The Devil’s Nine Questions

October 12, 2021

I’m going to try and get back into doing this – legends and stories and stuff. May not be every week, what with everything going on, but I will try! This is a song in American Folklore and Legend by Readers Digest. These are not my words…

Hope you enjoy!

The Devil’s Nine Questions

If you don’t answer my questions nine
(sing ninety-nine and ninety)
I’ll take you off ~ to ~ hell a-live
And you are the weaver’s bonny

What is whiter than milk?
(Sing ninety-nine and ninety)
And what is softer than silk?
Say you’re the weaver’s bonny.

Snow is whiter than milk
(sing ninety-nine and ninety)
And down is softer than silk
And I’m the weaver’s bonny.

What is louder than a horn?
(sing ninety-nine and ninety)
And what is sharper than a thorn?
Sing, I’m the weaver’s bonny.

Thunder’s louder than a horn
(Sing ninety-nine and ninety)
And death is sharper than a thorn
And I’m the weaver’s bonny.

What is higher than a tree?
(Sing ninety-nine and ninety)
And what is deeper than the sea?
Say you are the weaver’s bonny.

Heaven’s higher than a tree
(Sing ninety-nine and ninety)
And hell is deeper than the sea
And I’m the weaver’s bonny.

What is more innocent than a lamb?
(Sing ninety-nine and ninety)
And what is worse than womankind?
Say you’re the weaver’s bonny.

A babe’s more innocent than a lamb
(Sing ninety-nine and ninety)
A she-devil’s worse than womankind
And I’m the weaver’s bonny.

Now you have answered my questions nine
(Sing ninety-nine and ninety)
You are God’s child and not my own
And you’re the weaver’s bonny.

~ “This riddle song goes back to the 1300’s when riddles played an important role. Clever folks could outwit the Devil with a tough riddle or a quick answer. “Neck riddles” gave the condemned person a chance to escape the gibbet – we show a nodding acquaintance with that when we say, “I couldn’t think of the answer to save my life.””

The Devil’s Nine Questions ~ (youtube) Billy In The Lowground

A neck riddle is a riddle where the riddler gains something with the help of an unsolvable riddle (wikipedia)

I like to roam
but I always stay home.
And I leave a silver track
while I trek.
If you moved
and carried what I carry,
You’d break your back
and you’d break your neck.
What am I?
(answer at the bottom)

hope you have a great day!
thanks for stopping by!!

(pinterest)

If monsters didn’t
try and scare
would it mean
they didn’t . . . care?
~ Rusty Fischer

(pinterest)

take care
stay safe
much love

~ The answer is snail