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The Riddle Song (WORD)
The Riddle Song (PDF)
You can play along with Doc Watson in the first video!
It is related to Child Ballad no. 1, or "Riddles Wisely Expounded" and Child Ballad no. 46, "Captain Wedderburn's Courtship". It is no. 330 in the Roud Folk Song Index. Check out our songsheet for "Captain Wedderburn".
Riddles and riddling songs have long been popular in the folklore of the world’s peoples. The riddles have been found in manuscripts dating from the 14th and 15th centuries. The Riddle Song existed independently in tradition long before Captain Wedderburn’s Courtship came into being.