Yankee Boys- Able Shepherd (NC) 1923 Carter
[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.
This begin with 3 stanzas of "Madam" then goes into "Johnson Boys" and ends with "Drowsy Sleeper." This appears to be the version that Peggy Seeger arranged for the extra verses in her 1995 recording with the "She answers No" chorus.
E. Matteson 2017]
"Yankee Boys." Recorded from Able Shepherd, Bryson City, N. C about 1923.
1. Yonder stands a fair damsel
With her hands white as snow.
Go court her fairest favors
Maybe her answers won't 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.