Negro Songs from the Pedee Country by Robert Duncan Bass
The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 44, No. 174 (Oct. - Dec., 1931), pp. 418-436
NEGRO SONGS FROM THE PEDEE COUNTRY
ROBERT DUNCAN BASS
Negro slaves were introduced into South Carolina from the Barbadoes in 1681.[1] They proved profitable, and the importation of slaves was even greater than the immigration of white colonists. By 1708 there were only 3,500 white people in the province, while there were 4,100 Negro slaves and 1,400 Indian slaves. [2] In 1724 these slaves more than doubled the white settlers, there being 32,000 slaves to 14,000 white residents, of whom at least half were not slave owners.[3] These settlers reached the Pedee country about 1724, the first pioneer settling in what is now Marion county in 1735. These settlers were poor, however, and few had slaves. Even as late as 1790 Georgetown district, what is now Marion, Florence, Williamsburg, Horry, and Georgetown counties, contained 8,991 white people to 13,131 slaves - ratio of about one and one-half slaves to one white person. [4] The average number held by an individual was about seven, the majority owning none at all. The highest numbers owned by one man were 212 and 210, a mere handful compared to the 695 and 590 held by Charlestonians.
[1] A Short History of the American Negro, Benjamin Brawley, The Macmillan Company, New York, 1909, page 11.
[2] American Negro Slavery, Ulrich Bonnell Phillips, Ph. D., D. Appleton and Company, New York, 1918, page 87.
[3] Ibid., page 87.
[4] Heads of Families, First Census of the United States, 1790, State of South Carolina, The Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1908, page 50.
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The small number of slaves accounts for the fact that the Pedee Negroes speak English instead of Gullah dialect and that this section is not now considered a part of the black belt. It likewise accounts for the prevalence of white influence in their songs and sayings. Separated from many slaves, these came into closer contact with their masters, were more frequently employed around the house, and thus learned many things that they heard their owners say or sing. Ante-bellum minstrel songs which have become traditional folk property and which are still sung by the Negroes more than by the whites prove this. After emancipation these Negroes, freer, happier, and singing more than the white people, traveled freely over the South, and, later, over the North. About twenty-five years ago Negro men from this section frequently went to Georgia to work in the turpentine woods, or to West Virginia to work in the coal mines, or followed railroad construction camps and lumber camps all over this state. At the same time the women went from place to place in a more limited territory as cotton-pickers or berry-pickers. At the present time they often go to large industrial centers like Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York, returning after a few years to live with their parents and families. This contact with other laborers teaches them more songs which they introduce into their home communities, varying them as they please, for, as Albert Woodberry recently said, "If you knows the words you kin make up de tune, an' if you knows de tune you kin make up de words."
The African music that lingered longest with the race finally declined, leaving only its cadence and rhythm, both transplanted in the hymns and workaday songs. This blend of African and white man's music is now the irrepressible heritage of the race. In the Pedee section, as in most of the South, this has been repossessed by the white people, especially the boys and the laboring men, and is folk property, transmitted orally from generation to generation. At the present time it represents a fairly large body of folk music, although of late years the "blues" are driving out the older slave songs.
SONG 1
[In the notes references are given to the following collections: Newman I. White, American Negro Folk-songs, Harvard University Press, 1928., listed as White. Howard W. Odum, Ph. D., and Guy B. Johnson, A. M., Negro Workaday Songs, University of North Carolina Press, 1926, listed as Negro Workaday Songs. Dorothy Scarborough, On the Trail of Negro Folksongs, Harvard University Press, 1925, listed as Scarborough. Howard W. Odum, Ph. D., and Guy B. Johnson, A. M., The Negro and his Songs, University of North Carolina Press, 1925, listed as The Negro and his Songs. Also to various articles in The Journal of American Folk-Lore, listed JAFL.]
This lullaby is traditional in our family as a slave song. Of it Miss Scarborough says: "There is one lullaby which is widely known through the South and which is reported in many varying forms, but with the spirit and the tune practically the same." Scarborough, p. 145.
Go to sleepy, little ba -by, when you wake You shall have
cake and ride your pap-py's pon - ies- Black and the grey
White and the bay - all them pretty lit - tle pon - ies.
SONG 2
This song was taken down by my two younger sisters, from the singing of Leila and Louise Baccus, daughters of our washwoman. It has the form of a spiritual.
[I wonder where my mammy, I wonder where she gone; I been
look - in' for my mammy, But a blacksnake run her home.]
I wonder where my mammy,
I wonder where she gone;
I been lookin' for my mammy,
But a blacksnake run her home.
I wonder where my daddy, brudder, sister, etc.
SONG 3
"Hello, Mamie" was a very popular worksong sung by the Negroes employed with Federal Flood Relief money in 1916 to construct highways in the lower part of Marion County (South Carolina). It seems to have escaped other collectors, although the name "Mamie" appears in several other songs. Cf. Negro Workaday Songs, p. 91.
[Gwine back to Weldon, gal(Whuck) Gwine back to Weldon, gal (Whuck)
Gwine back to Weldon, gal (Whuck) To work on the Weldon road.]
Hello, Mamie! (Whuck)
Hello, Mamie! (Whuck)
Hello, Mamie! (Whuck)
Honey, God bless yo' soul.
Gwine back to Weldon, gal; (Whuck)
Gwine back to Weldon, gal; (Whuck)
Gwine back to Weldon, gal - (Whuck)
Work on the Weldon road.
Gwine to Cincinnati, gal; (Whuck)
Gwine to Cincinnati, gal; (Whuck)
Gwine to Cincinnati, gal - (Whuck)
Honey, where they pay you mo'.
Bring you mo' money, gal; (Whuck)
Bring you mo' money, gal; (Whuck)
Bring you mo' money, gal - (Whuck)
Honey, dan yo' lap kin hol'.
Captain and the walkin' boss, (Whuck)
Captain and the walkin' boss, (Whuck)
Captain and the walkin' boss (Whuck)
A-raisin' cain all day.
SONG 4
Another of the popular songs of the Negro ditchers employed in 1916, this song appears in a much longer version in Negro Workaday Songs, p. 105.
Don't want no col' co'nbread an' molasses; (Whuck)
Don't want no col' black gal fo' my reg'lar; (Whuck)
Gwi' buy my good-gal a hoss an' buggy, (Whuck)
So she kin ride wheneber she get ready.
SONG 5
Connected with the earlier blues, this song seems to have gained remarkable currency, variations appearing as far west as Texas. It was usually called "Hesitation Blues" and was sung with the well known "how long" refrain:
Tell me how long
Will I have to wait;
Do I get you now
Or must I hesitate?
Stanzas one and two were learned from Major Legette, stanza three from Roland Gause, stanza four from Lindsy Baccus, stanza five from Dozier Eaddy, stanza six from Pete Legette, and stanza seven from Lee
Baccus, all of these being Negroes from lower Marion County. Cf. White, 272, 275, 365, 369, 398, and Scarborough, 35.
I aint no miller, But a miller's son - Grind yo' co'n till the miller come.
I aint no doctor,
But a doctor's son;
Ease yo' pain
Till the doctor come.
Aint no miller,
But a miller's son;
Grind yo' co'n
Till the miller come.
If the sea was whiskey,
An' I was a duck,
I'd dive to the bottom
An' never come up.
Talk about yo' women,
But you oughter see mine -
She aint so pretty
But she dress so fine.
Gwine to the race track
To see my pony run;
If my pony win the money
Gi' my good-gal some.
Rock in the mountain,
Fish in the sea -
Aint no woman
Make a fool out o' me.
Ashes to ashes,
An' dust to dust -
If whiskey don't get you
The women must.
SONG 6
The following husking song has been orally transmitted in our family since ante-bellum days. According to tradition the ears of corn were hauled from the field at harvest time and piled in two equal heaps before
the barn door. Upon the first warm, moonlight night the slaves were divided into equal groups, with a leader appointed for each group, and set to husking. From time to time the leaders led this song to encourage
the workers.
[Ho, bru' Han- dy, ho! I neber was 'tacked by no nigger
na - tion-Ho, bru' Han - dy, ho!]
Ho, bru' Handy, ho!
I neber was downed
By no nigger nation,
Ho, bru' Handy, ho.
SONG 7
This song, the music to which is a variation of the "Old Gray Mare" theme, was reported to me by my mother, who heard Gus Eaddy sing it about forty years ago.
Yonder come de high sheriff,
Comin' atter me,
Comin' atter me,
Comin' atter me;
Yonder come de high sheriff
Comin' atter me,
An' no one to stan' my bon'.
SONG 8
This, reported by my mother, was learned about forty-two years ago from the daughter of my grandmother's slave-nurse. It is interesting as an example of the early religious songs.
Oh Lawd, preacher,
Don't you want 'o go;
Oh, Lawd, preacher,
Don't you want 'o go;
Oh Lawd, preacher,
Don't you want 'o go -
Les go down to Ju'don
And be saved.
Chorus:
Oh les go down to Ju'don,
Oh les go down to Ju'don,
Oh les go down to Ju'don
And be saved.
Oh Lawd, moaner, father, mother, sister, etc.
SONG 9
Another religious song, learned from Phoebe Baccus, this seems to be a variation of some later hymn.
What you gwine do
When the world's on fire -
What you gwine do
On that day ?
What you gwine do
On jedgment mornin' ?
Gwine try on my robe
In that day.
MELODY FOR SONGS 10-20
SONG 10
The following stanza is often found in versions of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot". In the Pedee country it is sung or repeated without any other connection and to the same tune that is used in songs Io to 20. Cf. White,
III, and K. Holzknecht, "Some Negro Song Variants from Louisville", JAFL 41:559.
If you get there
Before I do
Tell the Lord
I'm coming, too.
SONG 11
A variant of "Little David, Play on Yo' Harp", this is popular in the Pedee country. Cf. White, 68.
Who been here
Since I been gone?
Pretty little gal
With a red dress on.
SONG 12
For variants of this popular song see White, 89, and Negro Workaday Songs, 139.
One of these days -
And it won't be long -
You'll look for me
And I'll be gone.
One of these days
With the setting of the sun
The Lord's gonna call
Some sinner home.
SONG 13
This popular refrain from some ante-bellum song still lives in many places in the South. Cf. White, 203. Many versions are extant but the Pedee variant is:
Way down yonder in my corn fiel'
Black snake struck me on my heel:
I run and run and run my best -
I run my head in a hornet-nest.
SONG 14
The origin of "Some Folks Say" is doubtful. It was, however, known to minstrels from the Negro Singer's Own Book, 1846 (?), p. 411. It has been incorporated into many songs in the South. White, 370.
Some folks say a nigger won't steal,
But I caught three in my corn fiel'.
One had a bushel, one had a peck,
One had a roastin' ear swung roun' the neck.
SONG 15
This song was introduced by ante-bellum minstrels. Cf. White, 243.
Way down yonder a long way off
Jaybird died with the whoopin' cough,
Catbird died with the colic,
The little frog danced 'til his tail dropped off -
And that was the end of the frolic.
SONG 16
Way down yonder in Bantam Shank
Bullfrog jump from bank to bank.
SONG 17
The many versions of "The Old Cow Died" sprang from an original in the Negro Singer's Own Book, 1846 (?). White, 243.
The old cow died in the forks of the branch;
The raccoon fiddled and the 'possum danced.
SONG 18
This seems to be a fragment. Cf. White, 277.
If I die in Arkansas,
Sen' my bones to my mudder-in-law.
426 ournal of American Folk-Lore.
SONG 19
This appears in many places and in many forms in the South. Cf. White, 268, and The Negro and His Songs, I8o. Our Pedee Negroes sing it as follows:
I've got a wife an' a sweetheart, too;
My wife don't love me but my sweetheart do.
SONG 20
For this, cf. Scarborough, I51, and White, 278.
Run here, Doctor,
Run here quick;
Shortenin' bread
Done made me sick.
SONG 21
Minnus Gause, a former slave and now nearing ninety years of age, picked up this refrain from some passing show and won local fame around Gresham, South Carolina, by singing it.
De ting dat I nuse to do
I aint gwine do no mo';
De ting dat I nuse to do
I aint gwine do no mo';
Oh de ting dat I nuse to do
I aint gwine do no mo' -
SONG 22 -26
This tune. for song 24 is used with slight variations for songs 22-26.
When you smell yo' good bread burnin', Honey, turn yo' damper down.
SONG 22
Napier Muldrow, "Old Nap" as he was called, a former slave, was fond
of repeating:
De sheep shell corn by de rattle of his horn,
Send it to mill by de whippoorwill:
Ball he come flyin' along
Gwine to Halifax
To git some money
To pay his tax -
I pray to goodness
He neber gits back.
SONG 23
These verses are often quoted by Negroes, especially if the circumstances seem appropriate. The first of these was first heard at Thomas Landing, a boat-landing on Pedee, while the April showers beat upon several Negro shad fishermen. See White, 279 and 396. The tune is the same for 24, 25, and 26.
It's rainin' here,
But it's stormin' on de sea.
I don't see no fiah,
But I sho' is burnin' down.
Good ol' waggin,
But it's 'bout broke down.
SONG 24
Cf. White, 303, Scarborough, 124 and 168, and Negro Workaday Songs, 126.
When you smell yo' good bread burnin'
Honey, turn yo' damper down.
SONG 25
Cf. White, 313, and Scarborough, 135-152.
Good lookin' woman
Make a bulldog gnaw his chain.
SONG 26
I learned this from Albert Woodberry, Gresham, South Carolina.
Had a good lookin' woman
But the fool lay down and died.
SONG 27
"Old Dan Tucker", originating about 1841 and popularized all over the South by Polk Miller's quartet, has an interesting variant. Cf. Scarborough, 188 and 199, and White, I60.
Old Dan Tucker, he got drunk,
He fell in the fire and kicked out a chunk;
A red hot coal fell in his shoe -
Gracious God, how Dan Tucker flew!
SONG 28
"The 'Jim Crow' song was one of the earliest of the Negro minstrel songs. It was introduced upon the stage between 1833-1835 by Thomas D. Rice, known thereafter as 'Jim Crow' Rice. Rice got it from Jim Crow, an old slave in Louisville, who used to execute a queer dance to the refrain:
Wheel about, turn about, do just so,
And every time I wheel about, I jump Jim Crow.
White, 162. Cf. Scarborough, 287. Two variants appear in the Pedee section.
Where you gwine, buzzard;
Where you gwine, crow?
Gwine to the new-groun'
To git my grubbin' hoe.
Way las' summer
There come a deep snow:
Massa gimme new boots,
An' I jump Jim Grow.
SONG 29
Popularized in the South by George Christy and Wood's Minstrels in ante-bellum days, "Keemo Kimo" has many variants. White, 176, and Scarborough, 285.
Peas in the pot nine days old,
Skippers and the wiggletails gettin' mighty bold;
Peas pot hot,
Peas pot cold,
Peas in the pot
Nine days old.
SONG 30
The tempo of "Cindy" sounds more like the time in a Buckra dance number than the time in a Negro song. Dr. White says: "Some of the details of personal description in the 'I wouldn't marry' songs are borrowed
from the 'Massa had a yaller gal' song from the old minstrels..... From Mr. Perrow's collection, which contains many 'I wouldn't marry' stanzas, it appears that the song is better known among the white people than among Negroes". White, 323.
I wouldn't marry Cindy -
I'll tell you the reason why:
Her neck's so long and stringy,
I'm afraid she'll never die.
Chorus: Git along home to stay with Cindy,
Git along home to stay with Cindy,
Git along home to stay with Cindy -
But I'm 'fraid she'll never die.
I wouldn't marry a preacher -
I'll tell you the reason why:
He goes all over the country
Eatin' chicken pie.
I wouldn't marry a doctor -
I'll tell you the reason why:
He goes all over the country
Makin' people die.
I wouldn't marry a lawyer -
I'll tell you the reason why:
He's always in the courthouse
Telling some big lie.
SONG 31
"Brudder Eph'em" is found in Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Its probable origin was a minstrel song. Cf. White, 223, and Scarborough, 101 and 169.
Mammy in the pea-patch pickin' up peas,
Away come the bellcow kickin' up her heels -
Mammy, mammy, what was that about
A jaybird settin' on a mountain sprout?
Chorus: Brudder Eph'em got de coon an' gone on,
An' gone on, an' gone on;
Brudder Eph'em got de coon an' gone on,
An' lef' me lookin' up a tree.
Me an' brudder Eph'em aint a bit o' kin,
But I hope brudder Eph'em 'll leave me the skin -
Brudder Eph'em got de coon an' gone on,
An' lef' me lookin' up a tree.
Raccoon got de bushy tail,
De 'possum tail am bare,
De rabbit he go skippin' by
Case he aint got none to spare.
Jaybird up de sugar-tree,
Sparrow on de groun' -
Jaybird shake de sugar down
An' sparrow hand it 'roun'.
'Possum up de 'simmon tree,
Raccoon on de groun' -
'Possum say, "You ugly sinner,
Shake dem 'simmon down."
SONG 32
Although "Little Brown Jug" is a song of the mountain and country white people, it has versions in the Negro songs. It dates back as far as 185O and was popular even then. Cf. White, 213.
Me an' my wife an' a bob-tail dog
Started 'cross the creek on a hickory log;
Log it broke an' my wife fell in,
But I held on to my little brown jug.
SONG 33
The original of this stanza is in Christy's Nigga Songster, n. d., p. 6. It has since spread throughout the South.
'Possum up de gum stump,
Rabbit in de hollow -
Sic 'em, pup, sic 'em,
An I'll gi' you half a dollar.
SONG 34
Hey, molly cottontail,
Where you goin' there?
Splittin' th'ough de win'
As hard as I can tear!
SONG 35
These lines are probably reminiscent of May Irvin's coon song, "Mr. Tohnson Turn me Loose". White, 36.
Mr. Policeman, turn me aloose,
I aint got no money but a good excuse.
SONG 36
Cf. Negro Workaday Songs, 66.
Chicken on my back,
Dog on my track;
Take me back
To my shack
Number nine.
White, 137. Bob Cole's coon song, "Oh Didn't He Ramble" was copyrighted in 1921.
He rambled and he rambled
Till the butcher cut him down.
SONG 38
Prince and Dargan, two Florence county Negroes, used to sing "Reuben" at my father's store in 1905. Cf. Negro Workaday Songs, 66. I have never heard this song in recent years.
Reu-ben he got drunk, he pawned his watch and
trunk, he was ten thousand miles from his home
SONG 39
A favorite song of Dozier Eaddy's. I learned it from him when I was a boy.
When a woman get de blues
She hang her head an' she cries.
When a man get de blues
He hop a freight an' he rides.
SONG 40
Cf. White, 392-394, for the blues variations.
Dem blues aint nothin'
But a woman lost her man;
Dem blues aint nothin'
But a good man feelin' bad.
SONG 41
"Chicken in the Breadtray" is the same anywhere in the South. Sometimes, however, Granny is varied to Auntie or Sally. The second South Carolina stanza is interesting.
Chicken in the bread tray
Scratchin' out dough;
Granny, will yo' dog bite?
No, chil', no.
Chicken in the bread tray
Peck, peck, peck;
Granny cut off his head
An' gi' me the neck, neck, neck.
SONG 42
Rainin', hailin', col' stormy weather,
In come Tyler with a hard jug of cider:
You be the reaper an' I'll be the binder,
I lost my true love an' right here I'll find 'er.
SONG 43
The two following stanzas are remotely connected with the "Shortening Bread" songs. Cf. White, 194.
Old Aunt Dinah black as tar
Started to heaven on a 'lectric car;
Cable broke and Dinah fell -
'Stead of goin' to heaven she went to hell.
Three little niggers
In a coconut shell
Tried to go to heaven,
But they went to hell.
SONG 44
This is known all over the South. The N is dropped by both white people and Negroes in many places in the South.
Aught's a aught and a figger's a figger;
All fo' the buckra and none for the nigger.
In Louisiana there is an interesting variation in:
Here sits de woodpecker
Learning how to figger:
All for the white man
And none for the nigger.
SONG 45
Cf. White, 170.
My name is Sam,
I don't give a damn;
I'd rather be a nigger
Than a po' white man.
SONG 46
Mammy, mammy, look at Sam
Eatin' all the meat
An' soppin' out de pan.
SONG 47
Ham, ham, so good an' sweet:
Wanter please this nigger
Gi' him ol' ham meat.
SONG 48
These two stanzas are the printable ones from a long song that is a favorite with convicts on the chain-gang. Cf. White, 316.
White gal smells like Hoyt's cologne,
Brown skin gal de same;
Black gal smells like a billy goat -
But she's smellin' just the same.
White gal ride in an automobile,
Brown skin gal de same;
Black gal rides in an oxen cart -
But she ridin' just the same.
SONG 49
Probably this song in its present version represents the breaking down of some printed song or phonograph record. It was sung by Albert Woodberry, and taken down, on December 29, 1929.
I put up to the Swing Hotel;
Then I thought I was treated well.
My bill come in - I thought I fell -
You had the chance to charge me twenty dollars.
When I thought that I would run,
What you reckon hotel man say to me:
I need the money, deed I do,
To meet my bills when they is due.
Your room was in the sky,
That's why your bill was high -
Another thing, I say I need the money.
SONG 50
Cf. White, 139.
Old deacon Jones settin' on a log,
His finger on the trigger and his eye on the hog.
He pulled the trigger,
And the gun went bam,
And he grabbed that hog right by the ham.
SONG 51
This song became famous through the singing of the ante-bellum minstrels. Many of the lines have been borrowed, and many varied in the various collections. Cf. White, 153, and Scarborough, 68.
Massa had a yaller gal,
He fotch her from the South;
Her hair was twisted so very tight
She couldn't shut her mouth.
He carried her down to the blacksmith shop
To have her mouth cut small:
She opened up her mouth
And swallowed blacksmith, shop, and all.
SONG 52
"Old Georgia Buck" was a favorite of some years ago. This is a fragment; the rest seems to have been lost.
Old Georgia Buck is dead,
And the last words he said:
"Never let a woman have her way.
If a woman has her way,
She'll lead you astray -
Never let a woman have her way."
SONG 53
I went behind the chicken coop;
I fell upon my knees;
I laughed fit to kill myself
To hear the chickens sneeze.
SONG 54
Miss Janie don't look
Good as she uster,
Settin' in the door
Pickin' a bobtail rooster.
SONG 55
Cf. White 232.
Had a little dog
And he wouldn't bite you,
Wouldn't bite you;
He showed me the hole
Where the pig came through,
Pig came through.
SONG 56
Cf. White, 249.
I paid fifteen cents
To see the elephant jump the fence;
He jumped so high
He touched the sky
And didn't come back
Till the fourth o' July.
SONG 57
"I went to the River" is very old. Longer versions often appear. Cf. White, 229, Scarborough, 185, and E. C. Perrow, "Songs and Rhymes from the South", JAFL, 26; 124.
I went to the river and couldn't get across;
I paid five dollars for an old grey hoss;
He wouldn't go on and he wouldn't stand still -
He jumped right up like an old sawmill.
SONG 58
This was taken from the singing of Albert Woodberry. Its meaning is lost through oral transmission - presuming that it originally had a meaning.
Sheep meat, sheep meat, and banjo bones:
I eat sheep meat and banged the bones;
Meat won't rattle
But the bones won't stand.
SONG 59
Hen laid an egg,
Rooster run 'roun' -
Preacher in pulpit
Laid his Bible down.
SONG 60
This old rhyme appears in the Bahamas as well as in the South. Cf. Elsie Clews Parsons, "Spirituals and Other Folklore from the Bahamas", JAFL, 41:486.
Once upon a time
Goose chew tobacco,
And fox drink wine;
Cat play the fiddle
On a pumpkin vine.
SONG 61
This old song is traditional in our family.
Sheep and the goats
Going to the pasture:
Sheep say to goats,
"Can't you walk a little faster ?"
Goat say to sheep,
"I have a sore toe" -
"Excuse me goat,
I did not know."
SONG 62
I met mister catfish
Gwine up stream;
I ax mister catfish
What did he mean;
I grabbed mister catfish
Right by the snout
And turned mister catfish
Wrong side out.
SONG 63
Folk-lore from the Bahamas", JAFL, 41:489-
Snakie bake a hoe-cake
And leave de frog to mind it;
Froggie go to sleep,
And lizzard come and find it.
SONG 64
Cf. E. C. Perrow, "Songs and Rhymes from the South", JAFL, 26:143.
Old Aunt Maria
Jumped into the fire;
The fire was so hot
She jumped into the pot;
The pot was so black
She jumped into the crack;
The crack was so high
She jumped into the sky;
The sky was so blue
She jumped into a canoe;
The canoe was so deep
She jumped into the creek;
The creek was so shallow
She jumped into the tallow;
The tallow was so soft
She jumped into the loft;
The loft was so rotten
She jumped into the cotton;
The cotton was so white
She decided to spend the night.