The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #162550 Message #3882242
Posted By: Richie
14-Oct-17 - 12:29 PM
Thread Name: Origins: Madam, I Have Come To Court You
Subject: RE: Origins: Madam, I Have Come To Court You
8B. The Courting Case (The Courting Cage); Roud 361; "The Drunkard's Courtship" (Chappell/Foss); "The Gambling Suitor" (Shifflett from Clayton & Ritchie); "Kind Sir, I See You've Come Again"; "Kind Miss" "O Miss, I Have A Very Fine Farm," "If You Will Only Be My Bride," "The Wooing," "Gordonsville"
A. "The Wooing" sung in 1934 by Mr. E. W. Harns, Greenville, who learned the song in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, about 1860. From Ballads & Songs of Southern Michigan, 1939, version A. B. "The Courting Cage" sung Mrs. Judy Jane Whitaker of Anderson, Missouri learned from her mother about 1865. From Randolph, Ozark Folk Songs, (1946) collected May 10, 1928. C. "Madam, I Have a Very Fine Cow." My date. No informant or place named. From I.G. Greer Folksong Collection; Lyric Variant 01(handwritten) and 02 (typed). D. "Courting Case." Sung by Mrs. Fanny Coffey at White Rock, Nelson Co., Va., May 8th, 1918. E. "Gordonville." Sung by Mrs. Lawson Gray, of Montvale, VA on June 6, 1918. F. "I See You Come Again." Sung by Mary Gibson, of Marion, North Carolina on Sept. 9, 1918. G. "If You Will Only Be My Bride." Contributed by J. B. Midgett of Wanchese, Roanoke Island, probably in 1920. With the tune. From Brown Collection vol. III, 1952, version B. H. "Gordonsville" unknown singer published November 16, 1922 in the The Union Republican from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. I. "Kind Sir, I See You've Come Again." Taken from Miss Jewel Robhins of Pekin, Montgomery County, in 1922. From Brown Collection vol. III, 1952, version A. J. "Kind Sir" Mr. Austen (VA) before 1931 from Dorothy Scarborough "A Song Catcher" 1938. K. "Bachelor's Song." Duet sung by Jamie Williams and Emmaline Gullett of Ashland, Kentucky, 1933. Collector: Jean Thomas. From: Thomas & Leeder, Singin' Gatherin' pp. 4-5, 1939. L. "Madam, I Have a Very Fine Field," voice performance by A R Blake at White River Jun (Vt.). recorded 1935. Two stanza fragment. From a digitized archival cassette in the Helen Hartness Flanders Ballad Collection at Middlebury College Special Collections. M. "O Madam, I Have a Fine Little Horse" sung by Mrs. Flora Stafford Swetnam of Vaiden, MS before 1936. From Hudson Folksongs of Mississippi. N. "Madam, I Have a Very Fine Horse." From copy of Mr. W. S. Harrison, Fayette, MS who obtained it from the singing of Mr. T. D. Clark, Louisville. From Hudson, "Folksongs of Mississippi," 1936. O. "Madam, I Have A Very Fine Farm" sung by by Theophilus G.Hoskins, from Leslie Co., Hyden, Kentucky. LOC, publication date 10-03-1937; as recorded by Alan Lomax. P. "Madam, I Have a Very Fine Farm," sung by Vernon "Shorty" Allen at Shafter (California) FSA Camp, August 4, 1940. From Voices from the Dust Bowl: The Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection, 1940 to 1941 (533). Q. "Kind Sir, I see you've come Again," sung by Texas Gladden of Salem, Virginia 1941. Recorded by Alan Lomax. R. "The Drunkard's Courtship." Sung by Mrs. Zona Baker of Zack, Arkansas, in July, 1942. From The Native American Influence in Folk Songs of North Arkansas, by Theodore Garrison; The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Summer, 1947), pp. 165-179. S. "I'll Have No Drunkard to Please," sung by Mrs. Myrtle Love Hester of Florence, Alabama on 8 June, 1947. Collector: Byron Arnold. From: Halli, An Alabama Songbook (2004) pp.128-129. T. "Kind Madam." Sung Mrs. Frances Oxford of Spring Valley, Arkansas on March 9, 1951. Ozark Folk Song Collection; Reel 100, Item 3. Collected by Irene Carlisle and Mrs. Rachel Henry. Transcribed by Mary C. Parler. U. "The Gambling Suitor." Sung by Miss Ella Shifflett who lives on a mountain in Greene County, VA. No date given. From Richard Chase, "American Folk Tales and Songs," 1956; recorded on Tradition, TLP 1011 by Jean Ritchie & Paul Clayton. V. "Sir, I See You Comin' Again" from the singing of Marybird McAllister, Brown's Cove, Virginia, 11-5-58. Collected by Roger Abrahams, and George Foss. From Anglo-American Folksong Style. W. "Courting Song" sung by Otis Williams, Wesley, Arkansas in 1958. From Max Hunter Folk Song Collection, no date given. Cat. #1429 (MFH #473). X. "O Miss, I Have a Very Fine Farm," sung by Mrs. Lizzie Maguire, Fayettville, Arkansas on June 23, 1959. From Max Hunter Folk Song Collection; Cat. #0360 (MFH #473). Y. "The Lovers' Quarrel." Collected by Cansler in Dallas County from a man known since childhood. Adapted and arranged by Loman D. Cansler; recorded in 1959. From the recording Missouri Folk Songs by Cansler on Smithsonian Folkways PH5324. Z. "Courtin' Song" vocal duet sung by Pleaz & Olive Mobley of Clay County, KY about 1960 released on Folkways FA 2358 of 'American Folk Song Festival' performance. AA. "Drunkard's Courtship." Recorded from Horton Barker of Virginia for Folkways in Beech Creek, North Carolina, by Sandy Paton, 1962. BB. "Miss, I Have a Very Fine Horse," from the singing of Deana Crumpler and Susan Harriet Snyder of Columbia, South Carolina on May 14, 1963. Collected by Mrs. Robert Snyder; published by McNeil, "Southern Folk Ballads," 1987, Volume 1, page 12. CC. "Madam, I Have Come to Court," sung by LaRena Clark of Toronto, Ontario in 1964 (Aug). Collected by Edith Fowke and published in her "Ring around the Moon," 1977 p. 120-121. DD. "The Courting Case," sung by Lena Armstrong and Etta Jones on Beech Mountain Vol II, 1965. From: The Traditional Music of Beech Mountain, recording. EE. "Courtin' Song." Sung by Margaret and Harold Winters, October 1966; from Folksongs I, Burton & Manning, 1967.
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["The Courting Case" also "The Courting Cage" is a courting song that begins similarly to "Madam I Have Come to Court You" and seems to be based on "Madam" but the suitor offers instead of "gold and silver"-- a farm and farm animals. In the ensuing dialogue the lady reveals that she knows the suitor is a ne'er-do-well man who gambles and drinks. After the suitor fails to win over the lady he responds bitterly[1]:
When you get old and the weather gets cold I hope to God you'll freeze [as sung by Fanny Coffey, Virginia, 1918].
This humorous song has many titles but is generally known by two: "The Courting Case" by Sharp, while Randolph and Brown call it, "The Courting Cage." Both "Courting Case" and "Courting Cage" are mondegreens[2]. Several suggestions as to the meaning have been offered with no satisfactory solution[3]. In my opinion it could be a mishearing of "a-courting come." However, in Randolph's version[4], the "cage" is a physical object:
Madam I have a courtin' cage It stands in yonder town, And my estate I'll give to you, If it be ten thousand pounds, If it be ten thousand pounds.
Sharp's master title is taken from an 1918 version by Fanny Coffey[5] with a similar stanza:
O madam, I am a courting case, For you I've lain in woon[6], For you I'd give up all my store, If it was ten thousand pounds.
The use of the denomination of currency as "pounds" in these two versions and others is evidence of the songs British or early American origin. Yet so far, no British antecedent or similar version has been found. Lacking evidence of the ballad's pedigree, "The Courting Case" is currently categorized as "early American origin" even though its suspected British roots may someday be revealed. The unique variants with the words "Courting Case" and "Courting Cage" have been only found in Virginia and Missouri suggesting these titles are an aberration, not the norm. Since the texts from Canada to New England, to Michigan, to the Appalachians are remarkably consistent, it implies an earlier origin from print. This missing print version would have been influenced by "Madam, I Have Come To Court You" and published either in the UK or the US before or by the early 1800s. No print version, however, has been found.
The mystery of the origin combined with the enigmatic titles, "the courting cage" and "courting case" have piqued an interest in this little ballad. Vance Randolph, for one, vainly searched for the meaning of "courting cage" and even enlisted the aid of fellow collector Dorothy Scarborough who published Randolph's version in her "A Songcatcher"-- published posthumously in 1938. The Traditional Ballad Index has speculated that lyric was a "courting cake" while Randolph[7] writes that a Professor Almack of Stanford University says it's "a court engaged." The truth may never be learned until an antecedent is discovered either in the US or UK which discloses the original text.
It's interesting to note that at least two versions refer to the wooed lady as a "hard case" in one of the latter stanzas:
"Miss I find you a very hard case, Perhaps too hard to please, [McNeil, 1963]
"NOW, madam, you're a hard old case, And just a little too hard to please; [Horton Barker, VA 1962]
The possible implication being the "case" was somehow transferred or similarly used in the opening stanza. Courting "case" would be some archaic use of the noun, "case" where case= wooer. One version[8] by Pleaz Mobley of Kentucky has "I am a courtin' man" in which "man" replaces "case." A number of versions with different titles have been collected in the North America where it is also found in Canada, Michigan, the Midwest, Southwest, the Appalachians and even New England and California. Other titles include: "The Drunkard's Courtship," "The Gamboling Suitor," "Courting Cage," "Oh, Miss, I Have a Very Fine Farm," "Root, Poor Hoggie," "Kind Miss" and "The Wooing." A version from Ontario[9] has the "Madam" opening line and is titled "Madam I Have Come to Court." Lomax says in the note to "The Gambling Suitor" that it was "From the singing of Jean Ritchie and Paul Clayton, as published in American Folk Tales and [Folk] Songs, compiled by Richard Chase..." (The Folk Songs of North America, p. 104). Chase, however, writes of the source as: "This song came from Miss Ella Shiflett, who lived on a mountain in Greene County, Virginia" (p. 146). Here's the text to "Courting case," a version collected by Cecil Sharp in his Virginia collecting jaunt of 1918:
THE COURTING CASE. Sung by Mrs. Fanny Coffey at White Rock, Nelson Co., Va., May 8th, 1918.
O madam, I am a courting case, For you I've lain in woon, For you I'd give up all my store, If it was ten thousand pounds. (bis)
O yes, you are a courting case Like many I have seen, But if you think you're courting me, I think you're very green.
O madam, I've a very fine farm, Full sixty acres wide, And it shall be at your command If you will be my bride.
O yes, you have a very fine farm And a piece of woods to boot, But when I get in that fine farm I'll hang you on a root.
O madam, I've a very fine house And it's plastered white inside, And it shall be at your command If you will be my bride.
O yes, you have a very fine house And it's plastered white inside, But when I get in that fine house I'll soon shut you outside.
O madam, you're a silly jade And very hard to please; When you get old and the weather gets cold I hope to God you'll freeze.
While I am young with a flattering tongue I keep myself from harm. When I get old and the weather gets cold My clothes will keep me warm.
From this version Sharp created a master title of Courting Case and named all the versions he collected, Courting Case, even though the words "courting case" did not appear in them. The earliest extant version, "The Wooing," was sung in 1934 by Mr. E. W. Harns, Greenville, who learned the song in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, about 1860. Here's the text from Ballads & Songs of Southern Michigan, 1939, version A[10]:
1 "Madam, I have come to marry you And settle in this town; My whole estate is worth Ten thousand pounds. Which I will will to you, If you will be my bride."
2 "O that's enough for me, I don't desire you."
3 "O madam, I have a very fine house, All neat and rectified, Which you may have at your command If you'll but be my bride."
4 "I know you have a very fine house Besides a clever barn, But you're too old to think to hold A bird with a single yarn."
5 "O madam, I have a very fine horse, Whose face is like the tide, Which you may have at your command If you'll but be my bride."
6 "I know you have a very fine horse, Which you keep in yonders barn, But his master likes a glass of wine For fear his horse might learn."
7 "O madam, I have a very fine field, Full fifty acres wide, Which you may have at your command If you'll but be my bride."
8 "I know you have a very fine field And a pasture at the foot, And if I had you, I'd turn you in, For I'm sure a hog would root."
9 "O madam, you are a scornful dame And very hard to please, And when you get old and pinched with cold, I swear I hope you'll freeze."
10 "And when I get old and pinched with cold, 'Twon't be you'll keep me warm; I'll be single and be free And stay as I was born."
Stanza 4 of this early version is unique. It shows the wooer to be an older man who's courting a young maid. This echoes the theme of "Madam, I am Come to Court You" as well as the other American courting relative "Quaker's Wooing." The other early version of Courting Case is Randolph's "The Courting Cage" which he collected in Missouri in 1928 but was learned about 1865:
"The Courting Cage"
Madam I have a courtin' cage It stands in yonder town, And my estate I'll give to you, If it be ten thousand pounds, If it be ten thousand pounds.
I know you have a courtin' cage It stands in yonder town, And your estate I do not want, If it be ten thousand pounds, If it be ten thousand pounds.
O madam, I've a very fine house Just newly erectified, And you shall have it at your command Whenever you'll be my bride Whenever you'll be my bride.
I know you have a very fine house Likewise a fine yard, But who would stay at home with me, When you're out playing cards When you're out playing cards.
Madam, I do not do that way, I do not think it right. If you'll consent to marry me I'll stay home every night I'll stay home every night.
Madam, I have a very fine horse, He paces like the tide, An' you may have him at your command, Whenever you'll be my bride, Whenever you'll be my bride.
I know you have a very fine horse, He stands in yonder barn, His master likes a glass of wine, I fear the horse might learn, I fear the horse might learn.
Madam, I have a very fine farm, Full sixty acres wide, An' you may have it at your command, Whenever you'll be my bride, Whenever you'll be my bride.
I know you have a very fine farm, A pasture at the foot, If you'll get me you'll turn me out, I know a hog will root, I know a hog will root.
Madam, I think you're a silly jade Perhaps too hard to please; When you git old an' chill with cold, I swear I hope you'll freeze, I swear I hope you'll freeze.
Your sassy wishes I disregard, You caint do me no harm When I git old an' chill with cold, It won't be you that'll keep me warm, It won't be you that'll keep me warm!
Randolph, of course, knew of Sharp's versions titled "Courting Case" published in the 1932 edition of EFSSA. His version was first printed by Scarborough in 1938.