Uploaded November 2021 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago

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Dandoo / The Wee Cooper o' Fife / The Scolding Wife / Gentle Fair Jenny / Jennifer Gentle / As the Dew Flies over the Green Vallee / Robin-a-Thrush / Rissolty Rossolty / Hobblety Bobblety / Nickety Nackety / The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin (Child No. 277) (1953) - Sung by Jean Ritchie of Viper, Kentucky, USA. From "Songs from Kentucky" (1953).

Song transcription:

I married me a wife and took her home,
Gentle fair Jenny, fair Rosy Marie,
I ofttimes wished that I'd let her alone
As the dew flies over the green valley.

All in my kitchen she would not use,
For fear of spoiling her new cloth shoes.

First day at noon I come in from the plow,
My dearest wife is my dinner ready now.

Get out of here you dirty thief, [usually elf]
If you want any dinner you can cook it yourself.

Second day at noon I come in from the plow,
My dearest wife, is my dinner ready now.

There's a little piece of corn bread layin' on the shelf,
If you want anymore you can cook it yourself.

I got my knife and went out to the barn,
I cut me a hickory as long as my arm.

I took my limb and I bent back,
Around her back I made it crack.

I'll tell my father and all of my kin,
You whupped me with a hickory limb.

You can tell your father and all your kin
I whupped you once and I'll whup you again.