Guest ClareZ has inquired about English roots to this song.

Sharp reported three Virginia texts in "English Folk Songs From the Southern Appalachians," but was the song ever found in the British Isles or Ireland? See note on the Benjamin Britten arrangement of Sharp's tune in an earlier post.

Vance Randolph noted that his father sang a version, "a bit on the ribald side," in South Carolina about 1865 (Not found in Randolph-Legman, "Roll Me In Your Arms." Under a different title?).

Lyr. Add: I MARRIED ME A WIFE

Monday mornin' I married me a wife,
Toodelum a ride yo riddle lum a ray,
Monday mornin' I married me a wife, for her,
Monday mornin' I married me a wife,
Thinkin' I'd lead a diff'rent life,
Sing fa diddle i day.

Tuesday mornin' I took her home,
Toodelum a ride yo riddle lum a ray,
Tuesday mornin' I took her home, for her,
Tuesday mornin' I took her home,
Thinkin' I'd have a wife of my own,
Sing fa diddle i day.

Wednesday mornin' she cussed and swore,
Toodelum a ride yo riddle lum a ray,
Wednesday mornin' she cussed and swore, for her,
Wednesday mornin' she cussed and swore,
Said she knowed she'd kill me sure,
Sing fa diddle i day.

Thursday mornin' I whupped her well,
Toodelum a ride yo riddle lum a ray,
Thursday mornin' I whupped her well, for her,
Thursday mornin' I whupped her well,
The truth I ain't ashamed to tell,
Sing fa diddle i day.

Friday mornin' I took her back,
Toodleum a ride yo riddle lum a ray,
Friday mornin' I took her back, for her,
Friday mornin' I took her back,
An' Saturday it was lonesome Jack,
Sing fa diddle i day.

My big bottle was my best friend,
Toodleum a ride yo riddle lum a ray,
My big bottle was my best friend, for her,
My big bottle was my best friend,
An' my week's work was at an end,
Sing fa diddle i day.

Sung by Mrs. Marie Wilbur, Missouri, 1923. Randolph, "Ozark Folksongs," vol. 3, No. 367, with music.

There is a book in which the author uses this song as the theme for an exploration of attitudes towards wives in the late 17th and 18th centuries. I don't know if she found or included any early versions of the song.