The Rich Man's Daughter- Edwards c.1940s
[No date was supplied-- I'm guessing this was collected c. mid-1940s. Edwards was an important informant for Cazden, first being discovered by Flanders and Berry in the early 1930s. He knew ballads from his family in England (1800s) and also from print sources. It was published in Folk songs of the Catskills - Page 470 Norman Cazden, Herbert Haufrecht, Norman Studer - 1982. Cazden also published this under the title "Captain Walker's Courtship" in 1958, The Abelard Song Book, p. 20.
In this version there are actually seven questions.
R. Matteson 2012, 2014]
The Rich Man's Daughter- George Edwards c.1960s
1. It's of a rich man's daughter who lived in Maiden Lane,
She met with Captain Walker, a keeper of the game.
He says, "My pretty fair maid, if it wasn't for the law,
Then you and I in one bed would lie and you'd lie next the wall."
2. "Oh, hold your tongue," says she, "do not bother me,
'Fore you and I in one bed shall lie, six questions answer me,
Six questions you shall answer me as I set forth the call,
Then you and I in one bed shall lie, but I won't lie next the wall."
3. "What is rounder than a finger ring, what is higher than the trees,
What is worse than womankind, what is deeper than the sea,
What bird sings best, what tree buds first, where does the dew first fall,
Then you and I in one bed shall lie, but I won't lie next the wall."
4. "The globe is rounder than your ring, heaven is higher than the trees,
The devil's worse than womankind, Hell is deeper than the sea,
The thrush sings best, the yew buds first, and in the air the dew first falls,
Now you and I in one bed shall lie, but I won't lie next the wall."
5. "Hold your tongue, young man," says she, "and do not be perplexed,
Before you and I lie in one bed , three dishes you must dress,
Three dishes you must dress for me, as I set forth the call,
Then you and I in one bed shall lie, but I won't lie next the wall."
6. "All for my breakfast you must dress a chicken without a bone,
For my dinner you must dress a chicken without a stone,
For my supper you must dress a bird without a gall,
Then you and I in one bed shall lie, but I won't lie next the wall."
7. "When the chicken's in the egg, I'm sure it has no bone,
And when the cherry's in the blossom, I'm sure it has no stone,
There's the dove, a gentle bird, it flies without a gall,
Now you and I in one bed shall lie, but I won't lie next the wall."
8. It's time to call up my story and for the end of the song,
This couple, they got married, and happy did remain,
This maid, being generous-hearted, his heart she did enthrall,
He takes the fair maid in his arms and rolled her from the wall."