“A Glorious Wedding”
Description
"I will sing you a song of a comical style... It's all about a wedding, a glorious affair; As I was the bridegroom, I happened to be there." The singer reports all the wild events at the wedding, and all the peculiar guests who were present
Supplemental text
Glorious Wedding, A
Complete text(s)
*** A ***
From J. H. Cox, Folk-Songs of the South, #182, p. 510
Supplied by Miss Eleanor Keim; no collection date specified.
I will sing you a song of a comical style,
If it don't make you laugh, it will surely make you smile;
It's all about a wedding, a glorious affair;
As I was the bridegroom, I happened to be there.
Chorus:
Up on the mountains, underneath the ground,
Where the sweet tobacco never can be found;
As long as I remember I never shall forget
The night that I was married to the cross-eyed pet.
All about the place I will tell you, if I can;
I'll start at the commencement, and stop where I began:
Cider and beer on the table were put,
As much as you could see with both eyes shut.
Old John McGill got as full as an egg;
He fell in the corner and broke his wooden leg;
He shouted for a doctor: "Shut up," said Johnny Green,
"You don't want a doctor; it's a joiner that you need."
One fellow there, called Bottle-nosed Dick,
Said he would show them a conjuring trick,
By picking up a glass of another man's beer,
Before you could wink your eye, he'd made it disappear.
The owner of the beer was so pleased with the joke
That he hoped Dick would die with a paralytic stroke;
They habbered and they jabbered and from words came to blows;
They kicked one another till the nails fell off their toes.
Notes
This seems to be sort of an American version of "The Blythesome Bridal" -- not the same song, but the same idea, of a wild party. The wedding is not really part of the plot; it's just the occasion for the party. - RBW
Cross references
- cf. "The Blythesome Bridal" (theme)
References
- JHCox 182, "A Glorious Wedding" (1 text)
- ST JHCox182 (Full)
- Roud #5158
- BI, JHCox182