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IMPOSSIBILITIES (THE ELFIN KNIGHT; THE CAMBRIC SHIRT) Sung by: Emma Puterbaugh Medlin Recorded on 8/12/63 Click here to listen to the original recording And tell her she is a true lover of mine. Tell her to make me a fine cambric shirt, Every season, both narrow and twine, Without either seam or needlestitch work, And then she can be a true lover of mine. Tell her to wash it at yonders well, Every season both narrow and twine, Where water ne’er sprung, nor rain never fell, And then she can be a true lover of mine. Tell her to dry it on yonders thorn bush, Every season both narrow and twine, Where blossoms ne’er bloomed since Adam was born, And then she can be a true lover of mine. Go pay my respects to yonders young man, And tell him he is a true lover of mine. Tell him to buy him an acre of land, Every season both narrow and twine, Between the salt waters and the sea sand, And then he can be a true lover of mine. Tell him to plow it with a muly cow’s horn, Every season both narrow and twine, And seed it all over with one grain of corn, And then he can be a true lover of mine. Tell him to thresh it with a sickle of leather, Every season both narrow and twine, And bind it all up with a pea rooster’s feather, And then he can be a true lover of mine. Tell him to thresh it on yonders wall, Every season both narrow and twine, And not for his life let one grain fall, And then he can be a true lover of mine. And when he is through and finished his work, Every season both narrow and twine, Why, tell the durn fool to come after his shirt, And then he can be a true lover of mine. (Dr. Wolf: “Your mother called that . . .” Mrs. Medlin: “’The Impossibilities,’ ‘cause everything in it seemed to be impossible.” Dr. Wolf: “Yes, like what?” Mrs. Medlin: “Well, about making the shirt without either seam or needlestitch work, and washing at a well where water ne’er sprung nor rain never fell.” Dr. Wolf: “Uh huh. Yeah. That’s really quite a song.” Mrs. Medlin: “But the boy’s part was worse than the girl’s, ‘cause he was having to buy an acre of land between the salt water and the sea sand, and he was to plow it with a muly cow’s horn, and a muly cow don’t have any horn! And seed it all over with one grain of corn . . .” ??: “Thresh it without dropping . . .” Mrs. Medlin: “Without, yeah. And had to cut it with a sickle of leather. So his, his was really harder than hers.”) Also found in Child, #2, “The Elfin Knight”; Randolph, Vol. I, #1, “The Cambric Shirt”; Brown, Vol. II, #1, “The Elfin Knight”; Belden, p. 1, “The Elfin Knight.” |
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All Songs Recorded by John Quincy Wolf, Jr., unless otherwise noted The John Quincy Wolf Folklore Collection Lyon College, Batesville, Arkansas Back to the Song Index Back to the Wolf Collection Homepage ©Copyright 2002 Lyon College |