"Willie Weaver", 19th century

A manuscript poem, undated but likely from the 19th century, 3 pages on a single large sheet of folded paper, titled “Willie Weaver”. The contents are a variant of the Anglo-American folksong most commonly known as Will the Weaver or Bill the Weaver, which tells the comic tale of a newly married man who regrets a hasty marriage to a domineering wife, ultimately surprising her and her lover Will the Weaver in their home. Will hides up the chimney and is smoked out by the husband, beaten, and sent away. The song has its origins in 18th-century broadside culture, with the earliest known iteration printed in London in 1793, and variants are known in England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, and the United States, especially the Southern and Appalachian regions. The use of “Willie” for the name of the title character here strongly indicates that this is an American version of the song. Signed C.W. Buck(?).