X:5
T:"The Devil's nine Questions"
T:Riddles wisely expounded
B:Bronson
C:Trad
O:Davis, 1929, p. 549; text, pp. 59-60. Sung by Mrs. Rill
Martin, Giles County, Va., September 11, 1922; noted by
Evelyn Rex. Collected by Alfreda M. Peel.
N:Child 1
G:B
M:4/4
K:G % Pentatonic ( -4 -7) Lydian/Ionian/Mixolydian [Pi1]
D2 | IG2 A2 BB G2 | E2 G2 D3 G | B3 B B2 A2 |
w:If you don't ans-wer me ques-tions nine, Sing nine-ty-nine and
B2 Id2 z2 e2 | d2 B2 G2 B2 | G2 E2 D2 EG | G3 G E2 D2 | E4 G2 |]
w: nine-ty, I'll take you off to hell a-live, And you are the weav-er's bon-ny.
W:
W:"If you don't answer me questions nine,
W:Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
W:I'll take you off to hell alive,
W:And you are the weaver's bonny."
W:
W:"What is whiter than milk?
W:Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
W:What is softer than silk?
W:Say You're the weaver's bonny."
W:
W:"Snow is whiter than milk,
W:Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
W:Down is softer than silk,
W:And I'm the weaver's bonny."
W:
W:"What is louder than a horn?
W:Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
W:What is sharper than a thorn?
W:Sing I am the weaver's bonny."
W:
W:"Thunder's louder than a horn,
W:Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
W:Death is sharper than a thorn,
W:Sing I am the weaver's bonny."
W:
W:"What is higher than a tree?
W:Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
W:What is deeper than the sea?
W:Sing I am the weaver's bonny."
W:
W:"Heaven's higher than a tree,
W:Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
W:And hell is deeper than the sea,
W:Sing I am the weaver's bonny."
W:
W:"What is innocenter than a lamb?
W:Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
W:What is worse than woman kind?
W:Say I am the weaver's bonny."
W:
W:"A babe is innocenter than a lamb,
W:Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
W:The devil's worse than woman kind,
W:Sing I am the weaver's bonny,"
W:
W:"You have answered me questions nine,
W:Sing ninety-nine and ninety,
W:You are God's you're not my own,
W:And you're the weaver's bonny."