As the Dew Flies- Hall (VT) pre1965 Flanders H
[My title replacing the generic- Wife Wrapped. The opening stanzas are missing. I've completed the unfinished last verse with a likely stanza. The possibility exists that the "dew" was originally the British "doo" or "dove." Flanders' extensive notes are below. She refers to the "Dandee" refrain which is almost always "Dandoo" in the South, not "Dandee."
R. Matteson Jr. 2013]
The Wife Wrapped in Wether's Skin (Child 277)
This ballad derives from an old tale which Child, v, 104, cites under the title "The Wife Lapped in Morrel's Skin" and is related to a whole host of stories on similar themes. See Aarne-Thompson, Mt. 1370*.
The ballad is still popular in America, where the basic outline of the story remains constant, but where the minor details vary greatly. william H. Jansen has made a careful study (HFQ IV, #3,41) of the ballad and its developments in America [see article attached to Recordings & Info page], and from his remarks two groupings of the American texts emerge: songs with the "dandee, clish maclinge" refrains, popular in the South and Midwest; and songs with the "juniper, gentian, and rosemary" refrains, popular in the South and Northeast. The plant refrains of the latter group have caused some comment. Phillips Barry, British Ballads from Maine, 324-5, suggests, on the authority of Lucy Broadwood (JFSS, II, 12-15), that the wife originally was beaten to exorcise the evil spirits that infested her and that "juniper, gentian, and rosemary" were regarded as charms against the demons. Later the names of the plants were forgotten and confused with the names of girls, June, Jenny, and Rose Mary.
The Flanders texts are highly representative of the American forms of the ballad. A-I, with the plant refrain, relate to Child F (from Massachusetts) and are normal Northeastern versions. J-L illustrate the "dandee" refrain and the common "old man who lived in the West" opening.
M-N (see also Child C) are from the Scottish tradition. Text L, which concerns "Riddleson's daughter Dinah," is the only unusual version in the group. See Coffin, 146-8 (American); Belden, 92-94 (English); and Greig and Keith, 218-20 (Scottish) for bibliographical material and discussion.
All of the tunes for child 277 except the Richards tune are members of the same tune family. Within this group, the Prevost and Baldwin tunes are especially close, as are the Hayward and Hall tunes. The Monson tune is slightly outside the group.
H. [As the Dew Flies] Wife Wrapped in Wether's Skin- As sung by E.F. Hall of Ludlow, Vermont.
H. H. F., Collector
Structure: A B C D (2,2,2,2); Rhythm C; Contour: undulating; Scale: hexatonic; t. c. F.
I cut his throat; took off his skin;
Tella flow gentle Rosa-Marie,
I cut him in quarters and I carried him in;
As the dew flies over the mulberry tree.
I stretched the skin on my wife's back;
And every blow went whickety-whack.
"O husband dear, don't beat me so,
I'll be your boy and drive your plough!
"I have brothers, one, two by three;
If they were here, you wouldn't beat me!"
"I care not for. . . [1]
Footnotes:
1. "I care not for you and your kin,
I have a right to tan my sheepskin."