"Eggs and Marrowbone" (Laws Q2, Roud 183),[1] also known as "There Was An Old Woman", is a traditional folk song of a wife's attempted murder of her husband. Of unknown origins, there are multiple variations.[2]
The most well known variations are "The Old Woman From Boston"[3] and "The Rich Old Lady".[4] Other versions include "The Aul' Man and the Churnstaff", and "Woman from Yorkshire." In Scotland it is known as "The Wily Auld Carle" or "The Wife of Kelso." In Ireland there are variations called "The Old Woman of Wexford" and "Tigaree Torum Orum." In England the song is widely known as "Marrowbones".
"A similar song, "Johnny Sands" (Roud 184), was written by John Sinclair about 1840 and also became popular with local singers." [2][5] In this version the husband pretends to be tired of life, and asks his wife to tie his hands behind his back.
Herbert Hughes writes that the song is English in origin.[6]
The song concerns an old woman who, in one popular version, loves "her husband dearly, but another man twice as well." She decides to kill him, and is advised by a local doctor that feeding him eggs and marrowbone will make him blind. Thus
She fed him eggs and marrowbone And made him sup them all And it wasn't too long before He couldn't see her at all
She then arranges to push him into the river. He steps aside and she falls in. Subsequently,
She cried for help, she screamed for help And loudly she did bawl The old man said "I'm so blind I can't see you at all!"
Despite his blindness, the old man manages to keep her from climbing out of the river by pushing her back in with a pole.
She swam around and swam around Until she came to the brim The old man got the linen prop And pushed her further in.[5]
(A linen prop is a pole used to prevent washing on a line from blowing about too much).
The moral of the song is:
Now the old woman is dead and gone And the Devil's got her soul Wasn't she a gosh-darn fool That she didn't grab that pole?
Eating eggs and marrowbone Won't make your old man blind So if you want to do him in You must sneak up from behind
Notable versionsEdit
Richard Dyer-Bennet
Richard Dyer-Bennet[7] recorded multiple versions of the song and regularly performed it in concert.[8]
There are several recordings of Scots singers on the Tobar an Dualchais/Kist o'Riches website - a 1952 recording of Willie Mathieson singingThe Wily Old Carle, a 1954 recording of Stewart Lowden with the same title, 1955 and 1960 recordings of The Auld Wife o Kelso sung by James Taylor and George Inglis Fraser respectively, and a 1967 recording of The Old Woman of Kelso sung by Janet Gibson Lynch, all recorded by Hamish Henderson.[9]
A version titled "Holy Boly" sung by Arkansans "The Gilbert Sisters" and recorded by Max Hunter in 1960 is in the Max hunter Collection at Missouri State University.[11]
A version by New York state singer Grant Rogers, recorded by Alan Lomax in 1966 is in the Alan Lomax Sound Recordings collection at the Association for Cultural Equity.[12]
A version by Arkansan singer Ollie Gilbert titled Old Woman in Ireland, recorded by Max Hunter in 1969, is in the Max hunter Collection at Missouri State University.[13]
A 1971 recording of Suffolk singer Jimmy Knights singing An Old Woman From Ireland is in the Keith Summers English Folk Music Collection in the British Library Sound Archive.[14]
^Norman Cazden; Herbert Haufrecht; Norman Studer (1982). Folk Songs of the Catskills. SUNY Press. pp. 519–. ISBN978-0-87395-580-5. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
^Peter Hugh Reed (1958). American Record Guide. Vol. 25. Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation. p. 157. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
^ abRoud, S; Bishop, J (2012). The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. London.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Herbert Hughes (1995). Irish country songs: highlights edition. Boosey & Hawkes. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
^George Berkowitz (10 May 1947). "D-B has new song". Billboard. p. 42. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
^George Berkowitz (22 February 1947). "Village Vanguard". Billboard. p. 37. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
^Keith Summers English Folk Music Collection: British Library Sound Archive; Shelf mark 1CDR0007369 (copy of C1002/27) Retrieved 2017/03/20
^"Marrowbones". Roy Palmer English Folk Music Collection.
^"Eggs and Marrowbone: 1954". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
October 16, 2023
eggs, marrowbone, laws, roud, also, known, there, woman, traditional, folk, song, wife, attempted, murder, husband, unknown, origins, there, multiple, variations, most, well, known, variations, woman, from, boston, rich, lady, other, versions, include, churnst. Eggs and Marrowbone Laws Q2 Roud 183 1 also known as There Was An Old Woman is a traditional folk song of a wife s attempted murder of her husband Of unknown origins there are multiple variations 2 The most well known variations are The Old Woman From Boston 3 and The Rich Old Lady 4 Other versions include The Aul Man and the Churnstaff and Woman from Yorkshire In Scotland it is known as The Wily Auld Carle or The Wife of Kelso In Ireland there are variations called The Old Woman of Wexford and Tigaree Torum Orum In England the song is widely known as Marrowbones A similar song Johnny Sands Roud 184 was written by John Sinclair about 1840 and also became popular with local singers 2 5 In this version the husband pretends to be tired of life and asks his wife to tie his hands behind his back Herbert Hughes writes that the song is English in origin 6 Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Notable versions 2 1 Field Recordings 3 See also 4 ReferencesSynopsis EditThe song concerns an old woman who in one popular version loves her husband dearly but another man twice as well She decides to kill him and is advised by a local doctor that feeding him eggs and marrowbone will make him blind Thus She fed him eggs and marrowbone And made him sup them all And it wasn t too long before He couldn t see her at all She then arranges to push him into the river He steps aside and she falls in Subsequently She cried for help she screamed for help And loudly she did bawl The old man said I m so blind I can t see you at all Despite his blindness the old man manages to keep her from climbing out of the river by pushing her back in with a pole She swam around and swam around Until she came to the brim The old man got the linen prop And pushed her further in 5 A linen prop is a pole used to prevent washing on a line from blowing about too much The moral of the song is Now the old woman is dead and gone And the Devil s got her soul Wasn t she a gosh darn fool That she didn t grab that pole Eating eggs and marrowbone Won t make your old man blind So if you want to do him in You must sneak up from behindNotable versions Edit nbsp Richard Dyer BennetRichard Dyer Bennet 7 recorded multiple versions of the song and regularly performed it in concert 8 Steeleye Span recorded a version in September 1971 for their third album Ten Man Mop or Mr Reservoir Butler Rides Again The Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem recorded Old Woman from Wexford on their 1962 album The Boys Won t Leave the Girls AloneField Recordings Edit Many of these are available to listen online There are several recordings of Scots singers on the Tobar an Dualchais Kist o Riches website a 1952 recording of Willie Mathieson singingThe Wily Old Carle a 1954 recording of Stewart Lowden with the same title 1955 and 1960 recordings of The Auld Wife o Kelso sung by James Taylor and George Inglis Fraser respectively and a 1967 recording of The Old Woman of Kelso sung by Janet Gibson Lynch all recorded by Hamish Henderson 9 A 1956 recording by Ulster singer Sarah Makem is on the Topic Voice of the People CD The Heart Is True under the title The Canny Oul Lad 10 A version titled Holy Boly sung by Arkansans The Gilbert Sisters and recorded by Max Hunter in 1960 is in the Max hunter Collection at Missouri State University 11 A version by New York state singer Grant Rogers recorded by Alan Lomax in 1966 is in the Alan Lomax Sound Recordings collection at the Association for Cultural Equity 12 A version by Arkansan singer Ollie Gilbert titled Old Woman in Ireland recorded by Max Hunter in 1969 is in the Max hunter Collection at Missouri State University 13 A 1971 recording of Suffolk singer Jimmy Knights singing An Old Woman From Ireland is in the Keith Summers English Folk Music Collection in the British Library Sound Archive 14 A version sung by two Birmingham women Doreen Clarkson and Christine Thomas recorded in 1989 by Roy Palmer is in the British Library Sound Archive 15 A version performed by Dave Zeitlin animation by Carol Roe film by Stuart Roe Directed by Ralph Hart created in 1954 16 See also EditRoud Folk Song Index 183 References Edit Roud Folk Song Index Marrowbones English Folk Song and Dance Society Retrieved 14 February 2016 a b Folkinfo Marrowbones Archived from the original on 2012 03 09 Norman Cazden Herbert Haufrecht Norman Studer 1982 Folk Songs of the Catskills SUNY Press pp 519 ISBN 978 0 87395 580 5 Retrieved 12 August 2012 Peter Hugh Reed 1958 American Record Guide Vol 25 Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation p 157 Retrieved 12 August 2012 a b Roud S Bishop J 2012 The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs London a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Herbert Hughes 1995 Irish country songs highlights edition Boosey amp Hawkes Retrieved 12 August 2012 George Berkowitz 10 May 1947 D B has new song Billboard p 42 ISSN 0006 2510 Retrieved 12 August 2012 George Berkowitz 22 February 1947 Village Vanguard Billboard p 37 ISSN 0006 2510 Retrieved 12 August 2012 Tobar an Dualchais Kist o Riches http www tobarandualchais co uk en Retrieved 2017 03 20 The Heart Is True Sarah Makem 1900 1983 Topic Records TSCD674 Max hunter Collection Missouri State University Cat 0517 MFH 257 http maxhunter missouristate edu songinformation aspx ID 0517 Retrieved 2017 03 20 Association for Cultural Equity Sound recordings N4 0 Track 2 http research culturalequity org rc b2 get audio detailed recording do recordingId 27659 Retrieved 2017 03 20 Max hunter Collection Missouri State University Cat 0753 MFH 257 http maxhunter missouristate edu songinformation aspx ID 0753 Retrieved 2017 03 20 Keith Summers English Folk Music Collection British Library Sound Archive Shelf mark 1CDR0007369 copy of C1002 27 Retrieved 2017 03 20 Marrowbones Roy Palmer English Folk Music Collection Eggs and Marrowbone 1954 www youtube com Retrieved 2019 12 02 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Eggs and Marrowbone amp oldid 1151706023, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
