Folk Song: Mr. Frog Went a-Courtin’
“Mr. Frog Went a-Courtin’” has its origins in an ancient ballad appearing as early as 1548 in Wedderburn’s Complaynt of Scotland as “The frog came to the myl dur.”
There are as many versions as there are singers. Different times, countries, and even languages have worked their own images into various retellings.* It is fun to explore the delightful motley, but don’t waste your time looking for the ‘authentic’ version. In those aulden days stories were told and sung, not read, in the great oral tradition. A father told his children the stories—whimsical or heroic—told by his father’s father. A mother sang to her babes the songs she learned at her mother’s knee. Each generation added a unique perspective to these old songs and tales. Sometimes they forgot a detail and substituted it with their own imagining. Sometimes, I am sure, a spontaneous twist or embellishment to an old plot caught a community’s fancy, and they told it that way ever after. This ballad, with its growing guest list, has special scope for elaboration.
*There is one English version satirizing the unpopular courtship of Queen Elizabeth I and the Duke of Anjou.
The following is one of several unique American versions, as apparent from references to the President and the banjo. The repeated mhm is an expression of assent. Some singers use the more guttural uh-hu. Others yodel an entire string of nonsensical words. Rinktum body minchy cambo!
Mr. Frog Went a-Courtin’
[Don’t be shy about altering or adding words or whole stanzas, for storytelling is a fluid art, and a story well told is one in which the storyteller has given his own coloring.]
Mr. Frog went a-courting; he did ride. mhm mhm
Froggy went a-courting; he did ride,
His sword and pistol by his side mhm mhm mhm
He tip-toed up to Miss Mousey’s door. mhm mhm
He tip-toed up to Miss Mousey’s door.
He gave three knocks and a great loud roar. mhm mhm mhm
“Miss Mousey, are you within?” mhm mhm
“Miss Mousey, are you within?”
“Oh, yes, Mr. Frog, I sit and spin.” mhm mhm mhm
He took Miss Mousey upon his knee. mhm mhm
He took Miss Mousey up upon his knee.
He said, “Miss Mousey, will you marry me?” mhm mhm mhm
“Without my Uncle Rat’s consent” mhm mhm
“Without my Uncle Rat’s consent
“I wouldn’t marry the President.” no-no mhm mhm
But Uncle Rat gave his consent. aha mhm
Uncle Rat gave his consent
And the weasel wrote the publishment. mhm mhm mhm
Uncle Rat went off to town. mhm mhm
Uncle Rat went off to town
And bought his niece a wedding gown. mhm mhm mhm
What was the pretty little bride dressed in? mhm mhm
What was the pretty little bride dressed in?—
A white gorse veil and a brass breast pin. mhm mhm mhm
What was the handsome groom dressed in? mhm mhm
What was the handsome groom dressed in?—
Sky-blue britches with little silver stitches. mhm mhm mhm
Oh, where will the wedding breakfast be? mhm mhm
Where will the wedding breakfast be?—
Way down yonder by the wide oak tree. mhm mhm mhm
Well, the first wedding guest was a little white moth. mhm mhm
The first wedding guest was a little white moth
Spreading down the table-cloth. mhm mhm mhm
And the next to come by was a bumble-bee. mhm mhm
The next to arrive was a bumble-bee
He set a banjo on his knee. mhm mhm mhm
The next to arrive was a tiny flea. mhm mhm
The next to arrive was a tiny flea
Who tried to dance with the bumble-bee. mhm mhm mhm
The next to come down was Jenny Spinner. mhm mhm
The next to come down was Jenny Spinner,
Who gobbled up a blue bottle-fly for her dinner. mhm mhm mhm
[“I hope that wasn’t one of the wedding guests!” Littlest Brother squeals.]
And they all sailed off across the lake. mhm mhm
They all sailed off across the lake,
And got swallowed up by the biggest black snake. mhm mhm mhm
[We usually conclude the song with the following stanza.]
There’s bread and cheese upon the shelf. mhm mhm
There’s bread and cheese upon the shelf.
If you want anymore you can sing it for yourself. mhm mhm mhm
Strangely, there seems to be quite a bit of drinking at Mr. Frog’s wedding; but, otherwise, this is a delightful animated version of “A Moste Strange Weddinge of the Frogge and the Mouse.”
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Tuesday, August 24, 2010