The Traditional Ballad Index: Jenny Jenkins:

Jenny Jenkins

DESCRIPTION: The young man/men try to invite Jenny to the dance by asking her what color she will wear: "Will you wear the (red), O ne'er, o ne'er, o, Will you wear the red, Jenny Jenkins?" She objects to most colors, but at last may agree to one of them
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1823
KEYWORDS: dancing questions courting rejection clothes colors
FOUND IN: US(Ap,NE,So)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Randolph 453, "I'll Never Wear the Red Any More" (1 text)
Lomax-FSUSA 15, "Jennie Jenkins" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 65, "Will You Wear Red?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 48-49, "Jenny Jenkins" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, p. 11, "Jenny Jenkins" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 346, "Jenny Jenkins" (1 text)
DT, JJENKINS JJENKIN2
RECORDINGS:
E. C. & Orna Ball, "Jennie Jenkins" (AAFS 8)
Mr & Mrs. Estil C. Ball, "Jennie Jenkins" (AFS, 1941; on LC02)
Warde Ford, "Jinnie Jenkins" (AFS 4198 B4, 1938; tr.; in AMMEM/Cowell)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Jennie Jenkins" (on NLCR10)
Margaret MacArthur, "Jenny Jenkins" (on MMacArthur01)
Notes: Often used as a courting game. The boy will ask the girl if she will wear a particular color. She is required to answer in rhyme (e.g. "Will you wear the blue... No, I won't wear the blue, for the color isn't true"). If she fails, she must kiss the boy or, perhaps, go to the dance with him.
This has been known to produce some rather strange rhymes -- "I won't wear purple; it's the color of a turtle"; "Orange I won't wear -- and it rhymes, so there!" "Oh, what do you care If I just go bare?" - RBW
File: R453

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The Ballad Index Copyright 2002 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle. .................................................

Recordings:

Jenny Jenkins
Composer(s)
Traditional

Jerry Garcia:
Not For Kids Only, Jerry Garcia and David Grisman, 1993
What Will You Wear, Jenny Jenkins, Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, Bruce Whatley, 2000
Grateful Dawg Soundtrack, David Grisman / Jerry Garcia / Various Artists, 2001

Others:
E. C. and Orna Ball, ('Field recordings')193?
The Solitary Singer, Terry Gilkyson, 1950
Smokey Mountain Ballads, Bascam Lamar Lunsford, 1953
Traditional American Love Songs, Various Artists (Milt Okun and Ellen Stekert), 1956
Susan Reed Sings Old Airs, Susan Reed, 1957
Old Timey Songs for Children, New Lost City Ramblers, 1959
How The West Was Won, Bing Crosby (w/ Rosemary Clooney on Jennie Jenkins), 1959
Anglo-American Shanties, Lyric Songs, Dance Tunes and Spirituals, Various Artists (E. C. and Orna Ball) , 195?
Blue Ridge Mountain Music, Various Artists, 1960
Folksongs of Vermont, Various Artists (Margaret MacArthur), 1963
Courting and Riddle Songs, Jean Ritchie and Oscar Brand, 196?
Hard Times in the Country, Scott and Stanley, 1974
Folk Music in America, Vol.13, Songs of Childhood, Various Artists (George and Ethel McCoy), 1978
Barnyard Dance, Peter Feldmann, 1980
I Kind of Believe It's A Gift, Street Butler, 198?
Fish That's A Song, Various Artists (New Lost City Ramblers), 1991
Great Big Hits, Sharon, Lois, Bram, 1992
Sounds of the South, Various Artists (E. C. and Orna Ball), 1993
Friends, Two Of A Kind, 1994
High Atmosphere: Ballads and Banjo Tunes from Virginia and North Carolina Collected by John Cohen in November of 1965, Various Artists (E. C. and Orna Ball), 1995
Marianne, The Easy Riders, 1995
Songs from the Big Front Porch...A Celebration of American Folk Music, Bridget Ball and Christopher Shaw, 1996
E. C. Ball, E. C. Ball, 1997
Definitive Transatlantic Collection, Hamish Imlach, 1997
Through The Years, 1937-1975, E. C. and Orna Ball, 1998 Roll Along, Chris Molla, 1999 Fish That's A Song, Various Artists (New Lost City Ramblers), 19??
Ain't It Great To Be Crazy, Various Artists, 19??
Sing It Yourself!, Laura Boosinger, 19??
Jenny Jenkins (Karaoke), Various Artists, 19??
Colonial & Revolution Songs Disc 1, Keith & Rusty McNeil, 19??
Wee Sing Fun 'N' Folk (Book/CD), Pamela Conn Beall and Susan Hagen Nipp, 19??
Many A Wonderful Moment, Rosemary Clooney, 2000

Notes:
Occurs as Jenny Jenkins and Jennie Jenkins.
This song is discussed in Southern Mountain Folksongs, W. K. McNeil, 1993. It is thought that the song derives from the game-song Miss Jennia Jones. The earliest recorded version is a text titled Jane Jenkins printed in the Green Mountain Songster in 1823. It's thought that the song was popular during the latter part of the eighteenth century.

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~Masato