Old Farmer- Young (ME) pre1929; Barry B
[No title- my full title would be: There Was an Old Farmer. Since Barry A is also contributed by Young (as a collector), more information should have been provided about the source. The text of this fragment is the same- except for the burden.]
BRITISH BALLADS FROM MAINE- THE CHILD BALLADS; 1929
THE FARMER'S CURSED WIFE
(Child 278)
From Barry and all: All these texts are characteristically English; but Prof. F. E. Pierce of Yale University notes that in his boyhood an Irish farmhand of his father's sang an Irish song which was much like this.
If we were to piece together the different texts above, we should probably make out a story something like this. The old farmer, who has no oxen to plow his land, has made a bargain with the Devil for help. When the Devil comes to demand the pledge of the soul of one of the family, the farmer is fearful that either he himself or his eldest son will be taken, and is much relieved when he finds Satan willing to take his old scolding wife. Apparently the farmer, in the D-text, cares for his wife, but considers her capable of holding her own even against the Devil, who in the end has to acknowledge himself beaten for once and brings her back in order to get rid of her. The closing lines in most texts are only a moral added, not a part of the original story.
Tales like this were not uncommon in old New England. We recall one of a farmhand who worked for a woman in the next town to us, who had a reputation fully equal to that of the cursed wife. One day the hired men came down to breakfast, appearing tired and listless, and refused to eat. Madam Shepherd's curiosity was aroused and she asked the reason. He said that he preferred not to tell her. Then she demanded an explanation, which he still declined. Her curiosity knew no bounds, and he finally told her reluctantly what a bad dream he had had; how he had died and went to Hell. Nothing was stirring, no one about except guards, who were fast asleep. He explored the place at his leisure, but every imp he saw was sound asleep. Finally, parting the curtains of a great high-post bedstead, he found Satan himself--asleep. Roused from his slumber, Satan responded: "Lie right down anywhere, get all the comfort you can; we've just got word that old Ma'am Shepherd is coming here tomorrow, and after that there'll be no rest or peace for any of us!" The cursed wife may be regarded as a stock character of medieval stories; but this particular ballad is probably steeped more deeply in demonology than appears from the fragments we have left of the tale.
B. [Old Farmer] Fragment from Mrs. Susie Carr Young Brewer, which, except for the burden, is substantially the same as the above'
1 There was an old farmer, he had a farm,
Sing tu-ri-iddle-li-fol-lo-day,
There was an old farmer, he had a farm,
He had no oxen to carry it on,
Sing tu-ri-iddle-li-fol-lo-day.
2. He yoked up his hogs one day for a plow,
S ing tu-ri-iddle-li-fol-lo-day,
He yoked up his hogs one day for a plow,
They went this way and that and the devil knows how,
Sing tu-ri-iddle-li-fol-lo-day.
3. "The women are ten times worse than the men
Sing tu-ri-iddle-li-fol-lo-day,
The women are ten times worse than the men,
They'll go to hell and come back again,
Sing tu-ri-iddle-li-fol-lo-day. "