"The Arkansas Boys", also known as "The Arkansas Sheik", "Come All You Virginia Girls", "Texian Boys", "Don't Marry the Mormon Boys", "West Virginia Boys", "Kansas Boys" and "West Virginia Gals" is an American song in F major and 2/4 time.
This song appeared in sheet music in 1841 under the title "Free Nigger", published by Firth and Hall, as sung by R. W. Pelhaae, but without author/composer credits.
The initial stanza there is:
Come all you Virginia gals and listen to my noise, Neber do you wed wid de Carolina boys, For if dat you do your portion it will be Corn cake and hominy and Jango Lango tea.
It was printed in Belden's Ballads and Songs Collected by the Missouri Folk-Lore Society (as "Texan Boys") (1955), Lomax and Lomax's Folk Song USA (as "When You Go A-Courtin'" and "The Texian Boys") (1947), Randolph's Ozark Folksongs (as "The Arkansas Boys") (1946-1950), Sandburg's The American Songbag (as "Hello, Girls" and "Kansas Boys") (1927), Sharp's English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians (as "If You Want to Go A-courting" (1932), Norm Cohen's American Folk Songs: A Regional Encyclopedia (as "De Free Nigger", "West Virginia Gals", "Arkansas Sheik", "Cheyenne Boys" and "Alsea Girls") (2008), Coleman and Bregman's Songs of American Folks (as "Kansas Boys") (c. 1942), Silber & Silber's Folksinger's Wordbook (as "Kansas Boys") (1973) and many others.
Most versions of this song are warnings to women but a few are either warnings to men or gender-neutral. The Roud Folksong Index splits these; #4275 is the women's version and #2977 seems to be the men's.
It was recorded by Al Hopkins & his Buckle Busters (as "West Virginia Gals") (1929), Riley Puckett (as "The Arkansas Sheik") (1931), New Lost City Ramblers (as "The Arkansas Sheik") on Remembrance of Things to Come (1973), Pete Seeger (as "Texian Boys") on Frontier Ballads (1954) and others.