Bluegrass Messengers

Brown Collection- V. Lullabies and Nursery Rhymes

V. LULLABIES AND NURSERY RHYMES (Contents)

112. Bye Baby Bunting 148

113. Rock-a-Bye Baby in the Tree-Top 148

114. Kitty Alone 149

115. Hush-a-Bye, Don't You Cry 150

116. Go to Sleep, My Little Pickaninny 151

117. Poor Little Lamb Cries 'Mammy!' 152

118. Hush, Honey, Hush 153

119. Pitty Patty Poke 154

120. The Frog's Courtship 154

121. Billy Boy 166

122. Oh, Dear, What Can the Matter Be? 170

123. Taffy Was a Welshman 170

124. Barnyard Song 172

125. McDonald's Farm 174

126. Quack, Quack, Quack 177

127. The Dogs in the Alley 177

128. Go Tell Aunt Patsy 177

129. The Fox axd the Goose 178

130. The Old Woman and Her Pk; 181

131. Whex I Was a Little Boy 182

132. Bobby Shaftoe 183

133. The Pretty Pear Tree 184

134. Jack-a-Maria 185

135. There's a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea 186

136. John Brown Had a Little Injun 186

137. Bingo 187

138. Call My Little Dog 187

139. The Vowels 188

140. Banbury Cross 188

141. Oh, Mr. Revel! 189

142. Old Woman All Skin and Bones 189

143. What Are Little Girls Made Of? 193

144. Neighbor Jones I93

145. Whistling Girls and Crowing Hens 194

146. Little Birdie in the Tree 195

147. How I Love the Old Black Cat 195

148. I've Got a Master and I Am His Man 196

149. The Cobbler 196

150. Scotland's Burning 197

151. Steam Ship 197

V. LULLABIES AND NURSERY RHYMES

OF THE LULLABIES, some— 'Rock-a-by Baby,' 'Bye Baby  Bunting.' 'Kitty Alone' — are part of our English inheritance.  The last of these, 'Kitty Alone,' derives from 'There Was a Frog  Lived in a Well' and is sometimes reckoned a form of 'The Frog's  Courtship.' but our North Carolina version has lost all connection with the frog and the mouse and the wedding party and become  purely a lullaby, a "sleepy song," as the singer says, of peculiar loveliness. Others, rather more numerous, seem to be creations of  the Negro "mammy" — or have been made on the suggestion of her  singing. 'Poor Little Lamb Cries "Mammy" ' strikingly combines  gruesomeness and tenderness.

The nursery songs cover a wide range. 'The Frog's Courtship'  appears many times, most often with the nasal hummed refrain but  also sometimes with the "kimo" chorus. 'I Went Down to Suckie's House' and 'Old Napper' seem to be made on the frame of 'Taffy  Was a Welshman' though neither Taffy nor a Welshman appears in them. 'Billy Boy' is reported nearly fifty times, from all parts  of the state, and his love has an amusing variety of accomplishments. 'Oh, Dear, What Can the Matter Be?' is no doubt much  better known than the two texts reported would imply. The imitation of barnyard sounds appears in two songs, 'Barnyard Song' and 'McDonald's Farm,' both of which are probably though not  demonstrably of Old World origin. Other favorites are 'Go Tell Aunt Patsy,' 'The Fox and the Goose' (who is more often a duck)  and 'The Old Woman and Her Pig.' 'Chicken in the Bread Tray' seems to belong to the Southern states. Sequence or cumulative songs are represented by 'The Pretty Pear Tree,' 'John Brown Had a Little Injun,' 'Bingo,' and 'The Vowels.' There are nine more  or less variant versions of that shivery delight of childhood 'The Old Woman All Skin and Bones.' Several Mother Goose rhymes and nonsense jingles occur, of course. Some songs and song fragments that cannot be traced and are of doubtful validity as folk  song have been included.

112. Bye Baby Bunting

Perhaps because it is so very widely known and sung, this old  English lullaby (Halliwell 102. Northall 426) does not often appear  in collections of traditional folk song. It has been reported from  Virginia (FSV 183), Kentucky (Shearin 38), and from Jamaican  Negroes (JAFL XLI 589); but it is probably sung to children in every state in the Union. It appears twenty-odd times in our collection, in localities all the way from the mountains to the sea and  with very little variation in form. The following, from Professor  J. T. C. Wright. Boone, Watauga county (with the tune), may be  reckoned the standard form:

Bye, baby bunting,
Daddy's gone a-hunting
To get a little rabbit skin
To wrap the baby bunting in.

The variations appear chiefly in the last line, which often lacks a  syllable, reading "up" instead of "bunting." or, with a shifting of  the stress incidence.

To wrap baby bunting up in.

       or even, with the loss of one stress,

To wrap the baby in.

      Only one text, reported by Mrs. Nilla Lancaster from Wayne county, adds a second stanza:

Sister stayed at home
To rock-a-bye-a-baby bunting.
Mama stayed at home
To bake a cake for baby bunting.

113. Rock-a-bye Baby in the Tree-Top
Like 'Bye Baby Bunting.' this old English lullaby (Halliwell 102 and 137, Northall 425-6, Rimbault 17) seldom appears in collections of traditional folk song; it is listed in Miss Pound's Mid-western syllabus and by Davis as found in Virginia (FSV 182), and as sung in Jamaica (JAFL XLI 500). But unquestionably it is  known and sung all over the United States. It appears a dozen  times in our collection, in localities all the way from the mountains  to the sea. The texts vary but little. The following, reported by Allie Ann Pearce, Colerain, Bertie county, may be taken as the  normal text:

Rock-a-bye baby in tbe tree-top,
When tbe wind blows tbe cradle will rock.
When the bough breaks tbe cradle will fall
And down will come cradle, baby and all.

      One text slightly changes the third line, reading:

The limb will break and the cradle will fall.
Down will come babies, cradle, and all;
Down will come babies, cradle, and all.

      One fills out the trisyllabic rhythm expected in the last line:

Down will come baby, bough, cradle, and all.

      And one has lost the third line of the quatrain:

Rocky bye, baby, in the tree top,
When the wind blows the cradle will rock,
Down comes baby, cradle, and all.

114. Kitty Alone
A. 'There Was a Frog Lived in a Well,' with its "Kitty alone" refrain, is commonly reckoned a form of 'The Frog's Courtship'  because it includes in many of its versions much of the nonsensical  matter of the wedding-party of tliat song. In itself, however, it is  an independent song, so recognized in Halliwell's Nursery Rhymes of England and in Rimhault's Nursery Rhymes, and going back to  the eighteenth and possibly to the sixteenth century. See the head-note to 'The Frog's Courtship' in this volume and BSM 495, and  add to the references given in the latter Massachusetts (FSONE  204-5) and Indiana (BSI 234). Our North Carolina song with the "Kitty alone" refrain has no mouse, no courtship, no wedding party; it is purely a lullaby, and is therefore presented here as a separate item.

B. 'Cradle Song.' Reported by Mrs. Sutton as sung by Mrs. Silas Buchanan of Horse Creek, Ashe county, "sitting in a homemade chair in the little porch of her log cabin crooning this song to a blackhaired baby. . . .
'It's a sleepy song,' my hostess said; 'mammy sung hit to me, I sing hit to Elziny, she'll sing hit to her younguns. Younguns like hit.' "

1. Saw a crow a-flyin' low.
Kitty alone, kitty alone,
Saw a crow a-flyin' low,
Kitty alone alee.
Saw a crow a-flyin' low
And a cat a-spinnin' tow,
Rockabye baby bye, rockabye baby bye.

2. Saw a red cloud in the sky,
Kitty alone, kitty alone.
Saw a red cloud in the sky,
Kitty alone alee.
Saw a red cloud in the sky
And a star a-sailin' by,
Rockabye baby bye, rockabye baby- bye.

3. Saw tbe moon in the river bed,
Kitty alone, kitty alone.
Saw tbe moon in the river bed,
Kitty alone alee.
Saw the moon in the river bed,
Big black frog swum over her head,
Rockabye baby bye, rockabye baby bye.

4. Saw an owl in tbe hickory tree,
Kitty alone, kitty alone.
Saw an owl in the hickory tree,
Kitty alone alee.
Saw an owl in the hickory tree,
Big owl eyes a-lookin' at me,
Rockabye baby bye, rockabye baby bye.
--------------------------------------------------

Painting by Richard Matteson C2006

115. Hush-a-Bye, Don't You Cry
This lullaby is perhaps of Southern origin. It is not recorded  by Halliwell or Rimbault nor has it been reported by folk-song collectors in New England or the Middle or the Western states, but  it is known in Virginia (SharpK II 341, FSV 182-3), South Carolina (JAFL XLIV 419), Georgia (JAFL XLIVIIi 334, ASb 454-5),  Louisiana (TNFS 147, Negroes), and Texas (TNFS 145-6,  Negroes). It appears four times in our collection.

A. 'Hush-a-Bye' Reported by Laura AL Cromartie of Garland, Sampson county. Not dated. Dr. White notes on the manuscript: "I recall the  third stanza from my own childhood in Statesville, N. C., ca. 1898."

1 Hush a by an' don't you cry,
An' go to sleep, little baby;
When you wake you shall have some cake
An' ride a pretty little horsey.

2 You shall have a little canoe
An' a little bit of a paddle;
You shall have a little red mule
An' a little bitty saddle.

3 The black an' the bay, the sorrel an' the grey,
All belong to my baby.
So hush a by an' don't you cry
An' go to sleep, little baby.

B.'Rock-a-bye, Don't You Cry." From Mrs. Nilla Lancaster, Wayne  county. Probably in 1923.

1 Rock-a-bye, don't you cry,
Go to sleep, little baby.
When baby wakes, give her some cake;
That will do for baby.

2 Rock-a-bye, don't you cry,
All those purty little, little horsies.
When baby wakes, give him cake.
Let him ride them purty little horsies.

C. 'Go to Sleep.' Not really a North Carolina text, having been contributed  by Cornelia Evermond Covington from Florence county, South Carolina.

Go to sleep, go to sleep,
Go to sleep, little baby.
When you wake I'll give you a cake
And five or six little horses.

D. 'Go to Sleep, Go to Sleep.' Communicated by Louise W. Sloan, of  Bladen county. Differs from C only in the last line, which runs: "A  coach and four little horses."
--------------------------------------------------

116.  Go To Sleep, My Little Pickaninny
Perhaps this should rather be named from its first line, 'I'se a little Alabama coon.' Dr. White remarks of it: "A minstrel or  'coon-song' of the late nineteenth century, used as a nursery song.  I remember it from childhood, ca. 1900." In ANFS 397 it is reported from Alabama, in TNFS 146-7 from Texas, in JAFL XII
590-1 from Jamaica, all these as sung by Negroes; SharpK II 346  reports it from Virginia, presumably from the singing of whites.

A. 'Little Alabama Coon.' Contributed in 1927 by Julian P. Boyd of Alliance, Pamlico county.

1. I'se a little Alabama coon,
Hain't been born very long.
I remember seeing a big round moon,
'Member hearing one sweet song.
When dey toted me down to de cottonfield
Dar I rolled and I tumbled in de sun;
Daddy picked de cotton and mammy watched me grow,
And dis am de song she sung:

Chorus: Go to sleep, my little pickaninny,
Brudder Fox'll catch you it you don't;
Slumber on de bosom of your old mammy Jinny.
Mammy's gwine to switch you if you won't.
Hush-ush-hush lu-lulla-lull-lu-lulla
Underneath the silver southern moon;
Hush-a-bye, rock-a-bye. mammy's little baby,
Mammy's little Alabama coon.

2 Dis here little Alabama coon
'Spects to be a grown-up man some day.
Dey's gwine to christen me soon,
My name's gwine to be Henry Clay.
When I'se big, I'se gwine with de yaller gals
And we'll have pickaninnies ob our own;
Dey'll slumber on de bosom ob dear old mammy Jinny.
Dis am de song she'll croon:

B. 'Go to Sleep. My Little Pickaninny.' From Mabel Ballentine, Wake county. Not dated. A reduced text, not much like A, yet clearly a form of the same song.

1 Go to sleep, my little pickaninny.
Brother Fox will catch you if you don't.
Ride on the old mammy Jinny,
My little pickaninny coon.

2 Snake baked a hoecake and set the frog to mind,
The frog dropped asleep, and the lizard come and find.
Bring back my hoecake, you long-tailed Nanny!

C. No title. Reported, apparently in 1923, by Helen Eraser Smith as "an  old lullaby" preferred by her nurse. Only lines 1, 6, 7, 8 of the chorus  of A. No place nor date indicated.

117. Poor Little Lamb Cries 'Mammy!' This lullaby — suggestive, somewhat, of 'The Twa Corbies' (Child 26) — is reported by Miss Scarborough (TNFS 147-9) in three forms: one from Virginia (where it is told of a cow and her calf), one from New Orleans (ewe and lamb), and one known in both  Virginia and South Carolina (where as in our A it is the "mammy" whose eyes are being picked out by gnats and flies). Davis lists  two texts from Virginia (FSV 204) and Randolph two from Missouri (OFS II: 545-6). John W. Work's American Negro Songs 250 has a version without the macabre trait of the eyes being picked out. Mrs. Richardson (AMS 49) gives a version of 'The Foolish Boy' which uses "the pore little thing cried 'Mammy' " as refrain.  Mrs. Steely reports the refrain stanza as part of a medley heard  in the Ebenezer community in Wake county.

A. 'Cradle Song.' Reported by W. B. Covington in 1913 as part of his  "reminiscences of my early youth spent on the border of the sand hills  of Scotland county." Mrs. Sutton also supplies a text, identical except that it omits "bell' 'in the first line, but does not say where or when she got it.

1 The old cow bell goes jingle-ing,
Go to sleep, little baby.
Papa gone and mama too.
Go to sleep, little baby.

2 Little black sheep, little black sheep,
Where is your mammy?
Way down in the meadow.
Little black fly pickin' in her eye.
Poor little lamb cries 'Mammy!'

6. 'Black Sheep, Black Sheep, Where'd You Leave Your Lamb?'  From R. D. Ware, student at Trinity College; probably heard in Stanly county.

'Black sheep, black sheep, where'd you leave your lamb?'
'I left him down in the valley.
Birds and butterflies picking out his eyes
And the poor little thing crying "Mam-ma, mam-ma!"'

C. 'Old Black Sheep.' From Miss Florence Holton, Durham. Not dated.

'Say, old black sheep, where's your lamb?'
'Way down yonder in the valley.
Crow and blackbird picking out its eye;
Poor little lamb cries "Mammy!" '

118. Hush, Honey, Hush 
This begins as a lullaby but passes into a dance song, or at least  into a "banjo-picking" tune. It is without finder's name in the  collection, but bears this notation: "Found in Guilford county, near  High Point. Sung by Negroes before Civil War." Compare Talley, Negro Folk Rhymes 21, 'The Banjo Picking.'

Hush, honey, hush,
Not a bit o' fuss.
While ole master's sleeping,
Go down to the barn.

Wake up the boys,
And have a little banjo pickin'-.
Tink-a-link a-link a-link a-link a-link a-link.

"Refrain with banjo. The refrain is a banjo sound and produces the effect of a banjo being played."

119. Pitty Patty Poke  A nursery jingle said while one pats the baby's feet. Possibly it is only a modification of the old English nursery rhyme (Mason  3. Halliwell 132, JAFL XXXI 62) 'Pat-a-cake pat-a-cake baker's  man.'

A. 'Pitty Patty Poke.' Nursery Rhyme. From Airs, Doris Overton Brim, Durham, 1924 or thereabouts.

Pitty patty poke,
Shoe the wild colt.
Here a nail, there a nail.
Pitty patty poke.
--------------------------------------------


Painting by Richard L. Matteson Jr. C 2007

120. The Frog's Courtship For the history and range of this nursery classic, see Kittredge's bibliographical note (JAFL XXXV 394-9), Payne's study  (PFLST V 5-49), Grace Partridge Smith's (JAFL III 125-7), and  the headnote in the Missouri collection ( BSM 494-5), and add to  the references in the last of these Massachusetts (FSONE 204-6), Virginia (FSV 208-13), Tennessee (BTFLS V 43-5), Florida  (SFLQ IV 146-7, VIII 179-81), the Ozarks (OFS I 403-10), Indiana  (BSI 226-38), and Michigan (BSSM 455-9). Of the six types  into which Payne divides the texts our collection shows chiefly two, that with the "kimo" and that with the nasal grunt or hum refrain, along with a few other forms and two with no refrain indicated.  Texts A-C have the "kimo" refrain in some form, texts D-W have  the hummed refrain. The 'Kitty Alone' song, often reckoned as a  form of 'The Frog's Courtship,' occurs but once in our collection  and has no mouse and no courtship, is indeed merely a lovely lullaby, which is therefore presented as a separate item. Sam Cowell's adaptation of 'The Frog's Courtship' to the blackface minstrel fashion of  a hundred years ago, and an American memory of it, are considered here in an appendix.

A. 'Frog Went A-Courtin'.' Reported by Flossie Marshbanks of Mars  Hill, Madison county. Not dated.

1 Frog went a-courtin' and he did ride,
Ring ting bottom and a kymo
Sword and pistol by his side.
Ring ting bottom and a kymo

Chorus: Hello naro he's my caro,
Hello caro narrow.
Ring ting bottom ditty boat around
Ring ting bottom and a kymo.'

2 Rode up to Miss Mousie's house.
Asked Miss Mousie to be his wife.

3 Where shall the wedding' supper be?
Way down yonder in the hollow tree.

4 What shall the wedding supper be?
A plate of butter and a black-eyed pea.

5. The first came in was a butterfly,
With her pudding and her pie.

6. Next came in was a bumblebee,
With his fiddle on his knee.

7. Next came in was a crippled flea;
Danced all night for the bumblebee.

8. Next same in was a yellow cat.
Seized Miss Mousie by the back.

B. 'Frog Went A-Courting.' Reported by D. W. Newsom as learned "at  his mother's knee" in Littleton, Halifax county, about 1885-90. With  the tune. The refrain is an interpolated line and then a four-line part,  as in A.

1 Frog went a-courting and he did ride.
Rain down bonny mish ki-me-oh*
Sword and buckler by his side.
Rain down bonny mish ki-me-oh.

Kero kiro gilt and garo
Kero kiro karo
Rap Jack penny winkle flammydoodle yellow buckle
Rain down bonny mish ki-me-oh.

2 He rode down by the mill side door
To hear his saddle squeak and roar.

3 He rode down to Lady Mouse's house.
The old Miss Mouse was not at home.

4 The old mouse came home at last.
Shook her big fat sides and laughed.

5 He took Miss Mousie on his knee;
Pray Miss Mousie, will you marry me?'

6 'Who will make the wedding gown?"
'Old Miss Rat from pumpkin town.'

7 'Where will the wedding breakfast be?'
'Way down yonder in a hollow tree.'

8 'What will the wedding supper be?'
'A fried mosquito and a roasted flea.'

[* The refrain line is thus interpolated in and the chorus sung after each stanza.]

C. 'One Two Three." From Thomas Smith, Zionville, Watauga county,  as sung by Mrs. Julia Grogan in March 1913. "She says it was sung when she was a child, over forty years ago." It lacks the first part of the story.

1 Mrs. Mousey went to town
Tim a rang tang bottom a my kimo
To buy her niece a wedding gown.

Chorus: Tim a rang tang bottom tim a kimo come a nedro
Keep my caro turn a turn bum stumpy tum dido bodey
Round tim a rang tang bottom a my kimo.

2 'Where will the wedding supper be?"
'Way down yonder in a hollow tree.'

3 'What will the wedding supper be?'
'Two blue beans and a black-eyed pea.'

4 First come in was Mrs. Fly,
She brought her peaches and her pie.

5 Next come Mrs. Butterfly,
She fanned all as she passed by.

6 Next come in was Madam Cat,
She took Miss Mousie by the back.

D. 'Frog Went A-Courting.' Reported by K. L. Lewis as set down in igio by Dr. Kemp P. Battle of Chapel Hill. Each stanza is a couplet extended to three lines by relating the first line, and the nasal hum comes after the first and third lines of each such stanza.

1 Frog went a-courtin', he did ride, M-m h-m
Frog went a-courtin', he did ride;
Sword and pistol by his side, M-m h-m.

2 He rode to Mistress Mousie's hall;
There he knocked and loudly called.

3 "Miss Mousie. are you within?'
"Yes, kind sir, I sit and spin.'

4 Me took Miss Mousie on his knee;
'Miss Mousie, will you marry me?'

5 "Oh no, kind sir, I can't say that
Without the consent of old Uncle Rat.'

6 Old Uncle Rat came a-riding to me,
"Who's been here since I've been gone?'

7 'A very fine gentleman has been here
Who says he'll marry me if you don't care.'

8 Old Uncle Rat laughed and shook his fat side
To think his niece should be a bride.

9 'Where shall the wedding supper be?'
'Way down yonder in the old hollow tree.'

10 'What shall we have for the wedding supper?'
"Black-eyed peas and bread and butter.'

11 The first came in was Capt. Bedbug,
Who swore by all he was a run* jug.

12 The next came in was Colonel Flea;
He danced a jig with a bumblebee.

13 And while they all were eating supper
In came the cat and made a great splutter.

14 The first he pursued was old Uncle Rat,
And threw him down and spoiled his fat.

15 The next he pursued was Miss Mousie;
But she ran up a hollow tree.

16 The frog he swam across the lake
And got swallowed up by a big black snake.

17 This is the end of one, two, three,
Frog and Rat and Miss Mousie.

[* So the manuscript. Probably it should be "rum."]

E . 'Frog Went A-Courting.' Contributed by Miss Amy Henderson of  Worry, Burke county, in 1914. Refrain and stanza structure as in D and  corresponds in part to that version, but lacks stanzas 6-7 of D and has more formal manners in stanza 4:

Down upon his knee fell he;
Says he, 'Miss Mousie, will you marry me?' 

               In stanza 5 she tells him that:

Not without Uncle Rat's consent
Would I marry the President.

               The list of guests and the outcome of the party are different:

9 The first to come in was the bumblebee
With his fiddle on his knee.

10. The next come in was a great big flea;
He said, 'Dance with the bumblebee.'

11. Next to come in was Major Tick,
Who ate so much it made him sick.

12. Then they sent for Dr. Fly,
Who swore by George old Tick would die.

13 They all went sailing down the lake
And were swallowed up by a great big snake.

14 That's the end of one, two, three,
The rat and the mouse and little froggie.

F. 'Frog Went A-Courting.' Reported by Miss Gertrude Allen (later Mrs. Vaught) from Oakboro, Stanly county. Close to E through the first nine stanzas, but inserts after stanza 5,

Uncle Rat he went down town
To buy his niece a wedding gown. 

               The account of the wedding party, however, is different:

10 First came in was a little seed tick;
It ate so much it made it sick.

11. Next came in was a big black snake;
lie ate up all the wedding cake.

12. Next came in was a little fat pig;
Thought he'd have a little jig.

13 Lady Mouse came a-tripping down;
She fell over her wedding gown.

14 Then Frog came a-swimming across the lake.
He got swallowed by a big black snake.

G. 'Froggy Went A-Courtin'.' Contributed by I. T. Poole from Burke  county. A somewhat reduced version.

1 Froggy went a-courtin' and he did ride umph-humph
Froggy went a-courtin' and he did ride,
Sword an pistol hy his side umph-humph.

2 Rode down to Miss Mousie's den;
'Say, Miss Mousie, are you within?'

3 'Yes, kind sir, I'm sitting to spin;
Pull the string and you'll come in.'

4 He took Miss Mousie on his knee:
'Say, Miss Mousie. will you marry me?'

5 'Who shall the wedding waiters he?'
'Miss Grasshopper and Captain Flea.'

6 'Where shall the wedding supper he?'
'Away down yonder in a hollow tree.'

7 'What shall the wedding supper be?'
'Three green beans and a black-eyed pea.'

H. 'Frog Went A-Courting.' Reported by P. D. Midgett of Wanchese, Roanoke Island, in 1920, as writen down for him by a friend. First seven stanzas as in E except that stanza 4 runs:

'Say. Miss Mouse, will you marry me.
And live over yonder in a hollow tree?'

              The remaining nine stanzas introduce some new figures:

8 'What shall the wedding supper be?'
'A cup of tea and a black-eyed pea.'

9 First came in was little moth.
Bringing in the tablecloth.

10 Next came in was a great big snake,
Bringing in the wedding cake.

11 Next came in was a little louse,
Bringing in a plate of souse.

12 Next came in was a great big tick,
Walking around with a hickory stick.

13 Next came in was a bumblebee,
Took a jig with a broken-back flea.

14 Next came in was a little sea tick,*
Eat so much it made him sick.

15 Had to send for Dr. Fly,
Thought to my Lord that tick would die.

16 Old gray goose she swam the lake,
She got hit by a great big snake.

[* Miswritten no doubt for "seed tick," which occurs in F and I.]

I. 'Frog and the Mouse.' From a notebook of Mrs. Harold Glasscock of  Raleigh, lent to Dr. White in 1943, in whicli Mrs. Glasscock had set  down sings she had learned from her parents. Much like D, but has  a preliminary stanza:

Gentleman frog lived in the well, em hm
Gentleman frog lived in the well,
Lady mouse lived in the mill, em hm.

          The mouse's answer to Uncle Rat sounds coy:

'Who's been here since Lve been gone?"
'There was a tall, nice young man,
Gentleman Frog was his name."

          The price Uncle Rat pays for the wedding gown is given:

What do you reckon he paid for it?
Nine dollars and a bit.

           The conclusion presents some new figures:

12 First came down was a bumblebee,
Timing a fiddle on his knee.

13 Next came down was a little seed tick
Dancing a jig with a hickory stick.

14 Next came down was a butterfly;
She fanned the company as she went by.

15 Next came down was the pussy cat,
She caught Miss Mousie and then ran back.

16 Mr. Frog jumped in the lake
And there was swallowed by a big black snake.

17 Big black snake swam to the land
And there was killed by a little nigger man.

18 Little nigger man went off to sea;
And that's the end of my story.

J. 'Frog Went A-Courting.' Contributed by Miss Margaret Higgs of Greenville, Pitt county. Fourteen stanzas, introducing nothing not already presented in the preceding versions except a junebug. It ends:

13 The next to come-in was the little June bug;
He jumped in the fir and gave the hricle a hug.

14 Mr. Frog got mad and jumped in the lake
And there he got hit by a hig black snake.

K. 'Frog Went A-Courting.' From Mrs. Sutton, who says she has heard  it in Caldwell, Mitchell, Avery, Watauga, Henderson, and Buncombe  counties, and gives a Caldwell version of eight stanzas as she learned
it from her grandmotlier. The wedding supper here becomes an 'infair supper,' and the flea dances a jig with the bumblebee.

L. 'A Woodman's Song.' Reported by Julian P. Boyd as obtained from  Minnie Lee, one of his pupils in the school at Alliance, Pamlico county,  in 1927. Six stanzas, of which the first is the same as stanza 1 of D and the second the same as stanza 4 of S (except that the refrain is  spelled "Humph" instead of "Ah-ha"). The other four stanzas (the last of which is an intruder from the body of floating bird and animal  jingles) are as follows:

3 'Say. Miss Mouchy, where will we he?'
'We'll build our house in a hollow tree.'

4 'Say, Miss Mouchy, what shall we eat?'
'Two big hams, bread and meat.'

5 'Say, Miss Mouchy, where shall we be?'
'Between the wheat straws and the rye.'

6 Jay bird died with the whoopingcough.
'Long come de bird with his tail bobbed off.

M. 'Frog Went A-Courting.' Reported by Jesse T. Carpenter from Durham county. Ten stanzas, the last three of which run:

8 The next one was a big black bug,
He came in dragging a jug.

9 Then came in the practice goose,
She had a riddle and she cut loose.

10 They all went swimming down the lake,
And all were swallowed by a big blacksnake.

N. 'Frog Went A-Courting.' Reported by James A. McKay, student at  Trinity College, as sung in New Hanover county. Five stanzas, giving  only tlie first part of the song. The bride was dressed in "green pea slippers and a big brass breastpin" and they had for supper "black-eyed  peas and dog-foot butter."

O. 'Frog Went A-Courting.' Obtained from Miss Lura Wagoner of Vox,  Alleghany county, in 1921. Ten stanzas, not differing significantly from  E except that the latter part is reduced to two stanzas:

9 The first to come in was the bumblebee
With his fiddle on his knee.

10 The next to come was a great big flea;
He said, "Dance with the bumblebee.'

P. 'Frog Went A-Courtin'.' Reported by Sarah K. Watkins as known in  Anson and Stanly counties. Only four stanzas, corresponding to stanzas  1, 2, 9, 10 of D.

Q. 'Frog Courtship.' From Mrs. Nilla Lancaster, Wayne county. Eleven  stanzas. No element not already given in one or another of the preceding texts except at the close, which runs:

Frog went a-floating down the brook.
He got caught by the fisherman's hook.

R.  No title. Reported by Minnie S. Gosney as known in Raleigh and Wake county. Here the stanza structure is different; the "uhuh" refrain comes  only at the end of the couplet. The story is disarranged; it begins with the wedding party.

1. First came in was a bumble-bee;
Stung Miss Mousie on the knee, Uhuh uhuh

2 Next came in was Mr. Tick;
Ate so much it made him sick.

3 Had to send for Dr. Fly.
And he swore, by gosh, Mr. Tick would die.

4 Mr. b'roggie rode by Miss Mousie's den;
Says he, 'Miss Mousie. are you within?'

5 Took Miss Mousie on his knee;
Says he, 'Miss Mousie, will you marry me?'

6 Mr. Frggie went to town
To buy Miss Mousie's wedding gown

7 Mr. Froggie went by the lake.
There he was swallowed up by a big black snake.

8 That snake swum to shore,
A big black negro killed him there.

9 That big black negro has gone to France
To teach the negroes how to dance.

10 Now I lay my book on the shelf;
If you want any more, you can sing it yourself.

S. 'Frog Went A-Courting.' Contributed by Mrs. A. J. Ellis of Raleigh.  Eighteen stanzas. The refrain here, at the end of the first and third  lines of each stanza, as in D. is written "Ah-ha." but this is doubtless  just a variant writing of the usual hum or grunt. Otherwise the text  is substantially the same as D.

T.  'A Frog Went A-Courting.' Obtained by Professor James F. Royster  at Chapel Hill in 1915 from William C. Doubkin. student at the University of North Carolina. Five stanzas, ending with

What will the wedding supper be?'
'A slice of toast and a cup of tea,' 

       and the notation "I do not recall more."

U. 'A Frog Went A-Courting.' From James A. McKay. A variant form  of N. Here the refrain comes after each line, not only after the first  and third— at least, so the manuscript is written. For example :

Frog went a-courting, he did ride uh huh
Frog went a-courting. he did ride uh huh
Sword and pistol by his side uh huh

Went down to Lady Mouse's hall uh huh
Went down to Lady Mouse's hall uh huh
Gave a loud knock and loud he called uh huh.   etc. 

      The form of the wooing dialogue is slightly different from that in preceding versions:

'Old lady mouse, will you marry me?'
'Yes, kind sir, but you frighten me.'

V. 'Mr Frog Went A-Courting.' From Miss Mamie E. Cheek of Durham.  An unusually full form, eighteen stanzas. When Uncle Rat asks "Who's  been here since I've been gone?" Miss Mousie replies "A very nice  fellow all dressed in brown, the very nicest fellow in town." The wedding guests are a bumblebee, a little moth, "a big black spider who  walked up the aisle and sat down beside "er," a little brown flea, a big  green snake, a little tick— who dies despite the ministrations of Dr. Fly.  The bride and groom march in and "They jumped over the handle of  the broom." A "broomstick marriage" is an illegal or mock marriage.  See NED under broomstick.

W. 'Frog Went A-Courting.' From Lida Page of Durham county. This  is in the collection in two forms, one with the normal hummed refrain  as in D. the other with the hum after each line of the four-line stanza,
thus:

Frog went a-courting and he did ride uh uh
Frog went a-courting and he did ride uh uh
Frog went a-courting and he did ride uh uh
Sword and pistol by his side uh huh

The flea is crippled yet danced all night with the bumblebee; the cat  is yellow.

X. 'Frog Went A-Courting." From Miss Isabel B. Busbee of Raleigh, as  sung by her great-aunt Miss Louisa Nora Taylor. Marked by a refrain  that I have not found elsewhere. Nine stanzas. Begins

Mr. Frog a- wooing rides
Linctim lee lincum loddy
With sword and pistol by his sides
Fddlin day fodlin doddy.

Y. 'Froggie Went A-Courting.' A second text reported by Mrs. Vaught  (see F), this one from Taylorsville, Alexander county. The first four  Stanzas only. Has neither the "kimo" nor the hummed refrain but a
"clinrus," sung apparently after each stanza:

Plot, plot, plot, plot.

Z. No title. Contributed by Allie Ann Pearce of Colerain, Bertie county. No refrain is indicated. The text differs in other respects from the others in fine collection.

1 A frog he would a-wooing go
Whether his mother would let him or not.
So off he started with his opera hat.
And on the way he met with a rat.
'Pray, Mr. Rat, will you go with me
Kind Miss Mousy for to see?'

2 They soon arrived at Mousy's hall;
They gave a loud knock and gave a loud call :
'Pray, Miss Mousy, will you give us some beer?
Froggie and I are fond of good cheer.'

3 As they were having a merry time
The cat and her kittens came tumbling in.
The cat she seized the rat by the crown.
The kittens they pulled little mousie down.

The frog was in a k'rrihlt' fright;
He picked up his hat and made them gdochiis^ht.

4. As froggy was crossing a silvery brook
A lily white duck came and gobbled him up.
So this was the end of one, two, three.
The frog, the rat, and the little mousie.

AA. No title. From Valeria Johnson Howard, Roseboro, Sampson county. A reduced form of four stanzas. No refrain indicated.

APPENDIX
About a hundred years ago, when blackface minstrelsy was as  much the fashion, in England scarcely less than in the United States,  as hot jazz is now in this country, a famous comic singer, Sam  Cowell — London born, but he started his career in America — turned  the "kimo" refrain to the purposes of minstrelsy in a nonsense song  about South Carolina Negroes. The song was brought to this country and became in a sort traditional; at least it underwent the  changes due to oral transmission. At the request of Miss Adelaide L. Fries, Miss Lucy Logan Desha of Winston-Salem copied out  from Harold Scott's English Song Book Cowell 's song, with the  music (see vol. IV). Clearly a derivative of Cowell's song is the  following, reported by Miss Fries as obtained from Miss Etta  Shaffner, who learned it from her mother. As will be seen, it has  hardly more of 'The Frog's Courtship' than the refrain. For its  occurrence elsewhere in this country, see White's notes, ANFS  175-6, and Randolph, OFS II 362-5. Mrs. Steely found one stanza  and chorus in Wake county.

A. 'Kitchie Ki-Me-O.'

1. Way down south where the niggers grow,
Sing song kitchie kitchie ki-me-o.
That's where the white folks plant their tow,
Sing song kitchie kitchie ki-me-o;
They cover the ground all over with smoke.
Sing song kitchie kitchie ki-me-o.
Up the darkies' heads they poke.
Sing song kitchie kitchie ki-me-o.

Chorus: Ke-mo, ki-mo, da-ro-ar,
Me-he, me-hi, me-ho;
In come Sallie singing sometime penny-winkle linktum nipcat
Sing song kitchie kitchie ki-me-o.

2 There was a frog lived in a pool,
Sure he was the biggest fool;
For he could laugh and he could sing
And make the woods around him ring.

3 Milk in the dairy nine days old.
Frogs and skeeters gittin' mighty hold. 
I tried to sleep but 'tain't no use.
So I hung my legs for the chickens to roost.

The following- is clearly another memory of the same song.

B. 'Keemo Kimo." Reported by S. M. Davis of White Hall near the Neuse  River as a nursery rhyme "sung by an old Negro of ours."

Milk in the dairy nine days old.
Sing a song. Kitty can't you climbo
Frogs and skeeters getting mighty bold,
Sing a song. Kitty, can't you climb-e-o.

Chorus: Clemo, climbo, dario, clash,
To my high, to my low,
In come Sally Winkle sometimes
Penny Winkle limpturn nip cat,
Sing a song Kitty can't you climb-e-o.

And so is this, reported by Elsie Doxey of Currituck county. The  first stanza of it has been found also in Florida (SFLQ VIII 183)  and in the singing of Negroes (Talley 30), with only a faint echo of the kimo chorus.

Sweetest little girl in the county O,
Mammy and daddy both said so.
Kitchy kitchy kitchy kime-o
Kime-o kime-o
Kitchv kitchy kitchy kime-o.

Milk in the dairy nine days old
Kitchy kitchy kitchy kime-o
Kime-o kime-o
Kitchy kitchy- kitchy- kime-o.

121. Billy Boy 
This old English nursery song is very widely known. See BSM 499, and add to the references there given Rimbault's Nursery Rhymes 32-3, and for this country Virginia (FSV 193-5), Indiana  (Wolford 24, a play-party song) , Arkansas (OFS I 392-3), and  Missouri (OFS I 391-2, 393). There are forty-seven texts of it  in our collection, covering all parts of the state from Nag's Head  on the Banks to the western mountains. The questions asked vary,  though some of them, especially "Can she make a cherry pie?" are  fairly persistent. Instead of giving- all the texts it will be sufficient  to print a few of the fuller versions; but a listing here of the questions asked will give an idea of the range of interest involved. In  all of the texts taken together twenty questions are asked. They all begin with "Where have you been?" Five of them concern the person of the "wife": How old is she? How tall is she? Are her  eyes very bright? Is she worth anything? What is her name?  A larger number deal with her housewifely qualities: Can she sweep up the floor? Can she make a feather bed? Can she make a loaf of bread? Can she make a clierry pie? Can she knit, can she  sew? Can she make a cup of tea? Can she make a pudding well?  Can she make a man a shirt? Others look to the wedding: Do  you think she loves you well? Will her mother give her up? Is she fitten for a wife? Have you set the wedding day?

Still others constitute a sort of reverse of 'The Old Man's Courtship': Did she ask you in? Did she ask off your hat? Did she give you a seat  (set for you a chair) ? Did she bid you to come back? And one text (contributed by Mrs. Vaught from Alexander county) has a  question reflecting an interest in her respectability: Does she often  go to church ? To which the answer is: Yes, she goes to church  and wears a bonnet white as perch. The answers to the questions  vary slightly from text to text but not significantly. To the question  about her age the answer is always a nonsense rigmarole — perhaps  implying that it is none of the questioner's business.

Here are three of the fuller versions. Most of the texts have  only four or five stanzas.

A. 'Charming Billy.' Contributed by Miss Amy Henderson of Worry, Burke county, in 1914.

1 'Where have you been. Billy boy, Billy boy,
Where have you been, charming Billy?'
"I've been seeking me a wife, she's the comfort of my life;
She's a young thing, and cannot leave her mother.'

2 'Did she ask you to come in, Billy boy, Billy boy.
Did she ask you to come in, charming Billy?'
'Yes, she asked me to come in; she's a dimple in her chin.
She's a young thing, and cannot leave her mother.'

3 'Did she bid you have a chair, Billy boy, Billy boy.
Did she bid you have a chair, charming Billy?'
'Yes, she bade me have a chair; she has ringlets in her hair.
She's a young thing, and cannot leave her mother.'

4 'Can she make a cherry pie, Billy boy, Billy boy,
Can she make a cherry pie, charming Billy?'
'Yes, she can make a cherry pie quick as a cat can wink its eye.
She's a young thing, and cannot leave her mother.'

5 'Can she make a pudding well, Billy boy, Billy boy.
Can she make a pudding well, charming Billy?'
'Yes, she can make a pudding well, you can tell it by the smell.
She's a young thing, and cannot leave her mother.'

6. 'Did she bid you to come back, Billy boy, Billy boy,
Did she bid you to come back, charming Billy?'
'Yes. she bade me to come back, after giving me a smack.
She's a young thing, and cannot leave her mother."

7 'How old is she. Billy boy, Billy boy.
How old is she, charming Billy?'
'She'll be forty-four next fall, and she's got no teeth all,
She's a young thing, and cannot leave her mother.'

B. 'Billy Boy.' From Miss Florence Holton of Durham.

1. 'Where have you been. Billy boy, Billy boy.
Where have you been, charming Billy?'
'I have been to see my wife, she's the joy of my life;
She's a young thing, and can't leave her mother.'

2. 'Did she ask you in, Billy boy, Billy boy.
Did she ask you in, charming Billy?'
'She did ask me in, with a dimple in her chin;
She's a young thing, and can't leave her mother.'

3. 'Can she make a cherry pie, Billy boy, Billy boy.
Can she make a cherry pie, charming Billy?'
'She can make a cherry pie quick as a cat can wink his eye,
She's a young thing, and can't leave her mother.'

4 'Did she set for you a chair, Billy boy, Billy boy.
Did she set for you a chair, charming Billy?'
'She did set for me a chair with a ringlet in her hair,
She's a young thing, and can't leave her mother.'

5 Can she make a feather bed, Billy boy, Billy boy,
Can she make a feather bed, charming Billy?'
'She can make a feather bed, with a candle on her head,
She's a young thing, and can't leave her mother.'

6 "How tall is she, Billy boy, Billy boy,
How tall is she, charming Billy?'
'She's as tall as any pine and as thin as a pumpkin vine.
She's a young  and can't leave her mother.'

7 "Is she worth anything. Billly boy, Billy boy,
Is she worth anything, charming Billy?'
'She is worth a cow and a calf, and a dollar and a half.
She's a young thing, and can't leave her mother.'

8 'What is her name, Billy boy, Billy boy.
What is her name, charming Billy?'
'Her name is Susanna, and she lives in Louisiana.
She's a young thing, and can't leave her mother.'

9 'How old is she, Billy boy, Billy boy.
How old is she, charming Billy?'
'Twice six, twice seven, twice twenty and eleven;
She's a young thing, and can't leave her mother.'

C. 'Billie Boy.' Reported by Gertrude Allen (later Mrs. Vaught) from  Oakboro, Stanly county. Stanzas 1, 2, and 4 as in A. Stanza 3 runs:

'Did she give you a seat. Billy boy, Billy boy,
Did she give you a seat, charming Billy?'
'Yes, she gave me a seat and a piece of bread and meat,
She's a young thing that cannot leave her mother.'

And after stanza 4 it runs as follows:

5 'Can she make a loaf of bread. Billy boy, Billy boy.
Can she make a loaf of bread, charming Billy?'
'Yes, she can make a loaf of bread hard as any negro's head,
She's a young thing and cannot leave her mother.'

6 "Can she make up a bed, Billy boy, Billy boy.
Can she make up a bed, charming Billy?"
'Yes, she can make up the bed, fit the pillows at the head,
She's a young thing and cannot leave her mother.'

7 'How tall is she, Billy boy, Billy boy,
How tall is she, charming Billy?'
'She's as tall as a rail, slick as any monkey's tail.
She's a young thing and cannot leave her mother.'

122. Oh, Dear, What Can the Matter Be?
Williams, who reports this from Oxfordshire (FSUT 201 ), calls it an "old morris fragment." It has been found in Pennsylvania  (NPM 80), Virginia (FSV 197), West Virginia (SFLQ VI 252,  as a play-party song), Kentucky (DD 144-5), and Mississippi  (JAFL XXVIII 169); it is listed in Miss Pound's syllabus for the  Midwest and is given in Ford's Traditional Music of America and  in Heart Songs. Unquestionably it is much more generally known  than this list indicates.

A. 'O Dear, What Can the Matter Be.' Reported by K. P. Lewis as set  down in 1910 from the singing of Dr. Kemp P. Battle of Chapel Hill.

1 Oh, dear, what can the matter be?
Dear, dear, what can the matter be?
Oh. dear, what can the matter be,
Johnny's so long at the fair?
He promised to bring me a fair ring* to please me,
And then for a kiss, oh, he vowed he would tease me;
He promised to bring me a bunch of blue ribbon
To tie up my bonny brown hair.

2. Oh, dear, what can the matter be?
Dear, dear, what can the matter be?
Oh, dear, what can the matter be,
Johnny's so long at the fair?
He promised to bring me a basket of posies,
A garland of lilies, a garland of roses,
A little straw hat to set off the blue ribbons
That lie up my bonny brown hair.

[* This is a misunderstanding of the old word "fairing," a present from  the fair.]

B. 'Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be?' Communicated by Lucille Massey  of Durham. Not dated. The first stanza only; the same as A except  that it has the old word "fairing" instead of "fair ring."

123. Taffy Was a Welshman
["Taffy was a Welshman," Roud #19237, is a traditional nusery rhyme with anti-Welsh lyrics that was published c. 1780 in England. 

The term "Taffy" may be a merging of the common Welsh name "Dafydd" and the Welsh river "Taff" on which Cardiff is built, and seems to have been in use by the mid-eighteenth century. The rhyme may be related to one published in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book, printed in London around 1744, which had the lyrics:

Taffy was born
On a Moon Shiny Night,
His head in the Pipkin,
His Heels upright.

The earliest record we have of the better known rhyme is from Nancy Cock's Pretty Song Book, printed in London about 1780, which had one verse:

Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief;
Taffy came to my house and stole a piece of beef;
I went to Taffy's house, Taffy wasn't home;
Taffy came to my house and stole a marrow-bone. 

The song is known as a minstrel song:

Old Napper Rise-1846

I went down to New Orleans
Didn't go to stay
Laid my head in yellow gals lap
Yellow gal fainted away

Scaborough (1922) groups it with Jawbone songs:

I went to old Napper's house,
Old Napper wasn't at home.
I took my seat by the pretty yaller gal
And I picked upon the old jawbone.

Matteson- 2011; For more info see: "Poor old Napper" in my Fiddle Tunes Section]

The three songs entered here are clearly derived from the familiar  Mother Goose rhyme about the thieving Welshman. What appears  to he a Negro version of the first of the three has been reported  from Mississippi (JAFL XXVIII 141), and of the second from Virginia (FSV 167, TNFS 103); and the first stanza of our B corresponds to stanza 3 of another Virginia song (TNFS 166).

A. 'I Went Down to Suckie's House.' Communicated by Professor M. G.  Fulton of Davidson College, in 1915 or thereabouts.

1. I went down to Suckie's house to get a cup of tea,
What do you s'pose old Stickie had for me?
Chicken feet, sparrowgrass, hominy, and tea.

2. I went down to Stickie's house and fell upon my knees
And I like to laugh myself to death to hear the turkey sneeze.

B. 'Napper.' Contributed in 1914 by C. R. Bagley of Moyock. Currituck  county, as a fragment of what are "known among the Negroes as  breakdowns."

1 Napper come to my house,
I thought he come to see me. 
W hen I come to find him out
He 'suade my wife to leave me.

Chorus: Break down, Napper, hoo, hoo,
Break down, Napper, hoo.

2 I went to Napper's house;
Ole Napper sick in hed.
I rubbed my hand across his head
And killed ole Napper dead.

3. Goose chewed tobacker,
Duck drinked de wine.
Hog played de cwards* [chords]
In de punkin vine

[* So in the manuscript. One supposes it should be "cyards." with the familiar Southern breaking of the vowel after palatals. It will be seen that this final stanza is a form of the jingle dealt with under the title 'Get Along, John, the Day's Work's Done' in the section on Bird and  Beast Jingles.]

C. 'Old Napper.' Contributed by Bell Brandon of Durham. Not dated.

1. Napper went a-huntin';
He thought he'd catch a coon.
And when his old dog treed
He treed a mushy-room.

Chorus:

Poor old Napper, hoodie dinkey, hoodie dinkey.
Poor old Napper, hoodie dinkey, ha!

2. Napper come to my house.
I thought he come to see me.
When I come to find out
He was persuadin' my wife to leave me.

124. Barnyard Song

A. 'I Bought Ale a Hen.' Reported by Mrs. Sutton with the following commentary: "This is an old English folk song that is found all over the  North Carolina mountains. It is sung for the 'least un' and the children love it. I first heard it sung by an old lady who was a friend of my  mother's and who lived in the upper end of Caldwell county near Blowing Rock. Her name was Miss Mary Ann Webster. ... I have heard  this song in every county of the Blue Ridge. ... I believe this is the  best-known children's song in the mountains." But she adds: "I am  quite well aware that none of the traditional folk songs in my collection  are of necessity limited in North Carolina to the mountains. They are  in a better state of preservation there because the isolation has kept out  other songs, but they are probably found in every county in the state.  Certainly this one is. It was found in Caldwell county a hundred years  ago, for Miss Mary Ann Webster was seventy when she died, and she  told me that her grandmother sang it to her."

1 I bought me a hen and my hen loved me,
I fed my hen under yonder tree,
Hen said 'Fiddle I fee.'

2 I bought me a turkey and my turkey loved me.
1 fed my turkey under yonder tree.
Turkey said 'Gobble gobble,'
Hen said 'Fiddle I fee.'

3 I bought me a guinea and my guinea loved me, 
I fed my guinea under yonder tree.
Guinea said 'Potrack, Potrack.'
Turkey said 'Gobble gobble,'
Hen said 'Fiddle I fee.'

4 I bought me a duck and my duck loved me. 
I fed my duck under yonder tree.
Duck said 'Quack quack,'
Guinea said 'Potrack, Potrack.'
Turkey said 'Gobble gobble,'
Hen said 'Fiddle I fee.'

5 I bought me a goose and my goose loved me,
I fed my goose under yonder tree.
Goose said 'honk honk,' etc.

And so on with the cow, which said "Moo, moo," the horse, which said  "Neigh, neigh," the slieep. which said "Baa, baa," up to this conclusion:

9. I bought me a wife and my wife loved me,
I fed my wife under yonder tree.
Wife would scold, scold,
Sheep said 'Baa, baa,'
Horse said 'Neigh, neigh,'
Cow said 'Moo, moo,'
Goose said 'Honk, honk,'
Duck said 'Quack, quack,'
Guinea said 'Potrack, potrack,'
Turkey said 'Gobble gobble,'
Hen said 'Fiddle I fee.'

B. 'I Bought Me a Hen.' Another version from Mrs. Sutton. The series  is hen, duck, turkey, cow, dog, horse, sheep, "and so on, interminably.  Always the song ends with 'I bought me a wife,' etc." The tune was recorded from the singing of Miss Pearl Minish, Mrs. Sutton's sister.

C. 'I Bought Me a Hen.' Obtained from Miss Mamie Mansfield of Durham  in July 1922. Here the series is hen, duck, guinea, turkey, cat (which  went "meow, meow-"), dog (which went "bow- wow"), cow, horse, wife;
but it adds at the end a stanza that brings it up to date:

I bought me a Ford and my Ford pleased me,
And I fed my Ford under yonder tree.
Ford went 'Get you there, get you there,'
Wife went scold, scold, cfc.

D. 'I Had a Little Hen.' Reported by R. D. Ware in 1921 as known in  Stanly county. Here the singer keeps the various creatures in a mysterious "oneyers tree," and the sounds ascribed to them are different.  The hen, to be sure, says "Fiddle-like-fee" ; but the duck says "dey, dey," the turkey says "shimmy-shack, shimmy-shack," the hog says  "griffy-greffy," the cow says "paw, paw"; and in place of the wife at the end is the baby:

I had my baby and my baby pleased me.
Had my baby in the oneyers tree ;
Baby says 'ma, ma,'
Sheep says 'ba, ba,'
Cow says 'paw, paw,*

Hog says 'grifify-greffy,'
Turkey says 'shimmy shack,'
Guinea says 'poterack,'
Hen savs 'fiddle-like fee!'

E. No title. Communicated, probably in 1923, by Mildred Peterson of  Bladen county. The series is cat (which went "fiddle-i-dee"), dog (which went "boo, boo"), hen (which went "ka, ka, ka"), hog (which went "krusi, krusi, krusi"), sheep (which went "baa, baa, baa"), cow  (which went "moo, moo, moo"), and calf (which went "ma, ma, ma").

F. No title. From Katharine Jones, Raleigh. Not dated. Only the first  two stanzas are given, but they differ appreciably in structure from the  preceding versions.

Bought me a chicken, and a chicken wit* me,
Fed my chicken behind a tree.
And my chick said coo, coo, coo.
Every fellow feeds his chicken
And I feed my chicken too.

Bought me a duck, and a duck wit* me.
Fed my duck behind a tree.
And my duck said quack, quack,
Every fellow feeds his chicken
And I feed my chicken too.
etc

[*Possibly this is "bit". Neither word makes sense in this situation. ]

125. McDonald's Farm
So called in one of our texts. Each of the five texts has a different title. In Quebec it is known as 'Come, Come' (JAFL xxxi 177-8);  in Arkansas (OFS iii 211-12), as in our D, it is called 'The Merry  Circen Fields of the Lowland'; in Iowa (JAFL LIV 177-8), 'The  Banks of Holland'; in Nebraska (ABS 238-40), "Sweet Fields of
Violo.' In content it is similar to 'Barnyard Sons', ' but its structure  is different. It seems to have arisen from the familiar "this-a-way  that-a-way" song frame which in this country has developed into  social satire; see 'When I Was a Young Girl' in this volume. Or  perhaps the nursery song gave rise to the game.

A. 'McDonald's Farm.' From Miss Mary Scarborough of Dare county, in  1923 or thereabouts.

Old McDonald had a farm,
E-i- ei o.
And on that farm he had some chicks,
E-i ei o.
With a chick chick here and a chick chick there,
And a here chick, there chick, everywhere chick chick.
Old McDonald had a farm,
E-i ei o.

And on that farm he had some turkeys,
E-i ei o
With a gobble gobble here, and a goble gobble there.
And a here gobble, there gobble, everywhere gobble gobble,
Chick chick here, chick chick there,
Here chick, there chick, everywhere chick chick.
Old McDonald had a farm,
E-i ei o.

And on that farm he had some ducks,
E-i ei o
With quack quack here and a quack quack there,
And a here quack, there quack, everywhere quack quack,
etc.

And on that farm he had some geese,
E-i ei o
With a honk honk here, and a honk honk there, etc.

B. 'In the Merry Green Fields of Ireland.' Reported by Miss Gertrude  Allen (afterwards Mrs. Vaught) from Taylorsville, Alexander county.  "Any other animal may be put in also." But the distinctive sounds made
by the different creatures are not given after the first stanza.

1 My grandmammy had some very fine ducks
In the merry green fields of Ireland.
With a quack quack here
And every now and then a quack quack
In the merry green fields of Ireland.

2 My grandmammy had some very fine sheep
In the merry green fields of Ireland.
etc.

3 My grandmammy had some very fine pigs
etc.

4 My grandmammy had some very fine cows
etc.

5 My grandmammy had some very fine dogs
etc.

6 My grandmammy had some very fine cats
etc.

C. 'Oh, Grandma Had Some Very Fine Geese.' Reported by Julian P.  Boyd as collected from Minnie Lee, one of his students in the school at Alliance, Pamlico county, in 1927.

Oh, Grandma had some very fine geese
That Alary feeds in the morning.
Quack quack here! Quick quack there!
Every then a quick and every now a quack.
Quick, quack, quack in the morning.

       And so on for dogs ("bow wow"), cats ("mew mew"), and sheep ("baa baa"), and it ends:

Oh, Grandma has some very fine stock
That Mary feeds in the morning.
Quick, quack here! Bow, wow there!
Every then a bow, and every now a meow.
Baa, baa, baa-aa in the morning.

D. 'The Merry Green Fields of the Low Lands.' From Miss Elizabeth  Walker, Boone. Watauga county, in 1936. With the music.

My grandfather had some very fine ducks
In the merry green fields of the low land.
'Twas a quack-quack here and a quack-quack there
And here a quack and there a quack.

Oh, say, bonny lassie, will you go with me
To the merry green fields of the low land?

And so on with hens ("cack-cack"), sheep ("baa-baa"), "as long as one  has breath to sing and can think of animals and their respective sounds to all in the song."

E. 'Come, Says Harry." Reported as "traditional in our family" by Miss  Adelaide Fries of Winston-Salem in 1926. "The number of verses is  limited only by the numlier of animals and fowls whose names and cries
are known to the singer."

'Come,' says Harry, 'will you gang with me 
To the merry green woods that I own?'
'Come,' says Harry, 'will you gang with me 
To see my father's sheep?'

With a baa, baa here and a baa, baa there,
Here baa. there baa, here and there baa. baa. baa.

126. Quack, Ouack, Quack
A nursery rhyme, apparently. I have not found it elsewhere.

'Quack, Quack, Quack.' Reported by Miss Mamie Mansfield as obtained  from a fourth-grade pupil, Azzilee Norris, in the Durham school.

1 There were six fat chicks that once I knew,
Pretty ducks, fat ducks they were too;
But the one with a feather curled up on his back,
Oh, he ruled the others with a quack, quack, quack.

Chorus: Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack,
Oh, he ruled the others with a quack, quack, quack.

2 Down to the meadow these ducks would go,
A-wiggling and a-waggling all in a row,
But the one with a feather curled up on his back.
Oh, he ruled the others with a quack, quack, quack.

3 Down to the pond these ducks would go,
A-splashing and a-splashing all in a row.
But the one with a feather curled up on his back.
Oh, he ruled the others with a quack, quack, quack.

127. The Dogs in the Alley
A jingle on animal sounds akin to the familiar 'I had a duck and the duck pleased me,' thougli I have not found just this use of the  idea elsewhere.

'O, the Dogs in the Alley. Nursery Rhyme.' Communicated by B. O.  Aiken of Durham. Not dated.

Oh, the dogs in the alley
They go bow-wow-wow,
And the cats join the chorus
W ith a meow-meow-meow.
And the pigs in the pen
They go we-we-we.
And the rooster, he goes
Cocka-do-dle-do.

128. Go Tell Aunt Patsy
This nursery jingle is very generally known: in Maine ( FSONK  207 J, Virginia (JAFL XXVI 130). North Carolina (SharpK II 345, ANFS 177, OSSG 3), Georgia (JAFL XLVII 336), Texas (TNFS  8 and 195-6), the Ozarks (OFS 11 347-9), Iowa (JAFL LVI 110),  and perhaps Kentucky (Shearin 38). Mrs. Steely found it in the  Ebenezer community in Wake county.

'Old Gray Goose." Reported by Etliel Brown from Catawba county.  No date given.

1 Go tell Aunt Patsy,
Go tell Aunt Patsy,
Go tell Aunt Patsy
The old gray goose is dead.

2 The one she's been saving,
The one she's been saving.
The one she's been saving
To make a feather bed.

3 Old granny's weeping.
Old granny's weeping,
Old granny's weeping
Because her true love's dead.

4 She died last Friday,
She died last Friday,
She died last Friday
With the toothache in her head.

129. The Fox and the Goose
For references to this song both in England and in America, see  the note in SharpK 11 398, and add Vermont (VFSB 119-20),  Massachusetts (FSONE 202-4), Virginia (FSV 207-8), Kentucky  (BKH 181-2), Florida (SFLQ IV 148-9, among the Conchs), the  Ozarks (OFS I 387-9), Ohio (BSO 213), Indiana (BSI 323),  Michigan (BSSM 465), and Iowa (MAFLS XXIX 42-4. JAFL LVI  105). It goes under various names and is very widely known. Of  the four texts in the Brown Collection all but one have to do with  a duck, like Sharp's Tennessee and North Carolina texts, not with  a goose; but they all belong to one tradition none the less.

A. 'The Fox and the Goose.' Reported by Mrs. R. D. Blacknall of Durham  as "sung by a Negro servant, Maria McCauley, presumably an ex-slave of the Chapel Hill .McCauleys. Heard forty-five years ago.''

1. The fox marched forth one moonshiny night ;
He stood upon his hind legs, itiuch about right ;
'Some meat, some meat I must have this night
Before I leave this town-e-o,
lieforc 1 leave this town-e-o.'

2. The fox marched up to the farmer's coop
And there he met the old grey goose.
'Old goose, old goose, you must come along o' me;
I'm the finest old fellow in the town-e-o.
I'm the finest old fellow in the town-e-o.'

3. The fox took a nigh cut to his den.
But come his young ones, eight, nine, ten.
'Daddy, daddy, do go again!
You're the luckiest old fellow in the town-e-o,
You're the luckiest old fellow in the town-e-o!'

4. Old mother grey goose jumped out of hed
And out of the window she poked her head:
'Old man. old man, the grey goose is dead.
For I heard her holler "Quing quath-e-o !"
For I heard her holler "Quing quath-e-o !" '

B. No title. From Miss Mamie E. Cheek. Durham. Not dated.

1 The fox jumped up one moonshiny night.
He prayed for the moon to afford him light;
He had many miles to travel that night
Before he reached the Towny-o, towny-o, towny-o,
Before he reached the towny-o.

2 At last he reached the farmer's yard.
There he met an old gray drake:
'Old drake, old drake, you must come along with me.
I'm the finest old fellow in the towny-o, towny-o,
I'm the finest old fellow in the towny-o.'

3 Old Mother Hubbard jumped out of her hed
And out of the window she popped her head :
'John, John, John, the black cluck's gone;
I thought I heard 'er holler "Quin qua mio, quin qua mio, quin qua mio,"
I thought I heard her holler "Quin qua mio!" '

C. No title. Reported by Miss Iris C. Chappelle (later Mrs. H. C. Turlington) from Creedmoor, Granville county.

1. A fox went out one moonshiny night.
Prayed to the Lord to 'for him a light;
Had many miles to go that night
Before he reached the town O, town O,
Before he reached the town O.

2 He came to a pen,
Saw there black clucks nine or ten,
Gralibed a black duck by the neck.
And the feet went dangling down O, down O,
And the feet went dangling down O.

3 Old mother Whittle popped out of bed,
Out to the window she poked her head;
She cried, 'John, John, my black duck's gone!'
But the fox went through the town O, town O,
But the fox went through the town O.

4 Old mother Whittle she hopped back to bed,
She covered up her head and she hollered and she cried:
'Oh, John, my black duck's gone.'
But the fox went through the town O, town O.
But the fox went through the town O.

5 He came to a woods. . . .

[* The manuscript notes: "I have forgotten the last verse." ]

D. 'Fox.' Contributed by Katherine Bernard Jones of Raleigh. Not dated.

1 Fox jumped out one moonshiny night.
Prayed to the moon to afford him light.
For he had many miles to travel that night
Before he reached the town O, town O.
For he had many miles to travel that night
Before he reached the town O, town O.*

2. When he reached the farmer's barn
The geese and ducks raged and charged;
'But the best of you shall grease my beard
Before I leave the town O, town O.'**

3 He seized the old black duck by the neck.
Swung her across the back.
'Quack, quack, quack,' said the old duck.
But the fox went dangling down O, down O.

4 Ole Mother Widdle Waddle out of the bed,
Out of the window popped out her head:
'John, John, John, the black duck's gone,
And the fox has gone through the town O, town O!'

5 John ran out upon the hill,
Blew his horn loud and shrill.
'Ha ha ha!" said the old fox
'But I've got through the town O, town O!'

[* The last two lines of each stanza are thus repeated throughout.]
[** The "town O" is written three times in this line in the manuscript, doubtless by a mere slip of the pen.]

130 The Old Woman and the Pig
This old English nursery ditty (Halliwell 18, Rinihault 42) is  known under various names in this country: in Virginia (FSV 192-3) as 'The Little Pig' or 'The Little Old Woman,' in West Virginia (FSS 496-7) as 'Old Sam Fanny' or 'Old Joe Finley,' in  Ohio (BSO 179-81) as 'Old Sam Fanny.' It is reported also from North Carolina (SharpK 11 343-4) and Georgia (MSHF 14-15).  Both of our texts have the nasal grunt by way of refrain that marks  many versions of 'The Frog's Courtship.'

A. 'The Old Woman and Her Pig.' Reported by Mrs. Sutton from the singing of school children at Collettsville, "in the John's River valley, right down under Blowing Rock." Blowing Rock is in Watauga county.

1 There was an old woman had a little pig, umph humph
There was an old woman had a little pig, umph humph
There was an old woman had a little pig,
The little pig was just so big, umph humph.

2 The little pig ran all around the farm, umph humph
The little pig ran all around the farm, umph humph
The little pig ran all around the farm
But he didn't do much harm, umph humph.

3 The little pig died for the want of bread,* umph humph
The little pig died for the want of bread, umph humph
The Httle pig died for the want of bread;
Don't you think that's a mighty hard death? umph humph.

4 Then the old woman lay down and died, umph humph
Then the old woman lay down and died, umph humph
Then the old woman lay down and died
And the old man he sat and cried, umph humph.

5. The old man died for the want of breath, umph humph
The old man died for the want of breath, umph humph
The old man died for the want of breath,
Don't you think that's a mighty hard death? umph humph.

6. There's an old song book that lies on the shelf, umph humph
There's an old song book that lies on the shelf, umph humph
There's an old song book that lies on the shelf,
If you want any more you'll sing it yourself, umph humph.

[*So the manuscript; but the rhyme, and the B text, show that it should be "breath."

B. 'The Old Woman's Little Pig.' Reported in May iy20, by C. E. Buck-
ner of Asheville from the singing of his mother, Mrs. Mattie Buckner.

1 There was an old woman who had a little pig, mm-mm-mm
There was an old woman who had a little pig.
Didn't eat much for it wasn't very big. mm-mm-mm.

2 That little pig did a heap of harm, mm-mm-mm
That little pig did a heap of harm.
Made little tracks around the barn, mm-mm-mm.

3 That little pig, it died a bad death, mm-mm-mm
That little pig, it died a bad death.
Died because it couldn't get its breath, mm-mm-mm.

4 The old woman sobbed, she mourned, she cried, mm-mm-mm
The old woman sobbed, she mourned, she cried ;
Then she layed right down and died, mm-mm-mm.

5 The old man died on the count of grief, mm-mm-mm
The old man died on the count of grief;
Wasn't that a great relief? mm-mm-mm.

6 There they lay all, one, two, three, mm-mm-mm
There they lay all, one, two, three.
Old man, old woman, and a little piggee. mm-mm-mm.

7 There it lays up on the shelf, mm-mm-mm
There it lays up on the shelf,
If you want anymore, you'll sing it yourself, mm-mm-mm.

 

C. 'The Old Woman and Her Pig." From Catherine Cox. Salisbury, Rowan county. Not dated. Does not differ significantly from B.

131 When I Was A Little Boy 

For the combination of this with the 'Swapping' Song' see that title among the ballads. As a nursery rhyme in its own right it is  old and very generally known (Halliwell 14, and compare 'When  I Was a Wee Thing' in Herd's A)iciciit and ModcDi Scottish Songs, II 213-14 of the 1869 reprint), but, for that very reason probably, seldom inchided in regional folk song collections. It appears three  times in the North Carolina collection :

A. From K. P. Lewis, who had it from Dr. Kemp T. Battle of Chapel Hill.

B From the Misses Holonian of Durham, in 1922.

C From Miss Mamie Mansfield of Durham, in 1922.

As the texts do not vary significantly it will be sufficient to give  the first of these. None has any refrain indicated.

1 When I was a little boy I lived by myself
And all the bread and cheese I got I put upon the shelf.

2 The rats and the mice they made such a strife
I was forced to go to London to buy me a wife.

3 When I got there the streets were so narrow
I was forced to bring my wife home in a wheelbarrow.

4 The wheelbarrow broke and my wife had a fall;
Down came wheelbarrow, wife, and all.

132. Bobby Shaftoe
This old English nursery song ( Halliwell 149, Rimbault 42) I  have found reported as folk song in this country onlv from Virginia  (FSV 200).

'Bobbie Shaftoe.' Contributed in July 1922, by Miss Doris Overton of  Durham (afterwards Mrs. K. M. Brim). With the tune.

1 Bobbie: Marie, will you marry me ?
For you know I love thee.
Tell me, darling, will you be
The wife of Bobbie Shaftoe?

2 Marie: Bobbie, pray don't ask me more.
For you've asked me twice before.
Let us be good friends, no more,
Dearest Bobbie Shaftoe.

3 Bobbie: If you will not marry me
I will go away to sea
And you ne'er again shall see
Your friend Bobbie Shaftoe.

4 Marie: Bobbie Shaftoe's gone to sea
.......
.......
......[missing lines]
 
5 Bobbie Shaftoe's come from sea.
Silver buckles on his knee.
He's come back to marry me,
Dearest Bobbie Shaftoe.

---------------------------------------------------

133. The Pretty Pear Tree
This English cumulative song (Halliwell 115, Mason 26-7; also  Newell 111-13), more often called 'The Tree in the Wood' (FSSom II 12-13; see also SCSM 359, and for a possible connection with  "the faucon hath borne my make away" JFSS iv 52-66), is well  known also in America; Newfoundland (FSN 72), Massachusetts
(AFL VIII 86-8, FSONE 79), Virginia (SharpK 11 282, SCSM  35, 8-60, FSV 186), Kentucky (BKH 87-8). North Carolina  (SharpK 11 281-2), Missouri (OFS III 213-15), Indiana (HFLB III 67), Michigan (BSSM 474); a text without location but probably Southern is given in JAFL XI 272.

'The Pretty Pear Tree.' Reported by Mrs. M. M. Moore of Raleigh  in 1924 as sung by her grandmother. Mrs. Erville Chamberlain, who  came from western New York State, where her people were "Americans  of several generations at the time of the Revolution." With the music.

1 What is out in yonder field?
There stands a pretty pear tree,
Pretty pear tree with leaves.

2. What is on the tree?
A very pretty limb.
Limb on the tree.
Tree in the ground.
Out in that beautiful field
There stands a pretty pear tree,
Pretty pear tree with leaves.

3 W^hat is on the limb?
A very pretty branch.
Branch on the limb.
Limb on the tree,
Tree in the ground.

Out in that beautiful field
There stands a pretty pear tree,
Pretty pear tree with leaves.

4 What is on the branch?
A very pretty bough,
Bough on the branch,
Branch on the limb,
Limb on the tree,
Tree in the ground.
Out in that beautiful field
There stands a pretty pear tree,
Pretty pear tree with leaves.

5 What is on the bough?
A very pretty twig.
Twig on the hough, etc.

6 What is on the twig?
A very pretty nest.
Nest on the twig, etc.

7 What is on the nest?
A very pretty egg.
Egg on the nest, etc.

8 What is on the egg?
A very pretty bird.
Bird on the egg, etc.

9 What is on the bird?
A very pretty feather.
Feather on the bird, etc.

10 What is on the feather?
A very pretty speck.
Speck on the feather,
Feather on the bird,
Bird on the egg,
Egg on the nest.
Nest on the twig,
Twig on the bough,
Bough on the branch,
Branch on the limb,
Limb on the tree,
Tree in the ground,
Out in that beautiful field
There stands a pretty pear tree.
Pretty pear tree with leaves.

134. Jack-a-Maria
A sequence jingle, known also in South Carolina (JAFL xliv  436). Georgia (SSSA 242. JAFL xlvii 339), Mississippi (JAFL  XXVI 143), Texas (PFLST xiii 251), Arkansas (Ozark Folklore I 7), and Indiana (SFLQ iii 181).

'Jack-a-ma-rier. Nursery Rhyme.' Communicated by Mrs. Doris Overton Brim of Durham in 1923 or thereabouts.

Jack-a-ma-rier
Jumped in the fire;
Fire so hot
He jumped in the pot;
Pot so black
He jumped in a crack;
Crack so high
He jumped in the sky;
Sky so blue
He jumped in a canoe;
Canoe so shallow
He jumped in the tallow;
Tallow so white
He stayed all night.

135. There's a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea
A sequence song, somewhat on the model of 'The Pretty Pear Tree.' I have not found it in print.

'There's a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea." Reported in 1923 by Miss Lucille Cheek as "sung by boys and girls in Chatham county on hayrides."

1 There's a hole in the bottom of the sea,
There's a hole.
There's a hole,
There's a hole in the bottom of the sea.

2 There's a rock in the bottom of the sea,
There's a rock.
There's a rock,
There's a rock in that hole in the bottom of the sea.

3 There's a frog in the bottom of the sea,
There's a frog,
There's a frog,
There's a frog on that rock in that hole in the bottom of the sea.

136. John Brown Had a Little Injun
 Presumably English, though it is not in Rimhault's collection and  Halliwell has only a piece about two little Indians — not a number  song. In this country it has been reported from Virginia (FSV  190), Kentucky (Shearin 34), Georgia (SSSA 241-2), Arkansas  (OFS III 399), the Midwest (Pound 75, Ford 448), the Southern mountains (AMS 84-3 — not quite the same thing, but a number  song); it appears in the refrain of a play-party song' in Idaho  (JAFL XLIV 9); and in Negro song with "niggers" in place of  Indians (Talley 163). Perrow (JAFL XXVI 154) reports it from Alabama Negroes with "angels" in place of Indians.

A. 'John Brown Had a Little Injun." Contributed by Ethal Hicks Buffalo, Granville county. Not dated.

1 John Brown had a little Injun.
John Brown had a little Injun.
John Brown had a little Injun.
Had a little Injun boy.

2 One, two, three little Injuns.
Four, five, six little Injuns.
Seven, eight, nine little Injuns,
Ten little Injun boys.

B. No title. Communicated from Chatham county, in 1923 or thereabouts,  by Miss Mamie E. Cheek. The same as A, except that it completes the  circuit witli a third stanza:

Ten little, nine little, eight little Injuns,
Seven little, six little, five little Injuns,
Four little, three little, two little Injuns,
One little Injun boy.

137. Bingo
This old English spelling song (Rimbault 62-3) is still sung in England (JESS I 242, V 219) and has been reported from the singing of school children in Cincinnati (JAFL XL 37).

'Bingo.' K. P. Lewis reported this from the singing of Dr. Kemp P. Battle of Chapel Hill in November 1910.

There was a dog lay on a barn floor,
And Bingo was his name.
B-a ba, b-e be, b-i bi,
B-o bo, b-u bu, b-y by,
Bingo was his name.

138. Call My Little Dog
Possibly a modification of, or suggested by, 'Bingo,' above,  have not found it elsewhere reported as folk song.

'Call My Little Dog.' Like 'Bingo,' this is reported by K. P. Lewis  from the singing, in November 1910, of Dr. Kemp P. Battle of Chapel  Hill.

'Call my little dog.'
What shall I call him?'
'Call him Ponto,
Call him Carlo,
Call him J-A-C-K !'

139 The Vowels
This spelling chant has been reported from Virginia (FSV 185)  and Texas (PFLST vi 227-8), and is doubtless known elsewhere.

'The Vowels.' Contributed by the Misses Holeman of Durham in 1922.  They note that the song continues until all the consonants are used.

B-a ba, b-e be,

B-i bick-a-bi,

B-o bo, bick-a-bi-bo,

B-u bu, bick-a-bi-bo bu.

C-a ca, c-e ce,

C-i cick-a-ci,

C-o co, cick-a-ci-co.

C-u cu, cick-a-ci-co-cu.

140. Banbury Cross
This very familiar nursery jingle seems not to have been thought  worth recording by folk-song collectors. I have found it reported  only from Ontario (JAFL xxxi 112). As reported in our collection it is a composite of fragments; the last four lines are from  the singing game 'Ring around a Rosy.'

No title. Reported by Miss Leonora Aider, l)ut without notation of time  or place.

1 Trot a hobby horse
To the Bandbury Cross
To get some cherries.
When you get there
The trees don't bear.
Here you come
A-trotting back, a-trotting back.
Take care, little boy,
And don't you fall off.

2 Gallop, gallop to Strawberry town.
Take care, little boy, and don't fall down.

3 My turkey, your turkey,
Shoo, turkey, shoo!

4 Swing around the roses,
Pocket full of posies.
Sweet bread, rye bread,
Squat!

141. Oh, Mr. Revel!
The rhyme about "the devil, with his wooden pick and shovel"  is English: Northall, English Folk Rhymes 306, records it as known  in Warwickshire and 'the west of England." Henry (SSSA 252)  reports a form of it from the Southern mountains.

A. 'Mr. Revel." Communicated by K. P. Lewis as set down in 1910 from  the singing (or recitation) of Dr. Kemp P. Battle of Chapel Hill,  with the notation "Sing very fast" and "must be acted to be effective,"  but with no indication of what the action is.

Oh. Mr. Revel!
Did you ever see the devil
With wooden spade and shovel
A-digging up the gravel
With his long toe-nail?

B. 'Negro Song.' Reported by Mrs. J. R. Chamberlain of Raleigh in 1924.

Did you ebber see de debbil
W'id his iron-wooden shubble
Diggin' grabble, diggin' grabble?
Po' sinner!

142. Old Woman All Skin and Bones
This old English shudder-story (Halliwell 64-5. Rimbault 30-1  is still told to children in various parts of the United States. See  BSM 502. and add to the references there given Massachusetts  (FSONE 33-6). Virginia (FSV 198-200), the Ozarks (OPS I 301-2), Ohio (BSO 206-7), and Indiana (BSI 268). Our North Carolina texts differ interestingly in regard to what it was that the old  woman saw.

A. 'There Was an Old Woman.' Sung into the Ediphone in 1920 by Miss  Tina Fussell, a student at Trinity College from Snow Hill, Greene county.

1 There was an old woman all skin and bones
Oo-oo-oo
And full of dreadful sighs and groans.
Oo-oo-oo

2 This woman had a mind to pray,
Oo-oo-oo
So to church she went one day.
Oo-oo-oo

3 And when she got up to the stile
Oo-oo-oo
She thought she'd stop and rest a while.
Oo-oo-oo

4 And when she got to the church door
Oo-oo-oo
She thought she'd rest a little more.
Oo-oo-oo

5 And when she got inside the door
Oo-oo-oo
She spied a corpse lying on the floor.
Oo-oo-oo

6 And from its eyes and nose and chin
Oo-oo-oo
The worms crawled out, the worms crawled in.
Oo-oo-oo

7 The woman to the parson said:
Oo-oo-oo
'Shall I look so when I am dead?'
Oo-oo-oo

8 The parson to the woman said:
'Boo!!!'

B. 'There Was an Old Woman All Skin and Bones.' A revised version  sent in by Miss Fussell with this explanation: "'The Old Woman All  Skin and Bones' must be changed some. My mother sang it to me this afternoon and I'm sending you the stanzas that are changed, and several  more stanzas that I could not remember when I sang it into the Ediphone." But this revised text does not really differ much from A; chiefly in the placing of the groan that constitutes the refrain, which in  this revision comes not after each line but only after each couplet. It  ends :

And the worms crawled in and the worms crawled out
And the worms did crawl all round about.
Oo-oo-oo-oo

'The woman to the preacher said:
"Will I look so when I am dead?'
Oo-oo-oo-oo

And Miss Fussell adds: "This is all Mother can remember distinctly,  but there's one more stanza which is about the woman swooning and  falling dead on the floor."

C. 'The Old Woman All Skin and Bones.' Taken down by Miss Jean  Holeman of West Durham in 1922 from the singing of Mrs. R. D.  Blacknall. The text is the same as B with the addition at the close of  the stanza that Mrs. Fussell did not remember; the same as A 8.

D. 'There Was an Old Woman.' From Miss Kate S. Russell of Roxboro,  Person county, in 1923 or thereabouts. A somewhat reduced version.  The refrain is here hummed rather than groaned.

1 There was an old woman skin and bones
M-M-M-M-M-M-M

2 This woman had the mind to pray;
'Twas on a Sabbath day.
M-M-M-M-M-M-M

3 This woman thought to church she'd go
To hear the parson preach and pray.
M-M-M-M-M-M-M

4 As she got to the church door
She spied a corpse lying on the floor.
M-M-M-M-M-M-M '^

5 This woman to the parson said.
'Will I look so, when I'm dead?'
M-M-M-M-M-M-M

6 The parson to the woman said:
'Yes, you'll look so when you are dead.'
M-M-M-M-M-M-M-BOO ! ! !

E. 'There Was an Old Woman All Skin and Bones.' Contributed by Miss  Mary Morrow, Greensboro, Guilford county, in 1928. This has the  humming refrain like D, and changes the story somewhat. After four  stanzas as in C it runs thus:

5 And when she opened the door
Her shadow floated on the floor.

6 And when they turned to the door
Behold, her corpse lay on the floor.

7 And when they carried her out the door
The poor old woman was seen no more.

8 But when they open the old church door
They see her ghost lie on the floor.

Exactly the same text appears also in Lucy R. Cobb's M.A. thesis at Duke.

F. 'Old Skin and Bones.' Contributed in 1922 by Miss Jennie Belvin of  Durham. Here again the refrain is hummed ; it is "her corpse" that the  old woman sees on the ground; and the piece "closes with a fearful
yell; the singer jumps at the listener and gives the yell."

G. 'There Was a Lady, Skin and Bone.' Collected by John A. Lomax and  published by him in the North Carolina Booklet, XX, No. 1, pp. 27-9.  Here the lady sees not a corpse but a ghost lying on the ground, and the  closing dialogue is between her and this "spirit."

H. 'Skin and Bones.' Contributed by Miss Madge T. Nichols of Durham  county in 1922. Here there is no corpse or shadow or ghost, so that  the point of the story is pretty much lost.

1 There was an old woman all skin and bones,
Skin and bones, skin and bones,
There was an old woman all skin and bones
um um um

2 This old woman went to church one day
To hear the minister preach and pray,
This old woman went to church one day
um um um

3 This old woman to the minister said,
'I feel so bad, so bad. so bad.'
This old woman to the minister said
um um um

4 The minister to this old woman said,
'You look so bad, so bad, so bad,'
The minister to this old woman said
um um um

I. 'There Was an Old Woman.' Reported by Edna Whitley, but without  indication of time or place. Here again the core of the story is lost.  Perhaps it is simply a case of defective memory. No refrain is indicated.

1. There was an old woman,
She was all skin and bones,
All skin and bones.

2 She lived alone,
She lived all alone.

3 She said she was going to preaching once more,
She said she was going to preaching once more.

4 She went to preaching once more,
She went to preaching once more.

5 I When I she got there she knocked.
And the preacher said 'Boo.'

143. What Are Little Girls Made Of?
This English nursery rhyme (Halliwell 119, Rimbault 72-3) is  presumably known all over the United States but seems to have swum into the ken of ballad collectors only in Ontario (JAFL XXXI  92), Virginia (FSV 193) and Kentucky (SharpK 11 334-5).

No title. Reported by Miss Gertrude Allen (afterwards Mrs. Vaught)  from Taylorsville, Alexander county, in 1923. In each stanza the question line is repeated once, and the conclusion to the answer is repeated once, making a five-line stanza, here written out only for the first stanza.

1 What are little girls made of?
What are little girls made of?
Sngar and spice and all that's nice,
And that's what they are made of.
That's what they are made of.

2 What are little hoys made of?
lUickets and hails and pnppy dog tails.

3 What are yonng girls made of?
Ribbons and roses and sweet-smelling rosies.

4 What are young men made of?
Stiff cuffs and collars and a few paper dollars.

5 What are old maids made of?
Ruffles and laces and old sour faces.

6 What are old men made of?
Cradles and wheels and the Devil's heel.

7 What are old women made of?
Rocks and reels and old spinning wheels.

144. Neighbor Jones
These nonsense verses I have found nowhere else. Possibly they  are a college song.

'Neighbor Jones.' Reported by K. P. Lewis as set down from the singing in 1910 of Dr. Kemp P. Battle of Chapel Hill.

1 Good morning, neighbor Jones, how do you do this morning?
Good morning, neighbor Jones, how do you do this morning?
I have for you for you for you, for you for you, for you for you
A budget full of wonders, neighbor Jones.

2 The old white cow's got a calf way down in yonder stable,
The old white cow's got a calf way down in yonder stable.
And she can't eat hay hay hay, hay hay hay, hay hay hay,
Because she's not able, neighbor Jones.

3 The old duck swallowed a snail, is it not a wonder?
The old duck swallowed a snail, is it not a wonder ?
The horn grew out through her brain brain brain, brain brain brain, brain brain brain.
And split her head asunder, neighbor Jones.

145. Whistling Girls and Crowing Hens
This notion — but not the name "Grandma Grunts' — has been reported from Ontario (JAFL XXXI 103), Connecticut (JAFL XLV  502), and from the Pennsylvania Germans (JAFL II 198). It is  probably much more widely known than this list would indicate  but has not happened to come into the net of the folk-song collector.

'Grandma Grunts.' Text from the manuscripts of Obadiah Johnson of  Crossnore, Avery county, in July 1940. He did not sing it, however;  the record of it was made in August from the singing of Clarice Burleson and Joe Powles.

1. Grandma Grunts said a curious thing:
Boys can whistle, but girls must sing.
That is what I heard her say,
'Twas no longer than yesterday.

Refrain: Boys can whistle (whistle)
Girls must sing (tra la la la)

2. Boys can whistle, of course they may
They can whistle the livelong day.
Why can't girls whistle too, pray tell,
If they manage to do it well?

3 Grandma Grunts says it wouldn't do,
Gives a very good reason, too ;
Whistling- girls and crowing hens
Always come to some bad end.

4 I asked my papa the reason why
Girls couldn't whistle as well as I.
He says to me, 'It's the natural thing
For boys to whistle and girls to sing.'

146. Little Birdie in the Tree
This is from some unnamed contributor, very likely Dr. Brown himself. The manuscript is marked: "Found in Guilford county near High Point. Sung by Negroes before the Civil War"; and  Dr. White notes that it is "a corruption of a nursery song I heard  in my own early childhood and can still sing." Our fragment is the first stanza, slightly altered, of a song of the same title by  P. P. Bliss to be found in the Franklin Square Song Collection I 140 dealing with a series of birds — the redbird, snowbird, bluebird, blackbird.

Little birdie in the tree.
Singing a song to me,
Singing about the roses,
Singing about the tree ;
Little birdie in the tree
Singing a song for me.

147. How I Love the Old Black Cat This has been reported as folk song from Mississippi (JAFL  XXVI 130), and Dr. White notes on the manuscript that he knew it  in childhood in western North Carolina as a nursery song. Its  origin has not been discovered.

'How I Love the Old Black Cat.' Reported in 1922 by Mary Strawbridge, Durham.

1. Who so full of fun and glee?
Happy as a cat can be.
Polished sides so nice and fat.
How I love the old black cat !
Yes, I do.

Chorus: Poor kitty, oh, poor kitty.
Sitting so cozy close to the fire,
Pleasant, purring, pretty pussy,
Frisky, full of fun and fussy,
Mortal full of mouse and rat,
How I love the old black cat!
Yes, I do.

2 And the boys, to have some fun,
Call the dogs to set them on.
Quickly I jump on my hat
And try to save the old black cat.
Yes, I did.

3 Some may choose tartar* shell.
Others like the white so well.
Let them choose of this or that.
But give to me the old black cat.
Oh, please do  

[* So in the manuscript. Whether this is a local pronunciation of "tortoise" or just a misapprehension of the word the editor does not know.]

148. I've Got a Master and I Am His Man This looks like an English ballad or nursery rhyme, but I have not found it anywhere in print. Mrs. Sutton says, "There are a  dozen verses more or less; I copied four"; but only one stanza is  now to be found in our collection.

'Oh I've Got a Master and I Am His Man.' Communicated by Mrs.  Sutton but without notation of date or source.

Oh, I've got a master and I am his man,
Galloping steadily on.
Oh, I've got a master and I am his man,
I'll marry me a wife as soon as I can.
With a higglety pigglety, gambling gay,
Higglety pigglety, gambling gay,
Galloping steadily on

[* So spelled both times in the manuscript; presumably with the meaning "gamboling."

----------------------------------------

149. The Cobbler
Another song about the shoemaker has been reported from North  Carolina (SharpK II 75), but this one I have not found elsewhere.

'Walking up and down One Day.' Obtained in 1923 from Carl G. Knox  of Durham. With the music.

Walking up and down one day, 
I peered in the window over the way.
Pushing his needle through and through,
There sat a cobbler making a shoe.

'Rap-a-tap-tap-tap, ticky-tacky-too,
This is the way to make a shoe.
Rap-a-tap-tap-tap, ticky-tacky-too,
This is the way to make a shoe.'

150. Scotland's Burning
An old English round rarely reported as folk song, probably because everybody knows it. It is reported from Massachusetts (FSONE 283).

'Scotland's Burning.' Reported by K. P. Lewis of Durham as set down  in 1910 from the singing of Dr. Kemp P. Battle of Chapel Hill.

Scotland's burning, Scotland's burning,
Look out, look out.
Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!
Pour on water, pour on water!

151. Steam Ship
This is in form a riddle, but the editor is in the position of the  child in the last line. I have not found it elsewhere.

'Steam Ship.' Contributed in 1923 or thereabouts by Miss Kate S. Russell of Roxboro, Person county. With the music.

1 If a steam ship weighed ten thousand tons
And sailed five thousand miles
Loaded down with boots and shoes
And lots of other things.

2 If the mate was each six feet tall
And the captain just the same;
Would you multiply or subtract
To find the captain's name?
H-mm-m-mn-m-nm

3 You can think and think, and think
Till your brain is numb;
I don't care what the teacher says,
I can't do this sum.