404. Cindy

404. Cindy

[Meade has nothing to provide as an early source and the information in Brown (below) has nothing specific, only saying Cindy is the refrain of "an old (ante-bellum) minstrel song." The related minstrel songs seem to be "Massa Had A Yaller Gal," and the older song, "The Gal from the South."

The Raleigh (N.C.) News and Observer, Sept. 15, 1886 reported:

"A Light-hearted Murderer

Wiley Gosnell, of Madison county, has been lodged in jail at Marshall,charged with the murder of his wife. It seems that one day last winter Gosnell and one Ephraim Shelton got into a row at Gosnell's house. Both drew pistols, simultaneously. Mrs. Gosnell rushed between the belligerents just before they fired at each other, and received a shot which killed her. Whose pistol fired the fatal shot is a matter of some doubt. Gosnell was captured in Haywood county. He came into Marshall on his way to jail between two guards, gaily picking a banjo to the tune of 'Git along home, Cindy Jane.'"

The song was included in N. I. White, 1928, "American Negro Folk-Songs," Social Songs no. 14 (p. 161). Reposted from Auburn, AL, 1915-1916, heard at Wolf Creek, Tenn., a "Banjo Song." White says: "Without definite evidence. I am of the opinion that this is an old banjo song of the whites. *With stanza 2 cf. the "Eliza Jane" songs, no. 28, in this chapter."

Cindy went to meetin',
She shouted and she squeeled;
She got so much religion
She broke her stocking heel.

Chorus
Get along home, Cindy, Cindy
Get along home, Cindy, Cindy,
Fare you well.

I went up to the mountain
For to get a load of cane
To make a jug of 'lasses
Sweeter 'n Liza Jane.

A close rendering of the chorus which identifies the song (since the verses are largely floating minstrel verses) is missing from the minstrel ancestors.]

404. Cindy

A rather miscellaneous lot of songs or song fragments have  attached themselves to the 'Cindy' refrain of an old (ante-bellum) minstrel song. The 'Cindy' refrain is reported from Kentucky  (BKH 172), North Carolina ( FSSH 434-5, JAFL xlv 168-9),  Mrs. Steely 160-61 (1935), and the Midwest (Ford 58, as a square-dance tune), and among the Negroes from South Carolina (JAFL  XLIV 428-9) and Alabama (ANFS 161, really from Tennessee).  The second stanza of our A belongs to 'The Journeyman'; the second stanza of D to the 'I Wouldn't Marry' songs; for the first stanza of B see 'Cornbread When I'm Hungry'; the second stanza of B is likely to appear in almost any of the composite folk lyrics; the first stanza of F is a favorite among Negro singers; and for the coon and possum stanzas of G see Ford's Traditional Music of America yy (a square-dance song) and TNFS 170, 172, 173.

A. 'Sindy: a Jig.' Reported by Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga county,  in 1915 or thereabouts with the notation that it has been "a popular  fiddle and banjo tune in our county for a great many years."

I Oh, where'd ye git yer licker.
Oh, where'd ye git yer dram?
I got it of a nigger
Way down in Rockin'ham.

Chorus: Git along home, oh Sindy, Sindy,
Git along home, oh Sindy, Sindy.
Git along home, oh Sindy, Sindy,
Git along down home.

2. She tuck me in the parlor,
She fanned me with a fan;
She said I was the sweetest thing
In the shape of mortal man.

3. Sindy in the spring time,
Sindy in the fall,
Sindy at the hall room
A-dancin' at the hall.

4. Sindy went to meetin';
So happy she did feel.
She got so much religion
She split her stockin' heel.

B. 'Beefsteak When I'm Hungry.' Collected by Julian P. Boyd in 1927 from Duval Scott, one of his pupils in the school at Alliance, Pamlico county.

1 Beefsteak when I'm hungry;
Gravy when I'm dry;
Pretty little girl to love me,
And heaven when I die.

Chorus: Git along home, Cindy, Cindy,
Git along home, Cindy;
Git along home, Cindy, Cindy,
I ain't gwine there no mo'.

2 I went to see Miss Cindy,
I hadn't heen there befo';
She fed me in the chicken coop.
And I ain't gwine there no mo'.

3 I went to see Miss Cindy;
She met me at de do'.
Shoes and stockin's in her hand
And her bare feet on de flo'.

4 I went to see Miss Cindy,
She met me on the route;
Put me in the cofifee pot
And poured me out the spout.

C. 'Cindy.' From Miss Jewell Robbins, Pekin, Montgomery county, in  1922.

Cindy in the spring o' the year,
Cindy in the fall:
If 1 couldn't be Cindy all the year 
I wouldn't be Cindy at all.

D. 'Cindy.' From Miss Jewell Robbins, Pckin, Montgomery county, in July  1922.

1. I went to see Miss Cindy.
She 'as standin' in de door.
Shoes and stockings in her hand
And feet all over de floor.

Chorus: Oh, git along home, Cindy, Cindy,
Git along home, Cindy, Cindy,
Oh, git along home, Cindy, Cindy,
I'll marrv you some time.

2 I wouldn't marry a Johnson gal;
I'll tell you the reason why:
The neck so long and stringy
I'm afraid they'd never die.

E. 'Get Along, Sindy.' Contributed as an "old slave song"' by S. M. Davis  of White Hall, Wayne county.

I went down to Julia's house
To see Liza Jane.
She fed me in an old hog trough
And 1 ain't gwine there again.

Chorus:

Oh. gel along, Sindy, Sindy,
Sindy, get along, Sindy, Sindy.
Sindy, get along, Sindy, Sindy, Sindy.
I'll spend my money drinking.

F. No title. From Mrs. Nilla Lancaster, Wayne county, in or about 1923.  Rather far removed from the other Cindy songs.

1 Old massa married a yaller gal,
He fotch her from de South.
Her hair was twisted on her head so tight
She could not shut her mouth.

 Chorus: Oh, my love Cindia,
Oh, my love Cindia,
Oh, my love Cindia,
Oh, Cindia, fare you well.

2 I went to see my Cindia,
Carried her a pair of shoes.
Ast her if she would marry me;
She said she couldn't refuse.

3 I went to see my Cindia.
Sat down by her side.
I ast her if she'd be my bride;
She hung her head and cried.

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404 Cindy (music)

A. 'Cindy: A Jig.' Sung by Bascom Lamar Lunsford, Turkey Creek, Buncombe  county. No date given. For additional versions cf. TSFL 711; APPS 183;  FSUSA 94; SHP 61; JAFL vi 131; BTFLS vi 39.

F-374

Oh, where'd ye git yer lick - er,
Where'd ye git yer dram?
I got it off a nig - ger
Way down Rockingham.

Oh, git long home, Cin - dy, 
 Cin - dy,
Git a - long home, Cin - dy, Cin - dy.
Git a - long  home, Cin - dy, Cin - dy, 
I'll mar - ry  you some time.

For melodic relationship cf. **Ford 58; FSOA 114, (stanza) ; *FSSM 42-  43; and TAFL 899 (chorus only). Scale: Mode III, plagal. Tonal Center: g. Structure: aba1cdedf (2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2)= aa1bb1 (4,4,4,4).

D. 'Cindy.' Sung by Miss Jewell Robbins, Pekin, Montgomery county, July  1922. The melody of our stanza is quite closely related to that of F-374.

F-37S

I went to Miss Cin - dy.
She 's a stand - in' de door,
Her shoes and stock - ings  in her hand
And feet all over de floor.

Oh,  git a - long home, Cin - dy, Cin - dy,
Git a - long home.   Cin - dy, Cin - dy,
Git a - long home, Cin - dy, Cin - dy,
I'll mar - ry you bye and bye.

For melodic relationship cf. *FSUSA 94 (chorus only).

Scale: Mode III, plagal. Tonal Center: g. Structure: aba1b1cc1cb1 (2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2) = aa1bb1 (4,4,4,4).

 
G. 'Cindy.' Sung by Bonnie Wiseman, accompanied by her band. Upper Hinson  Creek, Avery county, August 26, 1939.

F376


You ought - a see my Cin - dy,
She lives a - way down South.
An' she's so sweet the hon - ey bees
Are swarm - in'  round her mouth.

 

Git long home, Cin - dy, Cin - dy,
Git a - long home, Cin - dy, Gin - dy.
Git a - long home, Cin - dy, Cin - dy,
I ain't gwine there no mo'.

For melodic relationship cf. FSOA 114, general melodic line of stanza  only.

Scale : Heptachordal, plagal. Tonal Center: d. Structure: aba1cdedei (2,2,2, 2,2,2,2,2) = aa1bb1 (4,4,4,4). Again, with all the melodic variation in the  different versions, the same structure in all should be noted.

Second stanza:
Wish I was an apple
A-hangin' on a tree.
Some li'le girl coming along
Would take a bite of me.