The Farmer's Curst Wife- Sprouse (VA) 1915 Davis H
[I've kept the generic title given by Davis and his collectors. No informant unfamiliar with the ballad's provinence would title it- Farmer's Curst Wife- since it is not part of the text. The title should be taken in most cases from the first line.]
46. THE FARMER'S CURST WIFE- Traditional Ballads of Virginia
(Child, No. 278)
Davis' Notes: The ballad is represented by fifteen texts and six tunes in the Virginia archives, Of these, thirteen texts and all six tunes are here printed. Most of the Virginia texts show a likeness to the Child A version, but some exhibit features found only in Child B. It is clear that both versions are represented, with many interesting variations, not least in the philosophical stanza or stanzas at the end. The tripping tunes, some of them with a whistled burden, fit perfectly the comic story of the ballad, which is thus summarized by Child: "The devil comes for a farmer's wife and is made welcome to her by the husband. The woman proves to be no more controllable in hell than she had been at home; she kicks the imps about, and even brains a set of them with her pattens or a maul. For safety's sake, the devil is constrained to take her baik to her husband." The moral of the tale is often pointed. "The Old Man under the Hill" seems to be the only unusual Virginia title; it is not, of course, the usual song of that name, though the title of that song may have been appropriated.
The material here given more than doubles the American store of this ballad. Other American references are Barry, No. 28; Belden, No. 13 (fragment); Bulletin, Nos. 4-6, 8-10; Campbell and Sharp, No. 34 (North Carolina, Virginia); Cox, No. 30; Journal, XIX, 298 (Belden, Missouri);- XXIV, 348 (Barry, Massachusetts, fragment, Maine), XXVII, 68 (Barry, Massachusetts); XXX, 329 (Kittredge, Missouri, fragments); Mackenzie, Ballads, No. 15; Sharp, Songs, 11, No. 3 (Kentucky). For additional references, see Cox, p. 164; Journal, XXX, 329.
H. "The Farmer's Curst Wife." Collected by Miss Juliet Fauntleroy. Sung by Mrs. James Sprouse, of Lawyers, Va. Learned from her cousin, Fletcher Gill. Campbell County. September 4, 1915. With music.
1 Up came the devil to the farmer one day,
Oh me, sing tu le la, lu,
Said, "One of your family I mean to take away,"
Sing tu Ie la, lu le la, lu.
2 "Well, you may have my oldest son,"
Oh me, sing tu le la, lu,
"If that won't do, take two to one,"
Sing tu le la, lu le la, lu.
3 "It isn't your oldest son I want,"
Oh me, sing tu le la, lu,
"It's your old wife I'm going to take away,"
Sing tu le la, lu le la, lu.
4 So up came the devil with his ball and his chain,
Oh me, sing tu le la, lu,
She up with a shoe and she smacked out his brain,
Sing tu le la, lu le Ia, lu.
5 Up popped seven little devils with their heads over the wall,
Oh me, sing tu le la, lu,
"Take her on back, don't she'll conquer us all,"
Sing tu le la, lu le la, lu.
6 So he gathered her up in his old sack,
Oh me, sing tu le la, lu,
Away he went, a-wagging her back,
Sing tu le la, lu le la, lu.
7 Young men, young men, take warning from this,
Oh me, sing tu le la, lu,
Let get[ting] you a wife be the last thing you do,
Sing tu Ie la, lu le la, lu.
8 Let get[ting] you a wife be the last thing you do,
Oh me, sing tu le la, lu,
For if you give them to the devil, he'll bring them back again,
Sing tu le la, lu le la, lu.