The Old Man- Maxie (VA) 1914 Fauntleroy; Davis C
[From: TRADITIONAL BALLADS OF VIRGINIA- Davis; 1929. His notes follow.
R. Matteson 2013]
OUR GOODMAN (Child, No. 274)
Five texts and five tunes are the harvest of this ballad in Virginia, two of the texts being without tunes, and two of the tunes without words. Virginia A is Child A, Virginia B Child B, both with variations. Virginia C, D, and E are closer to Child A than to B, but show numerous divergences. Virginia B is the rarest version here given, as most of the texts so far recovered in
America have belonged to Child A. As an appendix is printed "A Jacobite Song," which though it comes from a Virginia collector is of West Virginia, Canadian, and British navy ancestry. It seems to correspond to the piece printed in Smith's Scottish Minstrel, where the goodwife is found to be concealing her cousin McIntosh, a Tory. None of the more or less ribald stanza's sometimes added to or superimposed upon this ballad have found access to the Virginia files; hence the problem of their publication does not arise. The Virginia titles are "Our Goodman," "Hobble and Bobble," "Home Comes the Good Old Man," "Down Came the Old Man," "The Old Man," and "Cairo Gal," which the singer also called, "A Blackguard Song."
For American texts, see Barry, No. 17; Brown, p. 9 (North Carolina); Bulletin, Nos. 2-5; Campbell and Sharp, No. 32 (North Carolina); Cox, No. 28; Finger, p. 161; Hudson, No. 20 (Mississippi); Jones, P. 301 (fragment); Journal, XVIII, 295 (Barry, Massachusetts); XXX, 199 (Parsons, North Carolina); Mackenzie, Ballads, No. 14; C. A. Smith, p. 17 (Virginia, fragment and two melodies, British melody); Reed Smith, Ballads, No. 14. For additional references, see Journal, XXXIX, 166; XXXV 328; XXXV, 348.
C. "The Old Man." Collected by Miss Juliet Fauntleroy. Sung by Mrs. Maxie (nee Holland), of Altavista, Va. Franklin County. April 7, 1914, With music.
1 "Lordy, lordy me dear wife,
Pray tell me what I see,
Whose horse is that in yonder stall,
Where my horse ought to be,
Where my horse ought to be, my love,
Where my horse ought to be?"
2 "You silly fool, you blind fool,
You fool, you cannot see;
It's nothing but a milk cow
My mother gave to me, " etc.
3 "I've traveled and I've traveled,
Ten thousand miles or more,
But a bridal on a milkcow,
I never saw before," etc.
4 "Lordy, Lordy, my dear wife,
Pray tell me what I see;
Whose coat is that in yonders hall
Where my coat ought to be?"
5 "You silly fool, you blind fool,
You fool, you cannot see;
It's nothing but a blanket
My mother gave to me."
6 "I've traveled and I've traveled,
Ten thousand miles or more,
But sleeves in a blanket
I never saw before."
7 "Lordy, Lordy, my dear wife,
Pray tell me what I see;
Whose head is that in the bed with you
Where my head ought to be? "
8 "You silly fool, you blind fool,
You fool, you cannot see;
It's nothing but a cabbage head
My mother gave to me."
9 "I've traveled and I've traveled,
Ten thousand miles or more,
But hair upon a cabbage head
I never saw before."