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Soldier, Soldier

[ Roud 489 ; Ballad Index R065 ; DT SOLDMARR , SOLDMAR2 ; Mudcat 28705 ; trad.]

Soldier, Soldier is a song about a soldier who is tricking a woman who wants to marry him into giving him fine clothes. Finally he admits that he can’t marry her because he is already married. This song has nothing to do with Rudyard Kipling’s same-named poem Soldier, Soldier.

Riley Puckett sang Soldier Will You Marry Me in Gid Tanner & His Skillet-Lickers’ recording made on 15 April 1930 in Atlanta. This recording was included in 2018 on the Musical Traditions anthology of Anglo-American songs and tunes from Texas to Maine, A Distant Land to Roam. Mike Yates and Rod Stradling noted:

Riley Puckett gives us two for the price of one here, namely an old British children’s song sung to the equally old British tune Brighton Camp. I call it a children’s song, though originally it may have been more a song warning young and not so young women to avoid the amorous advances of a soldier. It would seem that most collected versions are actually from America and Canada (there are seven collected versions, for example, in the Frank Brown NC collection), although Anne Gilchrist believed it to be Scottish in origin. She gives two Scottish versions, together with an English version and a version from Virginia, in the Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, vol. 3, no. 2, 1937. Some Scottish versions contain the refrain “With the row and the bow and the sound of the drum” which can also be found in some Irish sets.

Colm Ó Caoidheán (Colm Keane) of Glinsk, Co. Galway, sang Soldier, Soldier on 20 August 1947 on the BBC sound recording 12489 and in 1951 to Alan Lomax. The latter recording was included in 1955 on the Columbia anthology The Columbia World Library of Folk and Primitive Music – Volume I: Ireland. Alan Lomax noted:

Colm Keane seldom speaks English, but he often sings this familiar English folk song. It has been so Gaelicised by Colm’s strong Gaelic musical and linguistic accent, that unless you listened closely, you might think it was a Gaelic ditty. This is an excellent example of what happens when a song crosses the language barrier from English into Gaelic.

Isla Cameron sang Soldier, Soldier in 1956 on her Tradition album Through Bushes and Briars and in 1962 on her Prestige album The Best of Isla Cameron on which Ewan MacColl noted:

It was the Irish singer and collector, Séamus Ennis, who introduced this slyly humorous song to the English folksong public. Isla learned it from him. Versions have been collected in Britain, Canada and the United States.

Hobart Smith sang Solder Soldier in a 1959 recording made by Alan Lomax that was included in 1960 on the Atlantic album American Folk Songs for Children and in 1993 on the Atlantic CD anthology Sounds of the South.

Rosa Presnell of Beech Mountain, North Carolina, sang Soldier John to Sandy Paton in c.1961. This recording was included in 1965 on the Folk-Legacy album The Traditional Music of Beech Mountain, North Carolina, Vol. II. Sandy Paton noted:

Randolph amply refers to the published American versions of this quite well-known song and I have checked as many of these texts as I have available, but have found none with the ironic ending found in this version sung by Rosa Hicks. The song is known also to Hattie Presnell and to Uncle Monroe’s daughters, Lena and Etta. Rosa’s mother, Buna, also recorded it for me. The song usually concludes with the soldier, after he has accepted all of the young lady’s gifts, refusing to marry her because he has a wife and children at home. Somewhere along the line, an imaginative folksinger must have seen the potential irony and altered the final stanza. This is the only way I heard the song sung on the Beech.

Chris Coe sang Soldier, Soldier in 1978 on Bandoggs’ eponymous LP Bandoggs. Nic Jones played fiddle on this track and Tony Rose the mouth organ. They noted:

Chris says she can’t imagine anyone could be as gullible as the girl in Soldier, Soldier, but by all accounts such happenings weren’t uncommon.

Children of Britannia Row, John Du Prez and Beverly Sage sang Soldier, Soldier on the 1982 video cassette 70 Golden Nursery Rhymes.

Vic Shepherd and John Bowden sang Soldier John on their 1982 album A Motty Down. They noted:

This snappy version comes from Rosa Hicks Presnell of Beech Mountain, North Carolina. The ending might seem a bit unfair but Mrs Presnell seems to have been happy with it, and so we are!

Martin Carthy sang Soldier, Soldier in 1998 on Brass Monkey’s third album Sound and Rumour. He also sang it on the DVD of Brass Monkey’s 30^th anniversary album The Best of Live. He noted on the first album:

Soldier, Soldier I learned from the Columbia World Series recording of the great sean-nós singer from Connemara, Colm Keane.

Ray Driscoll of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire sang Soldier, Soldier to Gwilym Davies on 6 February 2005. This recording was included in 2008 on Driscoll’s posthumous anthology Wild, Wild Berry. Gwilym Davies noted:

An Irish version of a well-known theme. Ray heard the band Brass Monkey sing the song and this reminded him of his own version.

Sara Grey sang Lazy John in 2005 on her Fellside album A Long Way From Home. She noted:

This come from the singing of Dana and Susan Robinson. Lazy John is on Brad Leftwich’s CD titled Say, Old Man, produced in 1996 by County Records. The liner notes say, “Clyde Davenport of Monticello, Kentucky is the source for Lazy John. The first two verses were written by Dana Robinson and the last two verses and the chorus, with some minor modifications, are Clyde’s.”

Cyril Tawney sang Soldier, Soldier in a recording from his archive that was included in 2007 on his posthumous anthology The Song Goes On.

This YouTube video shows the Lauren McCormick Trio performing Soldier, Soldier at Cheltenham Folk Festival 2009:

Jess and Richard Arrowsmith sang Soldier, Soldier in 2010 on their Hallamshire Traditions album of nursery songs, rhymes and lullabies, Off We Go!.

Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne sang O Sailor Boy on his 2024 album of English Folk Song in the Caribbean and Black America, Play Up the Music!. He noted:

Alan Lomax recorded this as part of a series of field recordings made in Diego Martin, Trinidad, in April 1962. The singers present at the recording session were Elah, Nollie, and Yvonne Andrews, though it is not clear which singer is heard on the recording of this song. The Roud Folk Song Index contains 163 entries relating to variants of this song, spread across England, Ireland, Scotland, and the USA, though no entries predate the early twentieth century, suggesting that this could be a comparatively modern song. One curiosity of this Trinidadian version is that it contains the only reference to a car that I am aware of in a traditional song.

Lyrics

Colm Ó Caoidheán (Colm Keane) sings Soldier, Soldier

“Soldier, soldier, will you marry me now?
With a hee with a ho, with the sound of a drum.”
“No, fair maid, I couldn’t marry you,
I have no shirt for to put on.”

She ran to the shop as quick as she could run,
With a hee and a ho, with the sound of a drum,
And she brought him the shirt of the very very best
And, “Here, my small man, put this on.” Etc.

Rosa Presnell sings Soldier John

“Soldier John, Soldier John, won’t you marry me?”
“How can I marry such a pretty little girl
And me no hat to wear?”

Up she jumped and away she went
Around the market square;
Back she come with the finest hat
For Soldier John to wear.

(Repeat with ‘shirt’, ‘pants’ and ‘shoes’, until final stanza:)

“Soldier John, Soldier John, won’t you marry me?”
“How can I marry such a ugly girl
And me all these fine clothes to wear?”

Chris Coe sings Soldier, Soldier

“Soldier, oh soldier will you marry me now?”
With a hey, and a ho, and the sound of a drum
“No pretty maid, I cannot marry thee
For I’ve got no boots for to put on.”

So she ran to the shop as quick as she could run
With a hey, and a ho, and the sound of a drum
Bought him some boots of the very, very best,
And the soldier he so put ’em on.

“Soldier, oh soldier will you marry me now?”
With a hey, and a ho, and the sound of a drum
“No pretty maid, I cannot marry thee
For I’ve got no trousers to put on.”

So she ran to the shop as quick as she could run
With a hey, and a ho, and the sound of a drum
Bought him some trousers of the very, very best,
And the soldier he so put ’em on.

“Soldier, oh soldier will you marry me now?”
With a hey, and a ho, and the sound of a drum
“No pretty maid, I cannot marry thee
For I’ve got no jacket to put on.”

So she ran to the shop as quick as she could run
With a hey, and a ho, and the sound of a drum
Bought him a jacket of the very, very best,
And the soldier he so put it on.

“Soldier, oh soldier will you marry me now?”
With a hey, and a ho, and the sound of a drum
“No pretty maid, I cannot marry thee
For I’ve got no hat to put on.”

So she ran to the shop as quick as she could run
With a hey, and a ho, and the sound of a drum
Bought him a hat of the very, very best,
And the soldier he so put it on.

“Soldier, oh soldier will you marry me now?”
With a hey, and a ho, and the sound of a drum
“No pretty maid, I cannot marry thee
For I’ve got me my own wife at all.”

Martin Carthy sings Soldier, Soldier

“Soldier, soldier will you marry me now?”
With your hey, with a ho, with the sound of your drum
“No sweet maid, oh I cannot marry you,
You see I have no boots to put on.”

Downstairs she has run into her grandfather’s chest
And she brought him boots they were of the best,
Brought him boots of the very very best,
Saying, “Here now, small man, put these on.”

“Soldier, soldier will you marry me now?”
With your hey, with a ho, with the sound of your drum
“No sweet maid, oh I cannot marry you,
You see I’ve no breeches to put on.”

Downstairs she has run into her grandfather’s chest
And she brought him breeches they were of the best,
Brought him breeches of the very very best,
Saying, “Here now, small man, put these on.”

“Soldier, soldier will you marry me now?”
With your hey, with a ho, with the sound of your drum
“No sweet maid, oh I cannot marry you,
You see I have no shirt to put on.”

Downstairs she has run into her grandfather’s chest
And she brought him a shirt they were of the best,
Brought him a shirt of the very very best,
Saying, “Here now, small man, put these on.”

“Soldier, soldier will you marry me now?”
With your hey, with a ho, with the sound of your drum
“No sweet maid, oh I cannot marry you,
You see I have no coat to put on.”

Downstairs she has run into her grandfather’s chest
And she brought him a coat they were of the best,
Brought him a coat of the very very best,
Saying, “Here now, small man, put these on.”

“Soldier, soldier will you marry me now?”
With your hey, with a ho, with the sound of your drum
“No sweet maid, oh I cannot marry you,
You see I have no hat to put on.”

Downstairs she has run into her grandfather’s chest
And she brought him a hat they were of the best,
Brought him a hat of the very very best,
Saying, “Here now, small man, put these on.”

“Soldier, soldier will you marry me now?”
With your hey, with a ho, with the sound of your drum
“No sweet maid, oh I cannot marry you,
You see I have a wife of my own.”

Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne sings O Sailor Boy

“Pretty little sailor won’t you marry me?
Pretty little sailor won’t you marry, marry me?”
“No sweetheart, I cannot marry you,
I have no shoes to wear.”

She jumped in the car and she drove away
And brought him shoes of the best.
Shoes of the best and of the very, very best,
And gave them to the sailor boy to wear.

“Pretty little sailor won’t you marry me?
Pretty little sailor won’t you marry, marry me?”
“No sweetheart, I cannot marry you,
I have no tie to wear.”

She jumped in the car and she drove away
And brought him a tie of the best.
Tie of the best and of the very, very best,
And gave it to the sailor boy to wear.

“Well, pretty little sailor won’t you marry me?
Pretty little sailor won’t you marry, marry me?”
“No sweetheart, I cannot marry you,
I have no shirt to wear.”

She jumped in the car and she drove away
And brought him a shirt of the best.
Shirt of the best and of the very, very best
And gave it to the sailor boy to wear.

“Well, pretty little sailor won’t you marry me?
Pretty little sailor won’t you marry, marry me?”
“No sweetheart, I cannot marry you,
I have no trousers to wear.”

She jumped in the car and she drove away
And brought him trousers of the best.
Trousers of the best and of the very, very best
And gave them to the sailor boy to wear.

“Well, pretty little sailor won’t you marry me?
Pretty little sailor won’t you marry, marry me?”
“No sweetheart, I cannot marry you,
I have no jacket to wear.”

She jumped in the car and she drove away
And brought him a jacket of the best.
Jacket of the best and of the very, very best
And gave it to the sailor boy to wear.

“Pretty little sailor won’t you marry me?
Pretty little sailor won’t you marry marry me?”
“No sweetheart, I cannot marry you,
For I have a little wife and child at home.”

Acknowledgements

The Brass Monkey version was transcribed by Garry Gillard.