Willie Come Over the Mid-Wide Ocean- Kelley (MO) 1881 Randolph E
[Fragment from Vance Radolph's Ozark Folksongs; Volume 1- Ballads; 1946; with music. Mid-wide may be "middle-wide" or the "middle of the wide ocean." Most likely it is a mishearing of "main." Belden B had main- wide:
B. 'Willie Came over the Ocean.' Secured by Miss Hamilton, 1909, from Julia Rickman, one of her pupils in West Plains High School.
'Willie came over the main, wide ocean,
'Willie came over the sea,
'Willie came over the main, wide ocean,
Willie came courting me.
The Alabama version has main white but it should probably be "main wide":
A. Billy Came Over the Main White Ocean- Sung by Mrs. Lena Hill, Lexington, June 10, 1947.
1 Billy came over the main white ocean,
Billy came over the sea,
Billy came down to my father's house,
Billy came a-courtin' of me, me, me,
Billy came a-courtin' of me.
There are 4 extant versions with this opening stanza, the last is in the Max Hunter collection from 1959.
R. Matteson 2014]
E. Willie Come Over the Mid-Wide Ocean. Sung by Mr. Lewis Kelley, Cyclone, Mo., Aug. 12, 1931 Mr. Kelley remembers only this fragment, which he thinks is the first verse of a long ballad. He never knew the name of the piece, but heard his father sing it more than fifty years ago. I did not identify this item until I noticed a similar stanza in Belden (Rallads and Songs, 1940, p.7) introducing "Willie Came Over the Ocean," a variant of Child 4 from West Plains, Mo.
Willie come over the mid-wide ocean
Willie come ov€er the sea
And Willie come down to my father's house,
Willie came a-courtin' of me, me, me,
Willie came a-courtin' of me.