The Wife Wrapped in Wether's Skin- Case (MO) c.1890 Belden B, Pound A
[This version has been printed at least three times-- first in the JOAFL XXX 328-9, then by Pound in 1922 as her Version A then by Belden in 1940 as his version B.
Belden's notes: B. 'The Wife Wrapped in a Wether's Skin.' Communicated by Mrs. Cage in 1916, from her childhood memories in Harrison County. Printed in part in JAFL XXX 328-9.
Here it is from Pound:]
From: American Ballads and Songs- Louise Pound 1922
6. (A) The Wipe Wrapt In Wether's Skin. Text secured by H. M. Belden in 1916 from Mrs. Eva Warner Case of Kansas City, "as known to her in her childhood in Harrison County, Missouri, about 1890." Child, No. 277.
6. THE WIFE WRAPPED IN A WETHER'S SKIN
Sweet William married him a wife,
Jennifer June and the Rosemaree
To be the sweet comfort of his life,
As the dew flies over the green vallee.
It's she couldn't into the kitchen go,
For fear of soiling her white-heeled shoes.
It's she couldn't wash and she wouldn't bake,
For fear of soiling her white apron-tape.
It's she couldn't card and she wouldn't spin,
For fear of spoiling her delicate skin.
Sweet William came whistling in from the plow;
Says, "0 my dear wife, is my dinner ready now?"
She called him a dirty paltry whelp:
"If you want any dinner, go get it yourself."
Sweet William went out unto the sheepfold,
And out a fat wether he did pull.
Upon his knees he did kneel down,
And soon from it did strip the skin.
He laid the skin on his wife's back
And he made the stick go whickety whack.
"I'll tell my father and all his kin
How you this quarrel did begin."
"You may tell your father and all your kin
How I have thrashed my fat wether's skin."
Sweet William came whistling in from the plow,
Says, "O my dear wife, is my dinner ready now?"
She drew her table and spread her board,
And 'twas "O my dear husband," with every word.
And now they live free from all care and strife,
And now she makes William a very good wife.