The Farmer's Curst Wife

This item is part of the W. Amos Abrams Folksong Collection, which includes some 400 individual song titles, most of which have multiple variants. Dr. Abrams recorded songs primarily from the Appalachian region of North Carolina from 1938 to 1946 and transcribed them in 1973. Like the I. G. Greer Collection, the titles contained in Abrams’ collection range from traditional Child Ballads to 19th century popular music to compositions of local origin.

Tennessee--Songs and music

Virginia--Songs and music

Folk music--Appalachian Region

Ballads, English--Appalachian Region, Southern

The Devil and the Ploughman, The Devil and the Farmer, The Devil's Song, The Women are Worse than the Men, Jack's Wife, Killyburn Braes, The Scolding Wife, The Devil and the Farmer's Wife, The Devil and Scolding Kate, Devil Doings, Hi Lum Day, Brave Old Anthony Marala, The Old Man that Lived Under the Hill, The Old Lady and the Devil, The Farmer's Old Curst Wife, The Old Deil Cam, Kellyburnbraes, Kellyburn Braes, The Old Man Under the Hill, Little Devils, Old Woman Under the Hill, The Devil Out of Hell, There was an Old Woman Lived Under the Hill, Old Jokey Song, The Devil Came to the Farmer's One Day, Worse than Men, Devil and the Plough

W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Appalachian State University

Abrams, W. Amos (William Amos), 1904-1991

JPEG

Song texts

English

Text

Farmer's Curst Wife, Variant 2

Horton Barker, 1889-1973

Traditional singer recorded by Smithsonian. Born in Tennessee, moved with his family to Virginia.

Child 278, Brown Older Ballads - Mostly British - 45, Cox 30, Combs 40, Warner 89, Sharp 40