Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry:

NAME: Soldier Boy for Me (A Railroader for Me)
DESCRIPTION: "I would not marry a doctor; He's always killing the sick." "I would not marry a blacksmith...." The girl praises the soldier/railroader: "O soldier boy, o soldier boy, O soldier boy for me; If ever I get married, A soldier's wife I'll be"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (published C. B. Ball)
FOUND IN: US(SE,So,SW)
KEYWORDS: soldier marriage courting railroading technology humorous
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Randolph 493, "The Railroader" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 68, "Soldier Boy for Me" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 215, "A Railroader for Me" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-RailFolklr, p. 465, "A Railroader for Me" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, p. 108, "The Bonnie Mason Laddie" (1 text, with a slightly different form, but too similar to classify as a separate song)
Silber-FSWB, p. 343, "Daughters Will You Marry" (1 text)
cf. Kinloch-BBook IV, pp. 14-15 (no title) (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
May Kennedy McCord, "The Railroader" (AFS 5301 A2, 1941; on LC61)
Pete Seeger, "Daughter Will You Marry" (on PeteSeeger11)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jinny Go Round and Around" (plot)
cf. "Fond of Chewing Gum" (floating verses)
NOTES: It will be observed that the preferred occupation in this song can be almost anything -- and the rejected occupations can truly be anything at all. - RBW
C. B. Ball published this piece in 1907, but it's hard to believe he actually wrote it (at least in that year); the diverse collections by Randolph and Sharp clearly imply that it is older. - (PJS), RBW
File: R493

Words to "Soldier Boy for Me" (No. 272A in Sharp & Karpeles, English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians):

We go walking on the green grass, thus, thus, thus,
Come all you pretty fair maids,
Come walk along with us.
So pretty and so fair
As you take yourself to be,
I'll choose you for a partner,
Come walk along with me.

I would not be a blacksmith
That smuts his nose and chin,
I'd rather be a sailor boy
That sails through the wind.
Sailor boy, sailor boy,
Sailor boy for me,
If ever I get married,
A sailor's wife I'll be.

Additional versions from 272A:

I would not marry a doctor,
He's always killing the sick;
I'd rather marry a soldier boy
That marches double quick,
Soldier boy, soldier boy, etc.

I would not marry a farmer,
He's always selling grain;
I'd rather marry a soldier boy
That marches through the rain.
Soldier boy, soldier boy, etc.


Jerry Epstein does it on his cd "Time Has Made a Change in Me" (Minstrel JD-212), using the green grass verse as a chorus, and using all the verses. He says he got it from John Langstaff, who got it from Sharp & Karpeles.

~ Becky in Tucson