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Walk in the Parlor/History of the World
Note: There is info for both the fiddle tune and the different minstrel song.
Old-Time minstrel song/ fiddle tune;
ARTIST: History in a Few Words by McMichen- Hornsby/ assorted other versions
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes
EARLIEST DATE: De History ob de World (from the Popular Extravaganza of Buffalo Gals at the Adelphi) 1847; 1925 (Scarborough)
RECORDING INFO: Walking in the Parlor (fiddle/banjo instrumental)
Rm - Trude Evans; Buck Creek Girls; Juba
Banjo Newsletter, BNL, Ser (1973-), 1975/11,p15
Crooked Road. Generations, Spencer, CD (2004), trk# 10b
Davis, Luther. Old Time Way, Heritage (Galax) 070, LP (1986), trk# 2 [1984/10/24]
Diller, Dwight. Piney Woods, Diller YP-007, Cas (199?), trk# A.08
Diller, Dwight. Harvest. W. VA. Mountain Music, Yew Pine Mtn YP IX3, CD (1997), trk# 16 [1996]
Edmonds, Norman. Train on the Island, Davis Unlimited DU 33002, LP (197?), trk# 1
Edmonds, Norman. Old Time Fiddling at Union Grove. The 38th Annual Old-Time Fi..., Prestige 14039, LP (1964), trk# B.02 (Walk in the Park)
George, Franklin/Frank. Traditional Music for Banjo, Fiddle & Bagpipes, County C 2703, Cas (1992/1967), trk# A.08
Haley, Susan Boyer. Hearthside Music, Hearthside TS 83, LP (1983), trk# A.04
Hammons Family. Shaking Down the Acorns, Rounder 0018, LP (1973), trk# 7 [1970-72] Hart and Blech. Build Me a Boat, Voyager VRCD 354, CD (2001), trk# 4
Hemphill, Sid; and Lucius Smith. Southern Journey. Vol. 1: Voices from the American South, Rounder 1701, CD (1997), trk# 3 [1959/09]
Highwoods String Band. Fire on the Mountain, Rounder 0023, LP (1973), trk# 8
Highwoods String Band. Brody, David (ed.) / Fiddler's Fakebook, Oak, Sof (1983), p284
Judd, Vernon; Mr. & Mrs.. Kentucky Old-Time Banjo, Rounder 0394, CD (1999), trk# 10 [1972/10ca]
Koken, Walt. Berkeley Farms, Folkways FA 2436, LP (1972), trk# B.06
Old Timers. 28th Annual Galax Old Fiddlers Convention. Galax, Virginia 1963, Kanawha 302, LP (1963), trk# 4
Old Timers. Galax Virginia; Old Fiddler's Convention, Folkways FA 2435, LP (1964), trk# A.06 [1961-63]
Parish, Roscoe. Old Time Way, Heritage (Galax) 070, LP (1986), trk# 25 [1974/03/09] (Sugar in the Gourd)
Pine River Boys with Maybelle. Wild Hog in the Woods, Heritage (Galax) 021 (XXI), LP (1978), trk# A.06
Reeltime Travelers. Reeltime Travelers, Yodel-Ay-Hee 034, CD (2000), trk# 6
Reeves, Kilby. Ballads and Songs of the Blue Ridge Mountains., Asch AH 3831, LP (1968), trk# A.07 [1960ca]
Roan Mountain Hilltoppers. Music of Tennessee. Recorded Live at the 1981 Brandywine Musi..., Heritage (Galax) 042, LP (1982), trk# A.02
Roan Mountain Hilltoppers. Down Home, Roan Mountain, CD (2000), trk# 20 [1982/02]
Rutherford, Enoch. Old Five String, Vol 2, Heritage (Galax) 052, Cas (1991), trk# 4
Sapoznik, Hank (Henry). Brody, David (ed.) / Banjo Picker's Fakebook, Oak, Fol (1985), p174b
Tenenbaum, Molly. And the Hillsides Are All Covered with Cakes, Cat Hair, Cas (1994), trk# 14
Wilson, Red (Oscar). Silberberg, Gene (ed.) / Complete Fiddle Tunes I Either Did or Did Not., Silberberg, Fol (2005), p205
Wright, Oscar And Eugene. Oscar & Eugene Wright, Rounder 0089, LP (1978), trk# 4
Walking In The Parlor #2 [Me IV-D13]
Rm - Wild Goose Chase
Uf - Rochester Schottische #2
Crooked Road. Generations, Spencer, CD (2004), trk# 17
Douglas, Wilson. Right Hand Fork of Rush Creek, Rounder 0047, LP (1975), trk# 4
Hollix, D. Dix. Possum Up a Gum Stump, Alabama Traditions 103, LP (1988), trk# A.03 [1924/06ca]
Marion, Carlie; and Andy Cahan. Going Across the River to Hear my Banjo Ring, Marimac 9018, Cas (1988), trk# 19
Michels, Amy. Fowl Farmer, Michels, CD (2002), trk# 15
Walking in the Parlor [Me IV-E 76]
Uf - John's Lover's Gone
Walkie in the Parlor (minstrel song)
Beers Family. Walkie in the Parlor, Folkways FA 2376, LP (1960), trk# 3
Beers, Robert. Fiddler Beers Sings Psalty Psongs with Psaltery and Pfiddle, Prestige International 13047, LP (196?), trk# B.09
Thieme, Art. Songs of the Heartland, Kicking Mule KM 148, LP (1982), trk# 11
RECORDINGS (minstrel) :
Charlie Oaks, "Adam and Eve or 'Darkie's Sunday School'" (Vocalion 5113, c. 1927; rec. 1925)
Obed Pickard, "Walking in the Parlor" (Columbia 15246-D, 1928; rec. 1927)
Kilby Reeves, "Walkin in the Parlor" (on Persis1)
Art Thieme, "Walkie in the Parlor" (on Thieme02) (on Thieme06)
SOURCES: Folk Index; Kuntz
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Warner 177, "Walking in the Parlor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 288, "History of the World" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 246-248, "History of the World" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 288)
BrownIII 341, "Walk in the Parlor" (4 texts plus 1 excerpt and 1 fragment; the "E" text seems more a floating verse collection with this chorus, and "C" lacks the chorus and is at best marginally related)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 181-182, "Story of Creation" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 203-205, "The Darky Sunday School" (1 text, t tune)
Hugill, p. 344, "De History ob de World" (1 text)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 351-354, "Darky Sunday School" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 178, "Creation Song" (1 text)
Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 186-189, "Young Folks, Old Folks (or The Silly Sunday School)" (1 text, tune referenced)
OTHER NAMES: The Sunday School Song; Walkie in the Parlor
NOTES: Walking in the Parlor is the title of a minstrel song about the humerous creation of the world and also a different fiddle and instrumental tune. The fiddle and banjo tune doesn't appear to be related to the biblical tune with lyrics about creation and the bible. Kuntz in his Fiddler's Companion gives four separate versions and says of his version one that the tune is of minstrel origin.
The chorus from the minstel tune appears to be the source of the lyrics associated with the fiddle tune:
Den walk in, den walk in I say,
Den walk in, and hear de banjo play,
Den walk into de parlor, and hear de banjo ring,
And watch de *feller's fingers, while he plays upon de string.
Here are lyrics I have to the fiddle/instrumental version from Charlie Acuff via John Hartford from the Devil's Box 1989. Sung to the A part:
Walkin', talkin', walking in your hand,
Walkin' in the parlor and you ain't a common man.
Brown collected these lyrics to the fiddle/banjo tune, that's usually playing as an instrumental:
E. Walk in the Parlor." Contributed by Laura M. Cromartie of Garland. Sampson county. Not dated.
The creeks all muddy, the ponds all dry,
'T wasn't for the tadpoles we'd all die.
First chorus: Walk in, walk in. walk in, I say,
Walk in de parlor and hear de banjo play;
Walk in de parlor and hear de banjo ring.
Watch de *banjo fingers while he pick upon a string.
Second chorus: Walk in, walk in, walk in, I say,
Walk in de parlor and hear de banjo play.
Dere's a little ash cake an' not a bit of fat;
The white folks 'll grumble if you eat much of dat.
F. 'Walk in the Parlor." Contributed by Jennie Belvin of Durham in July 1922. Only four lines.
Walking and a-walking
And a-walking, I say,
Walking in the parlor
Just to hear the banjo play,
Fiddler Clayton McMichen and also fiddler Curly Fox do a version of the Walking in the Parlor minstrel song titled History in a Few Words (it's usually titled Adam and Eve) with the farcical lyrics found in the Walking in the Parlor minstrel songs. There is some fiddling but it's basically the crazy song about the creation of the world.
The ballad index give this description: "I never went to free school nor any other college, But... I will tell you how the world was made in the twinkling of a crack. Walk in, walk in, walk in I say, go in the parlor and hear the banjo ring." Sundry observations about the creation and the Bible.
Here are the 1847 minstrel lyrics:
"De History ob de World" (1847) (from the Popular Extravaganza of "Buffalo Gals at the Adelphi") Words and Music --- anon. Arr. by T. Contreso [Source: pages 70-71 of "Minstrel Songs, Old and New" (1883)]
1. O, I come from ole Virginny
Wid my head full ob knowledge,
And I never went to free school
Nor any other college;
But one thing I will tell you,
Which am a solid fact,
I tell you how dis world was made
In a twinkling ob a crack.
CHORUS: Den walk in,
Den walk in I say,
Den walk in,
And hear de banjo play,
Den walk into de parlor,
And hear de banjo ring,
And watch dis niggers fingers,
While he plays upon de string.
2. Oh, dis world was made in six days,
And den dey made de sky,
And den dey hung it ober head
And left it dar to dry;
And den dey made de stars
Out ob *lubly wenches eyes,
For to gib a little light
When de moon didn't rise.
(CHORUS)
3. So Adam was de first man,
Ebe she was de oder,
And Cain walk'd on de treadmill,
Because he kill'd his broder;
Ole Moder Ebe
Couldn't sleep widout a pillar,
And de greatest man dat eber lived
Was Jack de Giant killer.
(CHORUS)
4. And den de made the sea,
And in it put a whale,
And den de made a racoon,
Wid a ring around his tail;
And all de oder animals
Was finished one by one,
And stuck against de to dry
As fast as they were done.
(CHORUS)
5. O, lightning is a yellow gal,
She libs up in de clouds,
And thunder he's a black man,
For he can hollow loud;
When he kisses lightning,
She dodges off in wonder,
Den he jumps and tares his trowsers,
And dat's what makes de thunder.
(CHORUS)
6. O, de wind begin to blow,
And de rain begin to fall,
And de water came so high,
But it drown'd de *sinners all;
And it rain'd forty days and nights,
Exactly by the counting,
And it landed Noah's ark
'Pon de Alleghany Mountains.
(CHORUS)
Traditional Ballad Notes: Not to be confused with a fiddle tune of the same name. - PJS The chorus of this song varies quite a bit; the Lomax version is "Young folks, old folks, everybody come, Join our darky Sunday School, and make yourself to hum. There's a place to check your chewing gum and razors at the door, And hear such bible stories as you never heard before." The Pankakes have something similar, but less racist. (Their version is also incredibly full -- 21 verses! If they didn't conflate it, someone else did.)
It is quite likely that these versions originated as separate songs, and I thought about splitting them. But the only distinguishing feature is the choruses. Under the circumstances, it seemed better to place all listings in the same place. I initially excluded Randolph's "History of the World," partly by accident, as just too distinct from the versions I had seen. It's now clear that it's the same song. Those who wish to know more are referred to Cox's extensive notes on songs of this type. - RBW
Among the sundry references in this song:
"Jonah... took a steerage passage in a transatlantic whale": The Bible says "fish," and the fish never left the Mediterranean, and Jonah wasn't planning on entering the Atlantic either.
"Esau... sold [his farm] to his brother for a sandwich and a beer": In Gen. 25:29-34, Esau came back hungry from hunting, and sold his birthright (probably pasturage, not a farm) to his younger fraternal twin Jacob for "bread and lentil stew."
"Noah was a mariner... with half a dozen wives and a big menagerie": Although many of the patriarchs had multiple wives, Noah himself seems to have had only one (cf. Gen. 7:7).
"Elijah was a prophet who attended county fairs, He advertised his business with a pair of dancing bears": hardly worth refuting, but it is worth noting that Elijah was a solitary prophet at a time when most prophets came in groups ("the sons of the prophets"). He spent much of his time trying to be left alone, not advertising his services (cf., e.g., 1 Kings 19:3-4, 2 Kings 1:9fff.)
"Ahab had a wife, and her name was Jezebel... She's gone to the dogs... Ahab said he'd never heard of such an awful thing": Jezebel was indeed Ahab's wife, and was eaten by dogs (2 Kings 9:30-37) -- but Ahab had been dead for a dozen years by the time she was killed.
"Salome was a chorus girl who had a winning way": This is textually complicated. All accounts say that a girl captivated Herod Antipas by dancing for him, and that he executed John the Baptist as a result. Matt. 14:6 says that the girl was "the daughter of Herodias"; the best manuscripts of Mark 6:22 call her his [Herod's] daughter Herodias. But nowhere is she called "Salome"; we learn this name from Josephus.
"Now Joey was unhappy in the bowels of the soil": Refers to the selling of Joseph into Egypt (Genesis 37). Joseph, however, was not a farmer but a herdsman, and there is no evidence he was unhappy; he spent his time dreaming about ruling over his brothers.
"Samson was a husky guy from the P.T. Barnum show": While Samson probably belonged in a circus (it's hard to imagine someone so thoroughly inept; had he not been a strong man, he would have been a joke), the Bible tells his story "straight" (Judges 13-16).
"Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego": The Hebrews in the Fiery Furnace (Daniel 3).
"Methuselah was crabby 'cause he couldn't save a joke": Methuselah lived longer than any other figure in the Bible (the Hebrew of Gen. 5:25-27 lists him as living to the age of 969), but gives no indication of his character or the length of his whiskers.
"Pharaoh kept the Israelites to make his cigarettes": This is almost accurate, in that the Israelites did, in effect, go on strike in Exodus. However, tobacco was not known in Egypt at the time (it grows only in the New World); the Israelites "struck" for the right to worship in their own way, plus better living conditions.
"David was a fighter, a plucky little cuss": 1 Samuel 17.
"Daniel was a naughty man, he wouldn't mind the King" -- Formally, Daniel defied the king, but it was actually the King's counselors who came up with the law Daniel defied (Daniel 6). - RBW
Notes, Andrew Kuntz: WALKING IN THE PARLOR [1]. See related tune "Trude Evans." Old‑Time, Breakdown. USA; West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas. D Major. Standard tuning. AB (Silberberg): ABB (Brody): ABA'A'B'B' (Krassen). A melody with minstrel-era origins, although some hear distinct echoes of the English morris dance melody “Shepherd’s Hey.” The tune was mentioned in an account as having been played at a LaFollette, northeast Tennessee fiddlers' contest in 1931. The title (as "Walk in the Parlor") appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountian fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. Wilson Douglas (Ivydale, W.Va.) remarks it was noted W.Va. fiddler French Carpenter's favorite tune, and says of its origins with his mentor:
A lady composed that. She was a fiddler and a top squaredancer. She lived during Carpenter's time, but she was old. French said she played that tune and nobody could beat her.That's where he learned it. Her name was Trod Evans. She was a lady fiddler.
Indeed, the tune is sometimes called “Trude Evans.” It took five years, according to Douglas, for him to learn the tune with "the proper time at the proper time, or the proper rock, or the proper swing, or the proper shuffle." Despite its minstrel beginnings Gerald Milnes found a version with topical references regarding the nature of John D. Rockefeller (Milnes, Play of a Fiddle, 1999). Sources for notated versions: Highwoods String Band (New York) [Brody, Phillips]; John Hilt (Tazewell County, Virginia) [Krassen]; Wilson Douglas (W.Va.) [Phillips]; Charlie Acuff [Phillips]; Oscar ‘Red’ Wilson [Silberberg]. Brody (Fiddler’s Fakebook), 1983; pg. 284. Krassen (Masters of Old Time Fiddling), 1983; pg. 114‑115. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 1, 1994; pg. 252 (two versions). Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; pg. 164. Spandaro (10 Cents a Dance), 1980; pg. 6. Anachronistic 001, John Hilt (Va.) ‑ "Swope's Knobs." Document 8039, “The Hill Billies/Al Hopkins and His Buckle Busters: Compoete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, Vol. 1” (reissue). Paramount 33153 (78 RPM), Dr. D. Dix Hollis (Ala., 1861‑1927), 1924. Rounder 0047, Wilson Douglas (W.Va.) ‑ "The Right Hand Fork of Rush's Creek" (1975). Lee Hammons ‑ "Shaking Down the Acorns." Rounder 0023, Highwoods String Band ‑ "Fire on the Mountain." Rounder 0089, Oscar and Eugene Wright ‑ "Old Time Fiddle and Guitar Music from West Virginia." Rounder C‑11565, Eugene Wright ‑ "Rounder Fiddle" (1990). In the repertoire of Luther Davis, Galax, Va.
WALKING IN THE PARLOR [2]. AKA and see "Rochester Schottische [1]." Old‑Time, Breakdown. USA, North Carolina. D Major. ADae tuning. The tune was known by the title "Rochester Schottische" to Tommy Jarrell, the influential old‑time fiddler from Mt. Airy, N.C., though it bears no resemblance to the "Rochester Schottishe" that is printed in older American collections, nor is it, for that matter, a schottische at all. It seems unrelated to other "Walking in the Parlor" entitled tunes. Barry Poss (1976) speculates that the tune in older printed collections as "Rochester Schottische" may have been played at one time around the Round Peak, North Carolina, area, but that the title became detached from the tune, which then fell out of the repertory, and became attached to another melody. County 756, Tommy Jarrell (N.C.) ‑ "Sail Away Ladies" (1976).
WALKING IN THE PARLOR [3]. Old-Time, Breakdown. G Major. Standard tuning. ABB'. Similar to version #1, albeit a ‘crooked’ (irregular metre) version. Source for notated version: D. Dix Hollis (N.C.) [Phillips]. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; pg. 252. Document DOCD 8032, D. Dix Hollis (et al) – “Alabama Stringbands.”
WALKING IN THE PARLOR [4]. A fourth version??? Old‑Time, Breakdown. USA, Mississippi. D Major. Recorded for the Library of Congress by Herbert Halpert in 1939 from the playing of Lee County, Mississippi, fiddler W.E. Claunch.
Brown Collection 341 Walk in the Parlor
The pieces here assembled under this title are all descendants of a highly popular song of the minstrel stage a hundred years ago, concerning which see Cox's headnote to his West Virginia version, FSS 503. In its fuller form it is a burlesque version of Bible
stories, as in A and B below. Texts from later tradition vary a good deal. Cox's from West Virginia, Ford's from the Midwest (Traditional Music of America 278-80), and our A and B, though they all go back to the minstrel song of the 1840s, differ widely, even in tbe chorus. Bits of it are reported as sung by Negroes in Mississippi (JAFL xxvi 159) and Alabama (ANFS 136, 141, 144). A song with a like theme but not, so far as I can make out, of the same derivation, 'I Was Born about Ten Thousand Years Ago.' is
separately considered, as are also 'When Adam Was Created' and 'Ye Lords of Creation,' which are quite different alTairs. The' The manuscript has "barn room."
- West Virginia has "advance" : the other texts throw no light on the passage N.C.F., Vol. III. (J8) fragments E and F retain not much more than the cliorus of the original song.
A. 'Sunday School Song.' Contributed in 1923 by Miss Mary Scarborough of Wanchese, Roanoke Island. What is here set down as the first stanza is in B called the chorus.
1 Young folks, old folks, everybody come.
Come to our Sunday school and make yourselves at home.
Please check your chewing gum and razors at the door.
And you'll hear more Bible stories than you've ever heard before.
2. Adam was the first man; Eve was his spouse.
They never had a bit of trouble keeping house;
Folks said their married life was happy in the main
Until they had a little kid and started raising Cain.
3. Noah was a sailor, he sailed upon the sea.
He took along a circus and a whole menagerie.
He spent his time a-fishing, so the Bible tale confirms,
But he couldn't do much fishing 'cause he only had two worms.
4 David was a fighter, a plucky little cuss.
Saw Goliath coming, pining for a fuss.
He knew he'd have to fight him or else he'd have to dust ;
So he picked up a cobble stone and busted in his crust.
5 Salome was a dancer, she danced the hootchy kootch.
The people raised a racket 'cause she didn't wear so mooch.
The King said, 'My dear, we cannot have that here.'
Saloiue said, 'The heck you can't,' and kicked him in the ear.
6 Daniel was a naughty man, he wouldn't mind the King.
The King had never heard of such a funny thing.
So he put him a den with the lions underneath;
But Daniel was a dentist, so he pulled the lions' teeth.
7 Pharaoh kept the Israelites to make his cigarettes.
He wouldn't give them wages and he wouldn't pay their debts.
So Moses, walking delegate, advised them all to strike;
So they picked up all the hay in sight and biat it down the pike.
8 Jonah was a sailor, so runs the Bible tale.
He tried to cross the ocean in the steerage of a whale.
Judiah in the whale that a hit opprcsst'ch
So he merely i)ushe(l a Inittun and the whale did the rest.
B.'Young Folks, Old Folks, Everybody Come.' Contributed by Mrs. W. L. Pridgen of Durbani in 1923. Differs from A by omissions, contraction, rearrangement, and tlie introduction of new matter, and what is entered in A as stanza 1 is here called, no doubt rightly, the chorus.
1 Adam was the first man ever was invented.
Along came Eve and he was contented.
Along came old Noah, fnmhlins^- in the dark.
Grabbed a nail and a hammer and he built himself an ark.
Chorus: Old folks, young folks, everbody come.
Come join the Sunday School and make yourself athome.
Please check your chewing gum and razors at the door.
And you'll hear more Bible stories than you ever heard before.
2 David had a slingshot; a funny little cuss.
Along came Goliath, just a-pining for a fuss.
David saw he'd have to fight or else he'd have to dust,
So he grabbed him up a cobble stone and insisted in his crust.
3 Eve had an apple, She cut it in two.
She gave Adam half, and that wouldn't do.
Cain fired up, got mad mighty quick.
So he slapped old Abel in the neck with a brick.
4 I thank you for your kindness and your very kind applause.
I cannot sing for you any more because — because — because —
There's more upon the program, but I fear I am a bore.
The really truly reason is, I don't know any more.
'If Religion Was a Thing That Money Could Buy.' Contributed by J. C. Paisley. Date and region not noted on tlie manuscript. This is a Negro version, somewhat different in temper and with a quite different chorus ; yet stanzas 2 and 5 are tlie same as stanzas 1 and 3 of B.
1. If religion was a thing that money could buy
The Jews would live and the Irish die.
Ain't I glad that this ain't so!
Dis ole *feller gunter stand a little show.
Chorus: Live a humble, live a humble.
Live a humble till I die.
2. Adam was the first man that was ever invented.
Den come Eve and den he was contented.
'Long come Noah fumbling in the dark.
He grabbed up a hammer and built himself a ark.
3 Den come the animals two by two,
De hippopotumus, de kik kangaroo.
Den come de monkey, den come de bar.
Den come de elephant without any bar.
4 Next come de whale; he was a snorter.
He grabbed old Jonah right under the water.
Three days and three nights he was a-getting mighty rank.
And he fired old Jonah right out on the bank.
5. Eve she had an apple; she cut it in two.
She gave Abel half, Well, that wouldn't do;
Cain fired up, he got mad mighty quick.
He soaked old Abel in the neck with a brick.
D. 'Adam Was the First Man." From Mr. Southgate Jones of Durham in 1920. He writes: "Some fifteen years ago I used to hear sung several verses which began with
Adam was the first man ever was invented;
Me lived in a mud house all contented.
'Long came brother Noah stumbling in the dark.
He got a hammer 'n nails and built him an ark.
E. Walk in the Parlor." Ccmtrihuted l)y Laura M. Cromartie of Garland.
Sampson county. Not dated.
The creeks all muddy, the ponds all dry,
'T wasn't for the tadpoles we'd all die.
First chorus: Walk in, walk in. walk in, I say,
Walk in de parlor and hear de banjo play;
Walk in de parlor and hear de banjo ring.
Watch a *banjo finger while he pick upon a string.
Second chorus: Walk in. walk in, walk in, I say,
Walk in de parlor and hear de banjo play.
Dere's a little ash cake an' not a bit of fat;
The white folks 'll grumble if you eat much of dat.
F. 'Walk in the Parlor." Contributted by Jennie Belvin of Durham in July 1922. Only four lines.
Walking and a-walking
And a-walking, I say,
Walking in the parlor
Just to hear the banjo play,
History in a Few Words [Me III-B 1]
Curly Foxdies a version on Champion Fiddler, Vol. 2, Rural Rhythm RR 252, LP (1972), trk# 10; Fox credits McMichen.
Together with Clayton McMichen, Hornby wrote History in a few words published in 1931 by Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. [Isaac Daniel Hornsby born 1 February 1900 in Atlanta, died 18 May 1951) - American singer, musician, music writer, producer and arranger.]
Hornsby's performance on radio was noticed by Columbia Records - the oldest record company. His main role was a sort of talent scout, but he had many roles at Columbia Records during the 1920's and early 1930's, including production of his own recordings like On Mobile Bay and I Want A Girl or with Young Brothers Tennessee Band: Are you from Dixie and Bill Bailey, won't you please come home, Oh! Susanna, Little Brown Jug, and other classic American songs. For example, Hornsby was the first recorded voice of the "Arkansas Traveler" and was the producer of the first recording of You Are My Sunshine.
Hornsby worked with Gid Tanner and his group Skillet Lickers. Horsby appeared usually in the role of city slicker, judge or sheriff, and he used nickname Tom Dorsey. McMichen and Hornsby's of "History in A Few Words" version begins:
Now Adam was the first man that ever was invented
He lived all his life and never was contented
He was made of clay in the days gone by
And hung on a fence in the sun to dry
Along came Eve, and they had quite a battle.
She climbed up a tree and knocked down an apple.
She knocked down two and they each had one,
And right then and there was when the trouble begun.
ADAM & EVE (Version 2) Other Versions and assorted lyrics
Adam was the first man, and he lived all alone,
Til Eve was manufactured out of Adam's collar bone;
They went into the garden to pick a bowl of fruit,
And all that they got was the order of the boot.
Now, when the earth was finished in this awful dirty way,
It took the Lord a long time for to find Himself some clay;
He fashioned Mr. Adam out of a big mud pie,
And set him up along the fence to let the feller dry.
Adam was the first man that ever was invented
Along came Eve and then he was contented
Then came the Serpent, knocking at the door
Eve et the apple and Adam et the core
Adam was the first man, we all do believe
He had a wife and her name was Eve
She was fair to look upon, and oh how she could dance
And her dress was made of shredded wheat, and so were Adam's pants
Adam was the first man that ever was invented
He lived all alone and he never was contented
Made out of clay and hung out to dry
Along came Eve and she socked him in the eye.
Adam was the first man that's what we all believe
Till one day he was filleted and introduced to Eve.
There was no one to show him, but he soon found out the way
And that's the only reason that we're sitting here today.
Adam was a quiet very easy-going man
He didn't chew tobacco and he didn't rush the can
But he stole a watermelon which he hadn't orter done
He heard the cop a-comin' and you should have seen him run
Adam was the first man, and Eve was the other.
Cain was a wicked man, 'cause he killed his brother.
Old Mother Eve couldn't sleep without her piller
And the strongest man that ever lived was Jack the Giant Killer.
Along came Eve and they had a mighty battle
She picked up a club and knocked down an apple
She climbed up a tree and knocked down an apple,
She knocked down two and they both ate one
And that's how the trouble in the world begun
Along came Eve with a basket of fruit,
Adam winked at her and though she was mighty cute
So she picked up some apples and they each had one
And ever since then the trouble's begun
Adam was a gardener and Eve was his spouse
They got the sack for stealing fruit and took to keeping house
They lived a very quiet life and peaceful in the main
'Til Eve had a baby and they started raising Cain
Adam was the first man, Miss Eve was his spouse;
They lived in the garden in a pretty little house.
Everything was cozy 'till the first son came;
They moved into the suburbs and they started raising Cain.
Adam was a gardener and Eve a gardeneress.
They raised Cain and Abel, and cabbages and cress.
But Adam took to drinking and they had to pull up stakes,
And beat it for the Keely Cure, 'cause he was seein' snakes
From More Pious Friends and Drunken Companions by Frank Shay, Helen Ramsey, John Held (New York: Macaulay Co., 1928), page 112:
BIBLE STORIES
1. The earth was made in six days and finished on the seventh.
According to the contract it should have been the 'leventh.
The carpenters got drunk and the Masons wouldn't work,
So the cheapest thing to do was to fill it up with dirt.
CHORUS: Old folks, young folks, everybody come!
Join the darkies' Sunday school and make yourselves at home.
Kindly check your chewing gum and razors at the door,
And we'll tell you Bible stories that you never heard before.
2. Adam was the first man and Eve was his spouse.
They lost their job for stealing fruit and went to keeping house.
All was very peaceful and quiet on the main,
Until a little baby came and they started raising Cain.
3. The Lord made the devil, and the devil made sin.
The Lord made a cubbyhole to put the devil in.
The devil got sore and said he wouldn't stay.
The Lord said he had to, 'cause he couldn't get away.
4. Cain he raised potatoes and he peddled them in town.
Abel called him hayseed every time he came around.
Cain he laid a stick of wood on Brother Abel's head,
And when he took that stick away, he found poor Abel dead.
5. Noah was the keeper of the Asiatic zoo.
He built an ocean liner when he hadn't much to do.
One day he got excited when the sky was getting dark,
So he gathered all his animals and put them in the ark..
6. It rained for forty days and it rained for forty nights.
The water washed the land completely out of sight.
But when Noah was a-wondering as to what he'd better do,
The ark hit Mount Ararat and stuck as tight as glue.
7. Methuselah is famous because he couldn't croak,
Although he finally grew to be an old and seedy bloke.
He had so many whiskers that you couldn't see his head.
If he'd lived a little longer, he'd have used them for his bed.
8. Elijah was an aeronaut, or else I am a liar.
He ascended up to heaven in a chariot of fire.
His eccentric disappearance gave the Israelites a shock.
They said he beat the Wright brothers by fully half a block.
9. Abraham was a patriarch, the father of his set.
He took his little Ikey out to kill him on a bet,
And he'd have met his finish if it wasn't for a lamb,
For papa had his razor out and didn't give a damn!
10. Esau was a cowboy of a wild and woolly make.
His father gave him half the land and half to brother Jake;
But when he saw his title to the land it wasn't clear,
He sold it to his brother for a sandwich and a glass of beer!
11. Daniel was a brave man who wouldn't mind the king.
The king he said he never heard of such a thing;
Thrust him down a man-hole with lions all beneath,
But Daniel was a dentist and pulled the lion's teeth.
12. Jonah was an emigrant; so runs the Bible tale.
He took an ocean voyage in a transatlantic whale.
The whale was over-crowded which put Jonah to distress,
So Jonah pushed the button and the whale did all the rest.
13. David was a shepherd's boy, his mother's pride and joy.
His father gave him a slingshot, a harmless little toy.
Along came Goliath, a-looking for a fuss.
David heaved a cobblestone and caved in his crust.
14. Samson was a strong man of the John L. Sullivan school.
He killed a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of a mule.
Along came a woman who filled him up with gin,
And shaved off his whiskers and the coppers pulled him in.
From American Ballads and Folk Songs by John A. Lomax and Alan Lomax (New York: Dover, 1994; a reprint of New York: Macmillan Co., 1934), page 351, where it appears with its tune.
DARKY SUNDAY SCHOOL
Text furnished by Paul B. Camp and John W. Loveland, Jr.
1. Jonah was an immigrant; so runs the Bible tale.
He took a steerage passage in a transatlantic whale.
Now, Jonah in the belly of the whale was quite compressed,
So Jonah pressed the button, and the whale he did the rest.
CHORUS: Young folks, old folks, everybody come.
Join our darky Sunday School, and make yourself to hum.
There's a place to check your chewing gum and razors at the door,
And hear such Bible stories as you never heard before.
2. Adam was the first man that ever was invented.
He lived all his life and he never was contented.
He was made out of mud in the days gone by,
And hung on the fence in the sun to get him dry.
3. The good book says Cain killed his brother Abel.
He hit him on the head with the leg of a table.
Then along came Jonah in the belly of the whale,
The first submarine boat that ever did sail.
4. Esau was a cowboy of the wild and woolly make.
Half the farm belonged to him and half to Brother Jake.
Now, Esau thought his title to the farm was none to clear,
So he sold it to his brother for a sandwich and a beer.
5. Noah was a mariner, who sailed around the sea
With half a dozen wives and a big menagerie.
He failed the first season when it rained for forty days,
For in that sort of weather no circus ever pays.
6. Elijah was a prophet, who attended country fairs.
He advertised his business with a pair of dancing bears.
He held a sale of prophecies most every afternoon,
And went up in the evening in a painted fire balloon.
7. Then down came Peter, the Keeper of the Gates.
He came down cheap on excursion rates.
Then along came Noah a-stumblin' in the dark.
He found a hatchet and some nails and built himself an ark.
8. David was a shepherd and a scrappy little cuss.
Along came Goliath just a-spoilin' for a muss.
Now, David didn't want to fight, but thought he must or bust,
So he cotched up a cobblestone and busted in his crust.
9. Ahab had a wife, and her name was Jezebel.
She went out in the vineyard to hang the clothes and fell.
She's gone to the dogs, the people told the king.
Ahab said he'd never heard of such an awful thing.
10. Samson was a strong man of the John L. Sullivan school.
He slew ten thousand Philistines with the jawbone of a mule;
But Delilah captured him and filled him full of gin,
Slashed off his hair, and the coppers run him in.
11. Samson was husky guy, as everyone should know.
He used to lift five hundred pounds as strong man in his show.
One week the bill was rotten; all the actors had a souse;
But the strong-man act of Samson's, it just brought down the house.
12. Salome was a chorus girl, who had a winning way.
She was the star attraction in King Herod's Cabaret.
Although you can hardly say discretion was her rule,
She's the favorite Bible figure in the Gertrude Hoffman school.
13. There are plenty of these Bible tales. I'll tell you one tomorrow,
How Lot, his wife, and family fled from Sodom and Gomorrah;
But his wife she turned to rubber, and got stuck upon the spot,
And became a salty monument, and missed a happy Lot.
14. Now Joey was unhappy in the bowels of the soil.
He lost his pretty rainbow coat because he wouldn't toil.
He hollered, howled, and bellowed until far into the night,
But of course you couldn't see him, for he was out of sight.
15. It happened that a caravan was passing by the place,
Laden down with frankincense and imitation lace.
They heard the Sheeney yelling and pulled him from the well.
If this ain't a proper ending, then you can go to Harvard.
Darky Sunday School II
Young folks, old folks, everybody come,
Join the darkies' Sunday School, make yourself at home,
Please to check your chewing gun and razors at the door,
And you'll hear some Bible stories that you've never heard before.
Shadrak, Meshak, and Abednego
Wouldn't obey the king, so they had to go,
King put 'em in a furnace, to burn 'em up like chaff,
But theyhad asbestos b.v.d.'s and gave the king a laugh.
The world was made in six days and finished on the seventh,
According to the contract, it should have been the eleventh;
But the painters wouldn't paint and the workers wouldn't work,
So the quickest thing to do was fill it in with dirt.
Adam was the first man that ever was invented,
He lived all his life and never was contented;
He was made out of mud in the days gone by,
And hung on the fence in the sun to dry.
Adam was a gardener and Eve, she was his spouse,
They got the sack for stealing fruit and went to keeping house.
They lived a very quiet life and peacful in the main
Until they had a baby and started raising Cain.
Noah was a mariner who sailed around the sea
With a half a dozen wives and a big menagerie.
He failed the first season when it rained for forty days
For in that sort of weather no circus ever pays.
Esau was a cowboy of the wild and woolly make,
Half the farm belonged to him and half belonged to Jake
Now Esau thought his title to the farm was none to clear,
So he sold it out to Jakey for a sandwich and a beer.
Joseph was shepherd, too, he kept his father's goats,
His father used to dress him in the very loudest coats.
His brothers they got jealous and threw him in a well
Joseph went to Heaven and the other's went to ____.
Pharaoh had a daughter, she had a winsome smile,
She found the infant Moses a-floating on the Nile.
She took him to her father with the old familiar tale,
Which is just about as probable as Jonah and the whale.
Jonah was an emigrant, so runs the Bible tale;
He took a steerage passage on a transatlantic whale;
Jonah in the belly of the whale felt quite compressed,
So he pushed a little button and the whale did the rest.
Samson was a husky guy as everyone should know,
He used to lift five hundred pounds as strongman for the show.
One week the bill was rotten and the actors had a souse,
But the strong man act of Samson's, it just brought down the house.
David was a shepherd boy, a plucky little cuss;
Along came Goliath a-looking for a fuss;
David took a slinkie and socked him on the crust,
Goliath reeled a couple of times and then he bit the dust.
Solomon was a wise man, he had a lot of cash,
Queen of Sheba came along and Solly made a mash.
I guess he thought that royalty was rather underpaid
For he took to writing proverbs though he was a king by trade.
Ahab had a lively wife whose name was Jezebel,
When looking out the window, to the dogs below she fell.
"She's gone to the dogs," the people told the king;
Ahab said, he never heard of such a doggone thing.
God made Satan, Satan made sin,
God made a hot place to put Satan in.
Satan didn't like it so he said he wouldn't stay,
He's been acting like the devil ever since that day.
Daniel was a prophet, he wuoldn't obey the king,
The king said to him, "This is a naughty thing."
Put him in the lion's den with lions down beneath,
But Daniel was an artist and he drew the lion's teeth.
Salome was a dancer and she danced before the king,
She wiggled and she wobbled and she shook most everything.
The king says to Salome, "We'll have no scandal here."
"The hell we won't," Salomi said and kicked the chandelier.
from "Song Fest", Best, published by the Intercollegiate Outing Club Assoc.
copyright 1948
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