Oh, No, Not I

DESCRIPTION: A "Newfoundland sailor" and a noble lady meet. He asks her to marry; she say, "Oh, no, not I"; his birth is too low. When she bears a child nine months later, she writes to ask him to come back; he tells her, "Oh, no, not I," and bids her go begging
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1813 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 25(1375))
KEYWORDS: pregnancy separation rejection marriage nobility
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North,South)) Canada(Newf,Que)
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "NO, MY LOVE, NOT I"
Fowke-LumberingSongsFromTheNorthernWoods #56, "No, My Boy, Not I" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 304-305, "Oh No, Not I" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-FolkBalladsSongsOfLowerLabradorCoast 112, "Hello, My Boy, Not I" (1 text, 1 tune)
Reeves/Sharp-TheIdiomOfThePeople 29, "No My Love Not I" (1 text)
Gardham-EastRidingSongster 24, pp. 32, 51, "No, My Love, Not I" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Henderson-VictorianStreetBallads, p. 79, "O No My Love, Not I" (1 text)
DT, MARRYNO
ADDITIONAL: Leslie Shepard, _John Pitts, Ballad Printer of Seven Dials, London 1765-1844_, Private Library Association, 1969, p. 66, "The Demon of the Sea"/Oh No my Love Not I" (reprint of a Pitts broadside)
Roud #1403
RECORDINGS:
Everett Bennett, "Oh No, Not I" (on PeacockCDROM) [one verse only]
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(1375), "No, My Love, Not I," J. Evans (London), 1780-1812; also Firth c.18(293), Firth b.34(208), Firth b.34(97), Harding B 11(2715), Harding B 17(220b), "No, My Love, Not I"; Firth c.13(169), Harding B 25(1340), "The Newfoundland Sailor"; Firth c.18(292), Harding B 25(1422), 2806 c.18(223), Harding B 20(119), Harding B 11(1635), "O No My Love, Not I"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Yellow Handkerchief (Flash Company)"" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Courting Coat" (floating lyrics)
cf. "You Say You Are of Noble Race" (theme)
cf. "The Roving Shantyboy" (plot)
cf. "Barley Raking (Barley Rigs A-Raking)" (plot)
NOTES [77 words]: Recorded by Margaret Christl and Ian Robb, who in turn inspired Stan Rogers to record it (nearly the only traditional song he ever recorded). Kenneth Peacock found it in Newfoundland, and other versions are few (by my standards; Roud has many in his list, but many appear to be different songs with common lyrics). Fowke calls it a "neat localizing of a popular British ballad that appeared on many nineteenth-century broadsides as 'O No, My Love, Not I.'" - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: DTmarryn

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