My Jolly Waggoner, Drive On!

DESCRIPTION: The singer won't have a carpenter, blacksmith, cowman, shepherd, reaper, thresher or miller. She'd "rather have a waggoner", "to whip me ..." "with his whips", "on the back", "a good deal", "instead", though he be poor or "stupid as a block"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1923 (Williams-FolkSongsOfTheUpperThames)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Williams-FolkSongsOfTheUpperThames, pp. 236-237, "My Jolly Waggoner, Drive On!" (1 text) (also Williams-Wiltshire-WSRO Wt 459)
Roud #1302
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Soldier Boy for Me (A Railroader for Me" (theme) and references there
NOTES [101 words]: The chorus of Williams-FolkSongsOfTheUpperThames, "Way! Wo-utt! Drive on! My jolly waggoner, drive on" is reminiscent of the chorus of "The Jolly Waggoner": "And sing wo, my lads, sing wo! Drive on my lads, I-ho! And who wouldn't lead the life of a jolly waggoner!" (source: Bell). However, that song is about the pleasures and problems of waggoning from the waggoner's viewpoint. This song is much closer to the songs that Roud lumps with it, such as "Soldier Boy for Me." On the other hand, the "whip me" line of thinking taken by the singer seems to me not at all like the approach of those other songs. - BS
Last updated in version 2.6
File: WT236

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