Kind Wife- Smith (NC) 1914 Brown A
[From: Brown Collection of NC Folklore, Volume 1, 1952; their notes follow. See also music from Volume 4 below.
Thomas Smith, of Zionville, who later moved with his brother R.E. Lee Smith to Palmyra, Virginia has proven to be an unreliable source.
R. Matteson 2013, 2016]
42. Our Goodman (Child 274)
This is one of the few humorous ballads admitted to Child's collection. For its history and its kin in other languages, see Child's headnote; for its range in English since Child's time, see BSM 89-90, and add Virginia (OSC 300-1), North Carolina (FSRA 41), Florida (FSF 317-19), Missouri (OFS I 181-5), Ohio (BSO 82-3), Indiana (BSI 149-50) and Tennessee (BTFLS VIII 72-3). Our North Carolina texts all belong to what BSM calls the first form, in which the wife has but one paramour. The betraying signs come in a different order in the different texts. In fact, A represents one version, B and C another.
A. 'Kind Wife.' Sent by Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga county, to C. Alphonso Smith in 1914 and later to the North Carolina collection.
1. 'Kind wife, loving wife, how may it be,
Whose old horse is that where mine ort to be?'
'You old fool, you blamed fool, can't you never see?
It's nothing but a milk cow your mammy sent to me.'
'As long as I can remember— it's forty years or more —
I never saw a milk cow with a saddle on before.'
2. 'Kind wife, loving wife, how may it be,
Whose old hat is that where mine ort to be?'
'You old fool, you blamed fool, can't you never see?
It's nothing but a cabbage head your mammy sent to me.
'As long as I can remember — it's forty years or more —
I never saw a cabbage head with a brim on before.'
3. 'Kind wife, loving wife, how may it be,
Whose old boots are them where mine ort to be?'
'You old fool, you blamed fool, can't you never see?
It's nothing but a milk churn your mammy sent to me.'
'As long as I can remember — it's forty years or more —
I never saw a milk churn with heel irons on before.'
4 'Kind wife, loving wife, how may it be.
Whose old coat is that where mine ort to be?'
'You old fool, you blamed fool, can't you never see?
It's nothing but a counterpane your mammy sent to me.
'As long as I can remember — it's forty years or more —
I never saw a counterpane with coat sleeves on before.'
5 'Kind wife, loving wife, how may it be.
What old man in the bed where I ort to be?'
'You old fool, you blamed fool, can't you never see?
It's nothing but a baby child your mammy sent to me.'
'As long as I can remember — it's forty years or more —
I never saw a baby child with a mustache on before.'
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42. Our Goodman (Child 274) [Music from Volume 4]
'Kind Wife.' Sung by anonymous singer. Procured by Thomas Smith, Zionville, Watauga county, in 1914. Here, this stanza of twenty-four measures is produced by sheer exploitation of the melodic material of eight measures. This is an excellent example for showing how a melody is adapted to a varying text and just what happens in the process.
For melodic relationship cf. **SharpK I 270, No. 38E, measures 13-20 which are, more or less, the basic material of our version. Scale : Mode III, plagal. Tonal Center: f. Structure : aba1b1a2b2 (4,4,4,4,4,4) = aa1a2 (8,8,8).