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Went to the River And I Couldn't Get Across
Old-Time and Minstrel song;
ARTIST: Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 64/ Other assorted versions Perrow/ Brown
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes
EARLIEST DATE: 1800s
RECORDING INFO: Went to the River and I Couldn't Get Across
At - Old Aunt Mary Jane
Price, J. S.. Thede, Marion (ed.) / The Fiddle Book, Oak, Bk (1967), p 64 [1930s]
SOURCES: Folk Index; Kuntz
OTHER NAMES: "Old Aunt Mary Jane," "Ho Babe"
NOTES: The song was by J.S. Price of Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma was collected by Thede in the 1930s and included with tune in Thede's, The Fiddle Book. The lyrics are of minstrel origin and appear in a variety of settings. Randolph says there are two different versions, one is an incident song and the other a swapping song similar to the one in Sharp's EFSSA "The Foolish Boy."
Went to the River (Swapping Song)
I went to the river and I couldn't get across,
Singing Polly Wolly Doodle All the Day
I jumped on a bull frog and thought he was a horse,
Singing Polly Wolly Doodle all the Day.
Oh, the horse wouldn't go so I trade it for a hoe,
Singing Polly Wolly Doodle all the Day,
Oh, the hoe wouldn't dig so I trade it for a pig
Singing Polly Wolly Doodle all the Day.
Oh, the pig wouldn't squeal so I trade it for a wheel,
Singing Polly Wolly Doodle all the Day,
Oh, the wheel wouldn't run so I trade for a gun,
Singing Polly Wolly Doodle all the Day.
Oh, the gun wouldn't shoot so I trade it for a boot,
Singing Polly Wolly Doodle all the Day,
Oh, the boot wouldn't wear so I trade it for a bear,
Singing Polly Wolly Doodle all the Day.
Oh, the bear wouldn't climb so I trade it for a dime,
Singing Polly Wolly Doodle all the Day,
Oh, the dime wouldn't pass so I threw it in the grass,
Singing Polly Wolly Doodle all the Day.
Fare thee well, fare thee well, fare thee well my lady love,
For I am going to Loiusianna for to see my Suzanna,
Singing Polly Wolly Doodle all the Day.
The swapping song version above has the "Singing Polly Wolly Doodle all the Day" tag but other tags were used. Here's are some incident versions collected by Perrow:
2. THE OLD GRAY HORSE- Perrow; Songs from the South
A. (From East Tennessee; mountain whites; from memory; 1908)
Went to the river at break uv day,
Couldn't get across, en' uh had to stay;
Paid five dollars fer un ole gray horse,
Wouldn't go erlong, en' 'e wouldn't stan' still,
But jumped up en' daown like un ole flutter-mill.
B. (From Mississippi; country whites; MS. of Miss Reedy; 1909)
I went to the river and I couldn't get across;
Paid five dollars for an old gray horse,
Horse wouldn't ride, horse wouldn't swim,
And I'll never see my five dollars agin.
C. (From Virginia; mountain whites; MS. of D. H. Bishop; 1909)
I went to the river and couldn't get across;
Jumped on a toad-frog and thought he was a horse. 2
Here are two short examples from Dorothy Scaborough, On The Trail of Negro Folk Songs {Hatsboro, Penn.; Folklore Associates, Inc, 1963, p. 185, originally published, 1925, Harvard Univestity Press}
I went to the river,
And could n't get across;
Paid five dollars
For an old blind horse
Here's another one from the same collection:
I went to the river
And I could n't get across.
Jumped on an alligator
And thought it was a horse
Brown Collection 193. Went to the River And I Couldn't Get Across
This jingle is ubicquitous in the South — see White's note, ANFS 194-5: Randolph (OFS 11 330-1 ) reports it also from Missouri — but the traveler usually has recourse to an old grey, or blind, horse (in New Orleans [TNFS 185] to an alligator, in Kentucky [JAFL
XXVI 197] to a possum). The Negro as a means of transportation appears, however, in versions from South Carolina (TNFS 184) and (apparently) from Texas (TNFS 184). See also No. 462, below.
"Went to tlie River and I Couldn't Get Across.' From Dr. E. V. Howell of Chapel Hill. Not dated. One couplet only.
Went to the river and I couldn't get across.
Jumped on a *gator's back and thought he was a horse.
Thede: WENT TO THE RIVER AND I COULDN'T GET ACROSS. AKA‑ Old‑Time, Breakdown. USA, Oklahoma. A Aeolian. Standard or AEae tunings. AABCCD. J.S. Price (Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma; Thede).
Went to the river, I couldn't get across;
I jumped on a bullfrog and thought he was a hoss.
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