No. 13 Wedlock (A), Soc 188
Heptatonic ionian, mode 3 A + b (I II III IV V VI VII)
When Adam was created,
He dwelt in Eden’s shade,
As Moses has related,
Before a bride was made.
Ten thousand times ten thousand
Things wheeled all around,
Before a bride was formed,
Or yet a mate was found.
Another tune and additional stanzas of the text are given in this collection under the title ‘Wedlock (B)’. The song is attributed, in the Social Harp, to Henry F. Chandler and is dated 1854. The tunes of ‘Johnny German’, Sharp, ii., 256; ‘I Rode My Little Horse’, Baring-Gould, Songs of the West, No. 101; ‘The Auld House’, Lyric Gems of Scotland, 49; and ‘Joe Bowers’, are similar to the above air. Another ballad in this collection using this tune in variant form is ‘Little Family’. Stephen Foster’s song ‘Virginia Belle’ leans melodically on ‘Wedlock (A)’. (See my article in The Musical Quarterly, xxii., No. 2.)