Bluegrass Messengers

Recordings & Info 274. Our Goodman

CONTENTS:

 1) Alternative Titles
 2) Traditional Ballad Index 
 3) Child Collection Index
 4) Excerpt from The British Traditional Ballad in North America by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America
 5) Folk Index
 6) Tolman JOAFL 
 7) Mainly Norfolk (lyrics and info)
    
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
  1)  Roud No. 114: Our Goodman (359 Listings) 

Alternate Titles

Four Nights Drunk 
A Blackguard Song
An Old Man Came Tumbling Home
Cairo Girl
Down Came the Old Man
Four Nights
Hobble and Bobble
Home Came the Old Man
Home Comes the (Good) (Old) Man
I Called to my Loving Wife
In Came the Gay Old Man
Kind Wife
Our (The) Goodman
Parson Jones
The Adulteress
The Old Man
Three Nights of Experience
Third Night of Married Life
When I Come Home the Other Night

Traditional Ballad Index: Four Nights Drunk [Child 274]

DESCRIPTION: Our goodman comes home drunk for several nights. Each night he observes an oddity -- another man's horse, boots, sword, etc. Each time his wife says it is something else. Finally he sees a man's head; she explains that, too -- but the head has a beard
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1776 [Herd]
KEYWORDS: humorous trick adultery drink bawdy dialog disguise husband wife
FOUND_IN: Australia Canada(Ont,Mar) Britain(England(Lond,South,West),Scotland(Aber,Bord)) Ireland US(All) Bahamas
REFERENCES: (45 citations)
Child 274, "Our Goodman" (3 texts)
Bronson 274, "Our Goodman" (58 versions)
GreigDuncan7 1460, "Our Gudeman" (5 texts, 2 tunes) {A=Bronson's #3, B=#20)
Lyle-Crawfurd2 193, "Hame Came Our Gudeman" (1 text)
Williams-Thames, pp. 188-190, "The Old Farmer and His Young Wife" (1 text) (also Wiltshire-WSRO Wt 461)
Wiltshire-WSRO Wt 324, "Milking Pail" (1 text)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 315-317, "Our Goodman" (2 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #5}
Linscott, pp. 259-262, "Our Goodman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders-Ancient4, pp. 63-71, "Our Goodman" (5 texts plus 2 fragments)
Belden, pp. 89-91, "Our Goodman" (2 texts)
Randolph 33, "I Went Home One Night" (2 texts, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #19, #46}
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 60-63, "i Went Home One Night" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 33B) {Bronson's #46}
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 53-57, "Four Nights Drunk" (5 texts, 1 tune)
Eddy 25, "Our Goodman" (1 text)
Brewster 22, "Our Goodman" (1 fragment)
Peters, p. 168, "The Old Man Came Home Again" (1 text, 1 tune)
Davis-Ballads 43, "Our Goodman" (6 text, one of which is in an appendix because of dialect; 5 tunes entitled "Hobble and Bobble," "The Old Man," "Home Comes the Old Man," "Down Came the Old Man") {Bronson's #8, #39, #6, #7, #56}
Davis-More 38, pp. 299-304, "Our Goodman" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
BrownII 42, "Our Goodman" (2 texts plus mention of 2 more)
Chappell-FSRA 19, "Our Goodman" (1 text)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 14-16, "Four Nights (Our Goodman)" (1 text)
Hudson 22, pp. 122-123, "Our Goodman" (1 short text)
Rosenbaum, p. 98, "Three Nights' Experience" (1 text, 1 tune, mislabelled "Child 247")
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 231-236, "Our Goodman" (4 texts, with local titles "Three Nights of Experience," Three Nights of Experience," "I Called To My Loving Wife," "Parson Jones"; 3 tunes on pp. 417-418) {Bronson's #29, #54, #50}
Creighton/Senior, pp. 91-92, "Our Goodman" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #44}
Leach, pp. 653-657, "Our Goodman" (1 text)
McNeil-SFB2, pp. 35-39, "Four Night Drunk or The Cabbage Head Song" ; "Ole Lady" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Friedman, p. 445, "Our Goodman" (2 texts)
Cray, pp. 11-23, "Four Nights Drunk" (4 texts, 3 tunes)
Niles 57, "Our Goodman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Reeves-Sharp 72, "Our Goodman" (1 text)
SharpAp 38, "Our Goodman" (4 texts plus 1 fragment, 5 tunes) {Bronson's #55, #53, #15, #58, #30}
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 26, "Our Goodman" (1 text, 1 tune -- a composite version) {Bronson's #30}
Chase, pp. 118-119, "Home Came the Old Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
DBuchan 61, "Our Goodman" (1 text)
JHCox 28, "Our Goodman" (3 texts)
SHenry H21ab, p. 508, "The Blin' Auld Man/The Covered Cavalier" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 255-258, "Shickered As he Could Be" (1 text, told in the third person ("This bloke I know") rather than first person)
TBB 38, "Our Goodman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 108-110, "Our Goodman" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #36}
Darling-NAS, pp. 78-80, "Three Nights Drunk"; "Our Goodman" (2 texts)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 22, "Four Nights Drunk" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 233, "Four Nights Drunk" (1 text)
DT 274, DRUNK5NT GOODMAN2* GOODMAN3
ADDITIONAL: James Henry Dixon, Ancient Poems, Ballads, and Songs of the Peasantry of England (London, 1846 ("Digitized by Google")), Song #25 pp. 211-214, "Old Wichet and his Wife" (1 text)
Roud #114
RECORDINGS:
Jo Jo Adams, "Cabbage Head, Parts 1 & 2" (Aristocrat 803, rec. 1948)
Anonymous singer, "The Merry Cuckold" (on Unexp1)
Thomas C[larence] Ashley, "Four Night's Experience" (Gennett 6404, 1928; Challenge 405 [as Tom Hutchinson], c. 1928)
Emmett Bankston & Red Henderson, "Six Nights Drunk, pt. 1/pt. 2" (OKeh 45292, 1929; rec. 1928) {Bronson's #32}
Harry Cox, Mary Connors, Colin Keane [composite] "The Cuckold's Song (Our Goodman)" (on FSB5, FSBBAL2)
Jack Elliott, "The Blind Fool" (on Elliotts01)
John B. Evans, "Three Nights Experience" (Brunswick 237, 1928)
Blind Lemon Jefferson, "Laboring Man Away from Home" (Paramount, unissued, rec. 1927)
Earl Johnson & his Dixie Entertainers, "Three Nights Experience" (OKeh 45092, 1927)
Coley Jones, "Drunkard's Special" (Columbia 14489, 1929; on AAFM1, BefBlues3) {Bronson's #33}
Colon Keel, "The Three Nights Experience" (AFS 2709 B1, 1939)
Lena & Sylvester Kimbrough, "Cabbage Head Blues" (Meritt 2201, 1926)
A. L. Lloyd, "Shickered As He Could Be" (on Lloyd2)
J. E. Mainer & Band, "Three Nights Drunk" (on LomaxCD1701) {Bronson's #38}
Wade Mainer, "Three Nights in a Barroom" (Blue Ridge 109, n.d.)
Mustard and Gravy, "Five Nights' Experience" (Bluebird B-7905, 1938)
Chris Powell & the Five Blue Flames, "Last Saturday Night" (Columbia 30162, 1949)
Orrin Rice, "Our Goodman" (AFS; on LC12) {Bronson's #31}
Pete Seeger, "My Good Man" (on PeteSeeger24)
George Spicer, "Coming Home Late" (on Voice13)
Will Starks, "Our Good Man" (AFS 6652 A1, 1942)
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "Three Nights Drunk" (Bluebird B-5748, 1934)
Gordon Tanner & Smokey Joe Miller, "Four Nights' Experience" (on DownYonder)
Tony Wales, "Our Goodman" (on TWales1)
Sonny Boy Williamson [pseud. for Rice Miller] "Wake Up Baby" (Checker 894, 1958)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Eleven More Months and Ten More Day" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Five Nights Drunk
Seven Nights Drunk
Home (Hame) Drunk Came I
The Jealous Hearted Husband
The Old Man Came Home One Night
When I Came Home Last Saturday Night
The Good Old Man
Arrow Goodman
Kind Wife
Parson Jones
NOTES: According to Joseph Hickerson, archivist at the Archive of American Folk Culture, Library of Congress, who has studied the ballad, this is the most commonly recovered Child ballad, surpassing even "Barbara Allen" (Child 84). - EC
I have to note that alcohol consumption inhibits sexual performance (even while making men think they are capable of more than they are). Maybe, if Our Goodman came home sober more often, he wouldn't have to worry so much about what his wife was doing while he was in his cups. - RBW
Williams-Thames is very close to Dixon. The farmer finds three horses in the stable, three hats, coats, and whips hanging in the kitchen, three pair of boots beneath the table, and three strange men in bed with his wife, these last being "three dairymaids my granny sent to me" [of course, "dairymaids with beards on! the like was never seen"]. - BS
 

Child Collection -Child Ballad 274: Our Goodman

Child --Artist --Title --Album --Year --Length --Have
274 A.L. Lloyd Shickered as He Could Be First Person - Some of His Favourite Folk Songs 1966 2:03 Yes
274 Alastair McDonald Oor Gudeman Scottish Laughlines 1998 No
274 Alex Beaton Seven Drunken Nights Daft Ditties - a Collection of Humorous and Tastefully Offensive Songs 1987 4:11 Yes
274 Alf Wildman The Cuckold's Song The Leaves of Life 1989 No
274 Alice Francombe The Old Drunken Man The Birds Upon the Tree and Other Traditional Songs and Tunes 2004 No
274 Alice Frankcom Late Home Came I The Gwilym Davies Collection No
274 Alice Frankcom Seven Nights Drunk The Gwilym Davies Collection No
274 American Female Singer Our Goodman The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
274 Andy Cash Seven Nights Drunk Jim Carroll & Pat Mackenzie Collection No
274 Appendix Out Four Nights Drunk The Unaccompanied Voice: An A Capella Compilation 2000
 No
274 Aubrey Murphy Our Goodman The Helen Creighton Collection No
274 Barstool Hooligans Seven Drunken Nights Cheap Shots 2004 2:31 Yes
274 Bascom Lamar Lunsford Three Nights' Experience The Library of Congress No
274 Bessie Wallace Our Goodman The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
274 Bill Cassidy Our Goodman (1) Jim Carroll & Pat Mackenzie Collection No
274 Bill Cassidy Our Goodman (2) Jim Carroll & Pat Mackenzie Collection No
274 Bill Cooper Seven Nights Drunk The Gwilym Davies Collection  No
274 Bill Craig Seven Drunken Nights You Asked for It! 2000 No
274 Bill Livers Cabbage Head Song Live at the Berea College Celebration of Traditional Music 1982-1997 2:25 Yes
274 Billy Buckingham Seven Nights Drunk The Gwilym Davies Collection  No
274 Blackthorn Hey Wife, "The Seven Drunken Nights" Tonight's the Night for Drinking 1998 4:16 Yes
274 Blind Boy Fuller Cat Man Blues Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, Vol. 1 (1935-1936) 1992 No
274 Blind Boy Fuller Cat Man Blues [take 2] Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, Vol. 2 (1936-1937) 1992 No
274 Blind Lemon Jefferson Cat Man Blues The Complete 94 Classic Sides Remastered 1998 3:15 Yes
274 Blind Lemon Jefferson Cat Man Blues Completed Recorded Works in Chronological Order, Vol. 4 1929 2006 2:52 Yes
274 Bob N Along & Will Sneyd Seven Drunken Nights <website> 1996 3:32 Yes
274 Bobby McMillon Cabbage Head Song North Carolina Sampler - Anglo-American Vocal Music from North Carolina 1992 No
274 Bobby McMillon Cabbage Head Song The Gwilym Davies Collection  No
274 Booger Hole Revival Four Nights Drunk Rollin' the Woodpile Down 1979 No
274 Boyce Davis Drunken Fool The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection 4:55 Yes
274 Brian Freeman Four Nights Drunk Fifth Finger Music 1983 No
274 Brian Miller & Charlie Saone Our Gudeman The Favourite Dram 1981 3:38 Yes
274 Brian Peters Six Nights Drunk Sheffield Folk Festival 2007 2007 4:04 Yes
274 Brian Peters Six Nights Drunk Songs of Trial and Triumph 2008 4:01 Yes
274 Brobdingnagian Bards Seven Drunken Nights The Holy Grail of Irish Drinking Songs 2006 5:05 Yes
274 Brobdingnagian Bards Seven Drunken Nights Real Men Wear Kilts 2008 4:50 Yes
274 Brook Benton The Intoxicated Rat Greatest Hits 1997 No
274 Cadillac Kolstad Cabbage Head Standards of the World, Vol 1 2006 4:05 Yes
274 Cameron Turriff Hame Drunk Cam I Scots Songs and Music - Live from Kinross Festival 1 1973 3:35 Yes
274 Carl & Hazel Johnson Cabbage Head (1) The Mary Elizabeth Barnicle-Tillman Cadle Collection  No
274 Carl & Hazel Johnson Cabbage Head (2) The Mary Elizabeth Barnicle-Tillman Cadle Collection  No
274 Celtic Thunder Seven Drunken Nights Voyage 2012 4:17 Yes
274 Charlie Hill Seven Nights Drunk The Gwilym Davies Collection No
274 Charlie Showers I Came Home Drunk Last Night (1) Bob & Jacqueline Patten Collection 1970-1999 No
274 Charlie Showers I Came Home Drunk Last Night (2) Bob & Jacqueline Patten Collection 1970-1999 No
274 Charlie Wills Our Goodman Charlie Wills 1972 No
274 Charlie Wills The Cuckold Old Man Up to the Rigs - Dorset Shepherd Singer 1975 No
274 Choo Choo Charlie Williams & Baltimore Red Jones Cat Man Blues Gutbucket Blues 2000 2:50 Yes
274 Chris Bartram & Keith Holloway Six Nights Drunk Songs from the Vale - Music and Songs from the Vale of White Horse 1999 No
274 Chris Powell & The Blue Flames Last Saturday Night The Chronological Chris Powell 1949-1952 2003 No
274 Cisco Houston The Intoxicated Rat The Folkways Years 1944-1961 1994 2:05 Yes
274 Cisco Houston The Intoxicated Rat Hard Travellin' 1954 No
274 Cisco Houston The Intoxicated Rat Songs from the Heart - The History of American Folk Music 2001 2:04 Yes
274 Clint Howard & Fred Price Cabbage Head Song Good Time Music, National Folk Festival 1975 No
274 Clint Howard Band Cabbage Head Live Times 2 2004 3:00 Yes
274 Coley Jones Drunkard's Special Anthology of American Folk Music 1997 3:16 Yes
274 Colon Keel Three Nights' Experience Southern Mosaic - The John & Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip 1939 3:01 Yes
274 D.H. Raymond Our Goodman (1) The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection  No
274 D.H. Raymond Our Goodman (2) The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
274 Dan Livingstone Our Goodman The Helen Creighton Collection No
274 Danny Doyle Seven Drunken Nights Danny Doyle 1977 No
274 Darby O'Gill Seven Nights Drunk Live at the Dublin Pub 2007 8:38 Yes
274 Dave Ruch Cabbage Head (Our Goodman) The Oldest Was Born First 2008 No
274 Dick & Anne Albin Four Nights Drunk Red Roses, Green Briars and Milk-White Steeds 1975 1:40 Yes
274 Dixon Brothers Intoxicated Rat Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, Vol. 1, 1936 2000 2:35 Yes
274 Doc Watson Intoxicated Rat The Vanguard Years 1995 2:33 Yes
274 Doc Watson Intoxicated Rat Doc Watson 1964 2:33 Yes
274 Doc Watson Intoxicated Rat The Best of Doc Watson 1964-1968 1999 No
274 Doc Watson The Cabbage Head Song Folk Masters 2005 3:23 Yes
274 Doris Venie Drunken Fool The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection 5:12 Yes
274 Douglas Kennedy Hame Can Oor Guidman at 'Een <website> 1946 3:22 Yes
274 Dr. David Rosenbaum One Saturday Night When I Come Home Art of Field Recording, Vol. I - 50 Years of Traditional American Music Documented by Art Rosenbaum 2007 1:50 Yes
274 Dr. Gass Our Goodman The Helen Creighton Collection No
274 Dr. John Cabbage Head Goin' Back to New Orleans 1992 3:59 Yes
274 Eamon Carroll Seven Drunken Nights Old Irish Chestnuts - Eamon Carroll Sings Fifteen Favourites 2009 No
274 Earl Johnson Three Night's Experience Earl Johnson Vol. 1 1927 - Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order 2005 2:48 Yes
274 Earl Johnson & His Dixie Entertainers Three Nights Experience Ain't Nobody's Business 1927 2:47 Yes
274 Ed McCurdy Four Nights Drunk Blood, Booze 'n' Bones 1956 1:55 Yes
274 Eddie Butcher The Hillman Shamrock, Rose and Thistle No 3 - Folk singing in North Derry 1982 No
274 Ernie Alston I Come in the Other Night Voices from the Dust Bowl 1940-1941 2:02 Yes
274 Ewan MacColl Our Goodman The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) - Vol. 1 1956 No
274 Ewan MacColl Our Goodman The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) - Vol. 1 [Reissue] 196? No
274 Ewan MacColl Our Goodman Ballads - Murder Intrigue Love Discord 2009 3:12 Yes
274 Ewan MacColl Oud Goodman - Our Gudeman The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (Child Ballads) - Vol. 1 1961 2:55 Yes
274 Ewan MacColl Our Goodman [Scots] The Long Harvest, Vol. 3 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1966 2:58 Yes
274 Ewan MacColl Th' Owd Chap Come O'er T' Bank Saturday Night at the Bull & Mouth 1977 2:56 Yes
274 Finnegan's Wake 7 Drunken Nights The Rocky Road to Vegas 2004 6:32 Yes
274 Firkin Seven Drunken Nights Firkinful of Beer 2009 4:42 Yes
274 Foster & Allen Seven Drunken Nights Foster & Allen Sing the Sixties 2004 4:32 Yes
274 Foster & Allen Seven Drunken Nights Remembering the Sixties 2004 4:32 Yes
274 Frank Proffitt Jr. Four Nights Drunk Kickin' Up Dust 1992 No
274 Fred Wedlock Three Drunken Nights Out of Wedlock 1978 2:38 Yes
274 Fred Welfare Coming Home Late Ripest Apples - Traditional Singing in Sussex 197? No
274 George Belton My Old Man All Jolly Fellows .. 1967 No
274 George Belton My Old Man Songs & Music of the Sussex Weald 1966 No
274 George Belton Seven Drunken Nights Reg Hall Archive 1953-1977 3:02 Yes
274 George Collinson Seven Nights Drunk (Our Goodman) Steve Gardham Collection 1970-1982 1:14 Yes
274 George Spicer Coming Home Late The Voice of the People, Vol. 13: They Ordered Their Pints of Beer and Bottles of Sherry - the Joys and Curse of Drink 1998 4:34 Yes
274 George Spicer Coming Home Late Blackberry Fold - Traditional Songs and Ballads 1974 No
274 George Vinton Graham Home Came the Good Old Man The Library of Congress No
274 George Vinton Graham Home Came the Good Old Man California Gold - Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties Collected By Sidney Robertson Cowell 193? :59 Yes
274 Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers Three Nights Drunk Early Classic String Bands, Vol. 2  No
274 Gid Tanner & Riley Puckett Three Nights Drunk Serenade in the Mountains - Early Old Time Music on Record 2006 3:31 Yes
274 Gingerthistle Four Nights Drunk Live at the University of Maryland, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, March 17, 2005 2005 No
274 Gladys Wilder & Pauline Fanine Our Goodman The Library of Congress No
274 Glen Tomasetti Home Came the Old Man Folk Songs with Guitar 1963 2:47 Yes
274 Glenn Orhlin Three Nights Drunk The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection 1:53 Yes
274 Gordon Hall Seven Nights Drunk Roy Palmer Collection 1971-1998 6:35 Yes
274 Gordon Howard Our Goodman The Edith Fowke Collection No
274 Gordon Perks Seven Drunken Nights Roy Palmer Collection 1971-1998 1:42 Yes
274 Gordon Tanner & Joe Miller Four Night's Experience Down Yonder - Old-Time String Band Music from Georgia 1982
 No
274 Gordon Tanner & Joe Miller Three Nights Experience Skillet Licker Music - 1955-1991: the Tanner Legacy 1997 No
274 Grant Rogers Three Nights Drunk Catskill Mountain Songmaker 1964 No
274 H.J. Beeker Our Goodman The Library of Congress No
274 Hamper McBee Cabbage Head Raw Mash - Songs and Stories of Hamper McBee 1978 No
274 Harold Gill Seven Nights Drunk Devon Tradition - an Anthology from Traditional Singers 1977 No
274 Harry Adams I Came Home Drunk Last Night Bob & Jacqueline Patten Collection 1970-1999 No
274 Harry Cox + Mary Connors + Colm Keane Our Goodman The Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 5: The Child Ballads 2 1961 2:37 Yes
274 Harry Cox + Mary O'Connors + Colm Keane The Cuckold's Song (Our Goodman) Classic Ballads of Britain & Ireland - Folk Songs of England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales, Vol 2 2000 2:37 Yes
274 Harry Scott Our Goodman BBC Recordings No
274 Harry Scott + Mabel Skelton + Joe Heaney + Hassell Morgan Miles Have I Travelled + The Cuckold's Song or Our Goodman + Seven Drunken Nights The Green Wedding - The Classic Ballads 3 1976 No
274 Hassel Morgan How Many Miles I Travel (1) BBC Recordings No
274 Hassel Morgan How Many Miles I Travel (2) BBC Recordings No
274 Hattie Presnell Five Nights Drunk The Traditional Music of Beech Mountain, North Carolina, Vol. I 1964 No
274 Herbert Halpert The Other Night When I Came Home The Library of Congress No
274 Homer & Jethro Three Nights Experience Musical Madness 1959 No
274 Homer & Jethro Three Nights Experience Homer & Jethro 1948 No
274 Hylo Brown & The Blue Ridge Mountain Boys Intoxicated Rat 25 Mountain Music Classics - Songs of Rural America 2002 No
274 Hylo Brown & The Blue Ridge Mountain Boys Intoxicated Rat 20 Old-Time Favorites 1968 No
274 Irish Roots Seven Drunken Nights Live at the Loyal Oarsman - St. Patrick's Day 2010 2010 No
274 J.E. Mainer & Band Three Nights Drunk Southern Journey Vol. 1: Voices from the American South 1997 2:22 Yes
274 J.P. & Annadeene Fraley Four Nights Drunk Another Side of the Fraleys 1995 No
274 Jack Elliott The Blind Fool (Our Goodman) Jack Elliott of Birtley - The Songs and Stories of a Durham Miner 1969 No
274 Jack Elliott The Drunken Fool, Or, Our Goodman Reg Hall Archive 1953-1977 :43 Yes
274 James Lewin Our Goodman The Helen Creighton Collection No
274 Jamie O'Brien Seven Nights Drunk My Wild Irish Boy 2003 No
274 Jean & Lee Schilling Four Nights Drunk Porches of the Poor 1971 No
274 Jenes Cottrell Four Nights Drunk Live at the Mountain Heritage Festival, Carter County, Kentucky 1973 1973 3:29 Yes
274 Jenes Cottrell Four Nights Drunk Old-Time Music from Clay & Calhoun Counties, WV - From the Collection of the Brandwine Friends of Old Time Music 2004 No
274 Jennie McAvoy The Good Man So Long on the Flood 2005 3:21 Yes
274 Jerome Feiner Our Goodman The Library of Congress No
274 Jim ? I Came Home Late Last Night Bob & Jacqueline Patten Collection 1970-1999 No
274 Jim Krause Cabbagehead Going Up the Missouri: Songs & Dance Tunes from Old Fort Osage 1999 4:09 Yes
274 Joe Heaney [Seosamh Ó hÉanaí] Five Nights Drunk The Calliope House Concert, Pittsburgh 1977 4:36 Yes
274 Joe Heaney [Seosamh Ó hÉanaí] Our Goodman BBC Recordings No
274 Joe Heaney [Seosamh Ó hÉanaí] The Good Man Morrissey and the Russian Sailor and Other Irish Songs 1960 No
274 Joel Mabus Three Nights Drunk The Banjo Monologues 2007 3:04 Yes
274 John B. Evans Three Nights Experience Home in West Virginia - West Virginia Project, Vol. 2 1987 No
274 John Fleming The Hillman The Ulster Folk & Transport Museum Collection  No
274 John Flemming The Hillman (Our Goodman) Folk Ballads from Donegal and Derry - Collected by Hugh Shields 1975 No
274 John Greenway Our Goodman The Cat Came Back and Other Fun Songs 1960 No
274 John Jacob Niles Our Goodman Child Ballads 2008 No
274 John Jacob Niles Our Goodman or Old Cuckold My Precarious Life in the Public Domain [Folk Balladeer] 2006 5:46 Yes
274 John Jacob Niles The Good Old Man The Ballads of John Jacob Niles 1960 5:28 Yes
274 John Reilly Seven Nights Drunk The Rosin Box - Irish Tinker Ballads 1975 No
274 Johnny Mowat Our Goodman The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
274 Kate Rusby The Goodman Live from Leeds 2003 4:26 Yes
274 Kate Rusby The Goodman Global Rhythm Collector's CD May 2004 2004 4:32 Yes
274 Kate Rusby The Goodman Live at Warwick Folk Festival 2005 2005 5:22 Yes
274 Kate Rusby The Goodman Underneath the Stars 2003 4:32 Yes
274 Kathleen Danson Read Our Goodman Spoken Literature of Early English Ballads 1956 4:36 Yes
274 Kristin Hersh Three Nights Drunk Murder, Misery and Then Goodnight 1998 2:01 Yes
274 Lazy Bill Lucas Cabbage Head Lazy Bill Lucas 1974 No
274 Lee Kelly Intoxicated Rat Jug O' Punch 2010 No
274 Lehto & Wright Four Nights Drunk + The Kesh Jig A Game of Chess 2004 5:11 Yes
274 Lena & Sylvester Kimbrough Cabbage Head Blues Kansas City Blues 1924-1929 - The Complete Recorded Works of Sylvester & Lottie Kimbrough, Winston Holmes & Charlie Turner 1994 3:10 Yes
274 Lesley Smith Seven Drunken Nights (Our Goodman) Steve Gardham Collection 1970-1982 1:13 Yes
274 Lesley Smith The Cuckold and His Wife (Our Goodman) Steve Gardham Collection 1970-1982 2:33 Yes
274 Lew Dite You Old Fool <website> [Lew Dite] 2007- 3:49 Yes
274 Lol Lynch Seven Drunken Nights Abroad as I Was A'Walking 1973 2:54 Yes
274 Mabel Skelton Our Goodman BBC Recordings No
274 Mary Connors & Paddy Doran The Blind Man He Can See BBC Recordings No
274 Max Hunter Five Nights Drunk (Our Goodman) The Continuing Tradition, Vol. 1: Ballads - A Folk Legacy Sampler 1981 4:37 Yes
274 Maya Johanna Menachem & Shay Tochner Goodman From London to Melbourne 2011 No
274 Meg Davis Four Nights Drunk Live at Dennos 1992 2:00 Yes
274 Mike & Carleen Four Nights Drunk Possibilities 1974 No
274 Minehead Quey (Sailors) Hobby Horse As I Came Home on a Monday Bob & Jacqueline Patten Collection 1970-1999 No
274 Minehead Sailors Hobby Horse Team As I Came Home on a Monday (1) Bob & Jacqueline Patten Collection 1970-1999 No
274 Minehead Sailors Hobby Horse Team As I Came Home on a Monday (2) Bob & Jacqueline Patten Collection 1970-1999 No
274 Minehead Sailors Hobby Horse Team As I Came Home on a Monday (3) Bob & Jacqueline Patten Collection 1970-1999 No
274 Mossy Moran Seven Drunken Nights Live - from Both Sides of the Pond 2004 2:17 Yes
274 Mr. & Mrs. E.C. Ball Three Nights Drunk The Library of Congress No
274 Mrs. Elizabeth O'Hara The Hillman The Ulster Folk & Transport Museum Collection No
274 Mrs. Ewart Wilson Home Came the Goodman The Library of Congress No
274 Mrs. Frances Kilbride Get Up and Bar the Door (2) The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
274 Mrs. M.A. Harris Our Goodman The Library of Congress No
274 Mrs. Mary Franklin Farmer Three Nights' Experience The Library of Congress No
274 Mrs. Minta Morgan Home Came a Good Man The Library of Congress No
274 Mrs. Myra Barnett Miller Our Goodman The Library of Congress No
274 Mrs. R. Turner Our Guidman The Edith Fowke Collection No
274 Mrs. Sabra Bare Hampton Three Nights' Experience The Library of Congress No
274 Mrs. Showers I Came Home Drunk Last Night Bob & Jacqueline Patten Collection 1970-1999 No
274 Murdo McRae Our Goodman The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
274 Ollie Gilbert Three Nights Drunk The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection 1:54 Yes
274 Orrin Rice Our Goodman Folk Music of the United States - Anglo-American Songs and Ballads (1) 1953
 No
274 Oscar Brand Our Goodman Bawdy Songs and Back Room Ballads, Vol. 1 1955 2:24 Yes
274 Oscar Brand Our Goodman Folk Music Legend 2007 1:42 Yes
274 Pat McKernan Seven Drunken Nights Songs from the High Stool 1996 3:40 Yes
274 Pecker Dunne Seven Drunken Nights The Gatecrashers 1967 No
274 Peggy, Barbara & Penny Seeger Five Nights Drunk Folk Songs with the Seegers 1965 3:08 Yes
274 Peggy Seeger Five Nights Drunk [American] The Long Harvest, Vol. 3 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1966 3:39 Yes
274 Peggy, Barbara & Penny Seeger Five Nights Drunk The Three Sisters 1957 3:17 Yes
274 Percy Ridge Western Cowboy The Library of Congress  No
274 Percy Ridge Western Cowboy Deep River of Song: Black Texicans - Balladeers and Songsters of the Texas Frontier 1999 No
274 Pete Seeger My Good Man American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 3 [1959] 1959 2:34 Yes
274 Pete Seeger My Good Man (Our Goodman) American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 3 [2004] 2004 2:39 Yes
274 Peter & Susi Gott Four Nights Drunk Digital Library of Appalachia: Warren Wilson College Collection 197?-198? 4:13 Yes
274 Peter Stanley Six Nights Drunk Cabin on the Hill 1999 No
274 Pierre Berton Last Night When I Came Home at Three The Edith Fowke Collection  No
274 Professor Longhair Cabbagehead House Party New Orleans Style - The Lost Sessions 1987 3:52 Yes
274 Ray Hartland Seven Nights Drunk (1) The Gwilym Davies Collection No
274 Ray Hartland Seven Nights Drunk (2) The Gwilym Davies Collection No
274 Raymond Crooke Four Nights Drunk Laws of Chance 2005 No
274 Raymond Crooke Four Nights Drunk <website> 2007 2:40 Yes
274 Reg Jay & Walter 'Font' Whatling Our Goodman Keith Summers Collection 1970-1977 1:03 Yes
274 Red Sovine The Intoxicated Rat (My Little Rat) A Hard Road to Travel - 26 Early Recordings 2007 2:28 Yes
274 Richard Chidlaw Late Home Came I The Gwilym Davies Collection No
274 Richard Terry My Old Man The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
274 Robin Rich Seven Drunken Nights As Real as It Gets! - A Live Performance 2008 No
274 Ronnie Drew Seven Drunken Nights The Best of Ronnie Drew 2007 3:14 Yes
274 Russell Lahew Four Nights Drunk The Gwilym Davies Collection No
274 Ruth Brown Cabbage Head A Good Day for the Blues 1999 6:08 Yes
274 Sam & Kirk McGee Cabbage Head The Essential Sam & Kirk McGee Collection - the Greats of Classic Country, Vol. 1 1999 No
274 Sam Hinton Four Nights Drunk From an East Texas Childhood 1986 No
274 Sam Hinton Our Goodman Singing Across the Land 1956 No
274 Sam Hinton Three Nights Drunk The Library of Congress Recordings, March 25, 1947 1999 No
274 Sam Bennett Our Goodman The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
274 Sara Grey Five Nights Drunk A Long Way from Home 2005 3:52 Yes
274 Shamrocks in the Wind 7-Nights Drunk Uncensored - Live at Galway's, Vol. 2 1998 No
274 Shane Keane Seven Drunken Nights Live in McGowan's Irish Pub 2005 3:54 Yes
274 Sheila Adams Four Nights Drunk Digital Library of Appalachia: Warren Wilson College Collection 197?-198? 2:49 Yes
274 Sheila K. Adams Four Nights Drunk Live at the Berea College Celebration of Traditional Music 1982-1997 3:29 Yes
274 Sheila Kay Adams Four Nights Drunk Digital Library of Appalachia: Warren Wilson College Collection 197?-198? 2:30 Yes
274 Sheila Kay Adams Four Nights Drunk Loving Forward, Loving Back 1987 No
274 Sheila Adams Barnhill Four Nights Drunk Seedtime on the Cumberland, Vol. II - Sampler 1990 - 1991 1991 No
274 Sheila Kay Adams Four Nights Drunk Loving Forward, Loving Back  No
274 Sheila Kay Adams The Four Nights Drunk What Ever Happened to John Parrish's Boy? - Sheila Kay Adams in Concert 2002 No
274 Simeon Rolle Our Goodman The Library of Congress  No
274 Slim Pickens The Cabbage Head Slim Pickens 1977 No
274 Slippery Dick 7 Drunken Nights Slippery When What!? 2004 No
274 Sonny Boy Williamson Wake Up Baby The Chess Years 1991 No
274 Sonny Boy Williamson Wake Up Baby A Ray of Sonny, Vol. 2 2008 2:58 Yes
274 Stan Cope Seven Nights Drunk The Gwilym Davies Collection No
274 Stan Steggles Our Goodman Many a Good Horseman - Traditional Music Making from Mid-Suffolk 1993 No
274 Stanley Steggles Our Goodman Desmond & Shelagh Herring Collection 1958-1960 :48 Yes
274 Steeleye Span Four Nights Drunk First Steps 2001 3:07 Yes
274 Steeleye Span Four Nights Drunk Marrowbones 2002 3:05 Yes
274 Steeleye Span Four Nights Drunk The Hills of Greenmore - An Anthology 1998 3:04 Yes
274 Steeleye Span Four Nights Drunk Folk Rock Pioneers in Concert 2006 2:22 Yes
274 Steeleye Span Four Nights Drunk Peel's Sunday Concert 1971 3:13 Yes
274 Steeleye Span Four Nights Drunk Heart of England: The Legends of English Folk - A Celebration 1999 3:05 Yes
274 Steeleye Span Four Nights Drunk (1) Ten Man Mop or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again 1971 3:04 Yes
274 Steeleye Span Four Nights Drunk (2) Ten Man Mop or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again 1971 3:04 Yes
274 Steeleye Span Four Nights Drunk Individually and Collectively 2000 3:03 Yes
274 Steeleye Span Four Nights Drunk The 35th Anniversary World Tour 2004 2004 2:41 Yes
274 Steeleye Span Four Nights Drunk Adam Catched Eve 1979 No
274 Steeleye Span Four Nights Drunk Volume One [Steeleye Span] 1978 No
274 Steeleye Span Four Nights Drunk Collected [Steeleye Span] 1998 No
274 Steeleye Span Four Nights Drunk The Lark in the Morning: The Early Years 2003 No
274 Steve Benbow Our Good Man Don't Monkey with My Gun 2003 o
274 Summer School Singer Our Goodman The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
274 The Blarney Lads Seven Drunken Nights Seven Drunken Nights 1999 4:31 Yes
274 The Blue Ridge Buddies Three Nights Drunk (Our Goodman) Close to Home - Old Time Music from Mike Seeger's Collection, 1952-1967 1997 2:36 Yes
274 The Boys of the Isle Seven Drunken Nights A Tear & a Smile from the Emerald Isle - the Gold Collection - Favorite Irish Songs 1999 3:14 Yes
274 The Carlton Showband Seven Drunken Nights First Choice 1975 No
274 The Delaware Water Gap Four Nights Drunk String Band Music 1977 No
274 The Dickel Brothers Three Nights Experience The Dickel Brothers Vol. 1 1999 No
274 The Dixon Brothers Intoxicated Rat How Can a Broke Man Be Happy? 2003 2:35 Yes
274 The Dublin Folk Band Seven Drunken Nights Simply Irish Drinking Songs 2011 5:10 Yes
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights Live in Carré 1983 4:02 Yes
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights Original Dubliners 1966-1969 2000 3:45 Yes
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights Millenium Collection 1997 3:21 Yes
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights The Spirit of the Irish - The Ultimate Collection 2003 3:11 Yes
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights The Dubliner's Dublin 1988 3:19 Yes
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights 40 Years 2000 3:13 Yes
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights A Drop of the Dubliners 1969 3:47 Yes
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights Songs of Dublin 1995 4:05 Yes
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights Seven Drunken Nights [A Drop of the Hard Stuff] 2001 3:44 Yes
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights The Best of the Original Dubliners 2003 3:43 Yes
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights The Best of the Original Dubliners 2003 3:46 Yes
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights The Best Folk Album in the World ... Ever! 2004 3:43 Yes
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights Foggy Dew 2006 3:21 Yes
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights Too Late to Stop Now!: the Very Best of the Dubliners 2006 No
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights Too Late to Stop Now!: the Very Best of the Dubliners 2006 No
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights The Very Best of the Dubliners 2009 3:12 Yes
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights The Complete Dubliners (The Transatlantic Years) 1997 No
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights 40 Years - Live from the Gaiety 2003 No
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights 15 Years On 1977 No
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights The Dubliners Live 1974 No
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights The Dubliners 2009 3:31 Yes
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights Irish Pub Sessions 2005 3:19 Yes
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights Ideal 1990 3:45 Yes
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights The Masters 1998 3:21 Yes
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights 21 Years On 1983 No
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights The Best of the Dubliners 2002 No
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights Whiskey in the Jar [Dubliners] 1996 No
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights Greatest Hits [Dubliners] 1980 No
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights Drinking & Wenching 1976 No
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights Recorded Live at the Albert Hall 1969 No
274 The Dubliners Seven Drunken Nights Best of Irish Folk 2007 3:31 Yes
274 The Evergreens Seven Drunken Nights The Irish Rover 1996 No
274 The Folk Tone Drum Four Drunken Nights Folk Music of the British Isles 2001 4:39 Yes
274 The Halliard Seven Drunken Nights It's the Irish in Me 1967 3:40 Yes
274 The Hookey Band Seven Drunken Nights Celtic Harvest 2001 No
274 The Irish Boys Seven Drunken Nights 40 Irish Favourites [Kneipenhits] 1994 No
274 The Irish Rovers Seven Drunken Nights? 3:17 Yes
274 The Kilkenny Brothers [The Starlite Singers] Seven Drunken Nights Irish Beer Drinking Favorites 1998 4:11 Yes
274 The Knockabouts Seven Drunken Nights Seven Drunken Nights 2004 No
274 The New Lost City Ramblers The Intoxicated Rat American Moonshine & Prohibition 1962 2:55 Yes
274 The Starlite Singers [The Kilkenny Brothers] Seven Drunken Nights All the Best Irish Pub Songs 2006 4:13 Yes
274 The Tossers Seven Drunken Nights Communication and Conviction 2001 4:02 Yes
274 The Tossers Seven Drunken Nights Gloatin' and Showboatin' - Live on St Patricks Day 2008 5:54 Yes
274 The Town Pants Seven Drunk Nights Piston Baroque 2001 4:22 Yes
274 The Wayfarers Old Fool The Wayfarers at the Hungry I 1963 No
274 The Weavers You Old Fool Weavers Classics 1991 2:37 Yes
274 The Weavers You Old Fool Wasn't That a Time! 2000 2:37 Yes
274 Thomas Moran Our Goodman BBC Recordings No
274 Tinga Ling Seven Drunken Nights Songs from the Company of the Butley Oyster 1999 No
274 Todd Mack Five Nights Drunk Yonder the Big Blue Holler 2005 4:40 Yes
274 Tom & Phillis Aley When I Come Home the Other Night The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection 2:02 Yes
274 Tom Archia Cabbage Head - Part 1 Classics 1947-1948 2001 2:46 Yes
274 Tom Archia Cabbage Head - Part 2 Classics 1947-1948 2001 2:03 Yes
274 Tom Kines Our Good Man The Edith Fowke Collection No
274 Tom Paley Five Nights Drunk Sue Cow 1969 3:24 Yes
274 Tommy Scott Seven Drunken Nights In Ireland 2006 No
274 Tony Ballinger As I Come Home The Gwilym Davies Collection No
274 Tony Wales Our Goodman Sussex Folk Songs and Ballads 1992 2:37 Yes
274 Unidentified Singer Seven Nights Drunk The Gwilym Davies Collection No
274 Unidentified Singer As I Came Home One Monday Night Bob & Jacqueline Patten Collection 1970-1999 No
274 Unidentified Singer Well as I Came Home on a Monday (Our Goodman) Keith Summers Collection 1970-1977 4:41 Yes
274 Unidentified Singer When I Went Home the Other Night (Our Goodman) Keith Summers Collection 1970-1977 2:31 Yes
274 Unknown The Merry Cuckold The Unexpurgated Folk Song of Men Collected by Mack McCormick 1960 No
274 Vern Smelser John Came Home Art of Field Recording, Vol. II - 50 Years of Traditional American Music Documented by Art Rosenbaum 2009 3:09 Yes
274 Wade Mainer & The Mountainers Three Nights in a Bar Room Folk Music in America, Vol. 2, Songs of Love, Courtship and Marriage 1976  No
274 Warde Ford Our Goodman + Putting on the Agony California Gold - Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties Collected By Sidney Robertson Cowell 193? 2:04 Yes
274 Warde H. Ford Our Goodman The Library of Congress No
274 Wendy Grossman Four Nights Drunk <website> 2005 4:11 Yes
274 Wilderness~1916 Seven Drunken Nights Drink, Get Drunk and Sing 3:20 Yes
274 William Alder Our Goodman The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
274 William Henry Reed Seven Drunken Nights Steve Gardham Collection 1970-1982 2:06 Yes
274 Woody Lambe Five Nights Drunk The Edith Fowke Collection No 

Excerpt from The British Traditional Ballad in North America

by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America

274. OUR GOODMAN

Texts: Barry, Brit Bids Me, 315 / Belden, Mo F-S, 89 / Brewster, Bids Sgs Ind, 149 / Brown Coll / Bull Tenn FLS, VIII, #3, 72 / Chappell, F-S Rnke Alb, 41 / Cox, F-S South, 154 / Cox, W. Va. School Journal and Educator, XLV, 58, 92 / Davis, Trd Bid Fa, 485 /  Duncan, No Hamilton Cnty, 103 / Eddy, Bids Sgs Ohio, 82 / Finger, Frontier Bids, 161 / Haun, Cocke Cnty, 1 13 / Henry, Beech Mt F-S, 14 / Henry, F-S So Hgblds, 1 19 / Henry, Sgs Sng So Apkhns, 14 / Hudson, F-S Miss, 122 / Hudson, Spec Miss F-L, #20 / Hummel, Oz F-S /  Jones, F-L Mich, 5 / JAFL, XVIII, 294; XXX, 199 / Linscott, F-S Old NE, 261 / Lomax and  Lomax, Our Sngng Cntry, 300 / Luther, Amcns Their Sgs, 18 / MacKenzie, Bids Sea Sgs N  Sc, 62 1 Musical Quarterly, II, 125 / Musick, F-L Kirksville, 14 / Parsons, F-T Andros Is, 162 /  Randolph, Oz F-S, I, 181 / Randolph, Oz Mt Flk, 225 / Ring, Mid-Hudson Sg Verse, 3 /  Scarborough, Sgctchr So Mts, 231 / SharpC, Eng F-S So Aplchns, #32 / SharpK, Eng F-S  So Aplcbns, I, 267 / Reed Smith, SC Bids, 159 / SFLQ, V, 169 / Stout, F-L la, 13 / Va FLS  Bull, :|s 25 / J. G. Whittier, Yankee Gypsies.

Local Titles; A Blackguard Song, An Old Man Came Tumbling Home, Cairo Girl, Down Came the Old Man, Four Nights, Hobble and Bobble, Home Came the Old Man, Home Comes the (Good) (Old) Man, I Called to my Loving Wife, In Came the Gay Old Man, Kind Wife,  Our (The) Goodman, Parson Jones, The Adulteress, The Old Man, Three Nights of Experience, Third Night of Married Life, When I Come Home the Other Night.

Story Types: A: A man returning home finds another man's horse, hat, sword, etc. standing where his should be. His wife tells him that his eyes are  deceiving him, that the objects that he sees are really cows, churns, milk  dashers, etc. However, he is not to be duped.

Examples: Barry (A), Belden (A), Davis (A).

B: The story and motif are indentical to those in Type A, except for the fact that the woman is entertaining three lovers.

Examples: Davis (B); JAFL, XVIII, 294.

C: The story and motif are identical to those in Type A. However, the action takes place on three or four consecutive nights.

Examples: Henry, Sgs Sng So Aflchns;  Lomax and Lomax; Scarborough (A, B).

Discussion: In America, the objects seen by the returning husband vary greatly, but the story itself is always approximately the same. Type A  follows the outline of the Scottish Child A; Type B, that of English Child B;  while Type C seems to be a more recent variation. Duncan, No Hamilton Cnty, 102 notes that the song is often recited as a dialogue. See also JAFL, XXX, 199.

The story, of course, readily lends itself to crudity and ribaldry. Cox,  F-S South, points out that there are several such stanzas to be found in West  Virginia and other states, while Randolph, OzF-S, I, 183, headnote, reports encountering a man who said he no longer sings certain verses of this song since he has joined the church. See Hudson, F-S Miss, 122 and Duncan, op.
dt., 1 02 as well.

The Sharp K, Eng F-S So Aplchns, A version reveals the shrewish nature of the wife in the opening stanza. Davis, Tr d Bid Fa, 493 prints a Jacobite adaption from the British Navy in which the lover is a Tory cousin of the husband named Macintosh. See also Smith's Scotish Minstrel, IV, 66. ---------------------------

Folk Index: Our Goodman [Ch 274/Sh 38/Me I-A14]

Rt- Intoxicated Rat; Seven Drunken Nights; You Old Fool, You Damn Fool
At - Parson Jones
Sm - Sweet Rosy Nell ; Ninety Nine Bottles (of Beer/Pop on the Wall)
Pb - Pretty Far Out ; My Good Girl
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p445 [1776]
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p447 [1916]
Lynn, Frank (ed.) / Songs for Swingin' Housemothers, Fearon, Sof (1963/1961), p138 (Four Nights Drunk)
Shay, Frank (ed.) / My Pious Friends and Drunken Companions and More ..., Dover, Sof (1961/1927), p124 (Our Gude-Man)
Shay, Frank (ed.) / My Pious Friends and Drunken Companions and More ..., Dover, Sof (1961/1927), p178 (Sailor's Return)
Best, Dick & Beth (eds.) / New Song Fest Deluxe, Hansen, Sof (1971/1948), p102 (Drunkard's Special)
Sing Out Reprints, Sing Out, Sof, 3, p12 (1961) (Four Nights Drunk)
Leisy, James F. (ed.) / Hootenanny Tonight!, Gold Medal Books, sof (1964), p 73 (Four Nights Drunk)
Babad, Harry (ed.) / Roll Me Over, Oak, fol (1972), p 97
Leisy, James F. (ed.) / Folk Song Abecedary, Bonanza, Bk (1966), p111 (Four Nights Drunk)
Johnson, James & Robert Burns (eds) / Scots Musical Museum, Amadeus, Bk (1991/1853), #454 [1796] (Our Goodman Came Hame at E'en)
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p654 [1776]
Leach, MacEdward / The Heritage Book of Ballads, Heritage, Bk (1967), p 28
Adams, Shelia K. Seedtime on the Cumberland. Sampler 1990-91, June Appal JA 067C, Cas (1992), trk# 4 (Four Nights Drunk) Adams, Shelia K. McNeil, W. K. (ed.) / Southern Folk Ballads, Vol 2, August House, Sof (1988), p 35 [1976] (Four Nights Drunk) Anderson, Effie. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p158/# 28C [1917/06] (Home Came the Old Man)
Baker, Dean. Hubbard, Lester A. / Ballads and Songs from Utah, Univ. of Utah, Bk (1961), p 36/# 15C [1947/07/31]
Ball, E. C. and Orna. Lomax, John A. & Alan Lomax / Our Singing Country, Dover, Sof (2000/1941), p300 [1937] (Three Nights Drunk)
Blue Ridge Buddies. Close to Home, Smithsonian/Folkways SF 40097, CD (1997), trk# 22 [1957/08] (Three Nights Drunk)
Booger Hole Revival. Rollin' the Woodpile Down, No Nukes, LP (1979), trk# A.02a (Four Nights Drunk)
Brand, Oscar. Bawdy Songs and Backroom Ballads - Vol. I, Audio Fidelity AFLP 1906/5906, LP (1955), trk# B.06
Brooks, James. Reeves, James (ed.) / Idiom of the People, Norton, Sof (1958), p167/# 72 [1906] (Cuckold's Song)
Brown, Mary. McNeil, W. K. (ed.) / Southern Folk Ballads, Vol 2, August House, Sof (1988), p 38 [1974/11/22] (Ole Lady)
Chambliss, Emma B. (Baird). Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p181/# 33A [1929/12/12] (I Went Home
Chase, Richard. Chase, Richard (ed.) / American Folk Tales and Songs, Dover, sof (1971/1956), p118 [1930-40's] (Home Came the Old Man)
Clubb, Selma. Scarborough, Dorothy(ed.) / A Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1966/1937), p232,417 [1930] (Three Nights of Experience)
Connors, Mary. Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 5. The Child Ballads, Vol. II, Caedmon TC 1146, LP (1961), trk# B.06b [1950s]
Cox, Harry. Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 5. The Child Ballads, Vol. II, Caedmon TC 1146, LP (1961), trk# B.06a [1950s]
Delaware Water Gap. String Band Music, Adelphi AD 2004, LP (1977), trk# B.04b (Four Nights Drunk)
Dickel Brothers. Dickel Brothers Volume One, Empty Records MTR 376, LP (1999), trk# B.06 (Three Nights Experience)
Evans, John B.. Home in West Virginia: West Virginia Project, Vol. 2, Old Homestead OHCS 177, LP (1987), trk# 7 [1928] (Three Nights Experience)
Fraley, J. P. and Annadeene. Another Side of the Fraleys, Road's End 001, Cas (1995), trk# B.05 (Four Nights Drunk)
Freeman, Brian. Fifth Finger Music, Fifth Finger FF 002, LP (1983), trk# A.05 (Four Nights Drunk)
Gentry, Jane Hicks. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p267/# 38A [1916/09/16]
Gentry, Jane Hicks. Smith, Betty N. / Jane Hicks Gentry. A Singer Among Singers, U. Ky, Sof (1998), p161/#20 [1916/09/16] (Old Wichet)
Gingerthistle. Live at the Univ. of Maryland, Kudzu KPP 009, CD (2005), trk# 13 (Four Nights Drunk)
Hamblin, Archie. Hubbard, Lester A. / Ballads and Songs from Utah, Univ. of Utah, Bk (1961), p 35/# 15B [1947/07/13]
Hinton, Sam. Singing Across the Land, Decca DL 8108, LP (1955), trk# A.01b
Hornsby, Jack. Solomon, Jack & Olivia (eds.) / Sweet Bunch of Daisies, Colonial Press, Bk (1991), p 22 [1960ca] (Old Man)
Howard, Clint; and Fred Price. Good Time Music. National Folk Festival, Philo 1028, LP (1975), trk# A.05 (Cabbage Head Song)
Hubbard, Salley A.. Hubbard, Lester A. / Ballads and Songs from Utah, Univ. of Utah, Bk (1961), p 34/# 15A [1947/01/01]
Hunter, Max. Continuing Tradition. Volume 1: Ballads. A Folk Legacy Sampler, Folk Legacy FSI 075, LP (1981), trk# A.03 (Five Nights Drunk)
Ingenthron, Charles. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p183/# 33B [1941/09/06] (Home Came the Old Ma
Jaques, Mrs. R. A.. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p156/# 28B [1916/05/06] (Home Came the Old Man)
Jones, Coley. Anthology of American Folk Music, Smithsonian/Folkways SFW 40090, CD( (1997), trk# 4 [1929/12/06] (Drunkard's Special)
Keane, Colm. Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 5. The Child Ballads, Vol. II, Caedmon TC 1146, LP (1961), trk# B.06c [1950s]
Keene, Laura. Scarborough, Dorothy(ed.) / A Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1966/1937), p235,p418 [1930] (I Called to My Loving Wife)
Mainer's Mountaineers. Southern Journey. Vol. 1: Voices from the American South, Rounder 1701, CD (1997), trk# 8 [1959/10] (Three Nights Drunk)
Mainer, Wade; and the Mountainers. Folk Music in America, Vol. 2, Songs of Love, Courtship, ..., Library of Congress LBC 02, LP (1976), trk# B.09 [1953ca] (Three Nights In
McCurdy, Ed. Blood, Booze 'n Bones, Elektra EKL 108, LP (1956), trk# A.04 (Four Nights Drunk)
McMillon, Bobby. Carolina Sampler, Global Village C 312, Cas (1992), trk# 10 [1980s] (Cabbage Head Song)
Mike and Carleen. Possibilities, Garden Variety GV 7401, LP (1974), trk# A.04 (Four Nights Drunk)
Napier, Jules. Niles, John Jacob / Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, Bramhall House, Bk (1961), p303/N 57 [1913/07] (Good Old Man)
O'Quinn, Orville. Scarborough, Dorothy(ed.) / A Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1966/1937), p234,p417 [1930] (Three Nights of Experience)
Presnell, Hattie. Traditional Music of Beech Mountain, NC, Vol I, Folk Legacy FSA 022, LP (1964), trk# 3 [1961-63] (Five Nights Drunk)
Rice, Mrs. Tom. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p268/# 38B [1916/08/18]
Rice, Mrs. Tom. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p269/# 38C [1916/08/17] (Our Goodman Came Hame at E'en)
Rice, Orrin. Anglo-American Songs and Ballads, Library of Congress AFS L12, LP (1953), trk# B.08 [1943] (Three Nights Experience)
Rogers, Grant. Songmaker of the Catskills, Folk Legacy FSA 027, LP (1965), trk# 7 (Three Nights Drunk)
Rosenbaum, David (Dr.). Art of Field Recording, Vol. 1, Dust to Digital DTD 08, CD( (2007), trk# 1.29 [1962/12/30] (One Saturday Night When I Came Home)
Rusby, Kate. Underneath the Stars, Compass 7 4370 2, CD (2003), trk# 1 (Good Man)
Rusby, Kate. Live From Leeds, Compass 7 4381 9, DVD (2004), trk# 7 (Goodman)
Schilling, Jean and Lee. Porches of the Poor, Traditional JLS 617, LP (1971), trk# 10 (Four Nights Drunk)
Scott, Harry. Hamer, Fred (ed.) / Garners Gay. English Folk Songs Collected by ..., EFDS, Sof (1967), p24 [1950s?] (As I Came Home So Late Last Night)
Seeger, Peggy. Folk Songs with the Seegers, Prestige PR 7375, LP (1965), trk# 15 (Five Nights Drunk)
Seeger, Peggy. Three Sisters, Prestige International 13029, LP (1960s), trk# B.07 (Five Nights Drunk)
Seeger, Pete. Seeger, Pete / American Favorite Ballads, Oak, fol (1961), p22 (Four Nights Drunk)
Seeger, Pete. American Favorite Ballads, Smithsonian/Folkways SFW-CD 40155, CD( (2009), trk# 3.13 [1959] (My Good Man)
Shiflett, Robert. Abrahams, Roger; & George Foss / Anglo-American Folksong Style, Prentice-Hall, Sof (1968), 6-6 [1962]
Sloan, Alice. Sharp, Cecil & Maude Karpeles (eds.) / Eighty English Folk Songs from th, MIT Press, Sof (1968), p 50 [1917ca]
Sloan, Alice. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p270/# 38E [1917/05/09]
Stanley, Peter. Cabin on the Hill, Talkeetna 25004, CD (1999), trk# 6 (Six Nights Drunk)
Steeleye Span. Lark in the Morning, Castle Music CMCD 781, CD (2003/1972), trk# 2.08 [1971] (Four Nights Drunk)
Still, Frank J.. Moore, Ethel & Chauncey (ed.) / Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwest, Univ. of Okla, Bk (1964), p120/# 50 [1930s] (Drunken Fool)
Surber, Elsie. Morris, Alton C. / Folksongs of Florida, Univ. Florida, Bk (1950), p317/#170 [1934-39] (Our Good Man)
Tanner, Gordon. Rosenbaum, Art (ed.) / Folk Visions & Voices. Traditional Music & So...., Univ. of Georgia, Bk (1983), p 98 [1981/12/19] (Three Nights Experience)
Tanner, Gordon; and Joe Miller. Skillet Licker Music, 1955-1991. The Tanner Legacy, Global Village C 310, Cas (1992), trk# B.04 [1980s] (Three Nights Experience)
Tanner, Gordon; and Joe Miller. Down Yonder. Old Time String Band Music from Georgia, Folkways FTS 31089, LP (1982), trk# B.03 [1978ca] (Four Nights Experience)
Tapp, Mrs. Thomas H.. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p154/# 28A [1916/03/31] (Home Came An Old Man)
Unidentified Women. Linscott, Eloise Hubbard (ed.) / Folk Songs of Old New England, Dover, Bk (1993/1939), p259 [1920-30s]
Wayfarers. Wayfarers at the hungry i, RCA (Victor) LPM 2735, LP (1963), trk# A.03 (Old Fool)
Weavers. Gilbert, Ronnie, et.al (ed.) / Weavers' Song Book, Harper & Row, Sof (1960), p120 (You Old Fool)
Weavers. The Weavers at Home, Vanguard VRS 9024, LP (1958), trk# B.02 (You Old Fool)
White, Mrs.. Owens, William A. (ed.) / Texas Folk Songs. 2nd edition, SMU Press, Bk (1976/1950), p 33 [1930s] (Drunkard's Song)
Wilson, Mrs.. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p269/# 38D [1917/06/05]
-----------
Our Goodman Came Hame at E'en [Ch 274]

Us - Our Goodman
---------------
Our Gude-Man [Ch 274/Sh 38/Me I-A14]

Us - Our Goodman
-------------
You Old Fool, You Damn Fool

Rt - Our Goodman
Four Sergeants. Bawdy Barracks Ballads, Vol. 2, ABC Paramount ABCS-381, LP (1961), trk# B.03
--------------
Seven Drunken Nights [Ch 274/Me I-A14]

Rt - Our Goodman
Carlton Showband. First Choice, TeeVee Ta-1028, LP (1975), trk# A.05
Dubliners. Drinking and Wenching, MFP 50245, LP (198?), trk# A.01
----------------------

Tolman JOAFL: 274. OUR GOODMAN 1

An American text was printed by Mr. Barry in this Journal, xviii, 294. C. Alphonso Smith, Musical Quarterly, January, 1916, pp. 4, 16-18 (3 melodies and a fragment).

A noteworthy English version is No. 30, "Old Witchet," in Songs of the West (Devon and Cornwall), collected by S. Baring-Gould and others, 2d ed., 1905, Methuen. I have a text taken down in Kansas from a Mrs. Ferguson, who was born in Scotland.

1 [The currency of one or another form of the ballad in print must have been considerable. In modern broadsides it is called "The Unhappy Couple" (Harvard College Library, 25242.4, vol. i, p. 98, C. Croshaw, York; same in 25242.24, P. 93) or "The Merry Cuckold and Kind Wife" (see Harvard 25243.3, fol. 117). Cf. Robert Ford, Vagabond Songs and Ballads of Scotland, ii, 31-36 (with mention of "Cousin Mackintosh"). Cf. John Gait, The Entail, ch. 72 (Works ed. Meldrum, Edinb., 1895, iii, II9): "As blin' asthe silly blind bodie that his wife gart believe her gallant's horse was a milch cow sent frae her minny." As to the currency of the ballad in New England, see Whittier's essay "Yankee Gypsies," in which "a wandering Scotchman" sings part of it. The piece printed by Child (v, 95), " 'Twas on Christmas Day," was further developed as a combined song and recitation by E. J. B. Box, and his version ("Christmas Nuptials; or, Matrimonial Discipline") is given (with an illustration by Cruikshank) in Davidson's Universal Melodist, Lond., 1834, iii, 65.1

Mainly Norfolk: Four Nights Drunk / Coming Home Late

[Roud 114; Child 274; Ballad Index C274; trad.]

Martin Carthy sang Four Nights Drunk accompanied by fiddler Peter Knight in 1971 on Steeleye Span's third album Ten Man Mop or Mr Reservoir Butler Rides Again. At the end the whole band joins into a furious jig. The record's sleeve notes said:

Another side of the coin … a lightbulb in a chamber pot I've never seen before … anyone who doesn't want to know the tune title don't ask Mick Moloney … the recording debut of Marcus Robertson … there's no horns on the Dubliners.

Steeleye Span also recorded Four Nights Drunk live for the BBC radio programme “Peel's Sunday Concert” on September 15, 1971. This programme was included as bonus CD on the 2006 reissue of Ten Man Mop.

George Spicer sang this song as Coming Home Late between 1972 and 1974 in his home in Selsfield, West Hoathly, Sussex, recorded by Mike Yates. This was released in 1974 on his Topic LP Blackberry Fold: Traditional Songs and Ballad.

Compare to this A.L. Lloyd's Australian variant Shickered As He Could Be on his 1966 album First Person.

Lyrics

Now as I come home so drunk I couldn't see, oh
There I saw a horse, no horse should be there
I says unto me wife, tell this to me, oh
How come the horse there, no horse should be there
You old fool, you silly fool, can't you plainly see, oh
Nothing but a milk cow me mother sent to me, oh
Miles I have travelled a thousand miles and more, oh
Saddle on a milk cow I've never seen before

And as I come home so drunk I couldn't see, oh
There I saw boots, no boots should be there
I says unto me wife, tell this to me, oh
How come the boots there, no boots should be there
You old fool, you silly fool, can't you plainly see, oh
Nothing but a flower pot me mother sent to me, oh
Miles I have travelled a thousand miles and more, oh
Laces on a flower pot I've never seen before

And as I come home so drunk I couldn't see, oh
There I saw a hat, no hat should be there
I says unto me wife, tell this to me, oh
How come the hat there, no hat should be there
You old fool, you silly fool, can't you plainly see, oh
Nothing but a chamber pot me mother sent to me, oh
Miles I have travelled a thousand miles and more, oh
Sweat-band on a chamber pot I've never seen before

And as I come home so drunk I couldn't see, oh
There I saw a man, no man should be there
I says unto me wife, tell this to me, oh
How come the man there, no man should be there
You old fool, you silly fool, can't you plainly see, oh
Nothing but a baby me mother sent to me, oh
Miles I have travelled a thousand miles and more, oh
Whiskers on a baby I've never seen before