Captain Wedderburn's Courtship

"Captain Wedderburn's Courtship" is an old Scottish ballad dating from 1785 or earlier.

The song was collected in the United States, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Australia.

[2] Versions differ, but generally a captain meets a lady walking in the woods or through an estate.

In all variants, she says she will not marry or sleep with him without his answering riddles.

The ingenious suitor who can answer every riddle, or nonplus the heroine, is not as common as the clever maid, but occurs quite frequently in folklore.