Bluegrass Messengers

Brown Collection IV. Play-Party and Dance Songs

IV. PLAY-PARTY AND DANCE SONGS (Contents)

67. Weevily Wheat 

68. Here Comes Three Lawyers

69. Jennie Jenkins

70. Oh, Pretty Polly

71. Don't Cry 

72. Here We Go in Mourning

73. Row the Boat, Row the Boat 

74. The Needle's Eye 

75. The Miller Boy 

76. In and Out the Window

77. Shoot the Buffalo

78. Coffee Grow On White Oak Trees

79. Little Fight In Mexico

80. Pig in the Parlor

81. Buffalo Gals

82. Old Dan Tucker

83. Yonder Comes a Georgia

84. Captain Jinks

85. Hop Light, Ladies

86. Old Joe Clark

87. What's the Lady's Motion?

88. The Farmer's Boy

89. Sally Goodin

90. Doctor Jones

91. She Loves Coffee and I Love Tea

92. I Do Love Sugar in My Coffee O

93. Pop Goes the Weasel

94. Turkey in the Straw

95. We're All A-Singing

96. The Dolly-Play Song

97. Uncle Joe Cut Off His Toe 

98. Oh, Lovely, Come This Way

99. The Duke of York

100. I'll Tell Your Daddy

101. I Want to Go to Baltimore

102. Poor Little Laura Lee

103. Darling, You Can't Love but One

104. Page's Train Runs So Fast

105. Turkey Buzzard 

106. All Around de Ring Miss Julie 

107. Too Young to Marry

108. Poor Little Kitty Puss

109. Fare You Well. My Own True Love

110. Mr. Carter

111. Wish I Had a Needle and Thread 

IV. PLAY-PARTY AND DANCE SONGS

THE PLAY-PARTY is an American institution, a compromise between the ineradicable love of social merrymaking and the  Puritan distrust of dancing as one of the wiles of the devil.  Throughout wide reaches of American life, especially along the ever-moving frontier in the latter half of the nineteenth century, young
people would get together for an evening not for dancing, for dancing was not respectable, but for a play-party. And what was a play-party? Why, it was a dancing party in everything except the name and — in most communities — the help of instrumental music. For the  parlor organ was not very well suited to dance music, and the fiddle  and the banjo were gadgets of the devil. But dancing without music to lift and carry the rhythm would be a dull affair; and so they sang. The songs are of various origin. Many of them are old English songs used in singing games of the sort gathered by Lady Gomme in the old country and by William Wells Newell in the United States. Many of these are still used as children's games in America, and the play-party is in considerable part a relic of these games, become the play no longer of children but of grownups. Others have been adopted from the minstrel stage; others are memories of the frontier, of the War of 1812, of the Mexican War. Some, like 'Old Joe Clark' and 'Uncle Joe Cut Off His Toe,' have no discoverable origin and no very fixed content but a swinging tune that ensures their popularity. And some are simply old dance tunes with words to carry them, like 'Pop Goes the W'easel' and "Turkey in the Straw.'

North Carolina has never been so definitely in the Bible belt as  many of the Midwestern states. The fiddle and the guitar, and  especially the banjo, have never been without their devotees in the Old North State. Accordingly we find in our collection many songs  or fragments of songs described as favorites with "banjo pickers," and these we have included in this section. There are also a considerable number of songs which are not labeled by the contributors  as play-party songs or dance songs but which seem from their structure and content likely to have been used as such. These we have assembled at the close of the section.

67. Weevily Wheat

Perhaps the most widely known and used of play-party songs is this relic of the Jacobite sentiment of two hundred years ago. See  Botkin's The American Play-Party Song 345-51 and the McLendon finding list in SFLQ viii 228, and add Virginia (FSV 223-4) and the Ozarks (OFS in 297-301). Not infrequently all trace of its Jacobite origin has been lost.

A. "Over the River to Feed the Sheep." Contributed in 1920 by O. J.  Burrus.

1. As I come down the mountain
I give me horn a blow.
You ought to have heard those pretty little girls
Say, 'Yonder comes my beau.'

Chorus: Oh, wait a little while, boy,
We will all go.
Don't you know that old shanghai
Go ook ook ook ook ook?

2. One cold frosty morning
Barney come down the road.
He had no shoes upon his feet;
The frost bit off his toes.

3. Over the river to feed the sheep,
Over the river to Charlie.
Over the river to feed the sheep,
Feed them well on barley.

4. I won't have none of your weevily wheat,
I won't have none of your barley;
I must have some of the best of wheat
To bake a cake for Charlie.

5. Charlie he's a nice young man.
Charlie he's a dandy;
Charlie is the very man
That I would pull my candy.*

* This line is evidently corrupt, but the editor will not venture to correct it.
["That feeds me sugar candy." Matteson]

B. No title. Obtained from Miss Jewell Robbins, Pekin, Montgomery  county, in 1922. In the form of a record, on which Dr. Brown notes: "Song made up on two lovers, Florence Andrews and Charley Braidshire." The four-line fragment gives no clear idea of what the story may be, but it evidently uses the "weevily wheat" verse and rhyme.

Florence ran the rough the weevily wheat,
Florence ran through the barley;
Florence fell down and broke her neck
And so she died for Charley.

68. Here Comes Three Lawyers

One of the many variants of the singing game "Here Come Three  Dukes A-Riding,' for which see the McLendon finding list, SFLQ  viii 209. Reported also by Davis for Virginia (FSV 228-9) and by Randolph for Missouri (OFS iii 360-1). The riders may be  three knights, three kings, three brethren out of Spain, or still other  variants. To the references in the McLendon list should be added  Massachusetts (FSONE 13-15). Tennessee ( BTFLS v 26-7), and  the Ozarks (OFS in 367-8).

A. 'Here Comes Three Lawyers, Three Lawyers Are We." From the manuscript notebook of Mrs. Harold Glasscock of Raleigh, lent to Dr. White  in 1943. This, like other items in Mrs. Glasscock's book, was learned from her parents. A note in tlie book explains that, in "acting it out, Lawyer carries a book, merchants, goods, farmer, corn. Peddler with pack on end of stick."

1. 'Here comes three lawyers, three lawyers we are,
A-courting your daughter so rare and so fair.
Can we get lodgings here, oh here,
Can we get lodgings here?'

2. 'This is my daughter that sets by my side,
And none of you lawyers can get her for a bride.
You cannot get lodgings here, oh here,
And you cannot get lodgings here.'

3. 'We care nothing for your daughter and less for yourself.
I betcha five dollars I can better myself,
And we do not want lodgings here, oh here,
We do not want lodgings here."

Similarly for merchants and farmers. Last come the peddlers: and now the response is:

"This is my daughter that sits by my side,
And one of you peddlers can get her for a bride;
And you can get lodgings here, oh here,
And you can get lodgings here.'

69. Jennie Jenkins

A color song, presumably a derivative of the very widely known  and sung 'Miss Jennia Jones,' for which see the McLendon finding  list SFLQ viii 216 — though 'Jennie Jenkins' is not there listed as  a title nor have our North Carolina texts any suggestion of a  funeral or of the wearing of mourning. A 'Jennie Jenkins' song has been reported from New Hampshire (FSONE 199-200), Vermont (VFSB 164-7), Virginia ( OSC 129-30), and Missouri (OFS III 208).

A. 'Julie Jenkins.' Sung by Mrs. Nancy Prather of Sugar Grove, Watauga county, in August 1937.

1. 'Will you wear red, my true love?
Will you wear red, Julie Jenkins?'
'I won't wear red, it's the color of my head.'

Refrain: 'So I'll buy me a falli-ralli-dilly-dally
Servi-juicy-double binding,
To wear with a robe, Julie Jenkins.'

2. 'Will you wear white, my true love?
Will you wear white, Julie Jenkins?'
'I won't wear white, the color is so light.'

3. 'Will you wear blue, my true love?
Will you wear blue, Julie Jenkins?'
'I won't wear blue, the color is so true.'

4. 'Will you wear black, my true love?
Will you wear black, Julie Jenkins?'
'I won't wear black, it's the color of a sack.'

5. 'Will you wear brown, my true love?
Will you wear brown, Julie Jenkins?'
'I won't wear brown, it's the color of a crown.'

6. 'Will you wear yaller, my true love?
Will you wear yaller, Julie Jenkins?'
'I won't wear yaller, the color is so shaller.'

7. "Will you wear purple, my true love?
Will you wear purple, Julie Jenkins?'
'I won't wear purple, it's the color of a tur'kle.'

B. 'Jenny Jenkins.' Reported by Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga county, in 1921 as sung by Bennett Smith and E. J. Smith of that place.

"They hoard it first sung over forty years ago in Caldwell county. This song, they say was very popular just after the close of the Civil  War. The Misses Green of Caldwell county were the ones who sung  the song to Bennett Smith and E. J. Smith over forty years ago." Nine colors are proposed, blue, green, red, white, yellow, gray, black, brown, and spotted. The answers correspond often to those of A, but the refrain is not just the same. It runs:

I'll buy me a turly whirly double lolly sookey juley
Salley katy double double row stick a beany
Wau ter ma rose, Jennie Jenkins.

The answers for five of the colors are different from those of A:

'I won't wear green, for it is too clean.'

'I won't wear gray, for it's too gay.'

'I won't wear black, for it is too slack.'

'I won't wear brown, for it's the color of the ground.'

'I won't wear spotted, for it is too drotted.'

C. 'Jenny Jenkins.' Contributed by R. D. Ware in 1921 from Albemarle, Stanly county. Chorus and three stanzas dealing with red, black, and brown as in A except that brown, as in B, "is the color of the ground."

D. 'Tooley Wooley Iser.' From the manuscript notebook of Mrs. Harold  Glasscock of Raleigh, lent to Dr. White in 1943. "Most or all of her  songs Mrs. Glasscock learned from her parents."

1. 'Oh will you wear the green, oh dear, oh dear.
Oh will you wear the green, Jennie Jenkins?'
'I won't wear the green, for the color will be seen;
So buy me the tooley wooley Iser.'

Chorus: Buy me the tooley wooley double lucky sucky tucky
Ripe grown green brandy beer,
Bend your hooks, won't you wear it, Jennie Jenkins?

2. 'Oh will you wear the blue, oh dear, oh dear.
Oh will you wear the blue, Jennie Jenkins?'
'I won't wear the blue, for the color isn't true;
So buy me the tooley wooley Iser.'

3 'Oh will you wear the gray, oh dear, oh dear.
Oh will you wear the gray. Jennie Jenkins?'
'I won't wear the gray, for the color will betray;
So buy me the tooley wooley Iser.'

70. Oh  Pretty Polly

Like "Miss Jennia Jones' this is a color song, but I have no evidence that it is a play-party or game song. Indeed, I have nowhere found it reported as traditional song. [Not related to "Pretty Polly" murder ballad]

'Oh, Pretty Polly.' Contributed in 1924 or thereabouts by Carl G.  Knox, Durham. With the tune.

1. Oh, pretty Polly, don't you cry,
Your sweetheart's a-coming by-and-by.
When he comes, he'll come in green;
Then you may know that his love is keen.

2. Oh, pretty Polly, don't you cry,
Your sweetheart's a-coming by-and-by.
When he comes, he'll come in blue;
Then you may know his love is true.

3. Oh, pretty Polly, etc.
When he comes, he'll come in yellow;
Then you may know his love is shallow.

4 Oh, pretty Polly, etc.
When he comes, he'll come in black;
Then you may know he'll turn his back.

5. Oh, pretty Polly, etc.
When he comes, he'll come in brown;
Then you may know he'll turn you down.

6 Oh, pretty Polly, etc.
When he comes, he'll come in red;
Then you may know his love is dead.

7. Oh, pretty Polly, don't you cry,
Your sweetheart's a-coming by-and-by.

71. Don't Cry

It is not clear whether this is a play-party song, a child's singing  game of colors like 'Jennie Jenkins,' or a lullaby. It might, of  course, serve all three functions. It is evidently a variant of the preceding song. [Scans to "Hush Little Baby (Mockingbird Song)" collected by Sharp in 1918: "Hush, little baby, don't you cry..."]

'Don't Cry.' Secured by M. J. Fulton of Davidson College in 1914  from W. C. Frierson, location not given.

1. Don't cry, little baby, don't you cry,
Your sweetheart will come by and by.
When he comes, if he's dressed in green.
Then you may know you'll be his queen.

Don't cry, little baby, don't you cry,
For sweetheart will come by and by.
When he comes, if he's dressed in red,
Then you may know his love is dead.

Don't cry, little baby, don't you cry.
Your sweetheart will come by and by.
When he comes, if he's dressed in yellow,
Then you may know he's a jolly good fellow.

Don't cry, little baby, don't you cry,
Your sweetheart will come by and by.
When he comes, if he's dressed in black,
Then you may know he's going back.

Don't cry, little baby, don't vou cry,
Your sweetheart will come by and by.
When he comes, if he's dressed in blue,
Then you may know his love is true.

Don't cry, little baby, don't you cry,
Your sweetheart will come by and by.
When he comes, if he's dressed in purple,
Then you may know you will make a nice couple.

Don't cry, little baby, don't you cry,
Your sweetheart will come by and by.
When he comes, if he's dressed in gray,
Then you may know he's going away.

Don't cry, little baby, don't you cry,
Your sweetheart will come by and by.
When he comes, if he's dressed in brown,
Then you may know he's going to town.

72. Here We Go in Mourning

Possibly this has grown out of those forms of 'Miss Jennia Jones'  which represent a death and a funeral; at any rate it is clearly a  song-game or a play-party song.

'Here We Go in Mourning.' Obtained by Julian P. Boyd from Minnie Lee, one of his students in the school at Alliance, Pamlico county, in  1927. The third stanza seems to be imperfect.

1. Here we go in mourning,
In mourning is my cry.
I have gone and lost my true love,
And surely I must die.

2. It's yonder he comes,
And it's How do you do?
And it's How have you been
Since I parted from you?

3. Come now and let's go and get married;
For I told you in Georgia
Just how the love would be.

73. Row the Boat, Row the Boat

This is the play-party song which Cox (SFLQ vi) calls 'Uncle John' and Wolford (The Play-Party in Indiana 97) calls 'Uncle  Johnie's Sick A-Bed.' It is really a form of the old singing game  'Wallflower, Wallflower, Growing Up So High' of which Lady  Gomme (11 324-42) gives thirty-five English texts. With the curious lines constituting the second half of the second stanza of our A  text, it is or has been known in Connecticut (JAFL xii 293), Missouri (OFS IV 123-5), Ohio (JAFL xi 12), and Idaho (JAFL  Xiiv 22); without these lines but with the opening lines of the next  stanza in Michigan (JAFL xxxiii 132-3). The title of our A is echoed in Randolph's Missouri title for the song, 'Ride About, Ride  About.' I have not found elsewhere anything much resembling  the more ballad-like matter of our B text.

A. 'Row the Boat, Row the Boat.' Reported by K. P. Lewis from the rendering of Dr. Kemp P. Battle of Chapel Hill in 1910.

1. Row the boat, row the boat, where shall we land?
At Mr. Jones', and there we'll find land.
Who goes there, all booted and spurred,
But little Mr. Smith, a clever young man?

2. He knocked at the door and he rang at the bell
And asked Mrs. Jones if her Annie was well.
'She's neither within, she's neither without,
But she's upstairs a-frisking about.'

3. Down conies Miss Annie as white as milk
Her hands before her sewing of silk.
He hugged her and kissed her and parried her nails
And gave her a girdle of peacocks' tails.

4. Though peacock tails be ever so dear
Miss Annie shall have one once a vear.

B. 'Tommy Jones." Contributed by Miss Gertrude Allen (later Mrs. Vaught) from Taylorsville, Alexander county, in 1923.

1. I've been wonderin' all my life
Where Tommy Jones would get him a wife?

2. Up to Mr. Smith's house, so they say,
He goes courting night and day.

3. Carries a pistol by his side,
Wants Miss Mary for his bride.

4. Up comes Tommy so brave and bold,
Roses in his coat as yellow as gold.

5. 'Say, Mrs. Smith, can you say,
Where Miss Mary is today?"

6. "She's not in and she's not out,
She's upstairs flirting about.'

7. Down comes Mary all dressed in silk,
Roses in her hair as white as milk.

8. Out comes Mrs. Smith, jug in her hand;
'Say, Tommy, won't you have a little dram?'

9. 'No, I thank you very kind,
Rather have Mary than any of your wine.'

10. Out comes Mr. Smith, club in his hand;
'Run, Tommy, run! I'll kill you if I can!'

C. 'I'm Going to_______.' Published by John A. Lomax in the North Carolina Booklet, vol. XI, No. I. Clearly a fragment of the same song in  another version. [See Lomax NC collection in my articles section]

1 I'm going to________ , an' that will be the place,
To get Miss Laura, if God'll give me grace

2. Out came Miss Laura all dressed in silk
With a rose in her hair as white as milk.

74. The Needle's Eye

Our collection has only a fragment of this very widely known play-party song; more properly, a singing game. See the McLendon finding list, SFLQ viii 217. To the references there given should be added Maine (FSONE 43-4) and the Ozarks (OFS 111 351-2). The Archive of American Folk Song has records of it from Virginia, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Washington, D. C. Mrs. Steely found it in the Ebenezer community in Wake county.

'Needle's Eye.' Contributed, words and music, in 1922 by J. T. C. Wright of Boone, Watauga county. The missing second line might be 'The thread that runs so true."

Needle's eye did supply
(line missing)
Many a beau have I let go
For the sake of kissing you.

75. The Miller Boy

This is perhaps the oldest and most widely known of the play-party songs. For English texts see Lady Gomme's Traditional Songs I 289-93 and Northall's English Folk-Rhymes 366. and for references to American texts Botkin's The American Play-Party Song 247-52 and the McLendon finding list in SFLQ viii 209, adding Virginia (FSV 221) and the Ozarks (OFS iii 293-5). It is represented in our collection only by the opening stanza.

A. 'The Miller Boy.' Reported by Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga county, as obtained from Miss Mae Smith.

Oh, the miller boy that tends to the mill
He takes the toll with his own free will.
One hand in the hopper and the other in the sack —
The ladies step forward and the gents fall back.

B. 'Miller Boy.' From Ethel Brown, Catawba county.

Happy is the miller that lives by the mill,
The mill ttirns around and gains what it will.
Hands in the hopper and hands in the sack —
Ladies step forward and the gents step back.

C. 'Little Johnny Miller.' A manuscript in Dr. Brown's hand, with the query 'G. S. Black?' This is repeated in another hand with the manuscript, with the music.

Little Johnnie Miller he worked at the mill,
He worked all day, no matter what you will.
With a hand in the hopper and the other in the sack,
The ladies keep a-going while the gents turn back.

76. In and Out the Window

[Derived from the French song "Marlbourouck" in 1762 the tune became the popular English drinking song, "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow." In the US the tune was also used for "A Bear Went Over the Mountain," "Rowser's" and "Pig in the Parlor." In a bizarre twist of fate, Kelly Harrell recorded the song in 1929 and sang as the last line instead of the typical "cause love has gained the day," --"Cave love has saved the day." Either through a Victor record engineering mishearing or Harrell's mishearing of the lyrics, the song was released as "Cave Love Has Saved The Day."]

An old favorite for play-parties. For English texts see Lady Gomme's Traditional Songs 11 122-43 and for its vogue in America the McLendon finding list, S1 LQ V-iii 207; and add Virginia (FSV 22S) and the Ozarks (OS iii 313-14, 336-8). It is also known as "Marching round the Levee' (for earlier "Marching round the Valley'). It appears but once in our collection. Mrs. Steely found it in the Ebenezer community in Wake county.

A. 'Marching Round the Love-Ring.' Reported by Dr. Rrown as "played by grown girls and boys in Buncombe, Madison, and Haywood counties."

1. Go in and out the window,
Go in and out the window,
Go in and out the window,
Since you have gained the day.

Chorus: We're marching round the love-ring,
We're marching round the love-ring.
We're marching round the love-ring,
Since we have gained the day.

2. Step forth and face your lover,
Step forth and face your lover.
Step forth and face your lover,
Since you have gained the day.

3. I'll measure my love to show you,
I'll measure my love to show you,
I'll measure my love to show you,
Since you have gained the day.

4. I'll kneel because I love you,
I'll kneel because I love you,
I'll kneel becatise I love you,
Since you have gained the day.

5. One kiss before I leave you,
One kiss before I leave you.
One kiss before I leave you,
Since you have gained the day.

77. Shoot the Buffalo

This is a fragment of the singing game or play-party song so called, which in temper reaches back to early pioneer days. See Botkin, The American Play-Party Song 308-12, and the McLendon finding list, SFLQ viii 223-4. Randolph reports it from the Ozarks (OFS III 306-9).

'Ohio.' Contributed by Jesse T. Carpenter of Durham with the note: "I think this is a song game. It was sung before the Civil War in the neighborhood around McMannen's Chapel."

O my dearest clear, I will take you by the hand
And I'll lead you to the far off country
Where there's a better and fairer land;
Where the girls can knit and sew.
Where the boys can plow and mow,
And I'll settle you on the banks of that river Ohio.

78. Coffee Grows on White Oak Trees

[This song is also know in the mid-west as the play-party song, "Four in the Middle," and is so titled in five versions in the Wolf Folklore collection on-line. From this, apparently comes the unusal title "Frog in the Middle." There's also a "Frog in the Mill Pond" (Tennessee). Let's not forget about the ancient song, "Frog in the Well." Could there be a different origin to "Four in the Middle"?]

A favorite play-party song pretty much everywhere that play-parties are — or have been — in vogue is made up of three elements: a stanza beginning with the line liere chosen as title, another beginning "pretty little pink" (sometimes '"my blue-eyed gal") and another beginning "I'll put my knapsack on my back." It goes back
to the Mexican War. As Sandburg remarks ( ASb 166): "a dance song known in Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois became a knapsack and marching tune with Mexican War references." For its range see the McLendon finding list, SFLQ viii 204 and 221, and add to the references there given Virginia (FSV 219-20) and the Ozarks
(OFS III 296-7, 309, 311). Sometimes only two of the elements appear, and sometimes only one. Sometimes New Orleans or Quebec appears in place of Mexico, carrying the reference back to the War of 1812.

A. 'Daisy.' Communicated by Mildred Peterson of Bladen county, probably in 1923.

1. Coffee grows in the white oak tree,
The rivers run with brandy.
My little gal is a blue-eyed gal
As sweet as any candy.

2. Fly around, my blue-eyed gal.
So fly around, my daisy;
Every time I see that gal
She almost runs me crazy.

[Brown's other versions include "Pretty Little Pink" as well as the soldier in Mexico (New Orleans) and I'll add this information:

Perhaps the earliest reference of Pretty Little Pink comes from a verse by Robert Burns: "The Scots Musical Museum: 1787 - 1803", James Johnson & Robert Burns. The following verse was taken from “Here’s to thy Health My Bonnie Lass”:

"O dinna think my pretty pink,
But I can live without thee:
I vow and swear, I dinna care
How lang ye look about ye."

W. W. Newell published this in "Games and Songs of American Children," in 1883. No. 175, from East Tennessee. "The manner of playing has not been obtained." The second verse is slightly different than Version 3, and a few words vary in the other verses.

My pretty little pink, I once did think
That you and I would marry,
But now I've lost all hope of that,
I can no longer tarry.

I've got my knapsack on my back,
My musket on my shoulder,
To march away to Quebec town,
To be a gallant soldier.

Where coffee grows on a white-oak tree,
And the rivers flow with brandy,
Where the boys are like a lump of gold,
And the girls as sweet as candy.
 
W.K. McNeil, in Southern Mountain Folksongs (Little Rock, Arkansas: August House Publishers, Inc., 1993) reports:

"Although most folksong scholars agree that this song dates back only to the Mexican War (1846-1848), the earliest reported text, from eastern Tennessee in 1883, contains the following lyrics . (see above)

"This reference to Quebec suggests the possibility that the song originated during the French and Indian War (1754-1763), or about a century earlier than is generally believed. Some other texts mention New Orleans and thus make a War of 1812 origin possible. Is is, of course, also possible that the song predates all three wars and harks back to an as yet undiscovered form. This seems to be what Ben Botkin is suggesting in The American Play-Party song, p.71, when he says the song 'presents a curious example of a dance song which has been converted into a soldiers' marching song, with Mexican War references, and then back into dance usage, war references and all."]

B. 'Song.' Communicated by Lucille Cheek from Chatham county in 1923 or thereabouts.

1. The sugar grows on a white oak tree,
The river flows with brandy,
The little girls in Mexico
Are sweet as sugar candy.
All night long, all night long.

2. The rooster spreads his tail and crows,
The jayhird spreads his tail;
The whippoorwill ain't got no tail.
But you ought to hear him sing
All night long, all night long.

C. 'Pretty Little Pink." Reported by Ruth Morgan from Stanly county.

1. Pretty little pink, I used to think
That you and I would marry.
But now I've lost all hopes of that,
So farewell, my darling.

2. I'll throw my knapsack on my hack,
My rifle on my shoulder.
And march away to Mexico
To live to be a soldier.

3. Where the coffee grows on the white oak trees
And the rivers flow with brandy
And the street all lined with five dollar* [bills]
And the girls as sweet as candy —
And the boys as sour as vinegar.

* Omitted in the manuscript, doubtless by accident.

D. 'My Darling Little Pink.' Contributed by J. B. Midgett of Wanchese. Roanoke Island, probably in 1920. With the tune.

1. My darling little Pink, I once did think
That you and I would marry;
But now I've lost all hope of love,
So I can no longer tarry.

2. I'll take my knapsack on my back,
My gun upon my shoulder.
And march away to New Orleans
To view a pleasant country.

3 Where money grows on white oak trees,
The rivers flow with brandy.
The streets are paved with radiant gold.
And the girls are sweet as candy.

E. Pretty Little Pink.' From Clara Hearne, student at Duke University in 1923; a version probably from Chatliam county. Like the preceding except that it has "Mexico" instead of "New Orleans" and the last two lines are:

Where the boys are like a lump of gold,
And girls are sweet as candy.

F. "Song." Contributed by Cozette Coble — probably from Stanly county.

1 I take my knapsack on my back,
My rifle on my shoulder.
March away to Mexico
Where for and yank a soldier.*

2 Where the coffee grows on the white oak trees
And the river is float brandy,*
Streets are lined with ten dollar bills,
And the girls are sweet as candy.

* The first of these lines should perhaps read "There for to be a Yankee soldier"; the second can be understood by reference to preceding texts.

G. 'I'll Put My Knapsack on My Back.' Contributed in 1914 or there-abouts by Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga county, with the notation: "The above song sung lately by Polly Rayfield, also by Bennett Smith. They heard it over fifty years ago."

1. I'll put my knapsack on my back,
My rifle on my shoulder,
And march down to New Orleans
Just to be a soldier.

2. Where coffee grows on white oak trees
And rivers flow with brandy.
And ladies' hearts are lined with gold
And lips as sweet as candy.

H. No title. Contributed by V. C. Royster in 1914 from Wake county, with the notation that it goes back to times before the Civil War.

I'll take my knapsack on my back.
My rifle on my shoulder,
And march away to old Quebec
There for to be a soldier.

I. No title. From Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga county, in 1915. The same as H except that it has "New Orleans" for "old Quebec."

79. Little Fight in Mexico 

This memory of the Mexican War of a hundred years ago has  retained its place as a play-party song pretty well in the South and  West; see the McLendon finding list, SFLQ viii 214. Davis reports it also from Virginia (FSV 220 J and Randolph from the  Ozarks (OFS 111 357-9). Our text, like that remembered by Hudson from his boyhood in Mississippi (FSM 289;, reverses the attitudes of the girl's and the boys in the presence of danger.

A. 'Mexican War.' Reported by Merle Smith from Stanly county. Not  dated.

There was a war in Mexico
And all the boys and girls they had to go.
But when they got to the place where the blood was shed
The boys turned back and the gals went ahead.

Sing fol dol da, sing fol dol da.

80. Pig in the Parlor

One of the most generally known of the play-party songs. See  the McLendon finding list, SFLQ viii 220, and add Randolph, OFS  III 305-6. Our North Carolina texts are fragmentary.

A. No title. Communicated by Jessie Hauser from Forsyth county.

1. My father and mother were Irish.
My father and mother were Irish,
My father and mother were Irish,
And I am Irish too.

2 We put the pig in the parlor,
We put the pig in the parlor,
We put the pig in the parlor,
And it is Irish too.

B. 'My Father and Mother Were Irish.' From Mildred Peterson. Bladen  county. The same as A except that the second stanza has

We keep a pig in the kitchen.

C. 'We Have a New Pig in the Parlor." From J. C. Knox, Brunswick  county, with the tune. Only two lines, each repeated three times:

We have a new pig in the parlor
And he is Irish too.

81. Buffalo Gals

[From the 1920's the most popular offshoots of this are "Alabama Gal(s)" (Skillet Lickers; many others); "Give The Fiddler A Dram" and "Dance All Night with a Bottle In Your Hand." The unusal title: "Bear Creek Hop." Listen: Bear Creek Hop- Texas Tophands]

S. Foster Damon (Scries of Old American Songs No. 39)  points out that the original form of this is the minstrel song 'Lubly  Fan,' the work of Cool White (real name John Hodges), copyrighted in 1844. From this grew 'Bowery Gals,' which was in  Christy's repertory. The finally successful form of it, "Buffalo Gals,' was copyrighted (without indication of author or composer)  in 1848, and spread all over the country, becoming a favorite play-party song. See Botkin, The American Play-Party Song 150-4 and  the McLendon finding list, SFLQ viii 203. Davis reports it also  from Virginia (FSV 243 ) and Randolph from the Ozarks (OFS iii 332-4). Perhaps it was suggested by an old English singing game,  'Pray, Pretty Miss,' known in Scotland, Yorkshire, Sussex, and  Cornwall (Gomme 11 65-7), an invitation to dance that has a like  catchy rhythm. Any place-name may be substituted for Buffalo.

A. 'Won't You Walk Out Tonight." Contributed some time in the years  1921-24 by Miss Jewell Robbins of Pekin, Montgomery ccninty. With the tune.

1. Oh, Buffalo gals, won't you walk out tonight,
Won't you walk out tonight, won't you walk out tonight ?
Oh, Buffalo gals, won't you walk out tonight
And dance by the light of the moon?

2. I kept a-dancin' and my heels kept a-rockin',
My heels kept a-rockin', my heels kept a-rockin',
I kept a-dancin' and my heels kept a-rockin'
Till I danced around the big round moon.

B. 'Round Town Girls.' Reported by Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga  county, in 1915, with the notation: "This was a favorite tune of Ranzo  Miller the fife player. I recall hearing him play it on a fife for a school
entertainment over twenty years ago."

Round Town girls, won't you come out tonight,
Won't you come out tonight, won't you come out tonight
And dance by the light of the moon?

82. Old Dan Tucker

This song of Dan Emmett's, like some of Stephen Foster's, has  become indubitable American folk song. Perhaps because of its  rousing chorus, it is a favorite play-party song: the McLendon  finding list (SFLQ viii 218-19) has as many entries for it as for  'Weevily Wheat.' Davis reports it also for Virginia (FSV 154)  and Randolph for the Ozarks (OFS in 301-4). Although none  of our North Carolina texts is so marked, it is prohahle that most  of them are play-party or dance memories. It has even crept into  the tradition of the Thames valley (FSUT 142-3)- And it has  accumulated a wide variety of stanzas in its course as traditional
song. Indeed, our thirty-odd North Carolina texts show hardly a  trace, beyond the chorus, of the original Emmett text (Damon,  Series of Old American Songs No. 217, from a print of 1843); the Harris Collection at Brown University), nor much more of the  fuller text which White (ANFS 446-7) reprints from Marsh's
Selections [1]. And texts reported from other regions show variations  not found in the North Carolina texts. Some stanzas appear in pretty  much all the texts recorded from tradition: others occur less often,  though not, apparently, with any regional significance. Since all  our texts, if they exceed two stanzas (very many of them consist  of a single stanza), are a medley, they are presented here stanza by  stanza with notation of their occurrence elsewhere.

A. 'Ole Dan Tucker.' Reported by K. P. Lewis as obtained in 1910 from  Dr. Kemp P. Battle of Chapel Hill.

1. Old Dan Tucker, he got drunk,
He fell in the fire and kicked up a chunk.
A coal of fire got in his shoe,
And bless my soul, honey, how the ashes flew.[2]

Chorus: Get out the way, old Dan Tucker,
Get out the way, old Dan Tucker,
Get out the way, old Dan Tucker,
You're too late to get your supper. [3]

2. A bullfrog jumped from the bottom of the well,
He jumped so high I could not tell.
I tied him fast to a hickory stump.
And he reared and he pitched, but he couldn't get a  hump.[4]

3. Some folks say that a nigger won't steal. [5]
But I caught one in my cornfield;
I tied him fast to a knotty pine
And gave him with a horsewhip thirty-nine.

4. There was a man in Chapel Hill town
W ho carried a load of molasses down ;
The "lasses worked, and the hoops did bust
And sent him home in thundergust.'[6]

[1] The Lomaxes, ABFS 261-2, print still another text as the original Emmett version, but do not say where they found it.]

[2] This is one of the persistent stanzas ; not in Damon's or Marsh's text,  but reported from Kentucky (BKH 163, JAFL xl 97), Tennessee  (ETWV-JB 140, BTFLS v 31), North Carolina (ABFS 258), South  Carolina (JAFL xliv 427, Negroes), Oklahoma ( Botkin APPS 253),  the Ozarks (OASPS 151. JAFL xiii 210), Missouri (JAFL xxiv 309),  Indiana ( BSl 340), and Nebraska (JAFL xxviii 284). It is also in  the versions given in Trifet's Budget of Music and in Ford's Traditional  Music of America. And in our collection it is reported by T. J. Gill,  Jr., from Durham; Miss Amy Henderson from Burke county; Miss  Minnie Brvan Farrior from Duplin county: Miss Katherine Bernard  Jones, and 'Miss Dorothy McDowell Vann, from Raleigh; Miss Mildred  Peterson, from Bladen county; Mrs. W. L. Pridgen, from Durham; and  Miss Irene Thompson, from Surry county. There are slight variations  in the wording of some of these.

[3] The chorus shows little variation— none in our texts, but in Kentucky (BKH 163), Tennessee (BTFLS v 30), Texas (Owens 39 K the  Ozarks (JAFL lu 210), Ohio (JAFL xl 23), Indiana (Wolford 78),  and Nebraska (JAFL xxvni 284), and in the Lomaxes' version of  Emmett's text the last two lines sometimes run:

Supper's over and breakfast's a-cookin'
And old Dan Tucker's standin' and lookin'

or the like.

[4] This stanza is reminiscent of 'The Frog in the Well.' I have not found it elsewhere associated with 'Old Dan Tucker.'

[5] This stanza from 'Some Folks Say that a Nigger Won't Steal' — see  p. 508 — is nowhere else, so far as I can find, associated with "Old Dan  Tucker."

[6] This stanza, clearly a local adaptation of "Lynchburg Town,' is not elsewhere brought into our song.]

B. 'Old Dan Tucker.' Obtained in 1927 by Julian P. Boyd from Minnie  Lee, one of his pupils in the school at Alliance, Pamlico county.

1. Old Dan Tucker was a grand old sinner,
He never said grace till he went to his dinner.
Then he hung his head, and laughed, and said:
'Lord Jesus Christ, what a big pone of bread!' [1]

2. Old Dan Tucker clam a tree
His Lord and Saviour for to see.
The limb did break and he did fall;
He never saw his Lord at all! [2]

3. Old Dan Tucker saw a hole in a hollow tree
And run [his] bill in there to see.
A snake slipped down and caught him by the bill;
Says "Please, good Lord, do keep him still !' [3]

[1] The first half of this stanza is in Trifet's text, and the whole of it  constitutes an anonymous text in our collection; otherwise I have not  found it.

[2] This occurs as a stanza of "Old Dan Tucker' in Kentucky (JAFL xl  96), North Carolina (ABFS 260). Oklahoma (Botkin APPS 263), and  Indiana (BSI 349) ; not elsewhere, so far as I can find.

[3] This is one of the few bits of the original song that appear in our collection. It is a corruption of the fourth stanza of tlie song in the original text and the seventh stanza of Marsh's text as reprinted by White. None of the other texts found has it.

C. 'Old Dan Tucker.' Contributed by Katherine Bernard Junes of Raleigh. Not dated.

1. Old Dan Tucker was a fine old fellow
But he would play cards with the negroes in the cellar.[1]

2. I went over heeple steeple.
There I saw a good many people;
Soiue were white, some were black,
And some were the color of an old chaw tobacco. [2]

3. Old Dan Tucker he got drunk;
Fell in the fire and kicked up a chunk.
Coal of fire got in his shoe;
Ha, ha, ha, how his coat-tail flew!' [3]

[1] This appears as stanza 2 of the Negro song 'Captain Dime' (Talley  5), in a Kentucky text (JAFL xi 97), and as part of a stanza in our  collection contributed by Esther Royster from Vance county; not found
elsewhere.

[2] Another remnant of the earlier form of the song. It is not in Emmett's text as given by Damon but it is the sixth stanza of Marsh's text  as given by White (ANFS 447) — where, however, the rhyme is better:

Some was black, an some was blacker.
Some was de color ob brown tobacur.

It is really a riddle and not properly a part of 'Old Dan Tucker.' It  has been reported from Ontario (JAFL xxxi 43), Kentucky (JAFL  XXVI 152), North Carolina (JAFL xxx 202), and Indiana (Wolford  78 — the last two lines only).

[3] Already noted under A.

 

D. No title. From Miss Dorothy McDowell Vann, Raleigh.

1. Old Dan Tucker was a mean old man,
Washed his face in the frying pan,
Coiuljed his hair with a wagon wheel,
Died with the toothache in his heel.

2. Old Dan Tucker he got drunk,
Fell in the fire and kicked up a chunk;
A red-hot coal got in his boot,
And old Dan Tucker went toot, toot, toot. [1]

[1] For the second stanza see under A, above. The first stanza is probably the most widely known of all, especially at play-parties. There is  nothing of the sort in Emmett's text as given by Danujn ( though it is
in what the Lomaxes, ABFS 262, give as Emmett's form of the song)  or in Marsh's or Trifet's; but it appears in Ford's Midwest version and  in reports from Ontario (JAFL xxxi 61, 152), Kentucky (BKH 163.  JAFL XL 97), Tennessee (JAFL xxvni 132, BTFLS v 30), North Carolina (ANFS 161, Negroes).

E. No title. Contributed by Louise Bennett, Middleburg, Vance county.

Old Dan Tucker singing for his supper,
What shall he eat? Cold bread and meat.
How shall he eat it without a knife?
How shall he marry without a wife?[1]

[1] This stanza, evidently a reminiscence of 'Little Tommy Tucker,'  appears in connection with our song, so far as I have found, only in  Botkin's Oklahoma texts (Botkin 262).

F. 'Old Dan Tucker.' Obtained by Dr. J. F. Royster from William C.  Daubken of the class of 1915 at the University of North Carolina.

1 Old Dan Tucker he got drunk,
Fell in the fire and kicked out a chunk;
Combed his hair with a wagon wheel.
Died with the toothache in his heel.

Refrain: O run, nigger, run, the patteroller ketch ye,
Run, nigger, run, it's almost day.

2 Old Dan Tucker an' er Henry Clay
They went to ride in a one-horse shay ;
Shay it broke an' they fell through.
Old Dan Tucker an' er Henry Clay.

83. Yonder Comes a Georgia Girl

This belongs to the general type of love songs represented by  'Knights of Spain,' 'Here Comes a Duke,' etc. in Newell's Games  and Songs of American Cliildren, but it is not in Newell or Botkin  or the McLendon finding list. It is, however, reported as a play-party song from Virginia by Davis (FSV 228), Carolina (ANFS 161, Negroes), Texas (Owens 40), the Ozarks  (OASPS 151, JAFL XLH 210); Missouri (JAFL xxiv 310); Indiana
(Wolford 78, BSI 340, 341), Illinois (JAFL xxxii 489), Michigan  (JAFL xxxiii 116), Nebraska (JAFL xxv 273. xxviii 384), and Idaho  (JAFL XXiv 16). And it appears sixteen times in our collection, frequently as the only stanza remembered, in contritnitions from Gertrude Allen (Mrs. Vaught), Oakboro, Stanly county; Antoinette Beasley, Monroe, Union county; Caroline Biggers, Union county; Lucille Cheek, Chatham county; J. T. Gill. Jr., Durham; Minnie S. Gosney, Raleigh; Amy Henderson, Worry, Burke county; Lois Johnson, Davidson county; Flossie Marshbanks, Mars Hill, Madison county; Lida Page, Durham county; Mrs. W. H. Pridgen, Durliam; Esther Royster, Vance county;  Irene Thompson, Surry county; Louise F. Watkins, Goldsboro, Wayne  county; Sarah K. Watkins, reporting from Anson and Stanly counties.

A. 'Yonder Comes a Georgia Girl.' Contributed by Mrs. Peggy Perry of  Silverstone, Watauga county, in 1915, witli tlie notation: "Heard as a  play-song over sixty years ago."

1 Yonder comes a Georgia girl,
Don't she look funny?
She's got on a roundabout
Without a cent of money.

2 Once I could have married you,
Once I could, my honey.
When you wore your roundabout
With a pocket full of money.

84. Captain Jinks

This seems (Weep Some More, My Lady 47) to have got its start  from the singing of William Lingard, apparently in the seventies.  There was a play of the same name. The song was sung all over the country and became a play-party song; see the McLendon finding list, SFLQ VIII 203 : and MAFLS xxix 23-4, 30. Our collection has one stanza and chorus from Miss Florence Holton of  Durham, and a fragment reported by T. J. Gill, Jr.

I'm Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines,
I feed my horse on corn and beans
And sport young ladies in their teens
Though a captain in the army.
I teach young ladies how to dance.
How to dance, how to dance,
I teach young ladies how to dance,
For I'm the pet of the army.

Chorus: Captain jinks of the Horse Marines.
I feed my horse on corn and beans.
And often live beyond my means.
Though I'm a captain in the army.

85. Hop Light, Ladies

Perrow (JAFL xxviii 184) found this sung by country whites  in Virginia and Mississippi, not more than two couplets in either  place. Davis reports it from Virginia (FSV 249) and Randolph  (OFS II 323) as part of a text of 'Jump Jim Crow' in Missouri.

A. 'Hop Light, Ladies." From Aliss Jewell Robbins, Pekin, Montgomery  county, in 1922.

Hop light, ladies, yo' cake's all dough,
Hop light, ladies, yo' cake's all dough,
Hop light, ladies, yo' cake's all dough,
You needn't mind the weather so the wind don't hlow.

B. No title. From Miss Louise Bennett. Vance county.

Walk light, ladies, de cake's all do',
Neber min' de weder so de wind don't blow.

86. Old Joe Clark

Essentially this is a play-party or dance song. See Randolph's  headnote to his Missouri texts, JAFL xiii 221, and to those from  Arkansas and Missouri, OFS iii 324. Botkin's study of its relation to other song texts in The American Play-Party Song 269-72, and  the McLendon finding list, SFLQ viii 219. The refrain, and very  likely the tune, have drawn to it stanzas from a variety of other  songs. Payne, commenting on his Texas version (PFLST i 32),  says a dance-caller once told him there are one hundred and forty-four verses of it; and Botkin calls it "this vigorously and fabulously vulgar epic." It is widely known in the South: Virginia (SharpK
11 259, FSV 244-5), West Virginia (FSS 495). Kentucky (DD  106-7), Tennessee (TAFL xxv 152, BTFLS v 23), North Carolina (SCSM 65, ANFS 337), Mississippi (JAFL xxv 152), Texas  (PFLST I 32-4, Owens 56-61), Oklahoma (Botkin 272-85), Arkansas and Missouri (see above); Brewster (SFLQ iv 192-3) reports  it from Indiana; the Archive of American Folk Song lists thirty-seven records of it from a variety of places. Mrs. Steely found it  in the Ebenezer community in Wake county. It seems not to be  known in New England. The Brown Collection has two texts  illustrating the tendency to attach to it stanzas from other songs,  and three shorter versions.

A. 'Old Joe Clark.' Contributed in 1909 by Otis Kuykendall of Asheville.

1. Now I've got no money.
Got no place to stay,
I've got no place to lay my head.
And the chickens a-crowin' for day.

Chorus: Fare you well, old Joe Clark,
Fare you well, I say,
Fare you well, old Joe Clark,
I'm goin' away to stay.

2. I wish I had a nickel,
I wish I had a dime,
I wish I had a pretty little girl
To kiss and call her mine.

3. I don't like old Joe Clark,
I'll tell you the reason why:
He goes about the country
A-stealin' good men's wives.

4. I went down to old Joe Clark's,
I did not mean no harm;
He grabbed his old forty-four
And shot me through the arm.

5. Old Joe Clark's a mean old man.
I'll tell you the reason why;
He tore down my old rail fence
So his cattle could eat my rye.

6. I went down to old Joe Clark's,
I found old Joe in bed;
I stuck my finger in old Joe's eye
And killed old Joe stone dead.

7. I wouldn't marry that old maid,
I'll tell you the reason why:
Her neck's so long and stringy
I'm afraid she'll never die.

8. I went down to Dinah's house.
She was standin' in the door
With her shoes and stockings in her hand
And her feet all over the floor.

9 Yonder sits a turtle dove.
Sitting on yonder pine;
You may weep for your true love
And I shall weep for mine.

B. 'Old Joe Clark.' From the manuscripts of G. S. Robinson of Asheville,  copy taken in August, 1939. This text uses few of the elements used in A.

1. Old Joe Clark he killed his wife,
Threw her in the branch;
Going to be hung as sure as your life,
Ain't no other chance.

Chorus: Fare thee well, old Joe Clark,
Fare thee well, I say,
Fare thee well, old Joe Clark,
I'm going away to stay.

2. I don't like old Joe Clark,
I never think I shall.
I don't like old Joe Clark,
But I always liked his gal.

3. Old Joe Clark was a mean old man,
I'll tell you the reason why;
Ran across my garden plot
And tore down my rye.

4. I went up on the mountain top
To give my horn a blow.
I thought I heard my sweetheart say
'Yonder comes my beau.'

5. If I had no horse at all
I'd be found a-crawling
Up and down the rocky branch
Looking for my darling.

6. The possum in the simmon tree.
The raccoon on the ground;
The raccoon said. 'You rascal, you.
Shake them simmons down.'

7. The jaybird in the sugar tree.
The sparrow on the ground ;
The jaybird shake the sugar down.
The sparrow passed it round.

8. The jaybird and the sparrowhawk
They fly all round together.
Had a fight in the briar patch
And never lost a feather.

9. The jaybird died with the wlnxipiiig cough.
The sparrow with tlie colic.
Along came a terrapin with a fiddle on his back
Inquiring the way to the frolic.

C. 'Rock, Rock, Old Joe Clark." Reported by Miss Jewell Robbins (afterwards Mrs. C. P. Perdue) from Pekin, Montgomery county, some time in the period 1921-24. With the tune.

1 If you see that girl o' mine when you go,
Tell her, it you please.
Tell 'er, 'fo' she makes her dough
To roll up her dirty sleeves.

Chorus: Rock. rock, old Joe Clark,
Goodbye, Betty Brown;
Rock, rock, old Joe Clark,
Goodbye, Betty Brown.

2. Taylor wears a roundabout.
So does all the rest ;
John Henderson wears a long-tailed sack
And I love him the best.

3. Farewell, my true love,
Farewell, I'm gone.
Farewell, old Joe Clark ;
Goodbye, Betty Brown.

D. 'Old Joe Clark." This text was supplied by G. S. Block, but the manuscript has no indication of time or place. It is accompanied by the music.

1. Never liked the old Joe Clark,
Don't think I ever shall;
Never liked the old Joe Clark,
Always liked his gal.

Chorus: Round and round the old Joe Clark,
Round and round, I say.
Round and round the old Joe Clark,
Ain't got long to stay.

2 Fare you well, old Joe Clark,
Fare you well, I'm gone.
Fare you well, you old Joe Clark,
Goodbye, Lucy Long.

E. 'Old Joe Clark." Obtained by Dr. Brown from Eugene C. Crawford.  a student at Trinity College; no notation of date or place of origin. Dr. White points out that the first stanza comes from the John Hardy  song, and suggests that the "rock, rock" of the chorus refers to the  old dance of 'Rock Candy," concerning which see ANFS 162.

1. I don't want no fifteen cents,
I don't want no change.
All I want is a forty-four gun,
Shoot John Hardy through the hrain.

Chorus: Rock, rock, old Joe Clark,
Rock, rock, I say,
Rock, rock, old Joe Clark,
Rock, rock, I say.

2. Last time I saw my wife,
She was standing in the door;
Shoes and stockings in her hand
And harefoot all over the floor.

3. If you see my wife
Tell her, if you please,
To roll up those dirty sleeves
Before she make of her dough.

87. What's the Lady's Motion?

This game song appears to have been reported hitherto only from  Virginia (JAFL xxxiv 119). 'Monkey Motions' (TNFS 133) is something like it but not the same song.

A. 'Skip o'er the Mountain.' Reported in 1927 by Julian P. Boyd from the  singing of Catherine Bennett, one of his pupils in the school at Alliance,  Pamlico county. The first line and the refrain are repeated with each
stanza.

1 Skip o'er the mountain,
Tra-la-la-la-la,
Skip o'er the mountain,
Tra-la-la-la-la.

Skip o'er the mountain,
Tra-la-la-la-la,
Oh, she loves sugar and cheese!

2. What's the lady's motion?
Oh, she loves sugar and cheese!

3. It's a very lovely motion,
Oh, she loves sugar and cheese!

4. Yonder goes a red-bird,
Oh, she loves sugar and cheese!

88. The Farmer's Boy

This romance of farm life is well known in England both traditionally and in stall print and has been reported in this country from Vermont, Virginia, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Wyoming; see BSM 272 and add to the references there given  Virginia (FSV 71-2), Missouri (OFS i 426-7), Wisconsin (JAFL  Lii ij), and Iowa (JAFL liv 172). It is known also in Michigan  (BSSM 479, listed but text not given). The texts in the North Carolina collection are so closely alike that only one is given here. 

It appears from Mrs. Sutton's account of it that it is a play-party  song in Caldwell and adjoining counties. She writes: "The Farmer's Boy' is a grand tune for twistification. The good dancers can  stamp hard on the o sounds in the chorus. A group of boys and  girls singing 'For to reap or to mow, or to plow or to sow, or to
be a farmer's boy' and dancing an old English dance is a pretty  sight. 'Twistification' is a modified form of an intricate old dance  'The Grapevine Swing.' It takes skill and the figures are pretty."  Our four texts:

A. 'The Farmer's Boy.' Contributed, without date but probably in 1915 or 1916, by I. G. Greer of Boone. Watauga county. With the music.

B. 'The Farmer's Boy.' From Miss Averie M. Martin. Text given  below.

C. 'The Farmer Boy.' Collected for Professor E. L. Starr of Salem  College, Winston-Salem; probably in 1915.

D. 'The Farmer's Boy.' Collected, probably in the early 1920s, by Mrs. Sutton in Caldwell county. With the music.

1. The sun had set behind the hill
When across the dreary moor.
All weary and lame, a poor boy came
Up to a farmer's door.

'Can you tell me if any there be
Who'll give to me employ.
For to plow or to sow. or to reap or to mow,
Or to be a farmer's boy ?

2. 'My father's dead, my mother's left
With her five children small.
And what is worse for my mother yet
I'm the eldest of them all.

Though little I be I fear not work,
If you will me employ
For to plow or to sow, or to reap or to mow
Or to be a farmer's boy.'

3. 'W'ell try the lad' the farmer said.
'No longer let him seek.'
'Oh, yes. dear father.' the daughter cried
While tears ran down her cheeks.

'For a lad who'll work 'tis hard to want
Or to wander for employ
For to plow or to sow. or to reap or to mow,
Or to he a farmer's boy.'

4. In the course of time the lad grew up
And the good old farmer died.
Me left for the lad the farm he had
And his daughter for a bride.

And that same lad who is a farmer now
Doth often smile with joy
On the lucky, lucky day when he came that way
For to be a farmer's boy.

89. Sally Goodin

This seems to be a play-party or dance song*. It is sung in Virginia (FSV 249), Kentucky (BKH 158), Tennessee (ETWVMB 98), Mississippi (JAFL xxxix 168), and Missouri (JAFL xlii  227-8, OFS II 350-1), and Ford (Traditional Music of America  64) reports it as a square-dance song. What appear to be fragments of it, dealing with "pie" and "pudding," are reported also  from INIissouri (JAFL xxiv 313, where Mrs. Ames calls it a song  used in kissing games), and a Negro version of 'Miss Mary Jane'  from South Carolina (TNFS 117) says that "Sally got a house in  Baltimo' an' it's full o' chicken pie." Compare also texts E and F  of 'Wish I Had a Needle and Tln-ead' in this volume. Because of  this apparent connection certain North Carolina fragments are  here presented although they do not include Sally's name.

A. No title. This appears in the collection as 'from Mother Goose in the  Ozarks, by Ray Wood,' and so is not properly North Carolina folk  song; but it was probably introduced by Dr. Brown because be know it in North Carolina.

1 Had a piece of pie,
I had a piece of puddin',
Gave it all away
To see Sally Goodin.

2 1 looked down the road,
Saw Sally comin';
I thought to my soul
I'd kill myself a-runnin'.

B. 'Sally Goodin.' Reported by Thomas Smith of Zionville, presumably in  1915, as a dance song for fiddle and banjo, with the comment: "The  only verse so far as I can learn of this old tune. It was played by fifers in the Confederate Army. I am told one of these old fifers, L. D.  Miller, who lives near Zionville, can yet play this tune. Sally Goodin  has also been long time a favorite with fiddlers and banjo pickers."  Later the tune was secured as sung by a cousin in Silverstone.

I love a peach pie and I love a tater puddin'
And I love that gal they call Sallv Goodin.

C. 'Hunks of Pudding and Pieces of Pie.' Reported by Miss Adelaide L.  Fries of Winston-Salem in 1926 as "traditional in our family."

Hunks of ptiddin' and pieces of pie
My mammy gave me when I was a boy;
If you don't believe, then come and see
W'hat hunks of puddin' and pieces of pie,
Hunks of puddin' and pieces of pie
IMy mammy gave me when I was a boy.

D. 'Had a Pie.' Reported by Mrs. Doris Overton Brim of Durham, probably in 1922, as a nursery rhyme.

Had a pie
Made out of rye,
Rough enough and tough enough,
More than all can eat.

E. 'The Jaybird and the Sparrow.' Contributed by W. E. Poovey of  Marion, McDowell county, in 1924. This is, as Dr. White notes on  the manuscript, "probably a stanza of 'Sally Goodin.' "

The jaybird and the sparrow went down in the field together.
They had a fight in the brier patch and never lost a feather.

Refrain: Old Sally Goodin, you can't fool me,
Old Sally Goodin, you can't fool me.

90. Doctor Jones

Known also in Kentucky (SharpK ii 368). Dr. Brown reports it as "a game played by grown boys and girls in Madison County, N. C, on Paw-Paw Creek, between Little and Big Pine Creeks."

1 Dr. Jones is a good man, a good man, a good man;
Dr. Jones is a good man, he'll help whoever he can.

2 Ladies and gentlemen, sail around, sail around, sail around;
Ladies and gentlemen, sail aroimd. and kiss just who you please.

3 Spider in the dumpling, roll around, roll around, roll around,
Spider in the dumpling, roll around, roll around and roll.

91. She Loves Coffee and I Love Tea

This is rather a phrase, a line, or a stanza that may be put into a song than an independent song itself. It probably derives from an English nursery jingle (Halliwell 86) "I love coffee and Billy loves tea." It has been found in North Carolina (SharpK 11 383, as a play-party song), South Carolina (JAFL xxvii 253, in a Negro dance song), Mississippi (JAFL xxviii 186), the Ozarks (JAFL XLii 219-20, as a play-party song), Indiana (SFLQ iii 174, as a rope-skipping chant) ; it appears without precise localization in Negro dance songs (Talley 81, 84-5) ;^ Winifred Smith of Vassar College reports it as a jumping rhyme (JAFL xxxix 84); Mrs. Richardson (AMS 53) gives it as the final stanza of 'The Keys of Canterbury,' i.e., 'A Paper of Pins,' as sung in the Southern mountains. Although in several of these instances it appears in play-party or dance songs, it is not recognized as a play-party song either in Botkin's study or in the McLendon finding list; probably
because it is merely an element in the songs, not a song by itself. It appears in two forms in our collection.

A. 'I Love Coffee, I Love Tea.' From Miss Doris Overton of Durham in July 1922.

1 love coffee, I love tea,
I love the boys, and the boys love me.
Wish my mama would hold her tongue;
She loved the boys when she was young.

B. 'I Love Coffee, I Love Tea.' From Mrs. W. L. Pridgcn, Durham. The  same as A.

A couplet communicated by Cousor, Bishopsville, South Carolina, shows that it has passed into the repertory of the Carolina Negroes:

I drink coffee and she drinks tea,
I love a yaller gal and she loves me.

C. No title. From Allie Ann Pcarce, Colerain, Bertie county. The same  as A and B.

D. 'I Love Coffee, I Love Tea.' From Carl G. Knox, Durham. The  first four lines as above and then these two:

I wish my papa would do the same,
For he caused a girl to change her name.

E. 'Me and My Sister, We Fell Out.' From Carl G. Knox of Durham, the same who supplied D; but the text is quite different:

Me and my sister, we fell out,
What was it all about?
She loved coffee, and I loved tea;
That's the reason we couldn't agree.

92. I Do Love Sugar in My Coffee O

This seems to be no more than a refrain, and a tmie, to which  various matter may be attached. I have found it reported elsewhere from Tennessee (BTFLS: 32-3), Iowa (JAFL xxviii 281), and as Negro song not localized (Talley 30).

A. 'I Do Like Sugar in My Coffee.' Contributed in 1915 by Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga county, as a "dance song — fiddle and banjo." He  says it "was played and sung thirty or thirty-one years ago by a
fiddler named Jehiel Smith who lived on Sharp's Creek."

I do like licker and I will love a dram,
I'd ruther he a nigger than a pore white man.

Chorus: I do like sugar in my coffee O
And I do like sugar in my coffee O

2. Black man stole the white man's wife.
White man struck him with a barlow knife.

B. 'A Little More Sugar in My Coffee.' Communicated by Mrs. Sutton (then Miss Maude Minish) in 1923 from the singing (and banjo playing) of "a typical story-book mountaineer" apparently in Caldwell  county. "He has blue-black hair, snappy black eyes, a debonair manner  and a devilish smile, and how he can play the banjo!" There are two  copies among her papers. The longer is given here, with notes of its  variations from the other. The tune was taken down by Miss Vivian  Blackstock.

1 The rabbit hipped, the rabbit hopped,
The rabbit bit off the turnip top.

I do love sugar in my coffee O
I do love sugar in my coffee O.

2. I do love licker and 1 will take a dram,
'Druther be a nigger than a pore white man.
I do love etc.

3. I'll make my licker and I'll have my fun,
But I'll run like hell when the Revenues come.
I do love etc.

The shorter text has "I do want sugar" in the refrain the first time,  "a little more sugar" the second time ; and it lacks the third stanza.

93. Pop Goes the Weasel

This old favorite dance and play-party song — perhaps one should  say tune — is represented in our collection by but a single stanza.  For its vogue as a play-party song, see the McLendon finding list,
SFLQ VIII 221; for its history see the headnote to Randolph's  Ozarks texts (OFS iii 368). Davis reports it as a Civil War  song in Virginia (FSV 251). Our stanza appears in one of  Davis's texts and in a text from the Midwest, Ford's Traditional  Music of America 412. But the whooping cough seems to have some special appeal to the fancy of singers in the South ; see 'The Jay-bird' in this volume.

'Papa Has Got the Whooping Cough.' Contributed by H. F. Shaw from "the eastern part of North Carolina." Not dated.

Papa has got the whooping cough.
Ma, she's got the measles;
That's where all the money goes —
Pop! goes the weasel.

94 Turkey in the Straw

A general favorite. See Botkin 335-6 and the McLendon finding  list, SFLQ VIII 226. Randolph reports it from the Ozarks (OFS  II 353-5) with an informative headnote.

'Turkey in the Straw.' Contributed by Aliss Kate S. Russell of Roxboro, Person county, probably in 1923. With the music.

Did you ever go a-fishing
On a bright sinnmer day.
See the little fishes
Come out to play,

With their pants in their pockets
And their pockets in their pants?
Did you ever see the ladies
Do their hoochy-koochy dance?

95. We're All A-Singing

This seems to be a mimetic singing game. The "dodging" of the  last two lines belongs to a popular satirical song, reported by Davis  from Virginia (FSV 155) and by Randolph from Arkansas (OFS  III 218), and found also in our collection, pp. 387-9, below. 

'Oh, We're All A-Singing, A-Sing-Sing-Singing.' From the manuscript  songbook of Airs. Harold Glasscock of Raleigh, lent to Dr. White in  December 1943. Most of the songs in the book Mrs. Glasscock learned  from her parents.

1 Oh, we're all a-singing, a-sing-sing-singing.
Oh, we're all a-singing so happy and so gay ;
We open wide oiu- lips with a soft fa fa,
And merrily we skip o'er the fra la la la,
Oh, we're all a-singing so happy and so gay.

2 Oh, we're all a-weaving, a-weave-weave-weaving,
Oh, w-e're all a-weaving so happy and so gay ;
The shuttle in our hand we send with a glide

And through the goods it goes with a stride-stride-stride;
Oh, we're all a-weaving so happy and so gay.

3 Oh, we're all a-sewing, a-sew-sew-sewing.
Oh, we're all a-sewing so happy and so gay.
The needle in our hand we stitch-stitch-stitch

And through the goods it goes with a switch-switch-switch,
Oh, we're all a-sewing so happy and so gay.

4 Oh, we're all a-sawing, a-saw-saw-sawing.
Oh, we're all a-sawing so happy and so gay ;
The saw up and down we push-push-push

And through the wood it goes with a swish-swish-swish ;
Oh, we're all a-sawing so happy and so gay.

5 Oh, we're all a-dodging, a-dodge-dodge-dodging,
Oh, we're all a-dodging so happy and so gay. . . .

96. The Dolly-Play Song

Not a play-party, i.e., dance song but a singing game of little girls. 'Early Sunday Morning,' reported from Virginia (SharpK  II 373)) is similar but has no dolls.

'The Dolly Play Song.' Contributed by W. N. Vaughan, student at  Trinity College, probably in 1920 or thereabouts. The fifth stanza is in  Dr. Brown's hand, possibly procured from elsewhere.

1. Here we come with our dollies dear.
Dollies dear, dollies dear;
Here we come with our dollies dear.
And we're their little mothers.

2. This is the way we comb their hair.
Comb their hair, comb their hair;
This is the way we comb their hair.
For we're their little mothers.

3. This is the way we dress our dolls,
Dress our dolls, dress our dolls;
This is the way we dress our dolls,
For we're their little mothers.

4. This is the way we rock them to sleep.
Rock them to sleep, rock them to sleep;
This is the way we rock them to sleep.
For we're their little mothers.

5. This is the way we put them to bed.
Put them to bed, put them to bed ;
This is the way we put them to bed.
For we're their little mothers.

6. Here we come with our dollies dear.
Dollies dear, dollies dear;
Here we come with our dollies dear
And we're their little mothers.

97. Uncle Joe Cut Off His Toe

This title is chosen because the stanza to which it belongs seems  to have a certain currency independent of the rest of the A text.  Stanza 4 suggests that the A text niiglit be reckoned a form of  'Liza Jane' — which is a song of very indefinite content. Most of  its stanzas are found in other contexts; stanza 1 commonly with
"raccoon" instead of "'squirrel," as in "De Raccoon Has a Bushy Tail.' which see; stanza 2 as part of a square-dance song (Ford's  Traditional Music of America 29) ; stanza 3 as a separate item.  'If I Had a Scolding Wife'; stanza 5 is substantially the same as a  bit of Negro song reported by Perrow from Mississippi (JAFL XXVI 126) ; stanza 7 is but a slight variation of the second stanza  of 'Tlie Jaybird' A and D in our collection. See also White, ANFS  234-6, and Davis, FSV 152. The chorus (which appears as the last stanza in A) is known also in Arkansas and 'I'exas (TNFS  153-4). Probably, although the contributors do not say so, the whole thing was sung as a play-party, i.e., dance song.

A. 'Song.' Contributed by Elsie Doxey of Currituck county as sung in western North Carolina.

1 The sqirrel he has a bushy tail,
The possum's tail is bare.
The rabbit has no tail at all
But a little bit of hair.

2 The raccoon up a chestnut tree,
The possum in the holler,
A purty girl at our house
As fat as she can waller.

3. Ef I had a scolding wife
I'd lick her sho's yo' bawn;
I'd take her down to New Orleans
En trade her off for cawn.

4 Git erlong, Liza,
Git erlong, Liza Jane;
I don't keer wherever you go
Jes' so you come back ergain.

5. Once I had an old gray mule;
'Member day she wuz bawn.
Ever' tooth that ol' mule had
Would hold a barrel of cawn.

6. Apples in the spring-time.
Peaches in the fall;
Ef I can't get the one I want
I won't have none a-tall.

7. Jay bird sitting on a hickory limb
Winked at me, I winked at him;
Up with my gun and let her go
An' knocked her plumb to Mexico.

8. Uncle Joe cut oft' his toe
And hung it up to dry;
And all the girls began to laugh
And Joe began to cry.

9 Rock the cradle, rock the cradle,
Rock the cradle, Joe.
Rock the cradle, rock the cradle,
Rock the cradle, Joe.

B.  'Peaches in the Summer Time.' Contributed by W. B. Covington, with  the notation: 'Sung anywhere in N. C, but first heard in Scotland  county. This is one of those never ending songs." But all that he set  down is a form of stanza 6 of A and the start of another stanza.

Peaches in the summer time.
Apples in the fall;
If I can't get the gal I want
I won't have none at all.

Cabbage in the summer time,
Collards in the fall. . . .

C. 'Old Uncle Joe Cut Off His Toe.' Reported by S. A. Davis of White  Hall on the Neuse River as a nursery rhyme : "A song my mother's old nurse used to sing her to sleep by."

1. Uncle Joe cut off his toe*
And hung it up to dry ;
The ladies began to laugh
And Joe began to cry.

Chorus: Rock the cradle, rock the cradle,
Rock the cradle, Joe.
'I will not rock, I shall not rock,
For the baby is not mine.'

2 My wife is sick, my wife is sick.
My wife is sick abed. You hateful Reb, you hateful Reb,
There's whiskey in your head.

* The first stanza of C is reported by K. P. Lewis of Durham as sung in Ohio by Dr. Kemp P. Battle of Chapel Hill.

D. 'Uncle Joe Cut Off His Toe.' The same stanza reported by Fairley, a student at Duke University. Locale and date not noted.

98. Oh Lovely Come This Way

Despite the mention of the preacher, the church, and the devil,  this seems to be rather a play-party song than a spiritual. I have  not found it elsewhere.

'Oh, Lovely, Come This Way.' Contributed by Miss Pearle Webb,  Pineola, Avery county, in 1922. The first line of each couplet and of  the chorus is repeated three times, making a four-line stanza.

1. I had an old shoe, it had no heel,
I had an old shoe, it had no heel,
I had an old shoe, it had no heel,
I looked like a preacher with a mouthful of meal.

CHORUS: Oh, lovely, come this way,
Oh, lovely, come this way,
Oh, lovely, come this way.
Never let the wheels of the church roll away.

2. I had an old shoe, it had no sole,
I looked like a terrapin a-going to his hole.

3. Whip old Satan round the stump,
To hear his heart go flumpety flump.

4. I had an old ox, I led him to the well,
He stumped his toe and in he fell.

5 Devil in the meal sack shaking out the bran,
He will get you if he can.

6. I had an old horse, he was white as snow;
I rode him every where I'd go.

7. Had an old banjo hanging on the wall;
It hasn't been tuned since away last fall.

8. Granny's pup treed the devil in a stump;
I heard his heart go flumpety flump.

99 The Duke of York

This old English singing game or jingle (Gomme p. 121-2, Halliwell 12, Northall 98-9) is known everywhere, especially to college  students. It is recorded as traditional song in Pennsylvania (NPM 195) and North Carolina (OSSG 41); otherwise collectors have not thought it worth while to report it.

'The Duke of York.' Contributed by the Misses Holeman of Durham in July 1922.

The noble Duke of York
He had three thousand men.
He marched them up the hill one day
And then marched them down again.

And when he was up he was up.
And when he was down he was down,
But when he was only half-way up
He was neither up nor down.

100. I'll Tell Your Daddy

These two stanzas look as if they might be fragments of a play-party song, but they are not so described by the contributor. The  first of them is reported as the chorus of a mimetic play song of  children in Cincinnati (JAFL xi 16). See also Davis (FSV 149)  and Randolph (OFS iii 315-16).

'John, John, John.' Sent in by Julian P. Boyd as obtained in 1927 from  Minnie Lee, pupil in the school at Alliance, Pamlico county.

1 John, John, John, I'll tell your daddy,
John, John, John, I'll tell your daddy,
John, John. John, I'll tell your daddy.
So early in the morning.

2 The blue-eyed gal is dead and gone.
The blue-eyed gal is dead and gone.
The blue-eyed gal is dead and gone.
So early in the morning.

101. I Want to Go to Baltimore

Altha Lea McLendon's finding list for play-party songs (SFLQ  VIII 202) cites several texts of a song called 'Baltimore,' but none  of them is much like our North Carolina fragment. William A.  Owens (Swing and Turn 22) says of his Texas form of it that  "this song seems to be a variant of the old bawdy song 'Baltimore,'
which is still sung by certain persons of low repute."

'I Want to Go to Baltimore.' Reported by Mrs. W. L. Pridgen of Durham in 1923.

I want to go to Baltimore,
I want to go to France,
I want to go to Baltimore
To see the ladies dance.

102.  Poor Little Laura Lee

Perrow (JAFL xxviii 175-7) gives versions of this song obtained from mountain whites in North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Mississippi and from Negroes in Mississippi. It is a hodgepodge of stanzas trailing off into the 'I wouldn't marry' theme; but there is no doubt that our A version is a form of it. Our other
text is connected with it only by the name 'Laura Lee' and the mention of the yellow girl, who appears in one of Perrow's stanzas. .Stanza 2 of A seems to be a reminiscence of 'Coffee Grows on White Oak Trees,' but the contributors do not say either piece is used as a play-party song.

A. 'Laura Lee.' Contributed by Clara Hearns of Pittsboro, Chatham county, in or about 1922.

1 Poor little Laura Lee gal.
Poor little Laura Lee gal.
Poor little Laura Lee gal,
Do pray remember me.

2 Rifle on my shoulder,
Banjo on my knee.
Poor little Laura Lee gal,
Do pray remember me.

B. 'Up the Lane and Down the Level." From Miss Kate S. Russell of Roxboro. Person county. Not dated, but about 1923. The pointing is editorial and may not be right.

Up the lane and down the level,
Salute your bride, you ugly devil.

Laura Lee!

Went down the road, didn't go to stay.
Met up with a yaller gal and couldn't get away.

103. Darling, You Can't Love but One

This number song, Professor Hudson tells me. is a familiar tune at North Carolina square dances. The Archive of American Folk Song has recordings of it from Connecticut, Virginia, and Ohio.

'New River Train.' From the John Burch Blaylock Collection.

1 Lni leaving on that New River train.
I'm leaving on that New River train.
The same old train that brought me here
Is going to carry me away.

2 O darling, you can't love but one,
O darling, you can't love but one.
You can't love but one and have any fun,
O darling, you can't love but one.

3 O darling, you can't love two,
O darling, you can't love two.
You can't love two and still be true,
O darling, you can't love two.

4 O darling, you can't love three,
O darling, vou can't love three.
You can't love three and still love me,
O darling, you can't love three.

5 O darling, you can't love four,
O darling, you can't love four.
You can't love four, and love me any more,
O darling, you can't love four.

6 O darling, you can't love five,
O darling, you can't love five.
You can't love five and get honey from my beehive,
O darling, you can't love five.

7 O darling, you can't love six,
O darling, you can't love six.
You can't love six and still love Saint Nix,
O darling, you can't love six.

8 O darling, you can't love seven,
O darling, you can't love seven.
You can't love seven and go with me to heaven,
O darling, you can't love seven.

9 Oh, I'm leaving on that New River train.
Oh, I'm leaving on that New River train.
The same old train that brought me here
Is going to carry me away.

 

104. Page's Train Runs So Fast

Southern Pines is in Hoke county near the Cumberland county line. Dr. Brown has noted on the manuscript: "Made when Southern Pines was built up." The song is made on the pattern of 'Cotton-Eyed Joe,' a dance song the words of which generally do not extend beyond two or three couplets, though as known in Texas and Louisiana (TNFS 69-70) it has something like a story: the singer tells how cotton-eyed Joe "hoodooed" his girl away from him "forty years ago." The Lomaxes (ABFS 262-3) have a nine-couplet version, provenience not given. In its reduced form of a couplet or two sung to a dance it is known in Tennessee (BTFLS v 25, OSC 99) and the Midwest (Ford's Traditional Music of America 60) and among the Negroes (ANFS 359, Alabama, and
Talley's Negro Folk Rhyi)ies 32 without definite locale).

'Page's Train Runs So Fast." From Miss Jewell Robbins, Pekin, Montgomery county, in 1922.

1 Page's train runs so fast
Can't see nothin' but the window glass.

2 I got a gal in Southern Pines,
She ain't so pretty but she dress so fine!

3 Hadn't a heen for cotton-eyed Joe
I'd a been married forty years ago.

105. Turkey Buzzard
[Known today under the titles "Shoot The Turkey Buzzard" and "Davy Dugger." Matteson- 2011]
There are in the Collection three fragments of song that hear  this title and another that might. One of them, in which with  the turkey huzzard stanza is combined a memory of the Civil War,  is dealt with under the title "Harness Up Yo' Horses' in the group  of Martial, Political, and Patriotic Songs, below. Texts A and C  certainly, and B probably, are dance songs. C is a stanza from  'Jump Jim Crow' and has already been reported (with some slight differences) from North Carolina (ANFS 163). South Carolina  (JAFL XLIV 428). and New Orleans (TNFS 127).

A. 'Turkey Buzzard.' Communicated by Thomas Smith from Zionville,  Watauga county, probably in 1915; the tune was obtained a few years  later frum Mrs. N. T. Byers. In her singing, the first line of "each  stanza is sung three times, which makes one suspect that the text of the  first stanza is not correctly reported. Mr. Smith calls it a jig and says  that it is "very popular among mountain musicians."

1 Shoot that turkey buzzard
Come flopping down the hollow.
Come flopping down the hollow.

2 Shoot old Davy Dugger dead;
He eat my meat and stole my bread.
3 Shoot old Davy Dugger,
Take his wife and hug her.

4 Oh, that gal with a blue dress on,
She stole my heart and now she's gone.

B.  'Old Turkey Buzzard.' Contributed probably in 1924 by Carl G. Knox,  student at Trinity College, as a "banjo song." With the music. Four lines only:

Old turkey buzzard.
Lend me your wings
To fly across the river
To see Sally King.

 

C. No title. Contributed by Flossie Marshbanks of Mars Hill, Madison  county. It is a stanza from T. D. Rice's famous 'Jump Jim Crow.' For its use as a play-party song, see the McLendon finding list, SFLQ VIII 213. Other texts show that "grub and hoe" in the last line should be  "grubbin' hoe," a familiar instrument in Southern agriculture.

'Where you gwine, turkey buzzard,
Where you gwine, crow?'
'Gwine down in the new ground
To get the grub and hoe.'

106 All Around de Ring, Miss Julie
Presumably from the minstrel stage originally, and probably used  as a dance song in North Carolina, though the informant does not  say so. [A similar play-party version appears in Journal of American folklore, Volume 33, titled "Three Little Girl A-Sliding Went." The tune given was "The Mulberry Bush." This doesn't seem like a minstrel song even though Miss Julie is a  minstrel name. Matteson- 2011]

A. 'All Around de Ring, Miss Julie." Obtained, probably in 1927, by Julian  P. Boyd at Alliance, Pamlico county, from Catherine Bennett.

All around de ring, Miss Julie, Julie, Julie !
All around de ring, Miss Julie!
All on a summer day.

Oh, de moon shines bright, de stars give light;
Look way over yonder!
Hug her a little and kiss her too,
And tell her how you love her !

107 Too Young to Marry
This scrap of song I have not found elsewhere. Mr. Smith's note on his text implies that it is a dance or play-party song. [This tune and song is known today under a variety of titles: Solider's Joy (Skillet Lickers); Love Somebody (Uncle Dave Macon 1924/Jean Ritchie); I'm My Mama's Darling Child (Bumgarner & Davis 1924). Meade separates the two: Soldier's Joy IVB-2 and Too Young To Marry IVB-6]

A. 'I'm My Mammy's Youngest Son.' Contributed by I. G. Greer of Boone,  Watauga county, apparently in 1915 or 1916.

I'm my mammy's youngest son,
I'm my mammy's baby,
I'm my mammy's youngest son,
I'm too young for to marry yet.

I'm too young,
I'm too young to marry yet;
I'm my mammy's youngest son,

I'm my mammy's baby,
I'm my mammy's youngest son,
I'm too young for to marry yet.

B. 'I'm My Mammy's Youngest Child,' Reported by Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga county, as a "banjo song," with the notation tliat it is all that he could recall of "a song with a good tune.  This tune has been a favorite with fiddlers and banjo pickers for many  years." [The tune is Soldier's Joy. Matteson 2011]

I am my mammy's youngest child.
I am my mammy's darlin',
I am my mammy's youngest child,
I am too young to marry.

C. 'Love Somebody." Recorded by Dr. Brown as sung by Mark Erwin on Rabit Ham in Leicester Township, Buncombe county, probably in 1921. The second stanza belongs to a quite different song.

I'm my mamma's darlin' chile.
I'm my mamma's darlin' chile,
I'm my mamma's darlin' chile,
I'm most too young to marry yet a while.

I love somehody, yes I do,
I love somebody, yes I do,
I love somebody, yes I do,
And I wish somebody loved me too.

108. Poor Little Kitty Puss
This dance song is known in Virginia (JAFL xxvi 131) and  Mississippi (FSM 293), and a stanza that accompanies it in Mississippi is known in Missouri (JAFL xxvii 291).

A. 'Pore Little Kitty Puss.' Reported in 1915 by Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga county, as a "dance song — fiddle and banjo" with the  notation: "This silly song with a tune resembling 'Black-Eyed Susie' is
very old. I am told it was popular here before the Civil War. It was  played at dances a great deal and there are lines somewhere in the song  which run as follows: 'If you can't dance Kitty Puss you can't dance
nothin'.' [The same lyrics:

"If you can't dance that, you can't dance nothin'
And I wouldn't give a chaw to the old Jimmie Sutton."

are associated with song and fiddle tune, "Old Jimmy Sutton." Matteson 2011]

There is in the Collection also a recording of this song, as  sung by B. L. Lunsford at Turkey Creek, probably in 1921.

Pore little Kitty Puss,
Pore little feller,
Pore little Kitty Puss
Died in the cellar.

Chorus: Pore little Fido,
Pore little Fidie,
Pore little Fidie
Died last Friday.

109. Fare You Well, My Own True Love
This has not been lound elsewhere reported as a play-party song.  The 'keg o' rum' stanza is known in Georgia (FSSH 439) and  among the Negroes in Alabama (ANFS 164). Of our text Dr.  Brown notes: "Words and air from the Rev. Andrew Jackson  Burrus originally of Rockford. N. C. He sang this to his own  accompaniment on the banjo. I remember the first stanza thus:

If I had a keg of rum
And sugar by the pound
And a silver spoon to stir it with
I'd treat them ladies round."

Actually, however, the text was supplied later, in August 1922, by  the singer's brother, J. H. Burrus of Weaverville, Buncombe county,  with the notation that it was "used for an old Virginia breakdown." The "Fare you well" stanza is evidently a chorus. [This seems textually to be a version of Old Joe Clark- Matteson 2011]

Fare you well, my own true love,
Fare you well, I say;
Fare you well, my own true love,
I am gwine away.

1. If I had a keg o' rum,
Sugar by the pound,
A great big bowl to put it in,
A spoon to stir it around.

CHORUS: Fare you well, etc.

2. If ever you intend to marry at all
Oh, do pray tell me now.
You broke my heart, you killed me dead.
And you'll be hung for murder.

Fare you well, etc.

3. I'll give my heart to you right now;
Oh, do give yours to me.
We'll lock them up together right close
And throw away the key.

Fare you well, etc.

110. Mr. Carter 
A fragment of dance song, very likely from some music-hall  piece. But I have not found it elsewhere.  'Mr. Carter.' Reported by Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga county;  "said to have been played here over twenty years ago. A great favorite with banjo-pickers."

Mister Cyarter, Mister Cyarter,
Won't you be my dawg?
He won't bite a sheep
But he will bite a hog.

111. Wish I Had a Needle and Thread
[Even though these are floating verses which could fit any number of songs, I'd categorize the B. and D. as part of the established song, "Pig in the Pen." This is only a textual linking. "Pig in the Pen" is a fast breakdown played usually in G or A major. Shady Grove, although played in a minor key by many (Doc Watson Dm) is also played as a breakdown in major keys (usually G and A). I associate "Wish I had a Needle and Thread" with Shady Grove, even though it's a floating verse that appears in different songs. MATTESON 2011]
 
Here are brought together a number of songs that are linked by  stanzas or phrases, though not all of them have the element that  I have chosen for the general title. Indeed, they are hardly integral  songs but chance aggregates of song elements, all or most of them  used in play-party or dance songs. The needle-and-thread motive  is found in Virginia (TNFS 125), North Carolina (JAFL vi 131,  ASb 308-9, in both cases as part of a 'Liza Jane' song), Texas  (Owens 70-1), Missouri (JAFL xlii 223, OFS in 184, 2<77) , and the Bahamas (JAFL xlii 294).

The "give my horn a blow" motive  has been found" in Missouri (JAFL xxiv 299) and without specific  locale in the Midwest (Ford 395, again in a 'Liza Jane' song),  and sung by Negroes in North Carolina (ANFS 337). With F  and stanza 4 of E compare 'Sally Goodin' A and 'Eliza Jane' (I)  in this collection. The basic stanza appears also in 'Eliza Jane'  (II). The chorus of A appears also in 'Shady Grove' and the  third stanza of D is the first stanza of 'Shady Grove' B. The  fourth stanza of E prompts the inclusion here of F.

A. No title. Obtained from someone named Hodgin; date not noted, and  place only as "Southeastern" — which probably means the southeastern  part of the state. [Variant of Shady Grove]

1. I wish I had a needle and thread
Fine as I could sew.
I'd stitch my darling to my side
And sail to Baltimo.

Chorus: Wash your face and comb your head,
Put on your Sunday clothes.
Wash your face and comb your head.
For we're going to Bridge's Grove.

2 Wish I had a pig in a pen.
Corn to feed him on,
A pretty little girl to stay at home
To feed him when I'm gone.

B. 'Wish I Had a Pig in a Pen.' Contributed by tlie Misses Holeman of Durham in July 1922. With the tune.

1 Wish I had a pig in the pen
And the corn to feed him on.
All I want is a pretty little gal
To feed him when I'm gone.

2 Wish I had a needle and thread
Fine as I could sew;
I'd sew my true love to my side
And down the road I'd go.

3 Get up on the mountain top,
Give my horn a blow,
Think I hear my true love say
'Yonder comes my beau.

C. 'If.' This single quatrain comes not from North but from South Carolina, from Cousor, Bishopville, S. C.

If I had a needle and thread
As fine as I could sew.
I'd sew my true love to my side
And down the road I'd go.

D.  'I Wish I Had a Pig and a Pen.' This text comes from Worry, Burke county, in 1914. Name of contributor not given; perhaps Miss Amy Henderson, who supplied many texts from that neighborhood.

1. I wish I had a pig and a pen.
Corn to feed him on.
Pretty little girl to stay at home.
Feed [him] while I am gone.

2 Mamma give me silver.
Papa give me gold.
Sweetheart give me a sweet little kiss
And God bless her soul.

3 God bless the ocean,
God bless it sweet,*
God bless the pretty little girls
That fell in love with me.

* The principle of parallelism and the rhyme call for "the sea" here, as  in 'Shady Grove' H.

E. 'Italy.' Sung by Willard Randall of Ellenhoro, Kurdland county. No  date given. With the tune. [Bascom Lamar Lunsford from NC has a version also titled, "Italy."]

1. Yonder comes a pretty little girl.
Tell you how I know;
Her head is full of pretty little curls
A-hangin' down so low.

Chorus:  I'm going- to Italy 'fore long,
Going to Italy 'fore long,
I'm going to Italy 'fore long
To see that gal of mine.

2 Finger ring, finger ring.
Shines like glittering gold.
I'm going to see my dear love
Before she gets too old.

3 Apple like a cherry,
Cherry like a rose.
How I love my pretty little girl,
Oh. God in heaven knows.

4 I have a house in Baltimore,
Sixteen stories high;
Every story in that house
Is filled with rock and rye.

5 I wish I was an apple
Hanging in the tree;
Every time my sweetheart passed
She'd take a hite of me.

6 I wish I had a needle and thread
As fine as I could sew,
And a thimble from Baltimore
To make that needle go.

F. 'Big Fine House in Baltimore.' Contributed by Lucille Cheek from  Chatham county, witiiout date. The text is different from that of the  same title in John W. Work's American Negro Songs (1940 ed.) 241  but is probably a version of the same piece. Similar "chicken pie"  stanzas are sung by Negroes in South Carolina (JAFL xxvii 249,  TNFS 117) and Alabama (ANFS 155), which are perliaps to be traced  back to a Yorkshire knitting rhyme reported in JAFL VIII 81.

1. Big fine house in Baltimore.
Big fine house in Baltimore, 
Big fine house in Baltimore,
Sixteen stories high.

2 Every story in that house,
Every story in that house,
Every story in that house,
Filled with chicken pie.

G. 'Song.' Reported by Cozette Coble, apparently from Stanly county; not  dated. For lines 5-8 see headnote above. For the "apron strings" motive  see BSM 202. In line 6 "horny" is of course for "horn a."

1 Yonder comes my old true love;
How do I know?
I tell her by her apron string
Hanging down so low.

2 If I were on the mountain top
I'd give my horny blow.
I hear my true lover say,
'Yonder comes my beau.'