequate illustration of the nursery rime as it is known in this country.
Bibliographical references to "Captain Wedderburn's Courtship," "I Gave My Love a Cherry," and "Perry Merry Dictum Dominee" can be had through the listings in Coffin, 59-60. Each song is treated separately there. Dean-Smith, 100, confusing "Perry Merry Dictum Dominee" and the "I Gave My Love a Cherry" lyric, gives English citations. And Greig and Keith, 33-36, opens up the Scottish tradition of the song. Child's remarks, I, 414 f., on old nursery rimes are also useful.
The relationship of riddling to courtship, discussed in the headnote to Child 2, should be recalled here.
The five tunes for Child 46 are parts of three groups: 1) the Burditt tune, which may be a distant relative of BCI group A; 2) the Burditt, Richards, and Fish tunes, which are themselves fairly diverse, but which definitely belong to BCI group A; and 3) the Norcross tune, which is part of BCI Appendix (to Child 46) group C. For the Burditt tune, BCI group B is also a possibility, especially his tune No. 20 on Page 371.
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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
46. CAPTAIN WEDDERBURN'S COURTSHIP
Texts: Barry, Brit Bids Me, 93 / Creighton, Sgs Bids N Sc, 6 / Gardner and Chickering, Bids Sgs So Mich, 139 / JAFL, XXIII, 377; XXIV, 335 / MacKenzie, Bids Sea Sgs N Sc, 14 / MacKenzie, Quest Bld, 108. Korson, Pa Sgs Lgds, 35.
Local Titles: A Gentle Young Lady, Bold Robbington, Captain Woodstock, Mr. Woodbum's Courtship, Six Questions.
Story Types: A: A keeper of the game wishes to sleep with a certain girl. She coyly refuses until he has answered six (or some other number) questions. When he replies to those asked, he claims his right to sleep with her and not lie "next to the wall". She, however, asks three more questions. When he answers these, she asks no more and soon yields to his wishes.
Examples: Barry (A), Creighton, Gardner and Chickering (A).
"Discussion: The American texts of Captain Wedderburn's Courtship are rare and, to my knowledge, concentrated in the northeastern portions of the United States and Canada. Where the ballad is found it is close to the Child versions, although condensed. However, it is not improbable that these American songs have come over from Britain by way of Ireland,
Riddle ballads are extremely old (see Child, 1, 4156), and it is likely that the actual questions and answers that are used by the coy maid and her lover have become attached to this song from a tradition of their own. Throughout the United States it is common to find the riddles existing alone as a song known under the title, I Gave My Love a Cherry. For representative examples consult Alberta P. Hannum, Thursday April, 204; Henry, F-S So Hgblds, 141 and Sgs Sng So Aplchns, 25; Kincaid, Fav Mt Bids, 15; Kolb, Treasry F-S, 301; Scarborough, Sgctchr So Mts, 230; Scott, Sing of Am, 54; and SharpK, Eng F-S So Aplchns, II, 190.
Child, I, 415 refers to a number of nursery songs which use these same riddles. See Halliwell's Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales, 150. Such texts are common to America under such titles as the Four Brothers or Peri Meri Dictum and make use of the motif that four brothers (three cousins) have sent a series of presents, the first a "cherry without a stone", etc. The gifts are subsequently explained. Representative texts can be found in the following works: Brown Collection; Eddy, Bids Sgs Ohio, 25; Franklin Square Song Collection (N. Y., 1881), 66; JAFL, XXIX, 157; Linscott, F-S Old NE, 267; Mother Goose's Melodies (N. Y., 1877), 53, 82; Niles, More Sgs Hill Flk, 12; and Randolph, OzF-S, II, 432. The garbled Latin refrain "perry merry dictum dominee" is characteristic of these songs.
Two points of note concerning the American versions of Child 46 are that the Gardner and Chickering, Bids Sgs So Mich, text is uniquely told in the first person and that the "next to the wall" theme has caused a large amount of textual confusion.
For a discussion of the American ramifications of the Child ballad and the riddles see Henry, F-S So Hghlds, 140.
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Missing versions:
(lxiii)'The Devil and the Blessed Virgin Mary'
Place: Pinware, Labrador
Date: August 1960
Source: Martin Hocko. Leach, Folk Ballads & Songs of the Lower Labrador Coast, pp.26-27.
Description: 11 stanzas
A BJ CD J(e,c1 K(a,b,c,d) LJ.M) J(e,c ,f,l) I(b ,a,c)
Tune: Group C
(lvi) 'Captain Wedderburn's Courtship'
Place: Sambro, Maritime Canada
Date: 1949
Source: Mr. William Gilkie. Creighton, Maritime
Folksongs, p. 6
Description: 2 stanzas and a fragment
A BS C E ; K(c,d).
Tune: Group B