Froggy Went A-Courtin'

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"Frog Went A-Courtin" is an English language folk song. Its first known appearance is in Wedderburn's Complaynt of Scotland (1548) under the name "The frog came to the myl dur." There is a reference in the London Company of Stationer's Register of 1580 to "A Moste Strange Weddinge of the Frogge and the Mouse." The oldest known musical version is in Thomas Ravenscroft's Melismata in 1611. There are many texts of the ballad.

Frog rides to ask Miss Mouse to marry him. She is willing but must ask permission of Uncle Rat. Rat's permission received, the two work out details of the wedding. Some versions end with a cat or other creature devouring the participants. Sometimes the frog gets away from the cat but is later swallowed by a duck.

Spaeth has a note claiming that the original version of this was supposed to refer to the Duke of Anjou's wooing of Elizabeth I of Engliand. If the second known version (1611, in Melismata, also reprinted in Chappell) were the oldest, this might be possible — there are seeming political references to "Gib, our cat" and "Dick, our Drake." But the Wedderburn text, which at least anticipates the song, predates the reign of Queen Elizabeth by nine years, and Queen Mary by four. If it refers to any queen at all, it would seemingly have to be Mary Stuart; Evelyn K. Wells however, in the liner notes to the LP Brave Boys; New England traditions in folk music, (New World Records 239, 1977) suggests that the original may have been satirically altered in 1580 when it was recorded in the register of the London Company of Stationers, as this would have been at the height of the unpopular courtship.

April 6, 2008 Set List: Red Allen - Froggy Went A-Courtin', Arthur Smith - Dueling Banjos, Reeltime Travelers - Little Johnny Brown, Bill Emerson - A Little Rain, Rhonda Vincent - Heartbreaker's Alibi, Bill Harrell - Red Rockin' Chair, Ricky Skaggs & The Whites - Wings of a Dove, Bobby & Blue Ridge Tradition - Who's That Knockin' on My Door, Sean Watkins - Neo's Song, Cadillac Sky - Born Lonesome, Shawn Camp - My Love Will Not Change, The Chapmans - Ode to the Simple Man, Suzanne Thomas - Sweet Sunny South, Charles Sawtelle - The Ranger's Command, Tara Nevins - I've Got a Mule to Ride, Charlie Sizemore - Turn It On Turn It On Turn It On, Tony Rice - Cold on the Shoulder, Trampled By Turtles - Blue Sky & The Devil, Cherryholmes - Brand New Heartache, Two Many Banjos - New Shoes, David Grier & Todd Phillips - Old Ebeneezer Scrooge, Doc Watson & David Grisman - All About You, David McLaughlin & Josh Crowe - Going Back to Old Virginia, Don Reno - Road Runner, Doug Dillard Band - Jackrabbit, Fiddle Fever - Party for the Old Folks, The Cox Family - I Am Weary, The Grasshoppers - River of Tears, Hillbilly Dust - Alberta May, Infamous Stringdusters - Fork in the Road, Del McCoury Band - Get Down on Your Knees and Pray, J.D. Crowe & The Bluegrass Album Band - Preachin' Praying Singing, Dickie Dixon - Yee Haw, The Dillards - Dooley, Hazel & Alice - A Few More Years Shall Roll, James McCandless - Out West Somewhere, James Reams & The Barnstormers - Ain't a Bump in the Road, Jeanette Williams - Cherry Blossoms in Springtime, Joe Val - Along About Daybreak, Leon Morris & Buzz Busby - At the End, Marc Pruett Band - Cacklin' Hen, Merle Travis - John Henry, Nashville Bluegrass Band - Red Clay Halo (Gillian Welch cover), Dixon Brothers - Didn't Hear Nobody Pray, Muleskinner - Roanoke, New Vintage - You Can't Have Your Cake and Eat It Too, Old & In the Gray - Honky Tonk Women, Holy Modal Rounders - Mr. Spaceman, Old Crow Medicine Show - Raise a Ruckus, Paul Williams - My Homeward Journey, Phyllis Boyens & The Dreadful Snakes - Lawrence Jones, Davy Spillane Band - Atlantic Bridge