Come All You Virginia Girls

A teasing courtship song about mountain boys, rough-built homes, and Johnny cakes.

Status: Traditional repertoire · working songbook
Writer / source: Traditional; likely related to old-time floating-verse song families
Rights: Older song or tune family. The source of this particular working version and its arrangement is still being reviewed.
Related Scrips recording: No Scrips recording linked yet.

Source research

Documented lineage

Earliest evidence: Traditional Appalachian/old-time repertory; exact first source unresolved
Aliases / index: Come All You Virginia Gals
Working arrangement: Key A · Capo 0 · Guitar - Standard

Evidence 01 Evidence 02 Download full research note ↓

Working lyrics + chords

Working song sheet

Download text file ↓ Download ChordPro ↓

Verse:
Oh come all you Virginia girls and listen to my noise
Don't you go courtin' no West Virginia boys
If you do your fortune'll be
Johnny cakes and venison and sassafras tea
Johnny cakes and venison and sassafras tea

Verse:
Well, when they come a courtin' I'll tell you what they'll wear
Old black suit just about to tear
Old straw hat more brim than crown
A pair of woolen socks they wear the whole year round
A pair of woolen socks they wear the whole year round

Verse:
And when they come a courtin' I'll tell you what they'll say
First they'll say, has your daddy shot a bear?
Then they'll say as they sit down
Honey can you bake your Johnny cakes brown
Honey can you bake your Johnny cakes brown

Verse:
They build their houses with log walls
Don't have winders, none at all
Clapboard roof and old slab door
Sandstone chimbley and a puncheon floor
Sandstone chimbley and a puncheon floor

Verse:
Oh come all you Virginia girls and listen to my noise
Don't you go courtin' no West Virginia boys
If you do your fortune'll be
Johnny cakes and venison and sassafras tea
Johnny cakes and venison and sassafras tea

Archive note

This is a working band sheet. Lyrics, repeats, and chord placement remain subject to the band’s final review.

Chords

A · Em