> Folk > Songs > The Wife Wrapt in Wether’s Skin / The Wee Cooper o’ Fife

The Wife Wrapt in Wether’s Skin / The Wee Cooper o’ Fife / The Daughter of Peggy, O

[ Roud 117 ; Master title: The Wife Wrapt in Wether’s Skin ; Child 277 ; G/D 7:1282 ; Ballad Index C277 ; MusTrad DB26 ; trad.]

The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs

Ewan MacColl sang The Cooper o’ Fife in 1956 on his and A.L. Lloyd’s Riverside anthology The English and Scottish Popular Ballads Volume II. This song and 28 other from this series were reissued in 2009 on his Topic double CD set Ballads: Murder·Intrigue·Love·Discord. Kenneth S. Goldstein noted:

Child summarises the story of this humorous ballad as follows:

Robin has married a wife of too high kin to bake or brew, wash or wring. He strips off a wether’s skin and lay it on her back, or prins (pins) her in it. He dares not beat her, for her proud kin, but he may beat the wether’s skin, and does. This makes an ill wife good.

The ballad was probably derived from the traditional tale of The Wife Lapped in Morrel’s Skin, dating from the 16^th century or earlier.

Long a favourite in both Britain and America, the ballad has been the subject of interesting speculations concerning its various refrains, as well as the native American additions to the text (Janson, Hoosier Folklore Bulletin). MacColl’s version, learned from his parents, most clearly matches the Child “C” text, originally from Alexander Whitelaw’s The Book of Scottish Song (1844), and this is the form in which the ballad is best known in Scotland today.

Robin Hall sang The Wee Cooper of Fife in 1960 on his Collector album Last Leaves of Traditional Ballads.

Frank Proffitt of Reese, North Carolina, sang Dan Do on his 1962 Folkways album Frank Proffitt Sings Folk Songs. Frank Warner noted:

This version of Child Ballad No. 277, The Wife Wrapt in Wether Skin, is the first song Frank Proffitt sang to us in 1938, and we’ve been singing it ever since. Variants, differing widely from each other in everything but the story line, have been found in all parts of the British Isles and throughout the United States. We never heard Frank sing the final verse until 1959. We had thought his version lacked the reform element! Frank says now that he often leaves off that verse because the words don’t fit in so well.

Jean Redpath sang Wee Cooper o’ Fife in 1962 on her Elektra album Scottish Ballad Book. She noted:

One of the earliest songs I can recall learning from my mother, this vernacular taming of a shrew is the form of Child’s Wife Wrapt in a Wether’s Skin best known in Scotland today. The ballad is probably derived from the traditional tale of The Wife Lapped in Morrel’s Skin, dating from the 16^th century or earlier. From the many versions recovered in America (12 texts in Virginia, 5 in West Virginia, and 9 in Kentucky), it would seem to be as popular in this country as in Scotland.

The Ian Campbell Folk Group sang The Wee Cooper of Fyfe in 1963 on their Transatlantic album This Is the Ian Campbell Folk Group. They also sang it on the Hullabaloo ABC Television programme broadcast on 21 December 1963.

Hedy West sang Little Old Man Lived Out West in 1964 on her Vanguard album Hedy West Volume 2. A year later, she recorded this song as The Wife Wrapt in Wether’s Skin on her Topic album Old Times & Hard Times. This track was also included in 2011 on her Fellside CD re-issue Ballads & Songs From the Appalachians.

Cath and Phil Tyler sang Wether’s Skin on their 2008 CD Dumb Supper.

This 2009 video shows Threelegsoman singing The Wee Cooper o’ Fife:

Robin Laing sang The Wee Cooper o’ Fife in 2011 on his Greentrax CD The Angels’ Share. He noted:

I am delighted that I was able to include a coopering song in this collection. The art of coopering is so important to the whisky industry—about 60% of the flavour profile (and of course all the colour) of a decent single malt comes from the cask—one of mankind’s greatest inventions—ever!

The Wee Cooper o’ Fife is a traditional song, the nonsense refrain of which is widely known (knickety knackity noo noo noo etc). Few people sing that song these days, perhaps because the story line involves a man beating his wife because she will not do the housework. My version replaces the nonsense refrain with a series of coopering terms and turns the story on its head. It should still be unacceptable to sing about domestic violence, but the wife beating up the husband seems somehow more acceptable—or is it?

Lyrics

The Wee Cooper of Fife

There was a wee cooper who lived in Fife,
    Nickity, nackity, noo, noo, noo
And he has gotten a gentle wife.
    Hey Willie Wallacky, how John Dougall,
    Alane, quo Rushety, roue, roue, roue.

She wadna bake, nor she wadna brew,
For the spoiling o her comely hue.

She wadna card, nor she wadna spin,
For the shaming o her gentle kin.

She wadna wash, nor she wadna wring,
For the spoiling o her gouden ring.

The cooper’s awa to his woo-pack
And has laid a sheep-skin on his wife’s back.

’It’s I’ll no thrash ye, for your proud kin,
But I will thrash my ain sheep-skin.’

’Of, I will bake, and I will brew,
And never mair think on my comely hue.

’Oh, I will card, and I will spin,
And never mair think on my gentle kin.

’Oh, I will wash, and I will wring,
And never mair think on my gouden ring.’

A’ ye wha hae gotten a gentle wife
Send ye for the wee cooper o Fife.

Ewan MacColl sings The Cooper of Fife

There was a wee cooper wha lived in Fife,
    Nickity nackity noo noo noo;
And he has married a gentle wife.
    Hy Willie Wallachie hy John Dougal,
    Allay quo Rashitie roo roo roo.

She wouldna work, she wouldna sew
For spoilin’ a’ her gentle hue.

She wouldna card, she wouldna spin
For shamin’ a’ her gentle kin.

The cooper has gane tae his woo’ pack
An’ he’s laid a wedder’s skin on his wife’s back.

Then he’s lain oot the wedder’s skin
An’ he’s lain the gentle lady in.

“O, I’ll no’ be shamin’ your gentle kin
But I can skelp my ain sheepskin.”

Now ye wha hae married a gentle wife,
Just mind ye o’ the wee cooper o’ Fife.

Frank Proffitt sings Dan Do

Oh the good little man come in at noon, Dan do, Dan do,
The good little mn come in at noon,
“Have you got my dinner soon”
To my high land, to my low land,
To my krish, krash, klingo.

“There’s a little piece of bread a-layin’ on the shell, Dan do, Dan do,
There’s a little piece of bread a-layin’ on the shelf,
If you want any more, go fetch it yourself.”
To my high land, to my low land,
To my krish, krash, klingo.

The little man went out to his sheep-pen, Dan do, Dan do,
The little man went out to his sheep-pen,
He downed the wether and off with the skin
To my high land, to my low land,
To my krish, krash, klingo.

He laid the hide right on her back, Dan do, Dan do,
He laid the hide all on her back
And he made that stick go whickety-wback,
To my high land, to my low land,
To my krish, krash, klingo.

I’m goin’ to tell my father and all of my kin, Dan do, Dan do,
Goin’ to tell my father and all of my kin
How you dress your mutton skin,
To my high land, to my low land,
To my krish, krash, klingo.

Go tell your father and your brothers too, Dan do, Dan do,
Go tell your father and your brothers too
What a whippin’ I give you,
To my high land, to my low land,
To my krish, krash, klingo.

Next day the little man come in from plow, Dan do, Dan do,
Next day the little man come in from plow,
She met him at the door, said “Your dinner’s ready now!”
To my high land, to my low land,
To my krish, krash, klingo.