An Old Man Came Courting Me (Roud 210/ Bodleian 2113), also known as “Maids When You’re Young”, “Never Wed An Old Man”, and some other variations. It came into recent knowledge for the general folk music world from the singing of the Dubliners and of the Clancy Brothers in the 1960s, and is variably reckoned to originate in the late 19th or early 20th century; but fairly recently some scholars have shown that it dates to early 18th century Scotland with a version appearing in the 1751 edition, vol 3 of David Herd’s Scottish Songs, although I haven’t seen it for myself; going on what I was told in a ‘phone conversation with a librarian at the Bodleian Library. (David Herd’s books were republished in 1869 and that later date is often erroneously given as the earliest publication of the song). It has become a standard in many folk music traditions, or versions of the song, in which a young woman is courted by, and married, a much older man who isn’t up to the challenge of being a proper husband and lover to the young woman in her bloom. The song ends with her seeking solace in the arms of a younger, virile man. Sometimes the young woman is marrying for financial gain or social status, sometimes the initial motivation is left out entirely.
Different singers present the song with more of fewer verses, explicit or tamer lyrics, and sometimes different melodies; I’ve a couple of lady friends who composed an amusing spin on the tale in which the young woman marries a similarly aged young man, only to discover him inept and a drunkard, she finally finding what she wanted with an older, experienced man! There are a few old recordings from the 1910s on cylinder records but not widely available even at that time. Due to the nature of the song’s “sexual theme”, it was banned from public radio in the UK when it emerged in the 1960’s folk revival and reported didn’t break that ban until the 1980s.
I was informed by an associate that someone versed in Latin posted the observation on the Mudcat Café forum that the “falorum” and “dingdorum” in the song translates as follows:
“Falorum” is the genitive plural of the Latin “phallus” and while it is spelled in the song phonetically, it should properly be spelled “phallorum”. “Dingdorum” is the genitive plural of the Latin “dingdus” and centuries of use by the proletariat gives us the colloquial “dong”. He provided the observation he gleaned from the thread: “Of course, it is immediately obvious to any Latin scholar than the use of the genitive plural case is grammatically wrong, and that the line in Maids When You’re Young should read “He’s got no phallum, he’s lost his dingdum”, i.e. the accusative singular case would have been more correct.”
Thus the versions where “he’s found my dindorum” would imply that the narrator is, in fact, really a dude; so it might be more accurate for this song to sing – “I found his falorum and he’s got a dingdorum”.
Jos. Morneault
F Bb
Well an old man came courting me, hi-doo-a-darrity,
F C
An old man came courting me, me being young
F Bb
An old man came a-courting me; fain would he marry me
F Bb C F
Maids when you’re young never wed an old man
Chorus:
F C
For he’s got no falorum, faliddle-aye-orum
F C
He’s got no falorum, faliddle-aye-ay
F Bb F C
He’s got no falorum; he’s lost his dingdorum
F Bb C F
So maids when you’re young, never wed an old man
When that we went to church, hi-doo-a-darrity,
When we went to church, me being young
When that we went to church, he left me in the lurch
Maids when you’re young, never wed an old man
When that we went to tea, hi-doo-a-darrity,
When we went to tea, me being young
When that we went to tea, he started teasing me
Maids when you’re young never wed an old man
When that we went to bed, hi-doo-a-darrity,
When we went to bed, me being young
When that we went to bed, he lay like he was dead
Maids when you’re young never wed an old man
So I threw my leg over him, hi-doo-a-darrity,
I threw my leg over him, me being young.
Well I threw my leg over him; damn well near smothered him;
Maids when you’re young never wed an old man.
[This leg verse is a more recent but common addition to the so
When that he went to sleep, hi-doo-a-darrity,
When that he went to sleep, me being young
It was when that he went to sleep, out of bed I did creep
Into the arms of a virile young man
[Final verse serves as the final chorus]
And I found his falorum, faliddle-aye-orum
I found his falorum, faliddle-aye-ay
I found his falorum and he’s got a dingdorum
So maids when you’re young never wed an old man