Country Courtship, The

DESCRIPTION: Dialog: "When shall we get married"? "As soon as time comes." "What shall I wear to the wedding?" "Thee wold print frock an' thee yepron." "How shall we go to the wedding?" "Thee's got two fine legs to walk wi' I." And so on for many verses
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1776 (Herd according to Hecht-Herd MS I)
KEYWORDS: courting love marriage wedding bargaining
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South,North))
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "WHEN SHALL WE GET MARRIED?"
Kennedy-FolksongsOfBritainAndIreland 127, "The Country Courtship" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie/Opie-OxfordDictionaryOfNurseryRhymes 43, "When shall we be married" (2 texts)
Reeves/Sharp-TheIdiomOfThePeople 110, "When Shall We Get Married" (1 text)
Williams-FolkSongsOfTheUpperThames, pp. 168-169, "When Shall We Get Married" (1 text) (also Williams-Wiltshire-WSRO Gl 162)
Williams-Wiltshire-WSRO Gl 70, "When Shall We Get Married?" (1 text)
Palmer-EnglishCountrySongbook, #88, "When Shall We Get Married, John?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Palmer-SongsOfTheMidlands, p. 41, "John and Mary" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hamer-GarnersGay, pp. 30-31, "When Shall We Get Married, John?" (1 text plus some extra verses, 1 tune)
Hamer-GreenGroves, pp. 60-61, "When Shall We Be Married?" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Hans Hecht, editor, Songs From David Herd's Manuscripts (Edinburgh, 1904), #47 pp. 159-160,301, "Nicol' o' Cod" (1 text) [Not yet indexed as Hecht-Herd 47]
Roud #313
RECORDINGS:
Edwin Cox and Harry Stephens, "The Country Courtship" (on FSBFTX13)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Buffalo Boy" (plot, structure, lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
When Shall We Get Married?
My Old Sweet Nichol
NOTES [147 words]: Kennedy-FolksongsOfBritainAndIreland considers this to be the same song as "Buffalo Boy," and the forms, and even the verses, are similar. Roud lumps them. However, this version has a different punch line. - RBW
As far as I'm concerned, Kennedy's right -- "Buffalo Boy" is a version of this song, despite the different endings. (Doubly so, given the title of the Stonemans' recording, "The Mountaineer's Courtship.") However, as each is known independently, I'm inclined to split them anyway. Better check out both.
Meanwhile, Kennedy includes several citations that I would *not* class as versions of this song, and they've made me cautious; for "Earliest Date" I've taken the first one that seemed verifiably the same song. - PJS
Chappell-PopularMusicOfTheOldenTime, pp. 671-672, has a tune "The Country Courtship," but Chappell had no words, so I don't know if it's the same. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: K127

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