Coortin' to Begin, The

DESCRIPTION: One night, the singer met a girl "I wished she were my bride." She goes to bed with him in an inn. He describes her beauty. The next day he leaves "some way to win his bread." Lasses, court "some sturdy boy ... that'll learn you The courtin to begin"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (Greig/Duncan4)
KEYWORDS: sex beauty separation
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Greig/Duncan4 817, "The Coortin' to Begin" (5 texts, 3 tunes)
Roud #6212
NOTES [58 words]: The outcome (marriage?) is not clear (or am I just being obtuse). Bell Robertson, Greig's source, says that when she was a girl the Ross girls "could sing it all," though others knew only the verse to avoid old men in spite of love or money, and choose some beardless boy "that'll learn you The courtin to begin." Perhaps the outcome is irrelevant. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Gr4817

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