#00970   Print This Page

Oh No, Not I (Stan Rogers)
See also: Marry? No, Not I! (Margaret Christl)
And also: Oh No, Not I (collected by Peacock)

A Newfoundland sailor was walking by the strand,
He spied a pretty fair young maid, and took her by the hand;
"Oh, will you go to Newfoundland along with me?" he cried,
But the answer that she gave him was, "It's, oh no, not I."

"If I were to marry you, on me 'twould be the blame,
Your friends and relations would scorn me to shame;
If you were born of noble blood and me of low degree,
Do you think that I would marry you? It's oh no, not me."

Six months being over and seven coming nigh,
This pretty fair young maiden she began to look so shy;
Her corsets would not meet and her apron would not tie,
Made her think on all the times she said, "Oh no, not I."

Eight months being over and nine coming on,
This pretty fair young maiden she brought forth a son;
She wrote a letter to her love, to come most speedily,
But the answer that he gave to her was, "Oh no, not me."

He said, "My pretty fair young maid, the best thing you can do,
Is take your child upon your back and a-begging you may go;
And it's when that you get tired you can sit you down to cry,
And think on all the times when you said, Oh no, not I."

So come, all ye pretty fair maids, a warning take by me,
Don't ever put your trust in the green willow tree;
For the leaves they will wither and the root it will die,
Make you think on all the times when you said, "Oh no, not I."

####.... Author unknown. Variant of an 18th century British broadside ballad, No, My Love, Not I, published by J. Evans (London) sometime between 1780 and 1812, and archived at the Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads, shelfmark: Harding B 25 (1375) ....####

This variant was arranged and recorded by Stan Rogers (Turnaround, 1978, © Fogarty's Cove Music).

See more songs by Stan Rogers.

A variant was also recorded as Marry? No, Not I! by Margaret Christl on the album The Barley Grain For Me (Folk Legacy 62) which was originally released in the 1970's. The recording, with Ian Robb and Grit Laskin, was re-released on CD in 1997 when the title of the song was published as Oh, No, Not I.

A variant was collected in 1958 from Everett Bennett of St. Paul's, NL, by Ken Peacock and published as Oh No, Not I in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 1, pp.304-305, by The National Museum Of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.

Index Page
GEST Songs Of Newfoundland And Labrador


~ Copyright Info ~
~Privacy Policy~