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Little Lady Goin’ to the Country/Sal’s Got a Meatskin
See Also: Great Big Taters; Sandy Lan'
Traditional Old-Time Breakdown; Southeast US.
ARTIST: Uncle Whit Walker
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes; DATE: Early 1900’s
RECORDING INFO: "Sal Got a Meatskin Laid Away" by Doc Roberts 1928 on Gnt uniss. New Lost City Ramblers. New Lost City Ramblers, Disc D 102, LP (196?), cut# 8; New Lost City Ramblers. New Lost City Ramblers, Vol. 3, Folkways FA 2398, LP (1961), cut# 15; Cliff & Bill Carlisle, "Sal Got a Meatskin" (Panacord 25639, 1930s, on TimesAint03); Cliff Carlisle, "Sal Got a Meat Skin" (Vocalion 02740, 1934, probably a different recording from that by Cliff & Bill Carlisle); New Lost City Ramblers. New Lost City Ramblers, Disc D 102, LP (196?), trk# 8; New Lost City Ramblers. New Lost City Ramblers, Vol. 3, Folkways FA 2398, LP (1961), trk# 15; New Lost City Ramblers. Cohen, John, Mike Seeger & Hally Wood / Old Time String Band Songbook, Oak, Sof (1976/1964), p 63; New Lost City Ramblers. Sing Out! Reprints, Sing Out, Sof (196?), 7, p24. SAL'S GOT A WOODEN LEG LAID AWAY. Old-Timey. The tune was recorded for the Library of Congress by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, from Ozark Mountain fiddlers in the early 1940's. See similarly titled song "Sal's Got a Meatskin."
RELATED TO: Sally Ann; Dineo; Pork Fat Makes My Chicken Tan; Wish I Had My Time Again; Quit that Ticklin' Me (Tune); Fling Ding; Apple Blossom; Par-Tee-O; Great Big Taters [in Sandy Land]; Sail Away Ladies;
OTHER NAMES: "Sal Got A Sugarlip" "Sal Got a Meatskin,"
SOURCES: Mudcat DT; Kuntz; Meade; Folk Index; Traditional Ballad Index; “Sal Got a Meatskin” New Lost City Ramblers. Old-Time String Band Songbook, Oak, Sof (1964/1976), p 63; Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 63, "Sal's Got a Meatskin;" Silber-FSWB, p. 156, "Sal Got A Meatskin;"
NOTES: The favorite tune of black fiddler Uncle Whit Walker, who influenced W.C. Handy (W.C. Handy - "Father of the Blues", 1941; pg. 6).
A "meatskin" is fat pork, used to grease a pan and as an anti-inflammatory in folk medicine to "draw out the pain." Sometimes, it refers to a maidenhead (Cliff Carlisle says that is the reference in their classic version; See: Version 2). According to several members of the Mudcat DT there were complaints when the (bawdy) lyrics were published in "Sing Out" magazine. Here are some typical lyrics from "Folk Songs Of North America" by Alan Lomax (title is Sally Ann):
Sal's got a meatskin laid away
To grease that wooden leg so they say
Dinah's got a wooden leg so they say
Shake that wooden leg Dinah-o.
The tune is part of the large “Sally Ann” family of tunes (see notes on Sally Ann/Sail Away Ladies/Great Big Taters). An early version was collected by Brown in North Carolina:
475 Hung My Bucket on de White Folks' Fence
From Miss Ellen Smith, early address Greenville, Pitt county; text undated; with note: "heard in Johnson and Pitt counties."
Hung my bucket on de white folks' fence.
Hain't seen my bucket sence.
Oh Lawd ! Oh Lawd !
Old Aunt Dinah, well she bounce around,
Leave her wooden leg on de ground.
Save her meat skin, lay dem away.
To grease her wooden leg every day.
The tune was recorded for the Library of Congress by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, from Ozark Mountain fiddlers in the early 1940's as “Sal’s Got a Wooden Leg Laid Away.” For other versions see the closely related, "Great Big Taters in Sandy Land."
Here are the lyrics:
Little Lady Goin’ to the Country/ SAL’S GOT A MEAT SKIN
Sally got a meatskin laid away
Sally got a meatskin laid away
Sally got a meatskin laid away
To grease her wooden leg every day.
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