Old Man Lived on a Farm- Lain (MO) 1930 Randolph B
[From: Ozark Folksongs Vol. 1 British Ballads and Songs; Vance Randolph.]
36. THE OLD MAN UNDER THE HILL
Child (English and Scottish Popular Ballads, 1832-1898, No. 278) prints several British texts. Compare the poem entitled "Kelly Burn Braes," by Robert Burns. For American texts see JOAFL (30, 7917 , p. 329), Lomax (cowboy songs,1910, p. 110), campbell and Sharp Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, 1977, No.34), Cox (Folk-Songs of the South 1925, p. 164), Davis (Traditional Ballads of Virginia, 1929, pp. 505-515), Kirkland (Southern folklore Quarterly 2, 1938, p.77), Chappell (Folk-Songs of Roanoke and the Albemarle, 1939, Gardner (Ballads and Songs of Southern Michigan, 1939, pp.373-378), Linscott (Folk Songs of old New England, 1939, p. 188), Belden (Ballads and, Songs, 1940, pp.94-97), Brewster (Ballads and Songs of Indiana, 1940, pp. 155-157), Beck (Southern Folklore Quarterly 4, 1940, a lumberjack version), Anderson (Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin 8, 1942, p.73), forthcoming Brown (North Carolina Folk-Lore Society) collection.
B. Contributed by Miss Myrtle Lain, Linn Creek, Mo., Feb. 14, 1930.
There was an old man lived on a farm,
Hi ho dan do,
There was an old man lived on a farm
But he hadn't no cattle to carry it on,
'Twas fi do, fi diddle fi dum fi day.
He hooked up two pigs and he ordered the plow,
Hi ho dan do,
He hooked up two pigs and he ordered the plow,
And he broke up his ground, the devil knows how,
'Twas fi do, fi diddle fi dum fi day.
Old devil come to him in the field one day,
Hi ho dan do,
Old divil come to him in the field one day,
Says one of your family I'll carry away,
'Twas fi do, f i diddle fi dum fi daY.
You can't have my oldest son,
Hi ho dan do,
You can't have my oldest son,
For my hard work has just now begun,
'Twas fi do, fi diddle fi dum fi day.
But you can have my old scolding wife,
Hi ho dan do,
But you can have my old scolding wife,
For we never could agree in our life,
'Twas fi do, fi diddle fi dum fi day.
He picked her up all on his back,
Hi ho dan do,
He picked her up all on his back,
I never seen a peddler so 'shamed of his pack,
'Twas fi do, fi diddle fi dum fi day.
The first he met was a belchy bug, [1]
Hi ho dan do,
The first he met was a belchy bug,
She knocked him down with a devil of a club,
'Twas fi do, fi diddle fi dum fi day.
He carried her on to the devil's gate,
Hi ho dan do,
He carried her on to the devil's gate,
And he bid the old lady to walk mighty straight,
'Twas fi do, fi diddle fi dum fi day.
He carried her on to the devil's door,
Hi ho dan do,
He carried her on to the devil's door,
And he bid the old lady to scold no more,
'Twas fi do, fi diddle fi dum fi day.
Two little devils come with the chains,
Hi ho dan do,
Two little devils come with the chains,
With the devil of a club she knocked out their brains,
'Twas fi do, fi diddle fi dum fi day.
Two little devils says hold her up higher,
Hi ho dan do,
Two little devils says hold her up higher,
She up with her foot and kicked nine in the fire,
'Twas fi do, fi diddle fi dum fi day.
Two little devils peeped over the wall,
Hi ho dan do,
Two little devils peeped over the wall,
Says take her off, daddy, she's a-going to kill us all,
'Twas fi do, fi diddle fi dum fi day.
He picked her up all on his back,
Hi ho dan do,
He picked her up all on his back,
And like an old fool went a-packing her back,
'Twas fi do, fi diddle fi dum fi day.
When she got near home she give a big yell,
Hi ho dan do,
When she got near home she give a big yell,
She swore she had whipped all the devils in hell,
'Twas fi do, fi diddle fi dum fi day.
It was seven year ago when she come back,
Hi ho dan do,
It was seven year ago when she come back,
She called for the jaw-bone she left in a crack,
'Twas fi do, fi diddle fi dum fi day.
When she got there she found her man laying on the bed,
Hi ho dan do,
When she got there she found her man laying on the bed,
She picked up a plate and mellered his head,
'Twas fi do, fi diddle fi dum fi day.
The old man went a-whistling over the hill,
Hi ho dan do,
The old man went a-whistling over the hill,
If the devil won't have you I don't know who will,
'Twas fi do, fi diddle fi dum fi day.
1. Beelzebub?