US & Canada Versions 8. Madam, I Have Come to Court You (Madam I've A-courting Come; There She Stands, a Lovely Creature; Madam I have Gold and Silver)
[There are a number of significant versions of "Madam, I Have Come to Court You" (hereafter "Madam") from North America as well as a traditional stanza from "Madam" which dates this song to the late 1700s in the US. Two traditional versions one from Virginia and the other New York are older than any versions collected in the UK. In 1822 Virginia Congressman and Senator John Randolph (1773-1833) born in Cawsons, Virginia, wrote his niece and asked if she had heard a ballad that he had heard as a child. Here's the complete excerpt from "John Randolph of Roanoke, 1773-1833: A Biography. . ." by William Cabell Bruce- 1922:
A peculiar intimacy existed between John and one of the younger Banisters, and, in a letter to his niece, Elizabeth Tucker Coalter, dated Feb. 20, 1822, he furnishes us with some interesting evidence of his familiar footing, when a boy, with his Banister kin. "Do you know," he asks her, "a ballad that used to be sung to me, when I was a child, by a mulatto servant girl of my Cousin Patsy Banister, called Patience, about a rich suitor offering 'his lands so broad' and his golden store to a girl of spirit whose reply was somehow thus?
What care I for your golden treasures?
What care I for your house and land?
What care I for your costly pleasures?
So as I get but a handsome man.
Perhaps, old Aggy, who was my dear and honored mother's hand-maiden in 1769, when my father led her a spotless and blushing virgin to the altar, can remember it. I pry' thee get me that ballad. I can give you the tune." This dates the song to c.1780 in Virginia. It's unknown when Randolph's ballad was learned by a "mulatto servant girl of my Cousin Patsy Banister, called Patience" but it suggests that the two English broadsides of c.1760s were probably not the earliest prints and that the ballad was known in America during the Colonial period.
The first full US version, "Yonder Stands a Handsome Lady" was collected from the journal of the Diana, a ship harbored in New York under Captain Hay in 1819. Here's the text from Huntington's "Songs the Whalemen Sang":
Yonder stands a handsome lady
Who she is I do not know
Shall I yon and court her for her beauty
What says you madam yes or no.
Madam I have gold and silver
Madam I have house and land
Madam I have a world of treasures
And all shall be at your command
What care I for your gold and silver
What care I for your house and land
What care I for your world of treasures
All I want is a handsome man
Madam do not count on beauty
Beauty is a flower that will soon decay
The brightest flower in the midst of summer
In the fall it will fade away.
The sweetest apple soon is rotten
The hottest love now soon is cold
A young man's word is soon forgotten
The coffin is the end of young and old.
A man may drink and not be drunken
A man may fight and not be slain
A man may court a handsome lady,
And be welcome there again.
The verses are standard except the last verse which is similarly found in Barnyards of Delgaty. This version could also have been known in the 1700s in America. The first extant printed texts in the US were children's songs and games. These versions were sung by families during the 1800s. They are shorter and having several core stanzas of the 1760s "Madam" English broadsides. The first example is the 1883 "Games and songs of American children" by W.W. Newell. It was collected in New York as taken from by American children-- the text is preceded by Newell's notes:
No. 6. There She Stands, a Lovely Creature.
This pretty song has been recited to us by informants of the most cultivated class, and, on the other hand, we have seen it played as a round by the very "Arabs of the street," in words identically the same. It is an old English song, which has been fitted for a ring-game by the composition of an additional verse, to allow the selection of a partner.
There she stands, a lovely creature,
Who she is, I do not know;
I have caught her for her beauty,
Let her answer, yes or no.
Madam, I have gold and silver,
Lady I have house and land,
Lady, I have ships on the ocean,
All I have is at your command.
"What care I for your gold and silver,
What care I for your houses and lands,
What care I for your ships on the ocean—
All I want is a nice young man."
A fragment was published in "Song Games and Myth Dramas at Washington" by W. H. Babcock in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, Volume 37, 1886. Even though it's listed as a children's ring-game and only has three partial stanzas, it shows "Madam" was being sung in the Nation's capitol in the 1800s. Here's the excerpt from Babcock:
There are other ring—games in which love does not divide the interest with death, but forms the sole subject-matter. In one of these what must have been originally a dialogue is blended into a continuous song, in which all join:
Here she stands, a lovely creature;
Who she is I do not know.
Madam, I have gold and silver,
Madam, I have ships on the ocean,
Madam, I have house and land.
What care I for your gold and silver?
What care I for ships on the ocean?
What care I for house and land?
All I want is a fine young man.
Then a member of the ring is selected by the one in the middle to take his or her place.
An early version communicated in 1911 by G. C. Broadhead of Columbia, Missouri was published in Belden's "Ballads & Songs" pp. 506-507.
Madam I have Gold and Silver
Dance up to that entire stranger
With the sunflower on her shoulder.
Now to the girl with the yellow cloak
And the hole in the heel of her stocking.
'Madam, I have gold and silver,
Madam, I have house and lands,
Madam, I have a worlds of treasure,
All I want is your fair hand."
"What care I for your gold and your silver,
What care I for your house and land,
What care I for your world of treasure,
All I want is a handsome man.
In the introduction of c.1832 article "Mr. Green" by R. C. Sands, two lines are given of a "Kentucky Song":
Now let us tipple, and dance the double shuffle,
Why don't you dance up to that entire stranger?
The same line, "Dance up to that entire stranger" is found in the first stanza with the last line from "Buffalo Gals." Another early version "Madam I've A-courting Come" was reported by Shearin & Combs, Syllabus of Kentucky Folk-Songs, Vol. 2 (1911) where "The lover in the first three quatrains offers his various forms of wealth to induce the lady to marry him. She refuses in the fifth stanza his mercenary love. He makes reply in the sixth and she in the seventh."
In some North American versions the mysterious Spanish Lady has also been the name of the maid of the wooer's desire. The name is associated with the versions in the UK that have evolved from an English c.1770s bawdy song, "The Ride in London[1]". Here are five specific variants and uses of the Spanish Lady, some are used in the "Madam" courting songs:
Spanish Lady I: Derived from the 1776 bawdy song which has been reworked. The first two stanzas are found in tradition with "Spanish Lady" instead of "pretty maid" and are followed by stanzas of "Madam" sometimes with the "Twenty-Eighteen" chorus and/or other choruses. This version was mentioned in a footnote[] but so far only two versions has been found in North America and they lacks stanzas of Madam (see Ives' NY version and Boswell's Tennessee version).
Spanish Lady II: The Spanish Lady as found in "No Sir" and "Oh No, John." She is the daughter of a Spanish merchant or Spanish sailor or captain. Some of these versions are derived from "No Sir," a popular version arranged from American tradition by Englishwoman Mary Wakefield and printed in New York in 1882.
Spanish Lady III: The Spanish Lady found as the poem of the same title by Irish poet Joseph Campbell based off the first two stanzas he collected of Spanish Lady I. Campbell's poem is sung and has entered tradition and is sometime sung with the "Twenty-Eighteen" chorus and/or other choruses. Campbell's poem is not sung in the US.
Spanish Lady IV: The name "Spanish Lady" is found replacing "lovely creature" in a number of versions including children's game songs. Examples include "Here sits a Spanish lady" [JAF, Ontario, 1909 children's song] and Wehman's "Spanish Lady" printed in Universal Songster No. 39 (below) in New York about 1893. See also "Spanish Lady" in Cox, Folk Songs of the South, 1925.
Spanish Lady V: An arrangement with new text of Spanish Lady for piano and voice by Irish composer Herbert Hughes. It was based on the first two stanzas (1911) supplied by Joseph Campbell from tradition. Hughes text also has entered tradition.
Of these five types Spanish Lady I, II and IV are found in North America while the versions of Spanish Lady I are not properly version of Madam[2]. Here is the earliest record of a full version of Spanish Lady IV from Wehman Universal Songster, Volume 39 circa 1893 (New York):
THE SPANISH LADY.
Yonder sits a Spanish lady,
Who she is I do not know;
I'll go court her for her beauty,
Let her answer be yea or no.
Chorus. Nedy um a do to dod dum da,
Nedy um a do to du dum da.
Madam, I have come a-courting,
Though your name I do not know;
I will court you for your beauty,
Let your answer be yes or no.- Chorus.
Sir, if you have come a-courting
Some kind pleasure for to win,
I will kindly entertain you
If you will never come again.- Chorus.
Madam, I have gold and silver,
Madam, I have house and land;
Madam, I have a world of treasure,
All to be at your command.- Chorus.
What care I for your gold and silver,
What care I for your house and land;
What care I for your world of treasure,
All I want is a handsome man. - Chorus.
Blue is a pretty color
When it gets a second dip,
Young men when they go a-courting
Very often get the slip.- Chorus.
Ripest apples soonest rotten,
Hottest love soonest cold;
Young men's vows are soon forgotten,
Pray, pretty maids, don't be so bold.- Chorus
Iowa boys are the boys of honor,
To court pretty maids they're not afraid.
Hug them, kiss them, call them honey;
That's the way, boys; don't be afraid. -Chorus.
The last stanza is found in the Johnson Boys and is similarly found in a 1923 version from North Carolina[3]. In Folk Songs of the South (1925). Cox gives a version of Spanish Lady IV from West Virginia that he titles "Spanish Lady." In this case "Spanish Lady" is substituted for "Lovely creature" but no additional text is provided. The version seems to be archaic and has a chorus. Here's the text which probably dates to the late 1800s:
"Spanish Lady." Communicated by Miss Violet Noland, Davis, Tucker County, 1916; obtained from Mr. John Raese, who heard it sung when he was a boy.
1 Yonder stands a Spanish lady ;
Who she is I do not know;
I'll go and court her for her beauty,
Let her answer yes or no.
Refrain: Rattle O ding, ding dom, ding dom,
Rattle O ding, dom day
2 "Madame, I have gold and silver,
Madame, I have house and land,
Madame, I have a world of pleasure,
And it shall be at your command."
3 "I care not for your gold and your silver,
I care not for your house and land,
I care not for your worldly pleasure:
All I want is a handsome man."
4 Blue it is a handsome color,
When it gets a second dip;
The first time a young man starts out courting
He is apt to get a slip.
5 The ripest apple soon gets rotten,
The hottest love it soon gets cold;
A young man's word is soon forgotten,
Pray, young man, don't be so bold.
In the US there are at least six versions of Madam that are grouped under C, the "She answered No" songs. They are versions with stanzas primarily of "Madam" with the "No" chorus. Here is a list:
Ca. "No Sir, No" (Yonder is a comely flower) c. 1919 from "Kentucky Mountain Songs" by Wyman and Brockway.
Cb. "Oh No, No Sir, No" sung by Mrs. Mary Brown of Greene County, PA. Collected by Bayard in 1929; from Pennsylvania Songs and Legends, Korson.
Cc. "Yonder Comes a Heavenly Creature" sung by O.B. Campbvell Medford, OK 1934
Cd. "Madam I Have Come A-Courting" vocal performance by Jonathan Moses at Orford (New Hampshire); recorded by Helen Flanders on 08-24-1951. Learned in North Haven, Maine.
Ce1. "Uh, uh No," sung by Lannis Sutton of Doxy Oklahoma, collected by Sam Eskin in 1951. From Lomax, Folk-Songs of North America, 1960.
Ce2. "All of her answers to me were No," recording by Peggy Seeger, Folk Songs of Courting & complaint; Folkways 1955.
The following version Cc, was first published in The University Studies - Volumes 32-37 - pages 356-77; 1934. It may be heard online as "Madam I Have Gold and Silver" in the Max Hunter Collection Cat. #1177 (MFH #470) as sung by O.B. Campbell, Vinita, Oklahoma on August 9, 1971.
Yonder Comes a Heavenly Creature- sung by O. B. Campbell of Medford, Grant County, Oklahoma, 1934.
1. Yonder comes a heavenly creature,
Who she be I do not know.
I'll go and court her for her beauty.
Whether she says yes or no.
"No, no, no, sir, no."
All her answers to me were No.
2. "Madam, I have gold and silver,
Madam, I have house and land,
Madam I have a world of pleasure,
All I want is your right hand.
"No, no, no, sir, no."
All her answers to me were No.
3. What do I care for your gold and silver?
What do I care for your house and land?
What do I care for your world of pleasures?
All I want is a handsome man
No, no, no sir, no
All her answers to me were No.
In the US and Canada "Madam, I Have Come To Court You" is also known though other related variants (see appendices) and composites which include:
1) "Quaker's Courtship" or "Quaker's Wooing." Although the opening line and theme are similar the form and text are significantly different. It's obviously an early late 1700s early 1800s New England/Canadian adaptation of Madam.
2) "No Sir" and the "she answered No" songs categorized under Spanish Lady II (Spanish Captain; Spanish Merchant's Daughter; Oh No, John is a UK variant that has been covered in the US). These are the "she answered No" songs listed above that originated in the UK in the 1600s. Some US texts of No Sir have the "Madam" stanzas as found in the 1700s English broadsides. A different version of "No Sir" that lacks the standard "Madam" stanzas titled was published in 1881 by Mary Wakefield of Kendal, England who got it from an American governess. Wakefield's arrangement was published W.F. Shaw of New York and on the music page it admonished: "sung by the leading Minstrels." Versions of "No Sir" with Wakefield's text are not traditional. "Oh No John" was popularized by the Fuller Sisters in the 1920s and their version as well as other US versions seem to derive from Sharp's composite text in Somerset Folk Songs (Set 4) and One Hundred English Folk Songs.
3) Attached to a variant titled "Roving Sailor." Also titled "Come You Little Roving Sailor," it's also a play-party game song. Its identifying stanza is used as a floating stanza with other text. See 8F: two MSS collected by Sharp (Sharp EFSSA II, 279).
4) Composite versions like "Annie's Song" from Mississippi (see: Hudson, p. 151), "Hattie Belle," and "Vandy Vandy," a composite from North Carolina with mostly "Madam" stanzas. They are listed under D.
5) Children's game songs based on "Madam." It's also known as "On a Mountain Stands a Lady," a children's song title from the 1800s in the UK, which has been found in Canada.
6) "The Courting Case (Cage)" has a similar opening to "Madam" with a rural Americanized theme.
7) Spanish Lady I, rarely found in the US but popular in the UK. The opening stanzas were derived from an English bawdy song (1776)-- the rest is from "Madam."
Many of these variants of Madam are found under the appendices and will not be given here. All the composites are found here as well as any version made up primarily of stanzas of Madam.
Some Conclusions
From the US and Canada some of the earliest versions of Madam have been recovered. Versions of Spanish Lady I are lacking but a report of an informant from Massachusetts in the mid-1800s shows that the chorus associated with Spanish Lady I was in circulation here[4]. There are a wide variety of texts and composites showing that Madam as represented by the mid-1770s English print versions, was well-known. Two popular derivatives that do not have stanzas of Madam[5] are The Quaker's Courtship (1700s) and Courting Case (early 1800s). Both share the theme and the opening line but have different courting dialogues.
To conclude theses headnotes here's an archaic version from Canada taken from Carrie Grover's "Heritage of Songs," p.18. Grover was a singer and fiddler who was born in 1879 in Black River, Nova Scotia moved to Maine when she was young and later in life to Pennsylvania. Julie Mainstone who sent me Grover's version writes of this and another ballad[6]:
Both of these songs however, appear in the "Mother's Songs" section so they were either handed down through her Scotch grandparents/great-grandparents, or learned within the small Nova Scotian community where Grover was raised in the late 1800s. "There She Stands" was learned by Grover's mother, Eliza Spinney, (born 1840) when she herself was a young girl living in the same area where Carrie (Grover) was born/raised.
There she stands a lovely creature- as sung by Mrs. Carrie Grover, learned from her mother c. 1887 in Black River, Nova Scotia.
There she stands a lovely creature
Who she is I do not know
I will court her for her beauty
She can only answer, "No."
Madam, I have gold and silver,
Madam, I have houses and land.
Madam, I have ships on the ocean.
All will be at your command.
What care I for gold and silver?
What care I for houses and land?
What care I for ships on the ocean?
All I want is a handsome man.
Handsome man is out of the question,
Handsome man you can not find.
Handsome man is out of the question,
Can not be at your command.
Madam, do not stand on beauty;
Youth and beauty fade away
Like a rose that blooms in the morning
And in the evening dies away.
* * * *
R. Matteson Jr. 2017]
_______________________________________
Footnotes:
1. The 1776 bawdy song was reprinted in "The Merry Muses: A Choice Collection of Favourite Songs Gathered by Robert Burns in 1827 as "The Ride in London" with the same text.
2. According to standard principles of categorization, a song or ballad should have approximately 50% of its text stanzas of Madam to be called a version of Madam. Only one stanza of Madam is found in the Tennessee variant so neither is a version of Madam.
3. "Yankee Boys" sung by Able Shepherd of NC in 1923 from "Some Songs and Ballads from Tennessee and North Carolina" by Isabel Gordon Carter; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 46, No. 179 (Jan.- Mar., 1933), pp. 22-50. See also the Oklahoma version collected by Eskin.
4. An additional note found in "The Espérance Morris Book" by Mary Neal, Clive Carey, Geoffrey Toye, 1910 states: An old settler in Massachusetts fifty years ago used to sing at the end of the refrain, "I've done," instead of "And one." This suggests that the "Charming creature" had to say "Yes" or "No" by the time the figures were counted.
5. There are rare shared lines and stanzas but both are independent texts based on Madam.
6. Sent to me via email from Julie Mainstone.
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CONTENTS: (To access individual texts click on the blue highlighted title below or on the title attached to this page on the left hand column)
1) What care I for your golden treasures? Mulatto servant girl (VA) c.1780 Randolph
2) Yonder Stands a Handsome Lady- log of Captain Hay (NY) 1819 Huntington
3) There She Stands, a Lovely Creature- children (NY) 1883 Newell
4) Here she stands, a lovely creature- children (WDC) 1886 Babcock
5) Seven Long Years- Maria McCauley (NC) 1887 Brown
6) There She Stands- Carrie Grover (NS-MA) c.1887
Spanish Lady- (NY) c.1893 Wehman's Univ. Songster
Madam I have gold and silver- woman (MI) 1902
Madam, I Have Come to Court Ye- S.C (MA) 1908
A Spanish Lady (ON) F.W. Waugh JAF 1909
Madam I have Gold & Silver- Broadhead (MO) 1911
What Care I for Gold and Silver?- (NE) Pound 1914
Spanish Lady- John Rease (WV) 1916 Cox
Yonder Stands a Handsome Creature- (VA) 1918
O Hatty Bell- Mrs. Godfrey (NC) 1918 Sharp MS
Hattie Bell- anon (NC) c.1918 Greer MS
Yonder sets a comely creature- Gibson (NC) 1918
Madam, I Have Gold and Silver- Gerlach (NY) 1919
No Sir, No- (KY) 1919 Wyman & Brockway
Yankee Boys- Able Shepherd (NC) 1923 Carter
Annie Girl- Mrs. G. V. Easley (MS) 1926 Hudson
Kind Miss- Ann Riddell Anderson (KY) 1927 Sandburg
Oh No, No Sir, No- Mary Brown (PA) 1929 Bayard
Yonder Hill There Is a Widow- Kidder (VT) 1930
Spanish Maiden- C. Chickering (MI) 1931 Gardner B
Madam, Mozelle I've Come Courting- Shaw (NC) 1932
Madam I Have Come A-Courting- J. Moses (NH) 1933
A Heavenly Creature- O.B. Campbell (OK) 1934
Madam, I Have Come A-Courting: A.R. Blake (VT) 1935 Flanders
Yonder Sits a Humble Creature- Keene (FL) 1937
Spanish Lady- Mrs. Topper (OH) 1939 Eddy
I Admire a Black Eyed Man- Fish (NH) 1943 Flanders
Daddy Addy Doodum- Laura Britton (VT) 1945 Flanders
Vandy, Vandy- Manly Wade Wellman (NC) c.1946
Madam Madam You Came Courting- Gilkie (NS) 1950
Uh, Uh, No- Lannis Sutton (OK) 1951 Eskin
All of her Answers- Peggy Seeger (NY) 1955 REC
Rattle on the Stovepipe- Clark (ON) c.1960 Fowke
Madam I Have Come A-Courting- Fraser (ON) 1961
_________________________________
ADD:
D41A - archival cassette dub https://archive.org/details/HHFBC_tapes_D41A (34:26)
Track 13, where she sing a version of "Madam" titled, "Daddy Addy Doodum," a voice performance by Laura Britton at Putney (Vt.) also dated 01-08-1945.
Daddy Addy Doodum voice performance by Laura Britton at Putney (Vt.). Dated 01-08-1945. Learned from her mother Jenny Sleeper who was born in Chelsea Vermont
Madam, I have come a-courtin'
If your favor I do gain,
If you'll freely entertain,
Perhaps I may come again.
CHORUS: Daddy addy doodum
Doodum doodum,
Daddy addy doodum
Doodum day.
Madam I have rings of silver,
Madam I have house and land,
Madam I have worlds of treasure,
All may be at your command.
CHORUS
What care I for rings of silver?
What care I for house and land
What care I for worlds of treasure
I will and shall have a handsome man.
CHORUS
Handsome men I do desire
Handsome man I do adore
Handsome man I'm bound to marry
Be he rich or be he poor.
CHORUS
[Blue it] is a very fine color,
When it gets the second dip,
Like young men when they first go courting,
Often times they get the slip.
CHORUS
The ripest apple, soonest rotten,
Hottest love is soonest cold,
Young men's dreams are soon forgotten
Pray young miss don't be so bold.
CHORUS
ADD:
Flanders Collection Track 07a : [fragment] [Madam, I Have Come a- Courting (not Quaker's Wooing) - voice performance by A R Blake at White River Jun (Vt.). Dated 1935.
Madam I have come a courtin',
Your affections I will gain,
If you'll kindly entertain me,
I just might call again.
CHORUS: Rattle em doo, dildum dildum
Rattle em doo, dildum day. (repeat)
Yes kind sir you've come a-courtin',
My affections for to gain,
And I'll kindle entertain you,
If you'll never call again.
CHORUS: Rattle em doo, dildum dildum
Rattle em doo, dildum day. (repeat)
ADD:
Madam, I Have Gold and Silver
[From "Game-Songs from Southern Indiana" by Paul Brewster in The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 49, No. 193 (Jul. - Sep., 1936), pp. 243-262.
4b. Madam, I have gold and silver;
Madam, I have a house and land;
Madam, I have a ship on the ocean;
It shall sail at your command.
For I love you and you can't help it;
O lawsy, how I do love you!
What care I for your gold and silver?
What care I for your house and land?
What care I for your ship on the ocean?
All I want is your heart and hand.
For I love you and you can't help it;
O lawsy, how I do love you!
------------
ADD:
Colorado Folk Songs
Author(s): Ben Gray Lumpkin
Source: Western Folklore,
Vol. 19, No. 2 (Apr., 1960), pp. 77-97
Published by: Western States Folklore Society
Randolph reported four versions of "The Courting Song,"" but they are
totally different from Cook's Courting song:
Lady, I have come a-courting,
Your affection for to win.
If you'll kindly entertain me,
Next Sunday night I'll call again.
Tum, tum a-ree, a-ree, a-ray doe.
Tum, tum a-ree, a-ray de en.
Tum, tum a-ree, a-ree a-ray doe.
Next Sunday night I'll call again.
Sir, if you have come acourting,
My affection for to win,
I will kindly entertain you
If you'll never call again.
Tum, tum etc.
__________________________________
Notes from Cox: FOLK-SONGS OF THE SOUTH, p. 465 [In this case Cox's notes are wanting]
158. THE SPANISH LADY
This brief ditty, sometimes used as a game-song, is formed upon "O No, John," for which see Sharp, Folk-Songs from Somerset, iv, 46; Sharp, One Hundred English Folksongs, No. 68; Sharp, English Folk Songs, n, 116; Buck, The Oxford Song Book, p. 147; Journal, xxxv, 405; Pound, p. 43; Wyman MS., No. 49. It keeps, however, only the opening stanza of "O No, John" (see also Gomme, Traditional Games, I, 320; Kidson and Moffatt, Eighty Singing Games, p. 84). Fragments of that song are used as game-rhymes in Indiana (Wolford, The Play-Party in Indiana, p. 73) and Missouri (Belden's collection); cf.
Pound, p. 77.
For texts similar to the West Virginia piece see Newell, Games and Songs of American Children, p. 55; Barry, Journal, xxiv, 341; Broadwood and Fuller Maitland, English County Songs, p. 90; Butterworth, Folk Songs from Sussex, p. 2; Gillington, Songs of the Open Road, No. 10, p. 22. Gardiner, Folk-Songs from Hampshire, p. 41; Journal of the Folk-Song Society, iv, 297; Ebsworth, Roxburghe Ballads, viii, ii, 852; Alfred Williams, Folk-Songs of the Upper Thames, p. 196. Of these, all have stanza 3, and all but Newell have stanza 5. Neither of these two stanzas belongs to "O No, John." For stanza 5, in other contexts or alone by itself, see Ashton's Real Sailor-Songs, 72 ; Journal of the Folk-Song Society, 1, 29, 45; Journal of the Irish Folk-Song Society, ix, 28. Stanza 3 has some resemblance to lines in " The Quaker's Wooing," which is also used as a game-song (Newell, p. 94; Rosa S. Allen, Family Songs, p. 14; Pound, No. 108; Focus, in, 276; Journal, xvm, 56; xxiv, 342). Stanzas 2 and 3 occur in one West Virginia version of "A Pretty Fair Maid" (No. 92).
For references to similar songs see Kittredge, Journal, xxxv, 406.
________________________________________________________
Southern Folklore Quarterly - Page 233
https://books.google.com/books?id=jqnjAAAAMAAJ
Alton Chester Morris - 1963 - Snippet view - More editions
A unique beginning to a version from Florida, reminiscent of another familiar ballad of love and courtship, goes: [19]
"Yonder stands a fair young lady
Who she is I do not know
I'll go court her for her beauty
Let her answer yes or no." whereup he addresses her with his proposal of marriage. . .
----------------
Second print version that mention Spanish Lady (see Wakefield's "No Sir," 1882)
THE SPANISH LADY. Wehman's No. 39, c. 1893
Yonder sits a Spanish lady,
who she is I do not know;
I'll go court her for her beauty,
let her answer be yea or no,
Chorus.
Nedy um a do to dod dum da,
nedy um a do to du dum da.
Madam, I have come a-courting, though your name I do not know;
I will court you for your beauty, let your answer be yes or no.- Chorus.
Sir, if you have come a-courting some kind pleasure for to win,
I will kindly entertain you if you will never come again.- Chorus.
Madam, I have gold and silver: Madam, I have house and land;
Madam, I have a world of treasure, all to be at your command.- Chorus.
What care I for your gold and silver, what care I for your house and land;
What care I for your world of treasure, all I want is a handsome man. - Chorus.
Blue is a pretty color when it gets a second dip,
Young men when they go a-courting very often get the slip.- Chorus.
Ripest apples soonest rotten, hottest love soonest cold;
Young men's vows are soon forgotten, pray, pretty maids, don't be so bold.- Cho
Iowa boys are the boys of honor, to court pretty maids they're not afraid.
Hug them, kiss them, call them honey; that's the way, boys; don't be afraid.
-Chorus.
______________________________
First printed in Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 1953. Reprinted in Supernatural Sleuths ed. Charles G. Waugh & Martin H. Greenberg (Penguin/Roc 0-451-45579-7).
This is Ed Cray's brief article in Notes & Queries; Journal of American Folklore, 1962. This is a hybrid version- only the last stanza is from Drowsy Sleeper. It is somewhat similar to two other versions: 1) "Hattie Belle" MS from Greer Collection before 1932; hybrid version of "A Sweetheart in the Army" and 2) "Annie Girl" Hudson JAF, 1926.
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Southern Folklore Quarterly - Volume 8 - Page 228
https://books.google.com/books?id=gUVLAAAAYAAJ
1944 - Snippet view - More editions
WHAT CARE I FOR GOLD AND SILVER? (See "Yonder Comes a Heavenly Creature.")
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Louise Pound, Nebraska 1814- one stanza
9. What Care I for Gold and Silver?
Madam, I have land and silver,
Madam, I have house and land,...
What care I for gold and silver?—
All I want is a handsome man.
From a dialogue song, on the order of "The Quaker's Courtship," (XXIII, 9).
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Western Folklore - Volumes 13-14 - Page 14
https://books.google.com/books?id=1IkLAAAAIAAJ
1954
Madam, I have gold and silver; / Madam, 1 have ships on the ocean; / Madam, I have house and land. / What care I for your gold and silver? / What care I for ships on the ocean? / What care I for house and land? / All I want is a fine young man
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The Secular Activities of the German Episcopate, 919-1024
https://books.google.com/books?id=SQcVAAAAIAAJ
Edgar Nathaniel Johnson - 1932 - Snippet view - More editions
The stanzas referred to are:
Yonder comes a heavenly creature,
Who she lie I do not know.
I'll go and court her for her beauty,
Whether she says yes or no.
"What do I care for your gold and silver?
What do I care for your house and land?
-------
[See Belden's version ]
Leggett, W. The block-house. Sands, R.C. Mr. Green. Paulding, J.K. Selim edited by William Cullen Bryant, 1832
Now let us tipple, and dance the double shuffle,
Why don't you dance up to that entire stranger?
Rentucky Song.
Communicated in 1911 by G. C. Broadhead of Columbia. Dance up to that entire stranger With the sunflower on her shoulder. Now to the girl with the yellow cloak And the hole in the heel of her stocking. 'Madam, I have gold and silver, Madam
--------------------
[Has unusual stanzas at end]
FOLKWAYS RECORDS Album # FH 5311 ©1963 by Folkways Records & Service Corp., 121 w. 47th st. NYC USA
NEW YORK STATE SONGS AND BALLADS
FOLKSONGS OF THE CATSKILLS
sung by Barbara Moncure with Harry Siemsen
SIDE II, Band 3: MADAM, I HAVE GOLD AND SILVER
From Henry "Dutch" Gerlach who taught it before he died, during the World War I influenza epidemic, to Mr. Siemsen. Gerlach was born in 1881 or 1882 in the Town of Ulster and 1ived there all his life on a hill farm. This courting dialog is actually a composite of well-known verses.
There she stands, a lovely creature,
Who she is, I do not know:
I will ask her for to marry,
Let her answer, yes or no.
Madam, I have gold and silver,
Madam, I have a house and land:
Madam, I have a ship on the ocean,
All of these at they command.
What care I for your gold and silver,
What care I for your house and land,
What care I for your ship on the ocean,
All I want is a nice young man.
Oh! I know!
For an old man he is old,
An old man he is gray,
A young man's heart is full of love,
Get away, old man, get away.
I wanna marry a young man:
With curly hair on his head;
I don't want an old man,
That can't climb into bed.
For an old man he is old,
An old man he is gray:
A young man's heart is fulla love,
Get away, old man, get away!
---------------------------
[has Johnson Boys stanzas at end]
Some Songs and Ballads from Tennessee and North Carolina
Isabel Gordon Carter
The Journal of American Folklore,
Vol. 46, No. 179 (Jan. - Mar., 1933), pp. 22-50
13. YANKEE BOYS. Recorded from Able Shepherd, Bryson City, N. C. See Lunsford, B. L., and Stringfield, L. Thirty and one Folksongs from Southern Mts. p. 56; Farnsworth, Chas. and Sharp, C. J. Folk-Songs, Chanteys and Singing Games, p. 31; Hartness and Brown p. 154
1. Yonder stands a fair damsel
With her hands white as snow.
Go court her fairest favors
Maybe her answers wont be no.
Chorus: Ying ding diddle ding
Ying ding day
Ying ding diddle ding
A fol dol day.
2. "Madam, I have gold and silver;
Madam, I have house and land,
Madam, I have the world of treasures
You may have at your own command."
3. "What care I for your gold and silver,
What care I for your house and land,
What care I for your world of treasure
All I want is a rebel man."
4. Yankee boys go a courting,
Stay so long they go astray,
Reason why they don't stay longer,
They ain't got greenback to pay their way.
5. Rebel boys raised in honor
They know how to court the maid,
Hug and kiss and call 'em honey;
Rush up pretty boy and don't be afraid.
6. Yankee boys raised in ashes
Don't know how to court a maid,
Turn their backs to hide their faces,
Thoughts of a pretty girl makes them afraid.
7. Many times I've been to England,
Often times I've been to France,
Often times my mama's whipped me
O'er the floor she made me dance.
8. Wake up, wake up you drousy sleepers,
Wake up, wake up, it's almost day,
Hang your head in yonder winder
See those rebels run away.
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Comely Flower
Roud Folksong Index (S258777)
First Line:
Source: Library of Congress recording 2816 B1 & 2
Performer: Swindel, Mrs. Hettie
Date: 1939
Place: USA : Virginia : Freeling
Collector: Halpert, Herbert
Roud No: 542
---------------
Has "Spanish Lady" in text
Tinkle, Tinkle, Tra-La-La!
1.
As I was walking down the street
A Spanish lady I did meet;
Patent slippers on her feet,
And the baby in her arms.
Tinkle, tinkle, tra-la-la, tra-la-la, tra-la-la,
Tinkle, tinkle, tra-la-la, and the baby in her arms.
2.
As I went walking down the street,
A Spanish lady I did meet,
With silver slippers on her feet
And a gold ring on her finger.
With a ringle-tingle, fa, la, la, fa, la, la, fa, la,
la,
With a ringle-tingle, fa, la, la, the merry men o'
warship.
Oh, I can chaw tabacca,
And I can smoke a pipe,
And I can kiss a bonnie lass
At twelve o'clock at night.
With a ringle-tingle, fa, la, la, etc.
________________________________________________________
(1) Rodger Lang Strang (1948), 28. Played in a circle.
A big girl goes in the centre. When the fourth line is
reached, she takes a small one, putting her arms under
her oxters, and sweels her round."
(2) Ibid., "another version". With st. 2 cf. "I can
chew tobacco".
Opies Singing Game (1985), 343 (no. 87, "Spanish Lady").
"This song about an exile in disgrace was probably at the height of its popularity in Edwardian days."
-----------------------
Colorado Folk Songs
Author(s): Ben Gray Lumpkin
Source:
Western Folklore,
Vol. 19, No. 2 (Apr., 1960), pp. 77-97
Published by: Western States Folklore Societ
Randolph reported four versions of "The Courting Song,"" but they are
totally different from Cook's Courting song:
Lady, I have come a-courting,
Your affection for to win.
If you'll kindly entertain me,
Next Sunday night I'll call again.
Tum, tum a-ree, a-ree, a-ray doe.
Tum, tum a-ree, a-ray de en.
Tum, tum a-ree, a-ree a-ray doe.
Next Sunday night I'll call again.
Sir, if you have come acourting,
My affection for to win,
I will kindly entertain you
If you'll never call again.
Tum, tum etc.
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Wide Awake - Volumes 18-19 - Page 201
https://books.google.com/books?id=SNrNAAAAMAAJ
1884 - Read - More editions
He came riding rapidly towards her and with a low bow said, Madam, I have gold and silver, Madam, I have house and land, Madam, I have ships on the ocean, All of them at your command. But Ruthie, waving her hand haughtily, replied, ..
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Missing versions:
Madam I Have Come A-courting
Roud Folksong Index (S262333)
First Line:
Source: Library of Congress recording 2835 A1
Performer: Hamilton, Mrs. Goldie
Date: 1939
Place: USA : Virginia : Hamiltontown
Collector: Halpert, Herbert
3815 A3 &4 MADAM, I HAVE COME A COURTING. Sung by Mrs. Goldie Hamilton. - Hamiltontown, near Wise, Va., Herbert Halpert, 1939.
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Comely Flower
Roud Folksong Index (S258777)
First Line:
Source: Library of Congress recording 2816 B1 & 2
Performer: Swindel, Mrs. Hettie
Date: 1939
Place: USA : Virginia : Freeling
Collector: Halpert, Herbert
Roud No: 542
------------------------------------
A Comely Flower
Roud Folksong Index (S310223)
First Line: Yonder stands a comely flower
Source: Duncan, Ballads & Folk Songs Collected in Northern Hamilton County (1939) pp.354-355
Performer: Hughes, Mrs. Rosa
Date: 1939 (18 Mar)
Place: USA : Tennessee : Flat Top
Collector: Duncan, Ruby
----------------------------
Madam I am Come to Court You
Roud Broadside Index (B105585)
First Line: Madam I am come to court you
Source: Family Herald & Weekly Star (Montreal) Old Favourites section 18 Jul 1923
Roud No: 542
Format: Newspaper
Src Contents: Text