DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY GIFT OF ^R^!?....yMy6?s.ity..Press D U K E . U N I V K R S 1 T V • 1' V 15 L 1 C A T IONS T/ie Frank C. Brown Collection of NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE HERB G A r H 1£ K E R S Vie FRANK C. BROWN COLLKCTION of NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Thk Foi-KLork of XoRiii Carolina coLi.inii) i!V I^r. I'Rank t'. Hroun DURING THF. YEARS 19 I 2 TO I 943 IN COLLAliORATlON WITH TlIK XORTH CARO- LINA Folklore Society of whkh he was Secretary-Treaslrer 1913-1943 IN FIVE VOLUMES Genera! Editor NEWMAN IVKY WHITE Associate Editors HENRY M. BELDEN PAUL G. BREWSTER WAYLAND D. HAND ARTHUR PALMER HUDSON JAN P. SCHINHAN ARCHER TAYLOR STITH THOMPSON BARTLETT JERE WHITING GEORGE P. WILSON PAULL F. HAUM Wood Engrav'fugs l/y CI. ARE I.RK.HTON DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA DUKE U N I ^' E R S rr Y PRESS Volume I GAMES AND RHYMES • BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS • RIDDLES PROVERBS • SPEECH 'TALES AND LEGENDS Edited by Paul G. Brewster, Archer Taylor, Bartlett Jere Whiting, George P. Wilson. Stith Thompson Volume II FOLK BALLADS FROM NORTH CAROLINA Edited by Henry M. Belden and Arthur Palmer Hudson Volume III FOLK SONGS FROM NORTH CAROLINA Edited by Henry M. Belden and Arthur Palmer Hudson Volume IV THE MUSIC OF THE BALLADS AND SONGS Edited by Jan P. Schinhan Volume V SUPERSTITIONS FROM NORTH CAROLINA Edited by Wayland D. Hand VX/c FRANK C. BROWN C0IJ,ECT10N o/" NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE VOLUME THREE FOLK SONGS FROM NORTH CAROLINA Edited by HENRY M. BELDEN and ARTHUR PALMER HUDSON DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA DUKE UNI\'ERSITY PRESS 1952 COPYRIGHT, 1952, BY THE DUKE UNIVERITY PRESS Caiiibridyc i'liiz'crsity Press, Lu)idoii, X.W. 1, Eiiylaiid PRINTl'.l) IN Till', rxill'-.l) STATICS oi- AMl'KICA HV Till': SICK.MAN l'Ul.\TI':kV. INC.. DIKIIAM, N. C. CONTENTS Fork WORD xxiii AhHRKNIATIONS L'sKI) in HkADNOTKS XXV IXTRODrCTION : Soxc.s 3 I. COURTING SONGS 4 1. A Paper of Pins 6 2. Madam. Will Vou Walk? 9 3. The Courting Cage 10 4. Madam Mozelle. I've Come Courting 13 5. Miss, Will You Have a Farmer's Son ? 14 6. LuciNDv, Won't You Marry Me? 14 7. Soldier. Soldier. Won't You Marry Me? 15 8. The Quaker's Wooing 16 c). The Old Man's Courtship i7 10. When I Was a Young Girl 20 - II. Where Are You Going, My Pretty Maid? 21 12. Madam, I Have Gold and Silver 23 13. One Morning in May 24 14. No, Sir 25 15. Courting Song ^1 i6. Don't Stay after Ten 28 17. 1 Wouldn't Marry 3° 18. A Single Life 3^ 19. When I W^as Single 37 n. DRINK AND GAMBLING SONGS 41 20. The Drunkard's Hell 42 21. The Drunkard's Doom 44 22. The Drunkard's Dream (II 45 23. 'l"nE Drunkard's Dream (11) 48 24. Father. Dear Father, Come with Me Now 48 25. The Drunkard's Lone Child 5° 26. Don't Go Out Tonight. My Dari.inc; 51 27. Be Home Early 53 28. 1 Wish 1 Was a Sin(;le Girl Again 54 29. Seven Long Years I've Been Married 56 .30. The Lips That Touch Liquor Must Never Touch Mine 57 31. I'm Alone, All Alone 60 32. Old Rosin the Beau 61 — 33. Little Brown Jug 62 ^4. Pass Around the Bottle 64 61855 L Vni CONTENTS 35. JuDiE My Whiskey Tickler 64 36. I'll Never Get Drunk Any More 65 37. Show Me the Way to Go Home, Babe 67 38. Pickle My Bones in Alcohol 69 39. Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones 71 40. Just Kick the Dust over My Coffin ^2 41. The Hidden Still 72 42. Moonshine 73 43. Old Corn Licker 74 44. Sal and the Baby 74 _ 45. Sweet Cider 74 46. A Little More Cider Too 75 47. Sucking Cider Through a Straw yj 48. Drinking Wine 78 49. The Journeyman 78 50. Jack of Diamonds 80 51. Shoot Your Dice and Have Your Fun y^ 81 52. I Got Mine 82 HI. homiletic songs 83 53. When Adam Was Created 83 54. Pulling Hard against the Stream 86 55. Paddle Your Own Canoe 87 56. Why Do You Bob Your Hair, Girls? 88 57. Meditations of an Old Bachelor 88 58. The Thresherman 89 59. You Say You Are of Noble Race 90 60. Who Is My Neighbor? 91 61. Dying from Home and Lost 91 62. The Wicked Girl 92 63. A Poor Sinner 95 64. Advice to Sinners 95 65. Wild Oats 96 66. You Can Run on a Long Time 97 IV. PLAY-PARTY AND DANCE SONGS 99 67. Weevily Wheat 100 68. Here Comes Three Lawyers ioi 69. Jennie Jenkins 102 - 70. Oh, Pretty Polly 104 71. Don't Cry 104 72. Here We Go in Mourning 105 73. Row THE Boat, Row the Boat 106 74. The Needle's Eye 107 y},. The Miller Boy 108 76. In and Out the Window 108 "jy. Shoot the Buffalo 109 C O N T K N T S IX 78. COFI-KK ("iKOWS ON WlllTK OaK TrKKS IIO 79. LlTTLK FlCHT IN MkXUO 112 80. Pu; IN TiiK I'aki.ok 113 ' 81. BlFKAl.O CiALS 1 14 82. Old Dan Tuckkk 114 83. Yonder Comes a Georc.ia (iiRi. 118 84. Captain Jinks 119 85. Hop Light. Ladiks 119 86. Old Joe Clark 120 87. What's the Lady's Motion? 124 88. The Farmer's Boy 125 89. Sally Goodin 126 90. Doctor Jones 127 91. She Loves Coffee and 1 Love Tea 128 92. I Do Love Sugar in My Coffee O 129 93. Pop Goes the Weasel 130 94. Turkey in the Straw 130 95. We're All A-Singing 131 96. The Dolly-Play Song 131 97. Uncle Joe Cut Off His Toe 132 98. Oh, Lovely, Come This Way 134 99. The Duke of York 135 too. Fll Tell Your Daddy 136 loi. I Want to Go to Baltimore 136 102. Poor Little Laura Lee 136 103. Darling, You Can't Love but One 137 104. Page's Train Runs So Fast 138 105. Turkey Buzzard 139 106. All Around de Rin(;. Miss Jilie 140 107. Too Young to Marry 140 108. Poor Little Kitty Puss 141 109. Fare You Well. My Own True Love 142 110. Mr. Carter 142 Til. Wish I Had a Needle and Thread 143 V. LULLABIES AND NURSERY RHYMES 147 T12. Bye Baby Bunting 148 T13. Rock-a-Bye Baby in the Tree-Top 148 T14. Kitty Alone 149 T15. Hush-a-Bye, Don't You Cry 150 _ii6. Go to Sleep. My Little Pickaninny 151 117. Poor Little Lamb Cries 'Mammy I' 152 118. Hush, Honey, Hush 153 119. Pitty Patty Poke 154 120. The Fr()(;'s Courtship 154 Appendix 165 TJi. Billy Boy 166 618551 VI c o x t e x t s 22. Oh. Dear. What Cax the Matter Be? 170 23. Taffy Was a Welshman 170 24. Barnyard Song 172 25. McDonald's Farm 174 26. Quack, Ql\\ck, Quack 177 27. The Dogs ix the Alley 177 28. Go Tell Auxt Patsy 177 29. The Fox axd the Goose 178 30. The Old Womax axd Her Pk; 181 31. Whex I Was a Little Boy 182 2^2. Bobby Shaftoe 183 },2)- The Pretty Pear Tree 184 34. Jack-a-Maria 185 35. There's a Hole ix the Bottom of the Sea 186 36. JoHX Browx Had a Little Ixjrx 186 2>y. Bixgo 187 38. Call ]My Little Dog 187 39. The Vowels 188 40. Banbury Cross 188 41. Oh, Mr. Revel! 189 42. Old Woman All Skix axd Boxes 189 43. What Are Little Girls ^L\nE Of? 193 44. Neighbor Joxes I93 45. Whistlixg Girls axd Crowixg Hexs 194 46. Little Birdie ix the Tree 195 47. How I Love the Old Black Cat 195 48. Fve Got a Master axd I Am His ^L\N 196 49. The Cobbler 196 50. Scotland's Burning I97 51. Steam Ship I97 JINGLES ABOUT ANIMALS 198 52. Birds Courting I99 53. The Jaybird 201 54. Redbird and Jaybird 202 55. Jaybird Up ix the 'Simmox Tree 203 56. Said the Blackbird to the Crow 203 57. The Crow and the Weasel 205 58. Chicken in the Bread Tray 205 59. The Old Black Hen 206 60. Get Along, John, the Day's Work's Done 206 61. Possum Up a 'Simmon Tree 206 62. De Possum Am a Cuxninc; Tiiixg 208 63. The Raccoon Has a Bushy Taii. 208 64. De Possim Sits on 'Simmox Trek 209 65. Over the Hills So Far Away 210 66. Rahbit IX the Log 211 C () N T K N T S XI If),-. Oi.ii Mdi.i.v Haki-: (Mk. Kaiuut) 2ll i()8. 'riiK Rakhit Skippki), thk. Rahhit Hoi'pki) 213 ifx). Kahhit Stoi.k of. Greens 214 170. I r's Ai 1. XiciiT I.o.Nc 214 171 . Mk. Sni'iKRKi. 214 172. Till. Weaski. and the Rat 215 17,V Mole in the (iROTNi) 215 174. The Oi.I) Cikev Horse Came Tearinc TiiRort.ii THE Wilderness 216 175. The Old Grey Mare 217 176. I Had a Little Horse Whose Name Was Jack 217 177. Mv Old Sow's Nose 218 178. The Old Sow 218 I7(). The Kitten Is i-nder the Sod 219 180. The Animal Fair 219 181. The Monkey Married the Baroon's Sister 219 i8j. The Catfish 220 18.V Lri.r 222 184. Jonah I'Tshinc; for a Whale 223 185. Snake Bakes a Hoecake 223 186. Row THE Boat Ashore 224 187. I Went Down to the Low Ground 225 188. As I Went Up the Silver Lake 225 189. Way Down Yonder in Pasquotank 225 i(;o. Ninety-Nine Blue Bottles 226 i()i. A Picnic 226 i(j2. Two Little Fleas 227 i()3. Went to the River and I Couldn't Get Across 22-j 11. WORK SONGS 228 104. Old Boi! Ridley 229 Kj;. Jimmy My Riley 232 i()6. Sheei> Shell Corn by the Rattle of His Horn 233 197. Bu(;le, Oh ! 234 198. Come to Shuck Dat Corn Tonicht 234 199. De Shuckinc. OB de Corn 235 200. Shuck Corn, Shell Corn 236 201. Round It Up a Heap It Up 237 202. corn-sliuckinc. sonc 237 20.^. I" HE Old Turkey Hen 238 204. Run. Sallie, My Gal 238 205. Up Roanoke and Dow n the Rni.R 239 206. HiDi QuiLi LoDi QuiLi 239 207. Here. Jola, Here 240 208. Come away from That Old Man 240 209. Sally, Molly. Polly 241 210. Down on the Farm 241 Xll CONTENTS 211. Negro Cotton-Picker 243 212. Pickin' Out Cotton 243 213. The Humble Farmer 244 214. Boll Weevil Blues 245 215. Ole Massa's Going Awav 247 216. The Man Who Wouldn't Hoe His Corn 247 217. The Old Chisholm Trail 248 218. The Duke of Buckingham 250 219. The Wild Ashe Deer 250 220. Old Blue 252 - 221. The Ground Hog 253 222. Fll Fire Dis Trip 255 223. Hi Yo Boat Row 256 -^224. We Live on the Banks of the Ohio 256 225. A Boat, a Boat. Across the Ferry 257 226. Haul, Haul, Haul, Boys 257 227. Old Horse. Old Horse 258 228. For Six Days Do All That Thou Art Able 258 229. Alphabet of the Ship 259 230. Whip Jamboree 260 231. I Have a Father in My Native Land 260 232. Sal's in the Garden Sifting Sand 261 233. The Heathen Chinese 261 234. Working on the Railroad 262 235. The Little Red Caboose Behind the Train 263 - 236. Reuben's Train 264 237. If the Seaboard Train Wrecks 1 Got a Mule to Ride 266 238. Seaboard Air Line 266 239. A Southern Jack 266 240. I Been a Miner 267 241. Some of These Days and It Won't Be Long 267 242. I Ain't A-Gonna Work a No Mo'! 268 243. Roll Down Dem Bales 0' Cotton 268 244. I Wish My Captain Would Go Blind 268 245. Lavender Girl 268 246. Run Here, Doctor, Run Here Quick 269 247. The Washtub Blues 269 VHI. FOLK LYRIC 270 248. The Inconstant Lovkr 271 249. The Turtle-Dove 274 250. The Wagoner's Lad 275 - 251. SouRwooD Mountain 279 252. Pretty Saro 285 253. Old .Smoky 287 254. Little Sparrow 290 C () N T K N T S XIII 255. KlTlY Kl.lNE 293 256. Al.I. AkDINU THE MorNTAIX. ClIAKMINC. BkTSY 297 257. The Buue-Eyed Boy 298 258. The False Trie-Lover 299 259. I'l.i. Hanc My Haki' on a W'li.i.ow Tree 304 260. Red River Valley 305 261. The Slu;hteu Sweetheart 306 262. The Slic.hteu Girl 3^8 V 263. The Pale Wildwood Flower 309 264. Storms Are on the Ocean 311 265. There Comes a Fellow with a Derhy Hat 313 266. Bury Me in the Garden 3^3 267. The Weepinc. Willow 314 268. Down by the Weepinc. Willow Tree 317 26y. The Gumtree Canoe 3'^ ^ 270. The Indian Hunter 3^9 271. Goodbye, Little Girl, Goodbye 3^9 272. I'm Tired of Living Alone 320 273. Will You Love Me When Fm Old? 321 274. Goodbye, My Lover, Goodbye 322 275. Somebody 323 276. You, You, You 325 277. Cold Mountains 325 - 278. My Home's Across the Smoky Mountains 326 279. Must I Go to Old Virginia? 327 280. Red, White, and Blue 328 281. Down in the Valley (Birmingham Jail) 330 282. 1 Sent My Love a Letter 33^ 283. In the Pines, Where the Sun Never Shines 332 284. Bonnie Blue Eyes 334 285. The Midnight Dew 337 - 286. Fly Around, My Blue-Eyed Girl 339 287. Darling Little Pink 342 288. Billy My Darling 342 289. Seeing Nelly Home 343 290. Troubled in Mind 344 291. CoRNBREAi) When I'm Hungry 34^ 292. Lonesome Road 347 293. You Lovers All. to You T Call 34^ 294. When First I Seen This Lovely Queen 349 295. Sweet Birds 350 296. Going Back West 'Fore Long 353 297. You Caused Me to Lose My Mind 353 298. I Wish That Girl Was Mink 353 - 299. Cripple Creek 354 300. My Martha Ann 355 xiv contexts 301. High-Topped Shoes 355 302. Who's GoxNA Love You, Honey? t,^j 303. Oh. Where Is My Sweetheart? 357 304. Like an Owl in the Desert 359 305. The Lonesome Dove 359 306. By By, My Honey 360 307. I Love Little Willie, 1 Do, AIamma 361 308. The Lords of Creation 363 309. Poor ^L\RRIED ^L\N 364 -310. The Black-Eyed Daisy 366 311. Black-Eyed Susie 366 312. A Housekeeper's Tragedy 367 313. Kissing Song 368 314. My Mammy Don't Love Me 369 315. I Wondered and I Wondered 370 316. M\' Mammy Told Me 370 317. Oh. Honey, Where You Been So Long? 371 318. Away Out On the Mountain 371 319. The Garden Gate 372 320. Susy Gal ^j2 321. JosEPHus and Bohunkus 372 ~ 322. Leather Breeches 374 22T). Old Aunt Katy 375 324. Kindling Wood 376 325. Mother, AL\y I Go Out to Swim? 376 326. River's Up and Still A-Rising 376 327. Little Brown Hands 377 IX. SATIRICAL SONGS 378 328. The Carolina Crew 380 ^^ 329. Cumberland Gap 381 -330. Arkansas Traveler (I) 381 ~^ 331. Arkansas Traveler (II) 382 332. Hard Times 385 333. The Dodgers 387 334. Calomel 389 335. Twenty (Forty, Sixty) Years Ago 390 336. If You Want to Go A-Courtin' 393 337. When Young Men Go Courting 394 338. Johnson Boys 394 — 339. Leave for Texas. Leave for Tennessee 395 340. The Wood Hauler 397 341. Walk in the Parlor 399 342. Preacher in the Pulpit 403 343. Preacher's in de Pulpit 403 344. Wait on de Lord 404 345. I Never Will Turn Back Any More 404 409 410 411 430 (■ (I N T K NTS XV 346. JOXAII AM) TlIK W'llAl.K 4O5 347. jKsrs LuvKK OF My Soil. 408 348. Boh Ix(;kr.s()i.i. an'd the 1)i:\ii. 408 34c>. I.oKi). 1 Nkvkk Wii.i. C'uMK Back Hkkk No Mo' X. SONGS OF PRISONERS AND IRAMI'S - 350. Thk Prisoner's Sonc. -> 351. Seven Lonc; Years 416 ^352. Twenty-One Years Is a Mighty Lonc Time 417 353. Write My xMothek I'll Be Home 418 —354. Durham Jail 419 355. Moonshiner's Dream 420 356. jNIay I Sleei' in Your Barn Tonicut, Mister? 420 357. The Tramp Song 423 358. Tale of a Tramp 425 359. The Wild and Reckless Houo 426 360. The Dying Hobo 427 361. Waiting for a Train 428 36J. Banjo Tramp 429 363. Hand Me Down My Walking Cane 364. I Lay Around the Old Jail House (John C. Britton ) 431 365. The Foggy Mountain Top 433 XL MARTIAL. POLITICAL, AND PATRIOTIC SONGS 434 366. The Rolling Neuse 436 367. The Jolly Soldier 437 368. Flora MacDonald's Lament 437 369. The Rambling Soldier 439 370. Then We'll Have a New Convention 440 371. Colonel Harry. He Was Scared 441 372. Root Hog or Die 441 373. Harness up Yo' Hosses 442 374. The Southern Wagon 443 375. Red. White, and Red 444 376. The Soldier's Farewell 447 377. Early One Morninc; in the Month of July 449 378. John Brown's Body 449 379. The Bonny Blue Flag 451 380. The Homespun Dress 453 381. Pretty Peggy 456 382. Never Mind Your Knapsack 457 383. Bushwhacker's Song 458 384. Deserter's Song 459 385. Come, Rain, Come 460 386. Sorghum Molasses 460 387. Jeff Davis Rode a White Horse 461 N.C.F.. VoL III, (2) xvi contents 388. Old Abe Is Sick 462 389. The Privates Eat the Middlin' 462 390. When This Cruel War Is Over 462 391. The Good Old Rebel 464 392. The Veteran's Song 467 393. Brother Green 468 394. He Never Came Back 470 395. Goodbye, My Blue Bell 471 396. Soldier's Epitaph 472 397. Tippecanoe 472 398. Does Your Mother Know You're Out? 473 399. Uncle Sam's Farm 474 400. The Sweet Sunny South 475 401. Blue Ridge Mountain Blues 476 -''-402. The North Carolina Hills 477 403. The Hills of Dan 478 XII. BLACKFACE MINSTREL AND NEGRO SECULAR SONGS 480 — 404. Cindy 482 405. Dearest Mae 485 406. Massa Had a Yaller Gal 487 407. Nelly Bly 488 408. Oh, Susanna ! 488 409. Nancy Till 491 410. Miss Julie Ann Glover 492 411. Kitty Wells 492 412. Ella Rhee 494 413. Clare de Kitchen 494 414. Jim Crack Corn 496 415. Lynchburg Town 498 416. My Long Tail Blue 502 417. My Ole Mistus Promised Me 502 418. Old Zip Coon 503 419. Camptown Races 504 420. Uncle Ned 505 421. Way Down on the Old Peedee 506 422. Shinbone Alley 50/ 423. Some Folks Say that a Niggkk Won't Steal 508 424. The Happy Coon 510 425. The Preacher and the Bear 511 426. I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago 512 427. Have a Little Banjo Beating 514 428. The Traveling Coon 515 429. The Voodoo Man 516 430. Ain't Gonna Rain No More 517 43T. Ain't Got to Cry No More 519 C () N T K N T S xvn 43-'- 433- 434- 435- 436. 437- 438. 439- 440. 441- 44-'- 443- 444- 445- 446. 447- 44H. 44<)- 450. 451- 45-'- 453- 454- 455- 456- •- 457- 458. 459- 460. 461. 462. 463. 464. 465. 466. 467. 468. 469. 470. 471- 472. 473- 474- 475- 476. BdlL TlIKM t"Al!l'.A(;K DoWN Broder Eton (ior dk Coon Chicken The Dummy Line Eliza Jane (1) Eliza Jane (II) Everyhody's Gal Is I\Iy Gal Go 'Way from My Window Here Lies de Body uv To' Little Ben 'm Going Down the Road Feeling Bad Could'n Live Bedoit de Flowers 'd Rather Be Dead F \ov Want to Go to Heaven Had a Banjo Made of Gold F You Meet a Woman in the Morning F You Don't Believe I'm Sinking Got a Girl 'm Gwine Away to Georgia iiE Yaller Gal Went Down to My Gul's House Las' Night Mama Don't Allow No Low Down Hanging Around Negro Yodel Song Oh, Dat Watermilion One More River to Cross Po' Liza Jane Run, Nigger, Run Sally Went to Preachin' Saturday Night and Sunday Too She'll Be Cominc; 'Round the Mountain Siiort'nin' Bread Sing Polly Wolly Doodle Stick My Head in a Paper Sack That's W'here My Money Goes I' HERE Was a Watermelon Train . . . Run So Fast Two Little Niggers Black as Tar Watermelon Hanging on the Vine Way Down Yonder on Cedar Street W'HAT You Gwina Do WhEx\ the World's on I-'ike Jig(;er, Rigger, Bumho Guinea Negro Son(; WlMTF. l-'oLKS Go TO CoLLKGE Cold Frosty Morninc; Hung My Bucket on de White I'oi.ks' Fence White Folks in the Parlor 519 519 520 521 522 522 523 523 523 524 524 525 525 525 5^6 526 527 527 527 528 528 529 529 530 530 531 533 533 534 535 538 538 539 539 539 540 540 541 541 542 542 343 543 544 544 xviu contents 477. W'hitk Gal, Yaller Gal, Black Gal 544 478. You Shall Be Free 547 479. Old Bee Makes de Honey Comb 548 480. Hard Times 549 481. Don't Like a Rich White Man Nohow 549 482. Sugar Babe 550 483. Rich Man Rides on a Pullman Car 551 484. I Don't Like a Nigger 551 ^-485. Shady Grove 552 486. Fair Brown 553 487. Old Aunt Dinah 554 488. Apple Sauce and Butter 554 489. When I Die Don't Wear No Black 554 490. Rain Come Wet Me 555 491. We'll Have a Little Dance Tonight. Boys 555 492. Way Down Below 555 493. Railroad Dinah Gal 556 494. If I Had It You Could Get It 556 495. If I Die in Tennessee 557 496. JiNGER Blue 557 497. Mammy in the Kitchen 558 498. I've Bin to the 'Bama and I Just Got Back 558 499. Raise a Ruckus Tonight 558 500. Georgia Buck 560 501. You've Got Your Big Gun, and I've Got Mine 562 502. Went Down Town 562 503. Standing on de Street Doin' No Harm 562 504. A Thirty-Two Special on a Forty-Four Frame 562 505. The California Blues 563 506. Oh ! When a Man Get the Blues 563 507. I Got de Hezotation Stockings and de Hezotation Shoes 564 508. It's Raining Here 564 509. Nigger in the Woodpile 565 510. Share 'Em 5^5 511. The Preacher Song 5^5 512. Johnson's Mule 566 513. The Kicking Mule 567 514. The Billy Goat 568 XIII. RELIGIOUS SONGS 57° 515. The Cumberland Traveller 573 516. The Great Round-Up 573 517. Some of These Days 574 518. Long White Robe 575 519. There's a Little Hand Writinc; on the Wall 576 520. Ananias 57^ C O N T K N T S XIX 521. I'm-. (iosPKi. 1*001. 578 322. A I'llARC.K TO Kkk.i' 579 523. C'rkation 580 324. Daniki. in thk Lion's Dkn 581 ^2=,. Departki) Loved Onks 583 526. Dark Was thk Nicht 584 =,2~. Don't (Ikikak aktkr Mk 585 528. Drooi'1N(; SoLi.s, Xo Lonckr CiRiKVK 586 529. The Gosi'Ei. Train 588 5,^0. Hicks' Farewell 589 5,^1. 1 1' Yov Oet There Before 1 Do 591 332. I'm Bol'n' to Cross the Jordan 591 333. 1 Am Going to Heaven 592 334. In the V^allev 592 333. I've Got a Brother in the Snow-White Fields 593 336. Jacob's Ladder 594 337. Jesus Born in Bethlehem 595 338. John Saw the Holy Number 596 339. John Saw de Hundred and Forty-Four Thousand 597 540. Johnny Was a Baptist 597 341. The Little Black Train 598 342. The Lone Pilgrim S99 543. Mary Wore Three Links of Chain 600 544. Noah's Ark 601 545. Pharaoh's Army 602 546. Oh, They Put John on the Island 604 547. Rock of Ages 605 548. There Is No Place in the Height of Heaven 605 549. Ain't Goin' to Worry My Lord No More 606 550. All God's Chillun Got Shoes 607 351. All My Sins Been Taken Away 608 332. Angels Roll Dem Stones Away 609 333. As I VV^ENT Down in the Valley to Pray 610 534. Babe of Bethlehem 612 333. Baptist, Baptist Ls My Name 612 336. Bye and Bye 613 537. Cain and Abel 613 538. Can't Cross Jordan 613 539. Christ Was a Weary Traveler 614 560. City of Refuge 615 361. Come All ^'ou Friends and Neighbors 616 562. Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing 616 563. Dar'll Be No Distinction Dar 617 564. Didn't It Rain? 617 563. An English Orphan 618 :;66. Down hv dk Ribhersioe 619 CONTENTS 567. 568. 569- 570. 571- S7^- 573- 574- 575- 576. 577- 578. 579- 580. 581- 582. 583. 584. 585- S86. 589. 590. 591- 592. 593- 594- 595- 596. 597- 598. 599- 600. 601. 602. 603. 604. 605. 606. 607. 608. 609. 610. GwiNK Down to Jordan 620 God Is at de Pulpit 620 Going to Heaven by the Light of the Moon 621 Go Down, Moses 621 Golden Slippers 622 Good News — Chariot's Comin' 623 Good Lordy, Rocky My Soul 623 Good News Coming from Canaan 624 Go Wash in the Beautiful Stream 624 GwiNE DOWN Jordan 624 Hear That Rumbling (I Heard a Mighty Rumbling) 625 He Never Said a Mumbling Word 626 Heaven Is a Beautiful Place 627 Hush, Little Baby 629 I Am Bound for the Promised Land 629 I Am Going Where the Blood Flows Stronger 630 I Belong to That Band 631 I Don't Love Old Satan 631 I Don't Sing Like I Used to Sing 632 I Do Wonder Is My Mother on That Train 632 I Got de Key of de Kingdom 634 I Have Long Since Been Learned 634 I Am Standing in the Shoes of John 635 I Don't Know When Old Death's Gwine ter Call Me 635 I'm Goin' to Ride in Pharaoh's Chariot 636 I Mean to Go to Heaven Anyhow 636 Indian Song: Ah, Pore Sinner 637 I Picked My Banjo Too 637 I'sE Gwine Land on Dat Shore 638 I Shall Not Be Blue 639 It's Good fuh Hab Some Patience 640 I Wanter Jine de Ban' 640 I Was Once in a Dark and Lonesome Valley 641 I Wonder as I Wander 641 Jekkel Walls 642 Jesus Christ I Want to Find 643 Jesus Says, 'You Goes and I Goes W'id Vou' 643 John He Baptized Jesus 644 John Jasper 644 Judgment Day Is Comin' 646 Lily White Robe 646 Little David 647 Little David, Play ox \ov\i Harp 647 The Little Family 648 c o n t f. n t s xxi 6ti. Makv How ki) 652 (MJ. MosKs Smotk thk W'atkrs 653 ()i,v Am) MrsT I Be to Juihimk.nt Duoiciit? 653 O14. The New Buryinc; Ground 653 615. Nobody Knows 655 616. No Hiuin'-Place 655 617. No More! No More! 657 618. Oh, I Used to Drink Beer 657 619. Oh, Lord, I'se Stepping Higher 658 620. Oh, Heavens Shut the Gates on Me 658 621. O Lord, Won't You Come by Here? 658 622. Oh, See My Father Layin' Tiikkk 658 623. The Old Ship of Zion 659 624. Old Satan's Mad 661 625. One of Tonight 663 626. On a Dark and Doleful Night 664 627. Our Fathers They'll Be There 665 628. Poor Old Lazarus 665 629. Red Sea 666 630. Rolled the Stone Away 666 631. Roll. Jordan, Roll 667 632. Rough, Rocky Road 668 633. Shout Along and Pray Along 668 634. Somebody's All de Time Talkin' 'bout Me 669 635. Somebody's Knockin' at Your Door 669 636. Soon as My Foot Struck Zion 670 637. Standing in the Need of Prayer 671 638. Sweet Heaven 672 639. Talk About Jesus 673 640. That Old Time Religion 674 641. There's a Little Wheel A-Ti'rning 675 642. Through the City Where He Rose 675 643. Tossed and Driven 676 644. Tree in Paradise 676 645. Two White Horses Side by Side 678 646. Way Over in the Promised Land 678 647. We Are ^L\rching On 679 648. \\'e Have Loved Ones Over Yonder 679 649. What You Gon'er Do That Day? 680 650. We'll Roll the Old Chariot Along 680 651. We'll Sail Away to Heaven 681 652. When I Was Lost in the Wilderness 682 653. When tfie World Is on Fire 682 654. Where My Lord Went to Pray 683 655. What Kind of Crowns Do the Angels Wear? 683 656. Wrestlix' Jacob 684 xu contents 657. 'Zekiel'll Weep and 'Zekiel'll Moan 685 658. Cherokee Hymn 685 Index 687 Contributors to X'olumes II and III 704 Supplementary List of Contributors 710 ILLUSTRATIONS Herb Gatherers frontispiece Cotton Pickers /'"'"'// pcf/'-^ 244 Cypress Knees page 409 Sorghum Boiling facing page 460 Fishing in the Creek facing page 600 FOREWORD T TOLI'MI'^ II has a l^rcword for both the Ballads and the ^ Songs. In the present volume of Songs. Nos. 1-327 are edited by Professor Helden ; the remaining Songs, Nos. 328 to 658, by F^rof essor I ludson. Plere it is proper to add only that as the work of printing has progressed a few irregularities have been noted and cor- rected, though doubtless others still remain. Dr. Schinhan tells me. moreover, that he will have additional te.xts. taken from phonograph records, which were not available to the present editors, but which will be printed in volume I\'. He will also have there some tunes for the Games described in volume I. We can say now. with my Lord Chancellor. Francis Bacon: "Nothing is finished till all is finished." In the fifth volume we hope to gather the loose threads together for a final rejjort. r.F.B. A J] H R E V 1 A r IONS USED IN THE HEAUNOTES ABFS American Ballads and Folk Songs. By John Avery Loniax aiul Alan Loniax. New York, 1^34. ABS .liiicricaii /-lalUuls and Songs. By Louise I'ound. New \'ork, | 1922 j. AMS .hncrican Mountain Songs. By Ethel Park Richard- son and Signiund Spaeth. New York. [1927]. ANFS American Xegro Folk-Songs. By Newman I. White. Cambridge [Mass.], 1928. APPS The American Play-Farty Song. By Benjamin A. Botkin. Lincoln, Nebraska, 1937. AS American Speech. Baltimore, 1926 — . ASb The American Songbag. By Carl Sandburg. New Y'ork, [1927]. Barry Folk Songs of the Xorth Atlantic States. By I*hil- lips Barry. Boston, 1908. Mimeographed. BBM British Ballads from Maine. By Phillips Barry, Fannie H. Eckstorm, and Mary W". Smyth. New Haven, 1929. BFSSNE Bulletin of the Folk-Song Society of the Xortheast. Cambridge [Mass.], 1930-37. BKH Ballads of the Kentucky Highlands. By Henry Har- vey Fuson. London, 1931. BMFSB Tiventy-Xine Beech Mountain Folk Songs and Bal- lads. By Mellinger Henry and Maurice Matteson. New Y'ork, 1936. Botkin See APPS. BSI Ballads and Songs of Indiana. By Paul G. Brewster. Bloomington, Indiana, 1940. BSM Ballads and Songs Collected by the Missouri Folk- Lore Society. By H. M. Belden. Columbia, Mis- souri, 1940. BSO Ballads and Songs from Ohio. By Mary O. Eddy. New Y^ork, [1939]. BSSB Ballads and Songs of the Shanty-Boy. By Franz Rickaby. Cambridge [Mass.], 1926. XXVI ABBREVIATIONS BSS]\I Ballads and Songs of Southern Michigan. By Eme- lyn E. Gardner and Geraldine J. Chickering. Ann Arbor, 1939. BSSN Ballads and Sea Songs from Xe-ivfoitudland. By Elizabeth Greenleaf [and] Grace Y. Mansfield. Cambridge [Mass.], 1933. BSSNS Ballads and Sea Songs from Xoz'a Scotia. By W. Roy MacKenzie. Cambridge [Mass.], 1928. BTFLS Bulletin of the Tennessee Folklore Society. Mary- ville, Tenn., 1935 — . CFLQ California Folklore Quarterly. 1942 — . Christie Traditional Ballad Airs. By W. Christie. Edin- burgh, 1 876- 1 88 1. 2 vols. CS Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads. By J. A. Lomax and Alan Lomax. New York, 1938. (In a few cases the earlier edition, 1910, is cited.; CSV Country Songs of Vermont. By Helen H. Flanders [and] Helen Norfleet. New York, [1937]. DD DeviVs Ditties. By Jean Thomas. Chicago, 193 1. Dean Flying Cloud and One Hundred and Fifty Other Old Time Songs and Ballads. By M. C. Dean. Vir- ginia, Minn., n.d. DESO Dozvn-East Spirituals, and Others. By George Pullen Jackson. New York, [1943]. ECS English County Songs. By Lucy Broadwood and J. A. F. Maitland. London, 1893. ETSC English Traditional Songs and Carols. By Lucy Broadwood. London, 1908. ETWVMB East Tennessee and Western Virginia Mountain Ballads. By Celeste P. Cambiaire. London, 1935. FB Frontier Ballads. By Charles J. Finger. New York, 1927. Ford Traditional Music of America. By Ira W. Ford. New York, 1940. FSA Folk-songs of America. By Robert W. Gordon. National Service Bureau, 1938. FSE Folk-Songs of England. Ed. Cecil J. Sharp. Books L H, HL IV. \', various editors. London, 1908-12. FSF Folksongs of Florida. By Alton C. Morris. Gaines- ville. 1950. FSKH Folk-Songs from the Kentucky Highlands. By Josiah H. Combs. New York, 1939. A B H R K \- I A T IONS Bv Maud Kar- Hv E\a\se Huh- By 1939- J. P. Mel- I''SKM Folk-Soiigs of the Kciitiichy Momitdiiis. By Jose- phine McGill. New \*ork. | 1917]. FSM Folksongs of Mississif^pi and Their Background. By Artluir Palmer Hudson. Chapel Hill. N. C"., 1936. FSMEU I'olk-Songs du Midi dcs f:iats-l'nis. By Josiah II. (.'()ml)s. Paris, 1925. I-"Sm\\\' I-olk-Songs Mainly front West I'irginia. By John H. Cox. National Service Bureau of the Federal Theatre Project. W.P.A. New York. 1939. FSN I'olfc Songs from Xcwfonudland. peles. [London], 1934. FSONE Folk Songs of Old New Fngland hard Linscott. New York. 1939. FSRA Folk-Songs of Roanoke and the Albemarh Louis \V. Chappell. Alorgantown, W. \'a. FSS Folk-Songs of the South. By John Harrington Cox. Cambridge [Mass.], 1925. FSSC Franklin Square Song Collection. Selected bv McCaskey. New York. 1881-1891. 8 vols.' FSSH Folk-Songs from the Southern Highlands. By linger E. Henry. New York, [1938]. FSSom Folk-Songs from Somerset. By Cecil J. Sharp and C. L. Marson. London, 1904-1909. FSUT Folk Songs of the Upper Thames. By Alfred Wil- liams. London, [1923]. FSV Folk-Songs of Virginia. A Descripti7-e Indc.v. . . . By Arthur Kyle Davis. Jr. Durham, N. C. 1949. FTM Folk Tunes from Missi.';sippi. By Arthur Palmer Hudson and George Herzog. National Play Bureau Publication No. 25. July 1937. GGMS A Garland of Green Mountain Song. By Helen Hartness Flanders. Boston, 1934. Gomme The Traditional Games of Fngland. Scotland, and Ireland. By Alice Bertha Gomme. London. 1894- 1898. GSAC Games and Songs of American Children. By Wil- liam Wells Newell. New York. 1883: new and enlarged ed., 1903. 191 1. Halliwell The Xursey Rhymes of England. By James Or- chard Hal li well. London, 1842. HFLB Hoosier Folklore Bulletin. Bloomington. Ind.. 1942- 45. Thereafter: Hoosier Folklore. — HFL. JAFL Journal of American Folklore. 1888 — . XXVlll ABBREVIATIONS JEFDSS The Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. London, 193 1 — . Successor to JFSS. JFSS The Journal of the Folk-Song Society. London, 1899-1931. JISHS Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society. Springfield, 1908 — . LL Last Leaves of Traditional Ballads and Ballad Airs. By Gavin Greig and Alexander Keith. [Aber- deen], 1925. LT Lonesome Tunes. Folk Songs from the Kentucky Mountains. By Loraine Wyman and Howard Brockvvay. New York, [1916]. MAFLS Memoirs of the American Folklore Society. No. xxix is 'Folk-Lore from Iowa,' by Earl J. Stout, 1936. Mason Nursery Rhymes and Country Songs. By M. H. Mason. London, 1877. McLendon A Finding List of Play-Party Games. By Altha Lea McLendon, SFLQ viii (1944). 201-34. MLN Modern Language Notes. Baltimore, 1886 — . MM Minstrelsy of Maine. By Fannie H. Eckstorm and Mary W. Smyth. Boston, 1937. MMP Mountain Minstrelsy of Pcnnsyh'ania. By Henry W. Shoemaker. Philadelphia, 1931. A revision of NPAL MSHF More Songs of the Hill Folk. By John J. Niles. New York, [1936]. MSNC Mountain Songs of North Carolina. By Marshall Bartholomew and Susannah Wetmore. New York, 1926. MWS Maine Woods Songster. By Phillips Barry. Cam- bridge [Mass.], 1939. Newell See GSAC. NGMS The Nezu Green Mountain Songster. By Helen Hartness Flanders, Elizabeth Flanders Ballard, George Brown, and Phillips Barry. New Haven, 1939- Northall English Folk-Rhymes. By G. E. Northall. London, 1892. NPM North Pennsylvania Minstrelsy. By Henry W. Shoe- maker. 2nd ed., Altoona, Pa., 1923. NS The Negro and His Songs. By Howard W. Odum and Guy B. Johnson. Chapel Hill, N. C, 1925. I? R K V 1 A T I {) N S XWS Xcyro Workitihiy Songs. By Howard W. Odum and Guy B. Joliiison. Chapel Hill. N. C, 1926. NYFLQ Xew )'ork h'olklorc Quarterly. 1945 — . OASPS I'lic Ociirkw: .hi American Survival of Primitive Society. By Vance Randolph. New York, 1931. OFS Ocark I'olksongs. Collected and edited by Vance Randolph. Columbia. Mo., 1946, 1948, 1949. 1950. 4 vols. OIFMS Old Irish lu>lk Music ami Songs. By I'atrick \V. Joyce. London. 1909. 3 parts. OAH"" Ocark Mountain Folk. By Vance Randolph. New York, 1932. lOoEFS One Hundred English Folk Songs. By Cecil J. Sharp. New York and Boston, [1916]. Ord 'Fhe Bothy Songs and Ballads of Aberdeen, Banff and Moray, Angus and the Mearns. By John Ord. Paisley, [1930]. OSC Our Singing Country. By John A. Lomax, Alan Lomax, and Ruth Crawford Seeger. New York, 1941. OSSG Old Songs and Singing Games. Bv Richard Chase. Chapel Hill, N. C, 1938. Owens Szving and Turn: Te.vas Play-Party Songs. By Wil- liam A. Owens. Dallas. 1936. Ozark Life Ozark Life {Outdoors). Kingston, Ark., 1925-31. PTFLS Publications of the Te.vas Folk-Lore Society. Aus- tin, 1916 — . PMLA Publications of the Modern Language .-Issociation. 1884—. Pound Folk-Song of .Xebraska and the Central West. A Syllabus. By Louise Pound. University of Ne- braska, 191 5. Nebraska Academy of Sciences Pub- lications, vol. IX, no. 3. Rinibault .\'ursery Rhymes, zvith Tunes. ... By Edward F. Rimbault. London, n.d. SBML Songs and Ballads of the .Maine Lumberjacks. By Roland Palmer Gray. Cambridge [Mass.]. 1924. SBNS Songs and Ballads from .Xoi-a Scotia. By Helen Creighton. Toronto, [1932]. SCB South Carolina Ballads. By Reed Smith. [Mass.], 1928. SCSM A Song Catcher in Southern .Mountains. othy Scarborough. New York, 1937. Cambridge Bv Dor- XXX ABBREVIATIONS SFLQ Southern Folklore Quarterly. Gainesville, Fla., 1937—- SFSEA Spiritual Folk-Songs of Farly America. By George Pullen Jackson. New York, [1937]. SharpK English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians. By Cecil J. Sharp and Maud Karpeles. London, 1932. 2 vols. Shearin A Syllabus of Kentucky Folk-Songs. By Herbert G. Shearin and Josiah Combs. Lexington. Ky., 191 1. Transylvania Studies in English II. SHE Songs of the Hill-Folk. By John J. Niles. New York, [1934]. SMLJ Songs of the Michigan Lumberjacks. By Earl C. Beck. Ann Arbor, 1941. SS Slai'e Songs of the United States. By William E. Allen. New York, 1867 (reprinted 1929). SSSA Songs Sung in the Southern Appalachians. By Mellinger E. Henry. London, [1934]. Steely "The Eolk-Songs of the Ebenezer Community." By Mercedes S. Steely. Unpublished M.A. thesis, University of North Carolina, 1936. Talley Negro Folk Rhymes. By Thomas W. Talley. New York, 1922. TBmWV Traditional Ballads mainly from West Virginia. By John Harrington Cox. National Service Bureau, 1939- TBV Traditional Ballads of Virginia. By Arthur Kyle Davis. Cambridge [Mass.], 1929. TKMS Twenty Kentucky Mountain Songs. By Loraine Wyman and Howard Brockway. Boston, [1920]. TNFS On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs. By Dorothy Scarborough. Cambridge [Mass.], 1925. TSSI l^ales and Songs of Southern Illinois. By Charles Neely. Menasha, Wis., 1938. VFSB Vermont Folk-Songs and Ballads. By Helen H. Elanders and George Brown. Brattleboro, Vt., 1932. 2nd ed. WNS IVhite and Negro Spirituals. By George Pullen Jackson. New York, [1944]. Wolford Tlie Play-Party in Indiana. By Leah J. Wolford. Indianapolis, 1916. WSSU White Spirituals in the Southern Uplands. By George Pullen Jackson. Chapel Hill, N. C, 1933. FOLK SONGS FROM NORTH CAROLINA N.C.K.. Vol. Ill, (3 ) SONGS THE DIS'l'INCTKJN between ballads— as folklori.sts now use the term — and otiier types of folk song was first formulated, so far as 1 know, by the eighteenth-century poet William Shenstone, Percy's friend and adviser in editing the Rcliqucs. He wrote to Percy in 1761 : "It is become habitual to me, to call that a JUiUad, which describes or implies some Action ; on the other hand, 1 trim that a Sony, which contains only an expression of Sentiment." In arranging the contents of the Brown Collection we liave decided to follow this principle. But it has been found necessary to apply the terms in a very elastic spirit. In scores, perhaps hundreds, of instances there are hints, traces of action, but no definite story is told. The composite and desultory character of a great deal of traditional folk song makes a strictly logical classification of the items impossible. But the items must be placed in some order. If a given piece is found among the ballads when it seems to be rather merely a song, or vice versa — if the placing of items seems some- times merely arbitrary — we must plead necessity. COURTING SONGS AMONG the oldest and most widely diffused of traditional songs are the dialogues of courtship. Theocritus knew them in Sicily, and Vergil probably heard them by the Alincio. In English, 'A Paper of Pins' is known, doubtless, all over the English-speaking world. With two exceptions, our North Carolina texts, like most other ver- sions found in this country, end satirically; when the lady accepts the last of the wooer's offers, the key of his chest, he declares that all she wants is money and retracts his offer. There are several variations on this theme. In two of them, here given as the two texts of 'The Courting Cage,' the wooer is refused despite all his tine possessions because he is a drunkard or a card-player or both. Quite different is 'Miss, Will You Have a Farmer's Son?' Here a girl is offered five suitors in succession and refuses all but two, a California boy and a Southern lad. One supposes that this song dates from some time in the sixth or seventh decade of the last cen- tury. Then there are songs of courtship that are entirely humorous or satirical. The best of these, 'The Old Man's Courtship' and 'The Quaker's Wooing,' are English but are well remembered on this side of the water. 'When I Was a Young Girl,' with its catchy 'this-a-way that-a-way' refrain, is a singing game of children in the old country but has become social satire here: after going this-a- way that-a-way to her husband's funeral she practices a different this-a-way that-a-way to catch his successor. 'Soldier, Soldier. Won't You Marry Me?' is a game song of children in England but seems in this country to be merely a comic song. Another English song, of the pastourelle type of wayside seduction, in which the girl tells her wooer that she will have him "or almost anybody," has not often been recorded in America. In 'Madam, 1 Have Gold and Silver' a familiar courting dialogue is turned at the end, rather surprisingly, into a returned-lover story. 'One Morning in May.' better known as 'Tlie Nightingale.' is a favorite with American ballad singers. A curious custom is reflected in two pieces, 'Courting Song' and 'Don't Stay after Ten.' In connection with the former of these Mrs. Sutton gives an anmsing account of the custom from personal experience. She was engaged at the time as ins])ector of schools and had got as far as the Watauga River at the foot of f () r k T I N <; s (1 N (; s 5 Beech .\l(iunl;iin near tlu' reiinoMX' line: in lad, the school dis- trict wliich she \\a> then visiting; was ])aitly in .\\erv and Watauga counties and partly in Tennessee. She went home with the teacher to spend the night. Her home was a long, low, old-time-looking house witli three front doors all opening on a long jiorcli. It was early in the fall and still warm weather. We didn't get to the house till dusk, a.s we liad talked over iier work for two hours after school, and she helped get supper wiiile 1 sat on the porch and watched the stars come out over the wall of the mountain. . . . While she helped iier mother cook supper she sang this song, and I asked her to copy it out for me. After supper she suggested that 1 retire. I wasn't at all sleepy and it was only seven o'clock, l)ut she insisted that I must retire and urged me so much that there was no way out of it. I went. The room in which I slept was the one on the upper end of the long porch. It was a long room with two beds at the back, a fireplace in front, an organ in one of the front corners and a washstand with a red flowered bowl and pitcher in the other. There were several enlarged portraits in gilt frames on the walls, and all of the chairs had hand- embroidered throws on them. I undressed and got into one of the high feather beds. Miss Martha folded my clothes carefully, slid my travel- ing bag under the bed, and took a comb, l)rusli, and some powder out of an opening in the front of the organ and brushed her i)retty hair, powdered her face, and went to the door and let in her "fellow." who had come courting. I was the only one of the three people in the room who was the least bit embarrassed, and I might have saved myself the trouble. The caller ignored me as completely as though I had been a thousand miles away and addressed himself to the business of courting as energetically as if he and his lady-love were on a desert island. He was like the hero of this ballad in only one particular. I am sure he stayed all night. I tried not to listen the fu-st three or four hours: then I tried to hear the whispered remarks and to oliserve the technique of "settin' up" on that side of the ridge: but at last nature rebelled and I went to sleep. Some time in the wee sma' hours my hostess came to bed with me. From that day to this she has never mentioned the episode nor have I. It isn't good manners to tease a girl about courting unless you know her well, and any remark about the call on my part would have been interpreted as "dragging" her. Witli these two songs sliould he compared certain sonijs in tlie section on regional and social satire — "If \'()U Want to (io .A-C'(jurt- ing,' 'When Young Men Go Courting,' "Johnson Boys," and "The Carolina Crew.' In the same general category belong two other songs or groujjs of songs, the 'I Wouldn't Marry' group and the "When I W^as Single' group. In the "I Wouldn't Marry' group sometimes the man speaks, declaring that he wouldn't marry an old m.iid. or ;i ricli gal. or a poor gal. or a city gal. generally for nonsensical reasons; sonietitnes a woman speaks, declaring that she wouldn't marry any one of a string of characters she describes fnot so nonsensically as in the preceding set ) but is determined to die an old maid. Some are devoted entirelv to the contrast between crabbed age and youtli ; O NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE she will not marry an old man but would gladly marry a young man with an apple in his hand. There are four texts of a song in which a girl rejects all other sorts of suitors but will gladly marry a farmer boy; she loves to wash the dishes, sweep the floor, feed the chickens, and milk the cows. And in two songs the woman and the man speak alternately. The songs in this group look as if they might be play-party or dance songs, but they are not so described by the contributors. The 'When I Was Single' theme also appears in two forms, one for man and one for woman. The former is found many times in the Collection but without much variation; when he was single his pockets would jingle; when his wife died he laughed till he cried; but he had no more sense than to marry a second time, this time to a woman he describes as the devil's grandmother. The woman's form, in which she complains of the misery of being married to a drunkard or a gambler or both, is given in the following section, the songs about drink and gambling. I A Paper of Pins For the history and spread of this courting dialogue, see BSM 507. To the references there given should now be added Virginia (FSV 229-31), West Virginia (SFLQ vi 226-31; one of these is the 'Keys of Canterbury' form, not otherwise known from the United States), Missouri (OFS in 40-5), Ohio (BSO 120-5), Illinois (SFLQ vi 224-6). In one of these it appears as a sing- ing game. Mrs. Steely found it as a play-party song in the Eben- czer community in Wake county. All but two of our North Carolina texts have the misogynist ending familiar in American ver- sions, but the last two end romantically with "the key of my heart." A 'The Paper of Pins.' Reported by Allie Ann Pearce of Colerain, Bertie county. Not dated. 1 'Miss, I'll give you a paper of pins — This is the way our love begiiLs — If you will marry nie. Miss, if you will luarry me.' 2 'I'll not accept the paper of pins, If this is the way our love begins ; I'll not marry you, I'll not marry you.' 3 'Miss, I'll give you a little pet clog. To set on your laj) when yoti go abroad. If you will marry me. Miss, if you will marry me.' 4 'I'll not accept the little lap dog To set on my lap when I go abroad ; C 0 U R T I NM; S 0 N G S 7 I'll IK It inarrv you, I'll not marry you.' 5 'Miss, I'll give you a dress of red Stitched all around with golden thread. If you will marry me. if you will marry me.' 6 "I'll not accept the dress of red Stitched all around with golden thread ; I'll not marry you, I'll not marry you.' 7 'Miss, I'll give you a dress of green And you may dress as fine as any queen, If you will marry me, Miss, if you will marry me.' 8 "I'll not accei)t the dress of green It 1 may dress of^ any queen; I'll not marry you. Sir, I'll not marry you.' 9 'I'll give to you the key to my heart. We may lock it to never part. If you will marry me, if you will marry me.' 10 'I'll not accept the key to your heart,(;^ If we may lock it to never part ; I'll not marry you. Sir, I'll not marry you.' 1 1 "Miss, I'll give to you the key to my chest. You may have money to your request, If you will marry me. Miss, if you will marry me.' 12 'I'll accept the key to your chest If I may have money to my request; I'll marry you. sir. I'll marry you.' 13 'Ha, ha, ha! If money is all I'll not marry you at all. I'll not marry you. Miss, I'll not marry you.' B 'Paper of Pins.' Reported by Sarah K. Watkiiis from .Ansnii and Stanly counties. The series here is paper of pins, dress of red, dress of l)lue, coach of eight, coach of four, key of my heart, key of my desk ; and it ends like A. C 'The Paper of Pins.' Reported by Louise Bennett of Middlcburg, Vance county. Not dated. The series is i)aper of pins, coacli and four, coach and six, the key to my heart, tht.- key to my hank; and it ends: 'Ah. ha. ha! Money is all! A woman's love is nothing at all ! ' Miswritten, one supposes, for "Hkc." 5 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE And I'll not marry you, you. you, And I'll not marry you.' D 'Paper of Pins.' Reported by Mabel Ballentine of Wake county. Not dated. The series here is paper of pins, coach of four, coach of six, key to my heart, key to my desk, and the conclusion as in preceding texts. 'A Paper of Pins.' From Ethel Brown of Catawba county. Not dated. The series is paper of pins, little lap dog, dress of green, keys of my heart, keys of my trunk ("To promise you I'll never get drunk"), keys of my desk ; and it ends : 'So you do love money and you (l(jn't love me. And since you love money you can't marry me. And I won't marry you, you, yoti, And I won't marrv vou.' 'Paper of Pins.' Contributed by Floy Leach of Cary, Wake county, in 1927. Despite its title it has no paper of pins; the series runs: dress of green, little pet dog, key of my heart, key of my desk, and the custom- ary final stanza. 'Paper of Pins.' This text is anonymous but no doubt authentic. The series is paper of pins, dress of red, dress of blue, diamond ring, match of gray, match of six (the "match" seems to mean a team of matched horses), key to my heart, key to my chest; and the text ends: 'Ha! ha! ha! money is all. Woman's love is nothing at all. And I'll not marry you, miss. And I'll not marry you.' 'Oh, pray. sir. don't take it so ; It's all a joke I'll let you know; I'll not marry you, sir, And I'll not marry you.' H 'Paper of Pins.' From Miss Pearl Webb of Pineola, Avery county. This text is accompanied by the tune. The series is little dog. dress of green, coach of six, dress of red, key of my heart, key of my desk, and the final "money is all." 'Paper of Pins.' Reported by R. D. Ware of All)emarle, Stanly county, in 1921, as obtained from Mrs. Harrison Gregory of North Wilkesboro, Wilkes county. The series here is paper of pins, little lap dog, dress of green, dress of red, keys to my heart, keys to my desk; and it ends: C O I- R T I N (i S O N r. s 9 'It's now, my hicnds. as _\<iu can sec. She wants my money but don't want me. But I won't many you, ma'am. No. I won't marry you.' J 'Paper of Pins." Reported by Katherine Bernard Jones of RalciRli. Only a fragment: tlic paper of pins and the key to my desk. 'Paper of Pins.' From Ethel Hicks Bufifalo of Granville county. A fragment ; the first two stanzas only. 'Paper of Pins.' Obtained from B. N. White, time and place not recorded. The series runs : paper of pins, dress of red, the key to my cliest. key to my heart, and ends : "1 will accept the key to your heart [In token that we shall never j)art ;| And I will marry you. you. you, And I will marry you.' The second line is missing in the manuscript but may be supplied with certainty. M 'Paper of Pins.' From Miss .-Xmy Henderson of Worry, Burke county, in 1914. Like L, this ends on the romantic note ; the series runs : paper of pins, little lap dog, dress of red, dress of green, coach and four, coach and six, key to my chest, key to my heart. 2 Madam, Will You Walk? This is a less familiar form of the 'Paper of Pins' courting dialogue. It is known in Somerset (JFSS 11 87-8), but 1 have not found it reported from America. Mrs. Sutton's text is strongly influenced by the customary 'Paper of Pins' series, and so is I\Iiss Tuttle's as far as it goes. 'Madam, Will You Walk?' Rei)orted by .Mrs. Sutton, but she does not say when and where she heard it. 1 'I will give you a paper of ])ins. For that's the way true love begins. If you will walk, if you will talk. If vou will walk and talk with me. 2 '1 will give you a coach and si.x And everv horse as black as pitch. 10 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Madam, will you walk, madam, will you talk, Madam, will you walk and talk with me ? 3 'I will give you a coach and four And every horse as white as snow If you will walk, if you will talk. If you will walk and talk with me. 4 'I will give you the keys to my heart, That we may lock it never to part. Madam, will you walk, madam, will you talk. Madam, will you walk and talk with me?' 5 'No, I will not walk, no, I will not talk, No, I will not walk and talk with you.' 6 'I will give you the keys of my chest, That you may have money at your request, If you will walk, if you will talk, If you will walk and talk with me.' 7 T will accept the keys of your chest. That I may have money at my request ; Yes. I will walk, yes, I will talk. Yes, I will walk and talk with you.' 8 'You will accept the keys of my chest That you may have money at your request ! But I will not walk, I will not talk, I will not walk and talk with you.' 'Madam, Will You Walk?' From Miss Emeth Tuttle of Lenoir. Cald- well county, in May 1921. With the air. Only one stanza of the text, which is the same as stanza 2 of A. 3 The Courting Cage So called in the Ozarks, according to Vance Randolph (OASPS 216-19), though he confesses that he does not know what a courting cage is (in OFS iii 361-3. where he gives a Missouri version, he suggests that it is a corruption of "court engaged"). In Virginia it is called 'The Courting Case' (SharpK 11 249-51) or 'Kind Sir' (SCSM 305-6) or 'The Drunkard's Courtship' (FSV 232-4): Chappell calls his North Carolina version (FSRA 199-200) 'The Drunkard's Courtship.' It has heen found also in Mississippi (FSM 168-9), Indiana (SFLQ v 182-3). and Michigan (BSSM 417-19). C O U U T 1 N C. S 0 N G S II 'Kind Sir, I See \'(>u'\o Lome Again.' ()l)taiiK'(l from Miss kwxU Robhiiis of Pekiii. MoiUgdiiKry county, in \i)22. 1 "Kind Sir. I set' \()u'\c' (.■oiiic as^aiii. I'ray tell mv what it's for. [''or wlieii \vc parted on yontlers hill 1 told yon to come no more, more, nKM'e, 1 told yon to come no more." (repeat ihns the last line ot' each stan/a) 2 'Oh. Miss, 1 fall down at yonr feet. Your mercy 1 implore ; If one to me he granted not I'm lost for evermore.' 3 '(J)h, Sir, I know just what you want; You want to take me in. And if I will agree to marr)- you You'll drink and gamhle again.' 4 'Oh. Aliss. it's a thing I never did do And 1 never did think 'twas right. If you'll agree to marry me I'll never lie out one night.' 5 'Oh, Sir, I think you're might}' hold To make that olYer again ; For do you think I'm simple enough To marry a harrel o' gin? 6 'Kind Sir. 1 think you'd hetter go. Your staying here is vain ; You're only trouhling me ver}- nuich .And giving yourself great pain.' 7 'Oh, Miss, I have a very tnie horse — He paces like the tide — That you may have at your command Whenever you choose to ride." 8 'Oh. sir. I know your very line horse; He paces like a tide. I know his master loves to drink. And I can't he his bride.' 9 'Oh. miss, I have a very tine house And also very fine yards.' 'But who will stay with me at night When you are playing cards?' 12 X 0 R T H CAROLINA I- 0 I. K L O R E 10 'Oh, miss. I have a very fine orchard And also very fine fruit That you can have at your command If you will he my bride.' 1 1 'Oh, sir, I know your very fine orchard And also very fine fruit ; But when I come in and turn you out You know a hog- will root.' 12 'Oh, miss, you are a hard old jade And very hard to please ;^ And some cold night when you're alone I hope to God you'll freeze !' 'If You Will Only Be My Bride.' Contributed by J. B. Midgett of Wanchese, Roanoke Island, probably in 1920. With the tune. 1 'Kind miss, I have a very fine ship, She plows the ocean wide. And she can be at your command If you will only be my bride, bride, If you will only be my bride.' 2 'Kind sir, I know you have a very fine ship. And she plows the ocean wide. And she can be at my command ; But I will not be your bride, bride. But I will not be your bride." 3 'Then, kind miss, I have a very fine farm, It is fifty acres wide. And it can be at your command If you will only be my bride, bride. If you will only be my bride.' 4 'Kind sir. 1 know }()U have a very fine farm That's fifty acres w'ide. And it can be at my command ; But I will not be your bride, bride, I will not be your bride.' 5 'Now, kind miss, I have a very fine horse, He paces like the tide. And he shall be at your command If you will only be my bride, bride. If you will only be my l)ride.' ' The manuscript has here "freeze," no doubt by anticipation of the line below. C O I' R T I N G S 0 X G S I3 6 'I know, kind >ir. ynu have a very fine horse That paces hkc the tide : lie knows the way to the okl grojj^ shop. l''or his master paces him there, tlicre. For his master paces him there. 7 'Kind miss. 1 have a very tine house That stands in yonder yard. And it shall be at your command If vou will only be my bride, bride. If \du will onlv be mv bride.' 8 T\.ind sir. 1 know you have a very Ihie house That stands in yonder yard. But who is going to stay with me at night \\ hen you are out playing cards, cards, When vou are out playing cards?' 9 'Kind miss. 1 never did ])lay cards. I never thought it right. But if you'll consent to marry me I'll stay with you at night, night, I'll stay with you at night. lo 'Sence you are so quarrelsome. So thundering hard to please. When vou get old and pinched with cold 1 hope to (iod you'll freeze, freeze-. I ho])e to ( jod you'll freeze !' I I "When I get old and pinched with cold It won't be you to keep me warm ; I'll get somebody I love much better And lie closer in his arms. arms. And lie closer in his anus.' 4 MaDA.M MoZKI.l.K. I'VK C'oMK CoURTl.NG This is a fraj^nient of that version of the courting dialogue which Barrv (JAFL xxiv 341-2) reported from the singing of an Jrish- man in Boston, beginning "Madam. 1 liavc come a-courting." The first two words represent, one guesses, a misuntlerstanding of "mademoiselle.'' 'Madam Mozelle. I've Come Courting.' Contributed by H. F. Sha\v, with the notation that it is from "the eastern part of North Carolina." Madam Mozelle, I've come courting. Your kind heart I ho]ie to win ; 14 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE And, if you will entertain me, Truly, I will call again. 5 Miss, Will You Have a Farmer's Son ? Here the courting dialogue (see 'A Paper of Pins,' 'Madam, Will You Walk,' The Courting Cage,' 'Madam Mozelle, I've Come Courting,' 'The Quaker's Wooing') is turned from its usual purpose of satire to the praise of the Forty-niners and gallant Southern lads. In this form it has not been found elsewhere. 'Miss, Will You Have a Farmer's Son?' From a manuscript note- book in which Mrs. Harold Glasscock of Raleigh had set down songs learned from her mother, most of which she can sing. Dr. White bor- rowed the notebook in 1943 and made this and other transcripts from it. 1 'Miss, will you have a farmer's son?' 'No, no, not a farmer's son. He is rough and he is so tough. No, no, not a farmer's son.' 2 'Miss, will you have a shoemaker's son?' 'No, no, not a shoemaker's son. It's peg a little here and peg a little there. No, no, not a shoemaker's son.' 3 'Miss, will you have a California boy?' "Yes, yes, a California boy. He looks so bold with his pockets full of gold. Yes, yes, a California boy.' 4 'Miss, will you have a Dutchman's son?' 'No, no, not a Dutchman's son. He makes such a fuss about his buttermilk and mush. No, no, not a Dutchman's son.' 5 'Miss, will you have a Southern lad?' 'Yes, yes, a Southern lad. He looks so neat and he kisses so sweet. Yes, yes, a Southern lad.' 6 LuciNDY, Won't You Marry IMe? A fragment of a courting song not elsewhere, so far as T can learn, reported by collectors. 'Lucindy, Won't You Marry Me?' Received in 1922 from Pickens. couRTiN(;soN(;s 15 Lucindy. won't you iiiarr\- iiu'. Won't \(>u marry \uv in ilw niornin'? If you'll marry \uv \-our molhcr'H Cook a shinc-c'ved-hen. 7 Soldier, Soldier, Won't You M.\rr\- Mk? Miss Gilchrist, JEFDSS in 122-3, ""ting Ncwell's account of this "nursery game-song" in his Games and Songs of American Children, is "inclined to think" it is of Scottish origin. It seems not to be of record earlier than the nineteenth century, and, apart from Newell's report and the Virginia texts reported by Davis (FSV 236), not to be a game song in America. It is rej)orted as traditional song from Glasgow (JEFDSS in 121 ), Gloucestershire (JEFDSS III 121), Newfoundland (ESN 140-1), Vermont (VFSB 61), Virginia (JEFDSS iii 122, JAFL xxxiii 158, FSV 236), West Virginia (FSS 467), Kentucky (BKH 77-8, SharpK 11 41 ), Tennessee (SharpK 11 41, BTELS v 35-7). North Carolina (SharpK 11 40 j, the Ozarks (OFS i 289-90), Indiana (BSI :i,^~), and Nebraska (ABS 224-5), and is also in Airs. Richardson's American Mountain Songs (51). The six texts in our collection do not vary greatly. 'Soldier, Soldier, Won't You Marry Me?' Coiitrilnited by C. M. llutcb- ins of Durham, apparently in 1913. 1 'Soldier, soldier, won't you marry me With your rifle, fife, and drum?' 'How can I marry such a pretty little girl If I have no shoes to put on?' 2 Away she ran. as fast, as fast. As fast as she could run. And got a very nice pair of shoes. Says. 'Soldier, put them on.' So for several stanzas, changing shoes to coat, hat, etc. Then : 'Soldier, soldier, won't you marry me. With your rifle, fife, and drum?' 'How can I marry such a pretty little girl When I have a wife at home?' Away she ran. as fast, as fast. As fast as she could run. 'And if you have a wife at home. I tiiink I had hetter be gone.' l6 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 'Soldier, Soldier, Will You Marry Ale?' From Miss Amy Henderson of Worry, Burke county, about 1914. The refrain line is slightly dif- ferent here. The first stanza runs : 'Soldier, soldier, will you marry me?' Fife and drum: 'How can I marry such a pretty girl as you? I've got no shoes to put on.' She ran to the tailor, tailor shop, Fast as she could run, And got him the finest shoes she could get : 'Soldier, put these on.' The series runs through socks, coat, shirt, hat ; and it ends : 'How can I marry such a pretty girl as you When Fve got a wife at home?' 'Soldier, Soldier, Won't You Marry Me?' Contributed by Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga county, in 191 5. With music by A. J. Burrus. Smith notes: "The song . . . was sung by J. W. Lawrence. I write it from memory, as it has been over 20 years since I have heard it sung. Other people sang it 20 or 25 years ago. The tune is still well known." The series is hat, boots, coat, pants ; and it ends rather drastically : 'How can I marry such a damn little bitch And me got a wife at home?' D 'Soldier, Soldier, Won't You Marry Me?' Contributed by Mrs. R. D. Blacknall of Durham, with the notation "known since 1862." The re- frain line here is 'With your rifle, fife, and drum.' The series is cap, boots, coat ; the ending as in A. 'Soldier, Soldier, Won't You Marry Me?' Reported by Mrs. Sutton from the singing of Myra (Mrs. J. J.) Miller of the Brushy Mountains, Caldwell county. The series here is coat, shoes, hat, pants, sword, and a horse. No title. Contributed by Minnie Stamps Gosney of Wake county. The series is shoes, socks, trousers, shirt, coat, collar, tie, hat, gloves — all, apparently, that the singer could think of. The Quaker's Wooing Compare 'A Paper of Pins,' 'Madam, Will You Walk,' 'The Courting- Cage.' This particular satire on the wooer is not always d'stinct from these and other wooing dialogues. 'Old .Simon,' re- c o r K T 1 N c; s 0 n c s 17 Ijortfil truiu Wilt^hiro (FSUT JJ), 'The Wooin.t;-,' from Michigan (BSSM 4i7-icS),an(l 'The Drunkard's Courtship,' from North Caro- lina (FSRA 199-200) are kindred pieces. What may fairly be reckoned forms of 'The Quaker's Wooinj?' have been reported from New Enj,dand (FSONK 276-8), Virginia (FSV 235-6), Arkansas (OFS 111 58-60), Missouri (BSM 265, OFS 111 258-9), Ohio I BSO 293-4). Indiana (JAFL xlix 247, SFLQ 111 206, v 182-3), Michigan (BSSM 424-7), and Iowa (ABS 223-4). '" '"it- of these cases it is a play-party song. •Madam, 1 .\m Conu- .\-C0urtinj4.' Imoiii tlie manuscript soiigbuok of Mrs. Haruld Glasscock of Raleigli, lent to Dr. White in 1943. The songs in this l)ook Mrs. Glasscock learned from her parents. 1 'iMadain, 1 am come a-courtiny. Oh, dear, oh dear. oh. dear me I'm for pleasure, not for sporting. Oh. dear, oh, dear, oh, dear me. 2 'Madam, I have gold and silver. Oh, dear, oh. dear. oh. dear me.' 'Go right home and tell your father. Tiddle dum dink dum dink dum da. 3 'That you could not gtt me read}-. Tiddle dum dink dum dink dum da.' 'Madam. I am a Presbyterian. Oh, dear, oh, dear. oh. dear me.' 9 The Old M.\x's Courtship For the history of this old English song and its occurrence in modern times, see BSM 264, and add to the references there given Herd's Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs (11, 33-4 of the 1869 reprint of the 1776 edition). Miss Mason's Nursery Rhymes and Countrx Songs, p. 33, Essex (JEFDSS 111 130-1), Pennsylvania (MMP [^(1 edition of NPM] 307-8). Virginia and South Caro- lina (FSV 173, OSC 132-3). Arkansas (OFS 1 293-4), Missouri (OFS I 291-2), Ohio (BSO 132-5), Indiana (SFLQ 111 207), and Michigan (BSSM 413-14). It is interesting to find that of the five texts in our collection only one shows the familiar "old grey beard" refrain. The other four all belong to one tradition with "old boots and leggins" or "old boots a-leakin' " in the refrain. Yet the variations of folk fancy on the theme of ugly old age prompt the printing of all five of the texts. 'Old Shoe Boots and Leggins.' Contributed by Mrs. Will X. Coley of Raleigh in 1922. The second and fourth lines of stanza i constitute a refrain to be repeated in each stanza. N.C.F.. Vol. HI, (4) iB NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 1 My mammy she told me to ask liim in — Oh, but I won't have him — I ast him in, and the way he did grin ! With his old shoe boots and leggins. 2 Aly mammy she told me to give him some pie. I give him some pie and he looked like he'd die. 3 My mammy she told me to put him to bed. I put him to bed and he looked like he was dead. 4 Aly mammy she told me to waken him up I wakened him up and he shook like a duck. 5 My mammy she told me to saddle his horse. I saddled his horse and bid him be off. No title. Contributed by Miss Minnie S. Gosney of Raleigb. As in A, the refrain is given only with the first stanza. 1 Mother, my mother, bid me open the door — I won't have him — I opened the door and he fell^on the floor With his old shoes and leggins. 2 Mother, my mother, bid me give him a chair. I gave him a chair and he called me his dear. 3 Mother, my mother, bid me light his pipe. I lit his pipe and he smoked like a snipe. 4 Mother, my mother, bid me put him to bed. I put him to bed and he stood on his head. 5 Mother, my mother, bid me wake him up. I woke him up and he smacked like a duck. 6 Mother, my mother, bid me saddle his horse. I saddled his horse and I ordered him off. 'The Old Man.' Contributed by Gertrude Allen (afterwards Mrs. Vaught) of Taylors ville, Alexander county. This has "beard" instead of "boots" in the refrain. The third line of the opening stanza is a refrain closing each stanza. I My mother brought an old man Home to see me With his old grey beard a-flopping. Chorus: But I wouldn't have him, I wouldn't have him. C n I- R T I N C. SONGS I9 2 My niotlKT i^'ivi' him a dish And hf swallnwx'd a fish. 3 My mother _<jja\e him a stool. lUit he acted Hke a fool. 4 My mother j;a\e him a pie And he swallowed a fly. 5 With a head like a mule 1 ie acts like a fool. 6 -My mother ijave liim some cake And he swallowed a snake. 7 My mother showed him the door, But he fell on the floor. 8 ^ly mother gave him a saddle And he rode ofif a-straddle. '()ld Boots." Contributed by Miss Ida C. Houston of Winston-Salcm, witli the notation : "This was sung in the family of the little girl who wrote it for many years by an old servant whose mother and grand- mother sang it." The second half of line i and all of lino 3 of stanza i constitute the refrain, repeated with each stanza. 1 My mama told me to open the gate — I will not have him — I opened the gate and he couldn't walk straight. And his old boots was a-leaking. 2 My mama told me to open the doiM". I opened the door and he fell in the floor. 3 My mama told me to hand him a .stool. I handed him a stool, and he looked like a fool. 4 My mama told me to hand him a shovel. I handed him a shovel, and he looked like the devil. 5 My mama told me to set tlie table. I set the table, and he said he wasn't able. 'Old Boots.' Contributed by Katharine .Malloy of Yanccyville, Caswell county. Refrain as in D. I My mama told me to hand him the ])ie — 1 will not have him — I handed him the pie, and he swallowed a fly. And his old boots was a-leaking. 20 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 2 My mama told me to hand him a fish. I handed him a fish and he swallowed the dish. 3 My mama told me to put him to hed. 1 put him to hed and he lay like he was dead. 4 My mama told me to saddle his horse. I saddled his horse, and he rode off north. 5 My mama told me to bid him farewell. I bid him farewell, and I wished him to hell. lo When I \\'as a Young Girl This was originally a children's singing game; many texts from various parts of England are given by Lady Gomme (Gomme ii 362-74). In this country it is most often a piece of social satire, as it is in our text. What holds the various texts together is the "this-a-way that-a-way" refrain. This refrain structure, however, has also been used in certain cunmlative songs of farm sounds, concerning which see 'McDonald's Farm' in this volume. A song of somewhat related content. 'When I Was a Maid' (to be found in JFSS VIII 148-50), is distinguished from the song here under consideration by the absence of the "this-a-way that-a-way'' re- frain. Our song is known in various parts of America: in On- tario (JAFL XXXI 151 ). \"irginia (FSV 169-70). Kentucky (SFLQ II 1 61 -2;, Indiana (JAFL xxix 189-90 — see the accom- panying bibliographical note — and SFLQ iii 221-2), and Ohio (JAFL XL 15, a reduced form of two stanzas). 'When I Was a Young Girl.' Obtained from Catharine Cox of Salis- bury, Rowan county. Not dated. With the tune. 1 When I was a youngs girl, yotmg girl, ^oung girl. When I was a young girl, then, oh then 'Twas ha ha this-a-way, ha ha that-a-way, This-a-way, that-a-way then. 2 Boys came courtin', courtin', courtin'. Boys came courtin' ; then, oh then 'Twas ha ha this-a-way, ha ha that-a-way, This-a-way. that-a-way then. 3 Then I got married, married, married. Then I got married ; then, oh then 'Twas ha ha this-a-way, ha ha that-a-way, This-a-way, that-a-way then. 4 Then I had a c|uarrel, (|uarrel, f|uarrel. Then 1 had a c|uarrel ; then, oh then C () V R T 1 N c s n N C, S 21 'Twas i^ft away this-a-u aw i^et away thal-a-way. This-a-wav, that-a-way tluii. 5 Then 1 niadr uj). up, up. Tlu'ii 1 iiiadf up: theu, oh iheu, And "twas (smack, smack) this-a-way, (smack, smack) ihat-a-way. This-a-wav, that-a-wa\- ihcn. 6 Then lie got sick, sick, .sick. Then he got sick ; then, oh then 'Twas dear doctor this-a-vvay. (k-ar (kictor tliat-a-\\a\-. This-a-way. that-a-way then. 7 Then he died, died, (Heck Then he died ; then, oh then Twas (sniff, sniff) this-a-vvay, (sniff, sniff) that-a-way, This-a-way, that-a-way then. 8 Going to the funerak funerak funeral. Going to the funeral ; then, oh then 'Twas (sniff, sniff) this-a-way, (sniff, sniff) that-a-way, This-a-way. that-a-way then. 9 Coming from the funeral, funeral, funeral. Coming from the funeral — then, oh then 'Twas ha ha this-a-way, ha ha that-a-way, This-a-way, that-a-way then. II Where Are You (ioiNO, Mv Pretty Maid? This sunj( of the milkmaid, still remembered in iMiglaiul — Somerset and Devon (JFSS ii 9-10), \'orkshire (JFSS 11 J70) — is known in various parts of English-speaking America: New- foundland ( BSSN 138-g). New Jersey (JAFL Lii 58-9. a some- what lewd derivative), X'irginia ( SharpK 11 156-8), Mississippi (JAFL XXXIX 150-1, FSM 277-8). Missouri (OFS i 330). Ohio ( BSO 188-90). Nebraska (ABS 228-30). The content of the various texts varies considerably, but they may all l)e considered forms of the same song. There are two in our collection. A 'Seventeen Come Sunday.' Sent in by .Mrs. Sutton, witb the following account of the singer : • 1 1 "Over beyond Sugar Loaf in Henderson County there lives an old man who sings ballits. He makes whiskey, too, or did, and spent a good deal of time in Atlanta. He has a cabin to which we couldn't go with the car. . "We parked way up on a hillside and climbed down a steep winding path between laurel thickets and found him sitting (jii the woodpile 22 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE strumming a banjo. He said it was 'too party to waste time plowin'.' He also asked us to 'tarry till even.' . . . Not many of his songs were 'fitten to sing before the wimmern,' but he accepted us as kindred spirits and sang them anyway. . . . He sang a number of sea bal- lads. . . . He also called the young woman he was courting in the hope that she would consent to becoming his fourth wife his 'doney.' Some- times he made it 'doney gal.' "The song he liked best of those he sang was 'Seventeen Come Sun- day.' When he finished singing this song he observed that 'seventeen is jist about the right age to catch a gal. Ef she's older than that she's apt to be gittin' oneasy and it comes too easy.' We asked him if the 'doney' he had now was over that. He said she was. 'When a feller gits as old and wore out as I am he near 'bout has to take him a gal off'n the cull list,' he remarked philosophically. 'I've had me three young wives, and this un I'm a-courtin' now ain't fur from the whit- leather stage. But, at that, she ort to outlast me.' " 1 'Where are yoti going, my pretty maid? Oh, where are you going, my honey ?' She answered me most modestly, 'An errand for my mommy.' 2 'How old are you. my pretty maid ? How old are you, my honey ?' She answered me most modestly, 'I'm seventeen come Sunday.' 3 'Where do you live, my pretty maid ? Where do you live, my honey?' She answered me most modestly. 'In a cottage with my mommy.' 4 'Will you marry me. my pretty maid? Will you marry me. my honey ?' She answered me most modestly, 'If it wasn't for my mommy.' B 'Where Are You Going, My Pretty Fair Maid?' From a manuscript notebook of Mrs. Harold Glasscock of Raleigh lent to Dr. White in December 1943. Most or all of her songs Mrs. Glasscock learned from her mother. 1 'Where are you going, my pretty fair maid ? Where are yoti going, my honey T She answered me with a 'Ha ha ha, I'm going to see my mammy.' Tum a hoo ra ra tum a hoo ra ri Turn a hoo ra raddle dick a dandy. 2 Her shoes were black and her stockings were white And her buckles shone like silver ; She had a dark, rolling eye c o i' K T I X (i s o N c; s 23 And luT hair luiui; nuiud her shoulder. Tiitii a hoo ra ra imu a hoo ra ri Tuni a hoo ra raddle dick a dandy. 3 "Will \-on have me, ni\- pretty fair maid? Will you have me, my honey ?' She answered me with a 'lia ha ha, I'll have most anybody.' Tum a hoo ra ra tum a hoo ra ri Tum a hoo ra raddle dick a dandy. 12 ]\Iadam, I Have Gold and Silver Here a very familiar courtin.q; (lial(\s:ue is turned unexpectedly in the last stanza into a returne(l-(lis,s:uise(l-lover story. Up to the last stanza our text is very close to one from Sussex given in JFSS IV 297-8. For the more customary form of the song and references to its occurrence in England and America, see BSM 506. and add Indiana (SFLQ in 206). 'Seven Long Years.' Reported by Mrs. R. D. Blacknall of Durham, with the note: "Sung by a Negro servant, .Maria McCauley, presumably ex-slave of the Chapel Hill McCauleys. Heard forty-five years ago." Mrs. Daisy Jones Couch of Durham remembered the first stanza only. 1 'O madam, I have gold and silver, O madam, I have both house and land. O madam, I have this world of treasure And you may use them at your conunand.' 2 'Oh, what care I for your gold and silver? Oh, what care I for your house and land.-' Oh, what care I for your world of treasure \\'hen all I want is a handsome man ?' 3 '( ) madam, don't place your love on beauty, lM)r beauty is a thing that will decay : Just like a rose, pulled soon in the morning. That before noon will fade away.' 4 '( )h. my true love's gone over the ocean ; Oh, seven long years he's been gone from me. But seven more I'll wait for him. If his dear face I ever shall see.' 5 'The ripest fruit soonest is rotten ; The hardest love soonest is cold. That young man's love is soon forgotten, So. niv dear miss, don't speak so bold!' 24 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 6 That look, that voice were so famihar Her lovely face turned pale as clay ; She spied the ring upon his finger — And on the ground she swooned away. 13 One Morning in May For something of the history of this song — more commonly known as 'The Nightingale' — and its currency in tradition, see BSM 239, and add to the references there given Kentucky (FSKH 20-1), Florida ( SFLQ viii 171-2), Arkansas (OFS i 268), Mis- souri (OFS I 266-8, 288-9), Ohio (SFLQ 11 154-5, BSO 230), and Tennessee (BTFLS vi 34-5, a text and tune recorded in Ten- nessee but learned in Nebraska). One of our versions was sung by a schoolgirl in the sixth grade. Very likely many sing it with no understanding of its original meaning. 'One Morning in May.' Reported by Mrs. Sutton from the singing of Myra Barnett, who knew so many of the old songs. Mrs. Sutton says she has never run into it except in Caldwell and Avery counties (Myra came from the Brushy Mountains in Caldwell) ; but it is reported also from Watauga and Montgomery counties, and is in fact very widely known in the southern Appalachians. 1 One morning, one morning, one morning in May I spied a fair couple a-making their way ; But one were a lady and the other a soldier Who'd fit in the wars, a free volunteer. 2 'Good morning, good morning,' the lady she said. 'Good morning, good morning,' the soldier replied. 'I'm happy fur to meet you here this morning, 'Though you are a lady and I'm a soldier.' 3 They took hand and hand and went on together. But where they did go, that I do not know where. Then said the lady. 'Let's go to the spring. Where the waters are sliding and the nightingales sing.' 4 'Now stop,' said the soldier, T'll tell you a riddle.' And out of his knapsack he drew a fine fiddle. He tuned up his fiddle to a common high string And played by tiie waters where the nightingales sing. 5 Then said the soldier. 'We'll soon have to part.' 'No, no,' said the lady, 'play that tune once more.' He tuned up his fiddle to a common high string And played the tunc over and over again. c 0 r K T I N (. so N c; s 25 Then said tlic lady, 'Wnn't mhi iiian\- nu'?' 'No. no.' said the soUhcr. "that never can he. I've a wife in Mair Manders, little children there's three, As pretty little children as you ever did see. 'h^iir damsel, fair damsel, take warning hy nie And when yim see soldiers don't love them so free. I've a wife in Flair Flanders, little children's there's three. As j)retty a little woman as you ever did see. 'Fll <^o hack to h'lair hdanders. I'll stav there one _\ear. in the place of cold water, my drink will he heer. And when I return, it'll he in the sprin<;. \\ here the waters run slidinc^ and the ni^htinc^ales sing.' 'One .Morning in .\hiy.' Cdntrihuted hy Miss Jewell Rol)l)ins of Pekin, the last stanza into a returned disguised lover story. Up to the war' may be the editor does not know. 1 As I walked out one UKjrning. one uKjrning in May. I spied a nice couple a-reaping of hay; One was a lady, a lady so fair. .\nd the other a soldier of the grand jin"\' war. 2 '(Jh. now.' .said the lady, 'will you marry nie?' 'Uh no.' said the soldier. "1 can't marry you. I've a wife in the army and children I've three .And as beauteous a lady as ever you'll sec.' 3 "Uh, now,' said the lady, "pla}- me one more tune.' He tuned his fiddle to a very high strain And played the tune over again and again. 'One Morning in May.' Reported iiy Professor W. Amos .\hrams as sung hy a sixtli grade schoolgirl at Boone. Watauga county, in Septem- her. 19.37. The text docs not differ significantly from .\. 'One Morning in May.' Contriiiuted l)y .Miss Lizzie h'inclicr from .Mon- roe. L'nion county, some time in 1921-2. The first stanza only. No. Sir This courting song, also known as 'My Father was a .Spanish Merchant.' goes back with some changes in the course of time to the seventeenth century and has been many times printcfl in popular songbooks; see Kittredge's very thorough bibliographical note to 26 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Tolnian's Ohio texts, JAFL xxxv 406-7. In some texts it shows contamination with 'Madam, I Have Gold and Silver.' It has been reported as traditional song from Virginia (FSV 237), Kentucky (BKH 81; TKMS 98-101 may be reckoned a form of it), Ten- nessee (BTFLS III 96), Arkansas (OFS iii 104-5), Ohio (JAFL xxxv 405, BSO 146). Indiana (Wolford 73-4, as a play-party song), and Iowa (MAFLS xxix 44) ; it is listed in Miss Pound's syllabus: forms of it appear in Sharp's One Hundred English Folk Songs and in JFSS iv 208 (Dorset) ; and it is no doubt known and sung much more widely than this list would indicate. A 'O No, John.' From tlie manuscripts of Obadiah Johnson of Cross- nore. Avery county. This is much tlie fullest of our North Carolina versions. 1 On yonder hill there stands a creature, Who she is I do not know ; I'll go and court her for her heauty. She must answer yes or no. O no, John ! No. John ! No. John ! No ! (This is the refrain line, sung in the person of the girl after each stanza stmg hy the man.) 2 'My father was a Spanish captain. \\ ent to sea a month ago. First he kissed me. then he left me; Bid me always answer No !' 3 '() madam, in your face is heauty, On your lips red roses grow. Will you take me for your lover? Madam, answer yes or no. 4 'O madam, I will give you jewels, I will make you rich and free, I will give you silken dresses. Madam, will you marry me? 5 '( ) madam, since you are so cruel And that you do scorn me so, If I may not be yotir lover. Madam, will yoti let me go? 6 'Then I will stay with you forever If you will not be unkind. Madam, I have vowed to love you ; Would you have me change my mind? 7 'O hark! I hear the church bells ringing; Will vou come and be mv wife? C O V R T I X C S () N V. S 27 Or, dear niadani. have voii settk-d T(i Vwv >ini>lL' all \(mr life?' 'No. Sir." I'Voiii tlic inaiiu^cript songbook of Miss Lura Wagoner of Vox, Allt'gliany county, lent to Dr. Brown in 1936; tlic entries in the book were probal)ly made some twenty or more years earlier. 1 'Tell iiie one thing, tell me truly, Tell nie why you scorn nie so. Tell nie. when 1 ask a (luestion. Yon will always answer No.' Chorus: No, sir, no, sir, no, sir, no, sir, No. sir. no. sir, no. sir. no. 2 'My father was a Spanish merchant, And, before he went to sea, He told me to be sure and answer "No" to all you said to me.' 3 'If, when walking in the garden. Plucking flowers all wet with dew, Tell me. would you be offended I f 1 walk and talk with you ? 4 'If, when walking in the garden, I should ask you to be mine .\nd should tell you that I love you, Would vou then mv heart decline?' 'Spanish Merchant." Obtained liy G. D. Harmon from W. K. Harris of Union Mills, Rutherford county. Same as B except tliat it lacks tlie first stanza. D 'No, Sir !' Obtained from Aura Holton of Durham in 1922. The text as in C, with direction that the chcjrus is to be sung by the boy and the girl together. Seems to be a play-party song. Courting Song I*"()lk >inj^ers in America are not averse to social satire of the sort of wliicli this song is an example. The 'Song' is reported also in Florence H. Botsford's Collection of Folk-Soiujs 1 31 from Kentucky. For references to other songs of a like temper in \'ir- ginia. West Virginia, North Carolina. Missouri. Nebraska, and Wyoming, see BSM 426-8, and add to the references there given 28 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Florida (SFLQ viii 192-3) and Iowa (MAFLS xxix 96-7) and for Negro song JAFL xxiv 285. See also 'When Young ^len Go Courting' and 'If You Want to Go A-Courtin' ' in the section of Satirical Songs in this volume. 'Courting Song.' Collected by Mrs. Sutton on the Watauga River near the Tennessee line, from the singing of a schoolteacher with whom she spent the night — which included an amusing example of the technique described in the song; see page 5, above. The last line of each stanza is repeated as indicated in stanza i. 1 A gentleman came to see me. He couldn't tell his name. I knew he came a-courting Although he was ashamed. Oh, although he was ashamed. 2 He drew his chair up by my side. His manner pleased me well. I hoped the spirit moved him A loving tale to tell. 3 And there he sat the livelong night And not a word did say. With many a sigh and hitter groan I often wished for day. 4 The chickens they began to crow. The daylight did appear. 'Howdy do, good morning, sir. I'm glad to see yoti here.' 5 He was weary of the livelong night. He was weary of his life. 'H this is what yoti call courting, boys. I'll never take a wife.' 6 Whenever he g(jes in company The girls all lavigh and sport ; They say. 'There goes a blamed old fool Who don't know how to court. Oh, he don't know how to court.' ]6 Don't STA^■ after Ten On the same U)\nc as tlie 'Courting .Song," just given. It is re- ported in the Pound svllahus. and hv Randolph from Arkansas (OFS III 86-7). A 'Don't Stay after Ten.' An anonymous manuscript in Dr. Brown's hand. c () r R T 1 N (; s () N c. s 29 no doubt collected liy liini frmii >oine of his infi)rmaiits l)ut jtccideiUaliy left witlioiit notation of its source. Altlmugii aimnyinous, it is n'^en here because it lielps to make tlic H text inteliiKible. 1 Tlicrc is oiu' rc(|ticsl I make ot yoii \\ lu'ii nic yoii come to see. \'()ii know thei'e is none in all this world That's half so dear to me; I hit this request 1 make of }<iu. That when you come again To see me in the afternooti. Don't stay till after ten. Chorus: Don't stay till after ten. my boy, Don't stay till after ten. But come again some other time And don't stay till after ten. 2 For after ten the moments fly ; I tremble o'er and o'er Till last ma's image 1 shall spy Come creeping to the door. She's there to execute her threats : She said she'd surely come And if you stayed so late again She'd ask you to go home. 3 Next morning down to breakfast I'd go. My papa would frown at me And say. 'My girl, that beau of yours Is going to hear from me. That sort of thing I will not stand, But when he comes again I'll just walk in and ask him out If he don't go home by ten.' B 'Oh, Don't Stay after Ten." From the manuscript hook of songs of Miss Edith Walker of Boone, Watauga county: secured in 1936. The first two lines of stanza 2 are confused, or at least confusing. I I've something sad to say to yott .\nd when he comes again To meet in the evening And don't stay after ten. Chorus: (Jh. don't stay after ten, my dear. Oh, don't stay after ten ; 30 NORTH CAROLINA I'OLKLORE To meet in the evening And don't go home at ten. 2 And when he comes again (and stays) (They say) and don't go home, why then They'll just step in and ask him out If he don't go home at ten. 3 For after ten the moments fly ; I tremble o'er and o'er When mama to the dark spot Comes peeping through the door. 4 To the breakfast table next morning I'll go And papa will frown on me And say, 'My daughter, that beau of yours Is going to hear from me.' 17 I Wouldn't Marry For the range of songs on this theme, see BSM 262 and add to the references there given Massachusetts (FSONE 211-12). Vir- ginia (SharpK 11, 381-2. FSV 174-5). Kentucky (SFLQ 11 1S3). Tennessee (BTFLS 11 11, v 38), North Carolina (BTFLS'ii II), Arkansas (OFS iii 64, 65, 128). Missouri (OFS 11 351-2. iii 65. 259-60), Ohio (BSO 186-7^. 298-9), Indiana (SFLQ in 213-4), Michigan (BSSM 420-1). and Wisconsin (JAFL lii 20. from Kentucky). Mrs. wSteely found three forms of it in the Ebenezer community in Wake county. Scotland knows, or knew, two songs on this subject (Christie i 141-2, 182-3), but it is doubtful that they are the ancestors of any of the American forms. The texts may conveniently be presented in three groups : those in which the man speaks, those in which the woman speaks, and a composite (or antipbonal ) form in which now the man speaks and now the woman. Some of the texts are conglomerates of fragments often distantly connected, if at all, with the theme of celibacy A 'Laurie Lee.' Communicated, about 1923, by Miss Kate S. Russell of Roxboro, Person county. 1 Wouldn't marry an old maid Tell you the reason why : Her neck so long and stringy I'm scared she'd never die. 2 June bug got the golden wing, Lightning l)ug the flame. Bedbug got no light at all But he gets there just the same. C O V K T 1 N C S 0 N G S 3I 3 Rich <^Mrl wears \hv ruftk' dress, Poor girls wear the i)hiin. Eve wore no ch'ess at all IJiit she got there just tlu' same. 4 Raccoon got the husln- tail. Possum tail is hare ; Rahhit got no tail at all, Nothing hut a hunch of hair.' 'I Wouldn't Marry an Old .\hiid.' l->om Ijuille Massey, Durliani. Xot dated. 1 I wouldn't marry an old maid, Pll tell you the reason why: Her neck is so long and stringy 1 fear she'd never die. 2 I wouldn't marry an old maid. I'll tell you the reason why: She'd stick her nose in a pone oi hread And call it chicken pie. 3 I wouldn't marry a rich girl, Pll tell you the reason why : She is crazy to wash her clothes And hang them out to dry. No title. From Lucille Cheek of Chatham county. First stanza only, as in B. 'I Wouldn't Marry.' Collected by Julian P. Boyd from Catherine Ben- nett, one of his pupils in the school at Alliance, Pamlico county. A single stanza, the same as the first stanza ui B witli "poor sal" sub- stituted for "old maid." 'I Wouldn't Marry.' From W. B. Leake of Rich Square, Northampton county. .Again a single stanza, the first of B, with "city gal" substi- tuted for "old maid." 'A Farmer Boy.' From Miss Mamie Mansfield, Durham, in Juls i<)22. With this we turn to texts in which the woman speaks. ^ Manuscript has "hare" ; whether the pun really belongs in the song or is the momentary inspiration of the writer of the manuscript the editor does not know. This fourth stanza will reappear in the section on Bird and Beast Jingles. 32 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 1 I love to wash the dishes, I love to sweep the floor. I love to kiss that pretty little boy Behind niv parlor door. Chorus: A farmer's boy, a farmer's boy, He's the one for nie ; If ever 1 get married A farmer bride I'll be. 2 I love to feed the chickens, I love to milk the cow. I love to hear that farmer boy Come whistling from the plow. 3 I wouldn't marry a preacher, I tell you the reason why He stands upon the pulpit And makes the people cry. 4 I wouldn't marry a doctor, I tell you the reason why He goes all over the country And makes the people die. 5 I wouldn't marry a blacksmith, I tell you the reason why His neck is so long and thin I am afraid he'll never die. 'Farmer Boy for Me.' Sung by Miss Annie Hanilen (later Mrs. E. S. Swindell), Durham. Three stanzas and chorus. The first two stanzas and the chorus the same as the chorus and stanzas 4. 3 of F ; the third stanza is new : I would not marry a lawyer. I'll tell you the reason why : He gets up on the stand And always tells a lie. TI 'I'm Determined to Be an Old Maid." From Gertrude Allen (later Mrs. Vaught), Taylorsville, Alexander county. Here tlie familiar "I'm determined to he an old maid" drifts in the last stanza to the "farmer hoy" theme of F. Tiie tune was taken down by Miss N'ivian Blackstock. 1 I'll not marry a man that's rich, Vov he'll get drunk and fall in a ditch ; CO r K r I N (i s () N c; s 33 Sei I'll \\u[ inair\ at all, I'll iKil many at all. Chorus: I'm (k-tcrmiiu'd to he an old maid; I'll take my stool and sit in the shade, And I'll not marry at all, I'll not marrv at all. 2 I'll not marry a man that's poor, He'll go hegging from door to door; So I'll not marry at all. I'll not marry at all. 3 I'll not marry a man that's young. For he'll deceive with a flattering tongue ; So I'll not marrv at all, I'll not marry at all. 4 I'll not marry a man that's old. For he'll do nothing hut sit and scold; And I'll not marry at all, I'll not marry at all. 5 But I will marry a farmer's hoy. For he will always have employ ; So I will marrv after all, after all. 'Farmer's Wife I'll Be.' Reptjrted by W. B. Covington as Iieard in Scotland county. Two lines only : Farmer's wife, farmer's wife, farmer's wife I'll ])e. If I ever marry in my life, farmer's wife I'll he. 'I Won't ^^a^^y at All.' Sent in by the Reverend J. M. Downiim as obtained from Alex Tiigman of Todd, Ashe county, in 1922. Six stanzas and chorus. Chorus and stanzas i, 2, 3, 4 as in H chorus and stanzas 4. 3, 2, I ; the last two stanzas introduce new matter : 3 I won't marry a man named l)ill Though he loves me fit to kill ; I won't marry at all, I won't marrv at all. 6 I won't marry a man named Ned Tho he's sweet as gingerhread ; I won't marry at all, I won't marry at all. N.C.F., Vol. HI, (5) 34 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 'I Won't Marry at All.' From Ethel Brown, Catawba county. The chorus and stanzas 2 and i of H. 'I'm Determined to Be an Old Alaid.' Reported by Mrs. Sutton as heard in 1917 "in the mountains." Evidently not complete; "There were several other types of men she was determined not to marry." The three stanzas given are the chorus and stanzas i and 2 of H. M 'An Old Man.' Reported in 1915 by Miss Iris Chappelle of Creedmoor, Granville county, as obtained from her mother, who learned it as a child. This and the next two texts might claim the status of distinct songs, being devoted to the yovmg girl's repugnance at the thought of marrying an old man. 1 I would not marry an old man. I will tell you the reason why : His face is always dirty, His chin is never dry. Chorus: An old man, an old man. An old man is gray. But a young man's heart is full of love. And away, old man, away. 2 I would rather marry a yotmg man With an apple in his hand Than marry an old man With forty acres of land. 3 I would rather marry a young man With forty cows to milk Than marry an old man All rohed in satin and silk. 4 An old man he comes creeping in And says he's tired of life ; But a yoimg man he comes skipping in And says 'Kiss me, my dear wife.' 'I Would Not Marry an Old Man.' From the manuscript notebook of Mrs. Harold Glasscock of Raleigh, lent to Dr. White in 1943. The songs in this notebook Mrs. Glasscock learned from her parents. Sub- stantially tile same as stanzas i and 4 and the chorus of M, yet there are interesting minor differences of diction; T I would not marry an old m.nn, I'll tell you the reason why: C 0 L' R T I N C S () x c; s 35 J lis lip> arc always hanj^iiii; down And his (.-hill is never (Irv. Chunis: An old man is gray, an nld man is gray; A yonng man's heart is fnll of love. (i<> away, old man, go '\va\'. 2 An old man comes htjbhling in Quite weary of his life; A young man conies skipping in : 'Come kiss me, my dear wife.' 'Old Maid's Song.' From Alexander Tugman of Todd, Ashe county. Four stanzas ; the first two as in H, the other two slightly different : 3 I'll not marry a man that's young, For he'll give me a piece of his tongue; And I'll not marry a-tall, a-tall. And I'll not marrv a-tall. 4 I'll not marry a man that's old, For he will love me less than gold ; And I'll not marry a-tall, a-tall. And Fll not marry a-tall. p 'The Old Maid.' Reported by .Xh^s. Sutton from Madison county, witli one stanza not given in L : ril not marry a man that's fat. For he'll slip u[) and fall on a mat ; And Fll not marry a tall, a tall. And Fll not marrv a tall. '1 Wouldn't .Marry.' Rcixjrtcd In* Professor M. (i. Fulton of Davidson College as collected by \V. C. Frierson. Two stanzas, the i)reaclier and the doctor, nearly the same as in H, but the objection to tlie preacher here is not that he makes people cry Init tliat He's going all (ner the country Er eatin' chicken pie. Finally, two te.xts spoken partly by the man and partly by tlie woman. Both of them belong to the tradition of F and (i. 'I Wouldn't Marry.' Contributed by Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga county, in 1915 or thereabouts. With the tune. 36 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 1 I would not marry an old man, And I'll tell you the reason why : His nose is never . . . His shoes is never dry. Chorus: A soldier boy, a soldier boy, A soldier boy for me. H ever I get married A soldier's bride I'll be. 2 I would not marry an old maid. And I'll tell you the reason why : She combs her head with a fish-backbone. And that don't please my eye. 3 I would not marry an old man. And I'll tell you the reason why : His neck's too long and stringy And I fear he'd never die. 'Farmer Boy.' Obtained from Jennie Belvin of Durham in 1922. With the music. Chorus and stanzas i. 2. 3 as in F chorus and stanzas 2, 3, 4, and it ends with these two stanzas : 4 I wouldn't marry a lawyer, I'll tell you the reason why: When he gets up on the stand He's bound to tell a lie. 5 I wouldn't marry an old maid, I'll tell you the reason why: Her neck's so long and stringy I'm 'fraid she'll never die. 18 A Single Life A somewhat sedate version of the "I woukhi't marry" theme which I have not found elsewhere. 'A Single Life.' Reported by Vernon Sechriest of Thomasville. David- son county, as obtained from Mrs. Augusta Fonts, then seventy-seven years okL 1 Some do say there are good girls. Oh, where shall we find them ? Some do say there are good boys. But never do you mind them. c o I' R T 1 N (; s o \ c; s 37 CItonis: A single life I am to live, Oh, single is my glurv ; A single life I am to live. Then who will control me? 2 They'll come to court )ou for ci while, C )n purpose to deceive you ; .\ncl when they think they'\e j^^ained your heart They'll run away and leave you. 19 When 1 Was Single Although tlie theme is old. this song seems not to l)e. 'lliere is a sort of antecedent to it in the U'estviiiistcr Drollery of 1672; see Ashton's Humour . . . of the Serentcoith Century, pp. 27-8. The song is known in England and very widely in America, though not. so far as I can find, in New England. See BSM 437. and add to the references there given Virginia (FSV 168-9), Tennessee (BTFLS V 35-6), North Carolina (FSRA 133), the Ozarks (OFS III 66-9), Ohio (BSO 181-5), Indiana (SFLQ iv 172), Illinois (JAFL XL 238-9), and Michigan (BSSM 479, listed only). The Archive of American Folk Song lists recordings of it from Vir- ginia, Louisiana. Arkansas, and Ohio. Mrs. Steely found it in the Ebenezer community in Wake county. Texts diiYer chiefly by the retention or omission of certain stanzas. Frequently only a single stanza is remembered. Normally the stanza form is the poulter's measure 3-3-4-3. and one suspects a fault in copying in some of the texts that fail to show this foruL For the woman's side of the (|uestion, see 'I Wish I Was a .*^ingle Girl Again' in the section of songs on drinking and ganil)lin"-. 'When I Was Single.' From Miss Amy Henderson of Worry. Burke county, in 1914. Upon this text Dr. W'hite has noted: "A iK)])ular glee club song, first lieard by me about ujo6." The first stanza sJiows the verse structure. Thereafter only the new part of eacli stanza is given. 1 Oh ! when I was single, oh ! then. Oh ! when I was single, oh ! then. Oh! when I was single my pockets did jingle. And 1 wish I was single again. 2 1 married me a wife, she was the plague of my life. And 1 wish I was single again. 3 My wife took sick, and she died pretty (|uick. And T was Ldad T was single again. 38 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Sometimes this third stanza is followed by this : My wife she got worse, and I sent for a hearse In hopes I'd be single again. And sometimes stanza 3 takes this form : My wife she died and I laughed till I cried. So glad I was single again. 4 I married me another, she was the devil's grandmother. And I wished I was single again. Instead of this last stanza the following is sometimes sung : I married me another, she was worse than the other, And I wish I was single again. 'I Wish I Was Single Again.' From J. W. Miller, student at Trinity College in 1934, from Lincoln county. This te.xt lacks the opening stanza and is more detailed than A about wliat followed. 1 When my wife died, oh then, When my wife died, oh then. When my wife died I laughed till I cried To think I was single again. 2 I went after her cofifin, just laughing and talking To think I was single again. 3 I went after her shroud, walking mighty proud, To think I was single again. 4 I went to her grave, but I couldn't behave, For to think I was single again. 5 I married another, but she was worse than the other ; Oh, I wish I was single again. 6 She beat me, she banged me, she swore she would hang me. Oh, I wish I was single again. 'When I Was Single.' From Miss Madge T. Nichols, Durham county, in 1922. Only two stanzas, "I married a wife" and "I married an- other," and the "When I was single" chorus. D T Wish I Was Single Again.' From Bessie Lou Mull, Shelby, Cleve- land county. This is one of the texts that seem to depart from the normal verse form, stanza 2 being written : My wife she died, (jh then. My wife she died, oh then. c () u R T 1 N c SO N c; s 39 And 1 1;iu|l;Ik'(1 until 1 cried. And 1 wish 1 was single again. r.ut tlic first ami tlic last of the six stanzas arc in the regular 3-3-4-3 riiythin. so that one suspects tliat the other stanzas are niiswritten. Stanza i is "I wish I was single again,' 'in stanza 3 he goes for her cotl.n, in stanza 4 he marries another, stanza 5 tells iiow tlie second wife beat and l)anged him; the final stanza is stall-ballad moralizing: So, boys, take warning from this, So, boys, take warning from this ; Be kind to the lirst. for the last is the worse; And 1 wish 1 was single again. "1 Wish 1 Was Single Again." From Ailie Ann Pearce, Colerain, Bertie county. Text as in D. "When 1 Was Single.' From Lucille Massey, Durham. Anotlier text which seems to deny the 3-3-4-3 stanza structure. Four stanzas : "When I was single," "I got me a wife," "My wife she died," and "I went for the cofiin." 'I Wish I Was Single Again.' From Marguerite Riggs, Pitt county. Three stanzas: "I wish 1 was single," "I married a wife," and "I married another." Regular verse form. 'Song.' From Mrs. Nilla Lancaster, W'aync county. Tliree stanzas, in the regular verse form : "I wish I was single again," "I married me a wife, oh then," and "My wife she died, oh then.'' 1 "1 Wish I Was Single Again.' From Miss Jewell Robl)ins, Pekin, Montgomery county, in 1922. With the tune. Tliis siiows a slight variation in the refrain : 1 I married a wife, aha I married a wife, aha I married a wife, the bane of my life. And I wish I was single again. Chorus: Then 1 wish I was single again, And I wish 1 was single again ; If I was single my pockets would jingle, And 1 wisli 1 was single again. 2 I married another, aha I married another, aha 40 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE I married another, the devil's stepmother, And I wish I was single again. 'When I Was Single.' From J. C. Knox, Leland, Brunswick county. With the tune. Five stanzas, the first four of which correspond to the first four of A and the fifth to stanza 6 of B. The following report but a single stanza, "I wish I was single," etc. : K From Gertrude Allen (Mrs. Vaught ) , Taylorsville, Alexander county. L From Ethel Hicks Buffalo, Oxford, Granville county. M From Louise F. Watkms, Goldsboro, Wayne county. N From Caroline Biggers, Union county. O From Katherine Bernard Jones, Raleigh. P From Louise Bennett, Middleboro, Wayne county. Q From Lucille Cheek, Chatham county. II DRINK AND GAMBLING SONGS w 'INE AND WOMEN have been favorite topics of popular song at least since the days of the Carmina Burana. But in North Carolina the women most often appear as the declared enemies of drink, and the drink itself is for the most part not the juice of the grape but of the (often hidden and illicit) still. To take first the songs that came with the temperance movement about the middle of the^last century: some (The Drunkard's Hell,' 'The Drunkard's Doom,' The Drunkard's Dream'— this last in two quite difTerent forms) attempt by lurid visions to frighten the drunkard from his evil ways; 'Father. Dear Father. Come Home with IMe Now' and The Drunkard's Lone Child' aim to tear his heartstrings with the piti fulness of innocent childhood wrecked by his intemperance; in 'Don't Go Out Tonight. My Darling' and 'Be Home Early Tonight' the woman pleads in a gentler tone. In 'Seven Long Years Fve Been IVlarried' and 'I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again' (which are closely akin to the songs at the end of the preceding section) a woman deplores her evil plight in being the wife of a gambler and a drunkard : Washing their little feet, putting them to bed; In comes the drunkard, wishing that I was dead. Oh, Lord, I wish I was a single girl again ! One of these temperance songs, 'Lips That Touch Liquor Must Never Touch Mine.' had a great vogue ; its refrain line became a catchword, and is so yet. The Collection has it in two forms, quite different but alike in that in both the woman pits her charms against those of liquor and tells the man— with an unmistakable air of triumph— that he must make his choice. 'I'm Alone' is the mono- logue of an old man whose life has been wrecked by drink. But drink has, naturally, its brighter side. 'Old Rosin the Beau' has led a very satisfactory toper's life and now very cheerfully gives directions for his burial. Everybody knows 'The Little Brown Jug,' though its component stanzas are seldom just the same in any two' texts. 'Pass Around the Bottle' seems to be a soldier's march- ing song. 'Judy My Whiskey Tickler' is a college drinking song of a hundred years "ago. Two songs, 'I'll Never Get Drunk Any More' and 'Show Me the Way to Go Home, Babe,' are the maunder- ings of a drunken and happv lover. 'Pickle My Bones in Alcohol' 42 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE and 'Sticks and Stones I\Iay Break My Bones' are favorites with the Negroes. 'Moonshine' exalts the potency of the mountaineer's favorite tipple, and 'The Hidden Still' describes the place where it is made. And finally there is a group of songs that came originally, one imagines, from the minstrel stage: 'Sweet Cider,' 'A Little More Cider Too,' 'Sucking Cider through a Straw.' Gamblers' songs are few. The best-known of them, 'The Journey- man,' is not always the song of a gambler; in 'Jack of Diamonds' the gambler accuses that card of being the cause of his downfall; 'I Got Mine' is a vaudeville piece that has acquired wide currency, especially among Negroes. 20 The Drunkard's Hell This contribution to the war against the demon rum has already been reported from North Carolina (FSSH 378-80, JAFL xlv 55-8), Tennessee (FSSH 380-1), Kentucky (BKH no), Missis- sippi (JAFL XXXIX 169-70), and the Ozarks (OFS 11 409-10). 'The Drunkard's Hell.' Reported by Miss Pearl Webb of Pineda, Avery county, in 1922. 1 One dark and starless night I saw an aw f til sight. The lightning flashed, loud thtmder rolled Across my dark, benighted soul. I bowed my head, and saw below Where all the dying drunkards go. 2 My awful thoughts no tongue can tell. And is this my place and a drunkard's hell? I started on. got there at last. Thought I'd take one social glass. I poured it out and started it well — And then I thought of a drunkard's hell. 3 I dashed it out and left the place And went to seek redeeming grace. The very moment that grace began Ten thousand joys within me sprang. I started home to change my life, To see my long-neglected wife. 4 I found her weeping at the bed. Because her infant babe was dead. I told her not to cry or weep. DRINK AND GAMBLING SONGS 43 Because her infant babe was just asleep; Its little soul had fled away To dwell with God eternally. I took her by her white hand — She was so weak she could not stand — 1 laid her down and breathed a prayer That God might bless and save us there. I started to the Temperance Hall To take the pledge among them all. One met me there with a welcoming hand. Took me in with a Temperance Band. Five long sober years have passed away, Years since I have bowed my knees to pray. Now I'll go home and live a sober life With a good home and a loving wife. 'Dark and Stormy Night.' Reported in 1937 by Professor W. Amos Abrams of Boone, with the note: "My father got this ballad from a friend about 1897." 1 'Twas on a dark and stormy night I heard and saw an awful sight. The lightning flashed, loud thunder rolled. Across the dark the night did stroll. 2 I heard a voice cry soft and low, 'Far down beneath all drunkards go. Come in, young man, we'll make you room, Because your road has led to ruin.' 3 I started on, got there at last, And thought I'd take a social glass. I poured it out and stirred it well — Until I thought of a drunkard's hell. 4 I dashed it out and left the place And sought to find redeeming grace ; I started home to change my life. To meet my long-neglected wife. 5 I found her weeping o'er the bed Because our sweet little babe was dead. I told her not to mourn or weep ; Our little babe was just asleep. 6 I took hold of her pale white hand. She was so weak she could not stand. 44 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE I bowed her down and prayed a prayer That God might bless and save us there. 7 I felt like Paul, who once did pray ; I felt my sins all washed away. And now I live a happy life With a good home and a loving wife. 'On a Dark and Stormy Night.' The opening stanza only, copied from the music as contributed by I. G. Greer of Boone, Watauga county. On a dark and stormy night I saw and heard an awful sight. The lightning played, loud thunder rolled Across my dark, benighted soul. D 'Drunkard's Hell.' From the John Burch Blaylock Collection. Uses pretty much all the matter of A and B, somewhat dififerently arranged in some of the items. Stanzas 2 and 3 are rather more dramatic than in those texts : 2 I thought I saw a gulf Ijelow Where all poor dying drunkards go. My feelings then no tongue can tell : This is my place — the drunkard's hell. 3 I met another weeping crowd With bloodshot eyes and voices loud. I heard them raise their voices, yell : 'This is your place — the drunkard's hell.' 21 The Drunkard's Doom For the occurrence of this song elsewhere see BSM 468, and adtl to the references there given Alissouri (OFS 11 392-3), Ohio (BSO 308), Michigan (BSSM 478, listed only), and Indiana (SFLQ iv 183-4). 'The Drunkard's Doom.' Reported by I. G. Greer. Boone. Watauga county. With the tune. A line of each stanza is repeated in the re- frain, as indicated in stanza i. I I saw a man at early dawn Standing by the grog-shop door ; His eyes were sunk, his lips was parched ; And I viewed him o'er and o'er. And that's the drunkard's doom ; His eyes was sunk, his lips was parched. And that's the drunkard's doom. DRINK AND CAMELING SONGS 45 2 His little son stood by his side As if to him did say ■} 'Dear father, mother lies sick at home, And sister cries for bread.' 3 lie rose, he staggered to the bar As oft he done before. He to the landlord whispering said, '( ). give me one glass more.' 4 The host complied with his request. He drank the poisonous bowl. He drank while wife and children starved. And ruined his poor soul. 5 In about one year 1 passed that way. A crowd stood at the door. I asked the cause, and one replied, 'The drunkard is no more.' 6 I saw the hearse move slowly on. No wife, no child was there. They to another world had gone And left this world of care. 22 The Drunkard's Dream (I) As Cox has pointed out (FSS 398). this is frequent in nineteenth- century ballad print in England, and it is also widely known in this country. See BSM 469-70, and add to die references there given Virginia (FSV 306-7), North Carolina (SFLQ v 144). Mis- souri (OFS II 393-6), Ohio (BSO 226-7), and Indiana (SFLQ IV 188-91); it is known also in Michigan (BSSM 478, listed merely). The five texts in our collection differ somewhat, chiefly by omissions, transpositions, and other minor variations character- istic of oral transmission. 'The drunkard's Dream.' From the manuscript songbook of Miss Lura Wagoner of Vox, secured in 1922 but probably entered in the book some ten years earlier. With the tune. I 'Oh. Edward, you look so happy now ; Your clothes are neat and clean ; I never see you drunk about. Pray, tell me where you've been. ^ Probably for "to him he said." 46 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 2 'Your wife and cliildren are all well ; You once did treat them strange. Oh, you are kinder to them now — How came this happy change?' 3 'It was a dream, a warning voice, Which heaven sent to me To snatch me from the drunkard's curse, Grim want and misery. 4 'My wages were all spent in drink ; Oh, what a wretched view ! I almost broke my Mary's heart. And starved mv children, too. 5 'What was my home or wife to me? I heeded not her cry ; Her winsome smile had welcomed me When tears bedimmed her eye. 6 'Aly children, too, have oft awoke. "Oh, father dear," they've said, "Poor mother has been weeping so Because we've had no bread." 7 'My Mary's form did waste away; I saw her sunken eye. On straw my babes in sickness laid ; I heard their wailing cry. 8 'I laughed and sang in drunken joy While Mary's tears did stream ; Then like a beast I fell asleep And had this warning dream. 9 'I thought once more I'd staggered home; There seemed a solemn gloom. I missed my wife — where can she be? — And strangers in the room. 10 'I heard them say, "Poor thing! she's dead. She lived a wretched life. For grief and sorrow broke her lieart. Who would be a drunkard's wife?" 11 T saw my children weeping round. I scarcely drew my breath. They called and kissed her lifeless form. Forever still in death. DRINK AND t; AMBLING SONGS 47 12 ■ "Oh father! come and wake her up! The people sa}- she's dead. Oh, make her smile and speak once more ! We'll never cry tor hread." 13 ' " She is not dead." I faintly cried And rushed to where she lay And madly kissed her once warm lips Forever cold as clay. 14 ' "O Mary! speak one word to me. No more I'll cause you pain, No more I'll break your loving heart, Nor ever get drunk again. 15 '"Dear Mary, speak! 'Tis Edward's voice." "I know it is," she cried. I woke, and, true, my Mary dear Was kneeling by my side. 16 T pressed her to my throbbing heart, While with joy our tears did stream. And ever since I've heaven blessed For sending such a dream.' 'The Drunkard's Dream.' From the manuscript book of Mrs. Mary Martin Copley, obtained in 1923 by Jesse F. Carpenter of Durham. This text lacks the awakening from the dream, ending with these lines: My poor wife's form did waste away, I saw her sunken eyes. My babes on stray in sickness lay, I heard their wailing cries. 'Oh, papa, come and wake her up ! The people say she's dead. Just make her speak and smile once more And we will never cry for bread.' c 'The Drunkard's Dream.' Obtained by Professor W. Amos Abrams, of Boone, from Mary Bost of States ville, Iredell county. Lacks stanzas 4-8 of A and has a few other minor variants. D 'The Drunkard's Dream.' From Mrs. Minnie Church of Heaton, Avery county, in 1939. This text too has lost the awakening from the dream, ending with 'Oh, Mary, speak to me,' I said. 'I'll never cause you pain 48 NORTH CAROLINA 1-OLKLORE Or will I break your loving heart ; I'll never get drunk again.' E 'The Drunkard's Dream." From the manuscripts of G. S. Robinson of Asheville, obtained in August 1939. Lacks stanzas 5-8 and 12-13 of -^ and shows minor variations due to setting down the text from memory, but retains the ending of A with an added final Hne : "Farewell to rum's career." 23 The Drunkard's Dream (II) This is quite distinct from the temperance song of the same title given just above. That is very widely known both in England and in America ; this song I have found nowhere else. 'The Drunkard's Dream.' From the John Burch Blaylock Collection. 1 The drunkard dreamed of his old retreat, Of his cozy place in the taproom seat; And the liquor gleamed on his gloating eyes Till his lips to the sparkling glass drew nigh. He lifted it up with an eager glance And sang as he saw the bubbles dance, 'Aha, I am myself again, Here's a truce to care and adieu to pain ! 2 'Welcome the cup with its creamy foam. Farewell to work and a mopy home. With a jolly crew and a flowing bowl In barroom pleasures I love to roll.' Like a crash there came to the drunkard's side His angel child who that night had died. With a look so gentle and sweet and fond She touched his glass with her little hand. 3 And oft as he raised it up to drink She silently tapped on its trembling brink ; Till the drunkard shook from foot to crown And set the untasted goblet dcnvn. 'Hey, man,' cried the host, 'what meanelh this? Is thee canty sick, or the dram amiss ? Cheer up, my lad, quick the bumper quaff.' 24 Father, Dear I-'atiier, Come with Me Now One of Henry C. Work's songs; by no means so good as 'Wake, N'codemus,' but still it achieved a considerable jxipularity. It has DRINK AND (.AMBLING SONGS 49 been reported as a folk song from Virginia (FSV 306), Kentucky (Shearin 33, BKH 144), and Arkansas (OFS 11 397). Of our two texts one follows the original pretty closely except in the chorus, which is quite different from Work's; the other is a reduced form but retains the original chorus (probably; see headnote to B). 'Father, Dear Father, Come Home with Me Now.' From Lois Johnson, Davidson county. No date given. 1 Father, dear father, come home with me now ; The clock in the steeple strikes one. You said you were coming right home from the shop As soon as your day's work was done. The house is all dark, the fires are all out. And mother's heen watching since tea With poor little Bennie so sick in her arms And no one to help her htit me. Chorus: Hear the sweet voice of the child, Which the night winds repeat as they roam. Oh, who could resist this most plaintive of prayers, 'Please, father, dear father, come home.' 2 Father, dear father, come home with me now ; The clock in the steeple strikes two. Poor Bennie is worse, indeed he is worse. And he has been calling for you. Indeed he is worse, ma says he will die. Perhaps before morning shall dawn. And this is the message she sent me to tell : Come quickly or he will be gone. 3 Father, dear father, come home with me now ; The clock in the steeple strikes three. The house is so lonely, the hours are so long For poor weeping mother and me. Yes. we're all alone ; poor Bennie is dead And gone with the angels of light ; And these were the very last words that he said : T want to kiss papa goodnight.' B 'Father, Dear Father, Come Home with Me Now.' From Bessie Lou Hull, Shelby, Cleveland county. No date given. The chorus is per- haps miscopied ; in the original song it runs Come home ! come home ! come home ! Please, father, dear father, come home. N.C.F.. Vol. TIT, (6) 50 NORTH CAROLINA I' 0 L K L 0 R E 1 Father, clear father, come home with me now, The clock in the steeple strikes one ; You said you were coming right home from the shop As soon as your day's work was done. Chorus: Come home, come home, Please, father, dear father, come home. Come home, some home. Please, father, dear father, come home. 2 Our light has gone out. our house is all dark. And mother has been waiting since ten With poor little Bennie so sick in her arms And no one to help her but me. 3 Father, dear father, come home with me now, The clock in the steeple strikes two ; Our house has grown cold, and Bennie is worse, But he has been calling for you. 4 Yes, Bennie is worse, mother says he will die. Perhaps before morning shall dawn ; But the message he sent me to bring : 'Oh, papa, dear papa, come home !' 25 The Drunkard's Lone Child As Stout's Iowa texts show, there are two quite distinct songs bearing this title (MAFLS xxix 122-4). Ours is the former of the two. It has been reported also from Virginia (FSV 307), North Carolina (FSSH 382). the Ozarks (OFS 11 398-402), Michi- gan (BSSM 477. listed only), and Nebraska (Pound 55), and Spaeth gives it in U'ccp Some More. My Lady 191-2. 'Bessie, or the Drunkard's Daughter." From the manuscript songbook of Miss Lura Wagoner of Vox, Alleghany county, in whicli it was entered probably in 1912 or thereabouts. I Out in the gloomy night sadly I roam, I have no mother dear, no pleasure have.^ No one cares for me, no one would cry Even if poor little Bessie should die. Weary and tired I've been wandering all day Asking for work ; but I'm too small, they say. On the damp ground I must now lay my head. Father is a dnnikard and mother is dead. ' The I! text shows how this lino should rhyme. DRINK AND C. A M B L I N G SONGS 5 1 We were so happy till father drank rum ; Then all our sorrow and trouble begun. Mother grew pale and wept every day, Baby and 1 were too hungry to play. Slowly they faded, till one summer night Found their dead faces all silent and white. Then, with big tears slowly dropping, I said, 'Father's a drunkard and mother is dead.' Oh, if the temperance man only could find Poor wretched father, and talk very kind. If they could stop him from drinking, then I would be so very happy again. Is it too late, temperance men? Please try. Or poor little Bessie must soon starve and die. All day long I've been begging for bread. Father's a drunkard and mother is dead. 'God Pity Bessie, the Drunkard's Lone Child.' Contrihuted in 1921 by Miss Jewell Robbins of Pekin, Montgomery county. Eight lines only. With the air. 1 Out in the cold I wander alone. With no one to love me, no friends, no home. Dark is the night and the storm rages wild. God pity Bessie, the drunkard's lone child ! 2 Mother, oh, why did you leave me alone W' ith no one to love me, no friends, no home ? Dark is the night and the storm rages wild. God pity Bessie, the drunkard's lone child ! 'Drunkard's Love Child.' Obtained from Bell Brandon of Durham. Not dated. The text is the same as B except that it has "love" for "lone." 26 Don't Go Out Tonight, My Darling The age-old struggle between tlie wife and the tavern has prompted many songs. This particular one, which is reported also by Randolph from the Ozarks (OFS 11 434), shows by the vari- ations in the three texts in our collection that it has passed by word of mouth from singer to singer. 'Don't Go Out Tonight, My Darling.' Contributed by Professor W. Amos Abrams, of Boone, about 1936. 52 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 1 Don't go out tonight, my darling, Do not leave me here alone. Stay at home with me, my darling ; I'm so lonesome when you are gone. 2 Although that life may be tempting And your finals full of glee,^ I will do my best to cheer you. Darling, won't you stay with me ? 3 (Jh, now he's gone and left me With a curse upon his lips. There's no one knows what I have suffered Over that awful tucked head.- 4 I hear a knock upon the door And footsteps upon the floor. Now they ha\e brought back ni}- husband. There he is upon the floor. 5 Now he's dying ; yes, he's dying. Soon I shall be left alone. I ask that God go and his mercy^ And save him from a drunkard's doom. 'Don't Go Out Tonight, My Darling.' From Mrs. Minnie Church, Heaton, Avery county, 1930. 1 Don't go out tonight, my darling, Do not leave me here alone ; Stay at home with me. my darling ; I'm so lonesome when you're gone. 2 Altho the life has many atemptings And your friendship will 1 grieve, "* I will do my best to cheer you. Darling, w'on't you stay with me? 3 Oh, no ! he's gone and left me With a curse upon his lips. There's no one knows how 1 have suffered For those awful words he said. ^ Randolph's Arkansas text shows how this line shuuld run : "And your friends are full of glee." " B's "For those awful words he said" shows what is prohalily the right reading. ■'' Here again B iielps out : "I pray that God's own tender mercy May. . . ." * For the right reading of the first two lines of stanza 2, see C and the note on this stanza in A. DRINK AND C A M B L I N G SONGS 53 4 1 liear a knocking at the door. I hear his footsteps on the floor. Now they brought nie hack my husband ; Here he is upon the floor. 5 Now he's dying ; yes, he's dying. Soon I will be left alone. I pray that God's own tender mercy May save him from a drunkard's doom. c 'Don't Go Out Tonight, My Darling." From the MSS of G. S. Robin- son of .Asheville, copied out in 1939. 1 Don't go out tonight, my darling. Do not leave me here alone. Stay at home with me, my darling ; I'm so lonely when you're gone. 2 Though the wine cup may be tempting And our friends are full of glee, I will do my best to cheer you. Darling, can't you stay with me? 3 You may meet with friends and faces, They may tell you they are true, But remember, my dear darling. No one loves you as I do. 4 ( )h, my God! He's gone and left me With a curse upon his lips. You don't know how much I've suft'ered From the careless cup he drank. 5 Hark ! I hear the heavy footsteps. Hear the knock upon the door. Here they've brought him home, my husband ; Here he lies upon the floor. 6 Oh, my God ! I cannot wake him ; For he craved his rum, his rum. All the flowers I have cherished. They have faded, one by one. 27 Be Home Early This song was printed in Wehman Brotliers' Good Old Time Songs No. 3 (New York, 1914), pp. 18-19, and in broadsides of earlier date, e.g., Wehman No. 551. Randolph reports it from Arkansas (OFS iv 379-80). 54 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 'Be Home Early.' Secured by Julian P. Boyd from one of his pupils in the school at Alliance, Pamlico county, about 1927-28. 1 I have traveled through life, 1 have seen many a thing That surprised me in every form. I have been at the spade. I have lieen at the plow From dark till sunrise in the morn. Chorus: Be home early tonight, my dear boy, my dear boy, Be home early tonight, my dear boy. Don't spend all your money to gamble and drink. Be home early tonight, my dear boy. 2 At night I would go for some pleasure through town. For Fm always for pleasure and joy. My mother would say, when going away, 'Be home early tonight, my dear boy.' 3 One night I returned from my night's fun and joy. I heard my poor mother was dead. It was then the cold chills through my body did run When I thought of the last word she said. 4 Come all you young men and take warning by me, To your fathers and mothers attend. For a good mother's love it must not be forgot. When she's gone you have lost your best friend. 28 I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again For the occurrence of tliis song elsewhere and its possible rela- tion to 'When I Was Single' (given in this volume under Court- ing Songs), see BSM 437 and add to the references there given Virginia (FSV 167) and Missouri (OFS in 69-70). 'When I Was Single,' however, has nothing to do with drink or gambling, and is besides (|uite different metrically from diis lament of a drunkard's wife. Mrs. Steely found it in the Ebenezer community in Wake county. 'I Wish I Were Single Again.' Obtained from Mamie Mansfield, of the Fowler School District, Durham county, in 1922. The first two times that the word "girl" occurs in the manuscript it is followed by "gal" in parentheses, indicating no doubt that that is the way the word is to be pronounced. I I left my poor old father, and broke his command, I left my poor old mother a-wringing her hands. Oh, Ford, I wish 1 was a single girl again. DRINK AND GAMBLING SONGS 55 Clionis: The drunkard, the drunkard is a man of his own, Ahvays a-drinking and away from his home. Oh. Lord, I wish 1 was a single girl again. 2 When I was single I wore very fine shoes ; Now I am married my toes are sticking through. Oh, Lord, 1 wish I was a single girl again. 3 When 1 was single 1 wore a very fine dress; Now 1 am married rags are my best. Oh, Lord. 1 wish I was a single girl again. 4 When I was single I had plenty to eat ; Now 1 am married it is corn bread and meat. Oh, Lord, I wish 1 was a single girl again. 5 Now it is the floors to be swept, the spring to go to, Little ones a-crying. Oh, Lord, what shall I do? Oh, Lord. I wish 1 was a single girl again. 6 Washing their little feet, putting them to bed. In comes the drunkard, wishing that I was dead. Oh, Lord, I wish I was a single girl again. B A Drunkard.' From the John Burch Blaylock Collection. 1 .\ drunkard, a drunkard, a man of his own, Always drinking away from his home. Lord, I wish 1 was a single girl again ! 2 When I was single, I had plenty to eat ; Now I am married, and it's cornbread and meat. Lord, I wish I was a single girl again ! 3 When I was single I had fine clothes to wear ; Now I am married and the rags are my best. Lord, I wish I was a single girl again ! 4 When I was single I had fine shoes to wear ; Now I am married and my toes are poking through. Lord, 1 wish I was a single girl again ! 5 The spring is to go to. and my floors are to sweep. The little ones are crying, they're crying for meat. The other is crying. 'Papa. I want to go to bed.' Lord, what shall 1 do? I wish I was a single girl again. 6 The bread is to bake and little ones' shoes to put on. In steps a drunkard, and I wish I was dead. Lord, I wish I was a single girl again ! 56 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 7 \\ hen 1 was single I lived at my ease ; Now I am married and a drunkard to please. Lord, I wish I was a single girl again ! 'The Drunkard's Wife." Contributed by I. T. Poole of Durham in June 1920. With the air. Brief as it is, the contributor has marked it "complete." 1 Two little children, all so very small ; Neither one is large enough to help me at all. Chorus: Oh, 1 wish 1 was a single girl again. Oh, I wish I was a single girl again. 2 One a-cryin" 'Mama, I want to go to bed,' One a-cryin' 'Mama, I want a piece of bread.' 29 Seven Long Years I've Been Married The woes of married life, for man and for woman, are the sub- ject of numerous songs, some of which appear in this collection; but this particular development of the theme seems to have no wide currencv. I have found it reported elsewhere onlv from Virginia (FSV 170), Arkansas (OFS 11 417). and Michigan (BS.SM 132). Mrs. Steely found it in the Ebenezer community in Wake county. Something like it but not the same song is reported from Ohio (BSO 185). Compare 'I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again' and 'The Inconstant Lover' E. 'Wish I'd Lived an Old Maid.' Contributed by Rosa Efird of Stanly county. But the manuscript is not dated. 1 For seven long years I've been married. I wish I'd lived an old maid. My husband he is oft" gambling : I'd better been laid in my grave. CJwnts: Off to the barroom he staggers. Go bring him back if you can. Young girls, you have never known trouble Lentil vou marry a man. 2 He promised, when we were first married, We'd live so happy and gay ; Every day in the week long Go in the parlor and play. DRINK AND GAMBLING SONGS 57 Get up soon in the morning, \\'ork and toil all day ; Supper to cook in the evening, The children to put to hed. Off soon in the morning, Gamble and drink all day ; At night when he comes home He's gambled his money away. Young girls, you had better take warning In choosing you a man. For if you have never known trouble You'll find it with a gambling man. 'Seven Long Years I've Been Married.' Contributed l)y Mamie Mans- field of the Fowler School District, Durham county, in July 1922. A fragmentary text. 1 Seven long years I've been married. I wish I'd lived an old maid. For now it's get up early in the morning And toil and toil all day. 2 Supper to get for the children, And the table to all clear away. And off to the alehouse I go To fetch him away if I can. Now, girls, you'll never see trouble Until you are tied to a man. 30 The Lips That Touch Liquor Must Never Touch Mine This song, particularly its refrain line, attained wide popularity in the days of the temperance movement, but I do not find it recog- nized as folk song except by Randolph (OFS 11 341-2, from Arkan- sas). In its original form — our A text — it is the work of George W. Young, and has been printed in Standard Recitations (New York, 1884), in One Hundred Choice Selections Number i6 (Phila- delphia, copyright dates 1878 and 1906). and no doubt in many other publications. But about Young I can learn nothing. That indefatigable student of Americana H. L. Mencken {Yoii Know These Lines! New York, 1935, p. 92) says the earliest print of it he knows is a temperance broadside, undated but of about 1870, but of the author be knows nothing beyond the name. He tells of another piece, no doubt suggested by Young's, that appeared in Readings and Recitations (New Y'ork, 1878), which may very likely be our B text. 58 NORTH CAROLINA I" 0 L K L 0 R E 'The Lips That Touch Liquor Shall Never Touch Mine.' Obtained by Jesse T. Carpenter from the manuscript songbook of Mrs. C. T. Weath- erly of Greensboro, Guilford county. 1 You are coming to woo me, but not as of yore, When I hastened to welcome your ring at the door. For I trusted that he who stood waiting for me then Was the brightest, the truest, the noblest of men. Your lips on my own, when they printed 'farewell,' Had never been soiled by the beverage of Hell ! But they come to me now with the bacchanal sign ; And the lips that touch liquor must never touch mine. 2 I think of that night in the garden alone When in whispers you told me your heart was my own, That your love in the future should faithfully be Unshared by another, kept only for me. Oh, sweet to my soul is the memory still Of the lips that met mine when they murmured 'I will.' But now to their pressure no more they incline ; For the lips that touch liquor shall never tovich mine. 3 Oh, John ! How it crushed me when first in your face The pen of the rum fiend had written 'disgrace,' And turned me in silence and tears from that breath, All poisoned and foul from the chalice of death ! It scattered the hopes I had treasured to last, It darkened the future and clouded the past. It shattered my idol and ruined the shrine ; For the lips that touch liquor shall never touch mine. 4 I loved you, oh, dearer than language can tell. And you saw it, you proved it, you knew it too well ; But the man of my love was far other than he \\nio now from the taproom comes running to me. In manhood and honor so noble and bright. His heart was so true and his genius so bright. And his soul was unstained, unpolluted by wine. But the lips that totich li(|uor shall Jici'cr touch mine. 5 You i^romised reform ; but I trusted in vain. Your pledge was but made to be broken again. And the lover so false to his promises now Will not as a husband be true to his vow. The word must be spoken that bids you depart. Though the efiforts to speak it should shatter my heart. Though in silence with l)lightc(l afifections I pine. Yet the lips that touch li(|uor shall never totich mine. DRINK A X 1) C, AMBLING SON C. S 59 If one spark in your Ijosoui of virtue remains. Go fan it with prayer till it kindles again. Resolve, with God helping, in future to be From wine and its follies unshackled and free ! And when you have conquered this foe of your soul, In manhood and honor beyond its control. This heart will again beat responsive to thine, And the lips free from liquor be welcome to mine. 'The Lips That Toucli Liquor.' Obtained by Jesse T. Carpenter from the manuscript songbook of Mrs. Mary Martin Copley, Route 8, Durham. 1 The demon of rum is abroad in the land. His victims are falling on every hand, The wise and the sinful, the brave and the fair. No station too high for his vengeance to spare. O woman, the sorrow and pain is with you. And so be the joy and the victory too ; With this for your motto and succor divine : The lips that touch liquor shall never touch mine. The lips that touch liquor shall never touch mine. Chorus: With this for your motto and succor divine. The lips that touch liquor shall never touch mine. Shall never touch mine. 2 The homes that were happy are ruined and gone. The hearts that were merry are wretched and lone,^ And lives full of promises of good things to come. Wives, maidens, and mothers, to you it is given To rescue the fallen and point them to heaven. W'ith God for your guide you shall win by this sign : The lips that touch liquor shall never touch mine. The lips that touch liciuor shall never touch mine. 3 O mother, whose sons tarry long at the bowl, Who loves their good name as you love your own soul ; O maidens, with fathers and brother and beaux. Whose lives you would rescue from infinite woes ; Let war be your watchword from shore unto shore Till rum and his legions shall ruin no more. And write on your banners in letters that shine : The lips that touch litjuor shall never touch mine. The lips that touch liquor shall never touch mine. ^ The manuscript has here "Hne." 6o NORTH CAROLINA 1" 0 L K L 0 R E 31 I'm Alone, All Alone This lament of an old man who has lost all his one-time happiness and is now a lonely wanderer is no doubt conceived as an instru- ment in the fight against drink. Randolph has found it in Mis- souri (OFS II 424-5), and it appears three times in our collection. A song reported by Henry ( FSSH 2^2~ ) from Kentucky has a like refrain but is not the same song. 'Far Back in My Childhood.' The manuscript says "Recorded by ^Ir. Coffey in . . . for the . . . Co.," which seems to mean that he sang it at some time before a recording instrument for some phonograph company. From O. L. Coffey of Shull's Mills, Watauga county. 1 Far back in my childhood, I remember today. I was happy and beloved ere I wandered away ; I was taught by my mother, who sleeps neath the stone. And caressed by my father ; yet I've wandered here alone. Chorus: I'm alone, all alone, and I feel I'm growing old. Yet I wandered, oh. how lonely ! I am shivering in the cold. 2 I remember the maiden, and my heart bleeds to tell How I loved her, her devotion ! But on this I cannot dwell. We were wed; our path was pleasant and the sun of for- time shone ; But alas, I took to drinking: and Fm a wanderer here alone. 3 I remember my children, how they climbed upon my knees And I kissed my little darling in the day when I was free. But I've squandered all my fortune and I'm now with- out a home. And I know it was all from drinking. And F\e wan- dered here alone. 'I'm Alone.' From Miss Pearl Webb of Pineola, Avery county, appar- ently in 1921. With the music. The first three stanzas and chorus as in A, but it adds a fourth stanza : 4 Can I break the bondage? Can I break this awful chain? Can I escape the shackle ? Can I be free again ? Friends of temperance, help me! Friends, my bondage is untold, And I kntnv it's all from drinking that I wandered alone. DRINK AND GAMBLING SONGS 6l c Louise Rand Bascom in 1909 printed (JAFL xxii 24) a fragmentary version — the chorus, the last half of stanza i and the first half of stanza 3 of A— with the notation that it "has prohahly been transplanted from the lowlands." 32 Old Rusin the Beau For the history and occurrence elsewhere of this song, see BSM 2SS and add to the references there given Virginia (FSV 132-3), North Carolina (FSRA 97), and Missouri (OFS iv 371-3)- 'Old Rosin the Beau.' Reported by K. P. Lewis as set down in 1910 from the singing of Dr. Kemp P. Battle of Chapel Hill. 1 I live for the good of my nation. And my sons are all growing low. But I hope that my next generation Will resemble old Rosin the Beau. I've traveled this country all over And now to the next I will go, For I know that good quarters are waiting To welcome old Rosin the Beau. Chorus: And drink to old Rosin the Beau, And drink to old Rosin the Beau, And rake^ down that big-bellied bottle And drink to old Rosin the Beau. 2 In the gay round of pleasure I've traveled. Nor will I behind leave a foe ; And when my companions are jovial They will drink to old Rosin the Beau. But my life is now drawn to a closing And all will at last be so. So we'll take a full bumper at parting To the name of old Rosin the Beau. 3 When I'm dead and laid out on the counter, The people all making a show. Just sprinkle plain whiskey and water On the corpse of old Rosin the Beau. I'll have to be buried, I reckon. And the ladies will all want to know, And they'll lift up the lid of the coffin Saying, 'Here lies old Rosin the Beau.' ^ So in the typescript. Miswritten for "take"? 62 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 4 Oh, when to my grave I am going The children will all want to go, They'll run to the doors and the windows Saying, 'There goes old Rosin the Beau.' Then pick me out six trusty fellows And let them all stand in a row And dig a big hole in a circle And in it toss Rosin the Beau. 5 Then shape me out two little donochs/ Place one at my head and my toe, And do not forget to scratch on it The name of old Rosin the Beau. Then let those six trusty good fellows. Oh, let them all stand in a row And rake- down that big-bellied bottle And drink to old Rosin the Beau. 33 Little Brown Jug Very generally known and sung. See BSM 261, and for its use as a play-party song consult Botkin's The American Play-Party Song by index under "Brown Jug." It is reported also from Vir- ginia (FSV 147) and from Missouri (OFS iii 141-2, 331, the latter as a play-party song). It appears twenty-two times in our collection, mostly in a stanza or two. All together these texts show eight distinguishable stanzas, four of them frequently and one of the four much more frequently than any of the others, four rarely. The four stanzas of frequent occurrence appear in the following text. 'Little Brown Jug.' Contributed in 1914 by Miss Amy Henderson of Worry, Alleghany county. 1 My wife and I lived all alone In a little log hut we called our own. She loved gin and I loved rum. Tell you what, we'd lots of fun ! 2 ^Vhen I go toiling to my farm Little brown jug is under my arm. I place it under a shady tree. Little brcnvn jug, 'tis you and me! ^ The manuscript adds liere in parenthesis "drinking mugs." Lomax also so explains the word. But the New International Dictionary says that "dornick" (variant spellings donnick, donnock) means a stone, a small boulder. - So in the typescript. Miswritten for "take" ? DRINK A N I) C A M H L I N G SONGS 63 3 My wife and 1 and a stump-tailed dog Crossed the creek on a hickory \og. The log did hreak and we all fell in. You het I hung to my jug of gin ! Ha ha ha. you and me, Little brown jug. don't I love thee! Ha ha ha. you and me. Little brown jug. don't I love thee !^ 4 If I had a cow that gave such milk Ld dress her in the finest silk. Ld feed her on the finest hay And milk her forty times a day ! The third of these stanzas appears in eigliteen of our twenty-two texts, sometimes with slight variations and frequently with nothing else except the refrain. Stanzas that appear less frequently are found in the following texts. 'Little Brown Jug.' Collected by Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga county, about 191 5. He notes that it "has been sung in this section for over forty years, according to reliable people. Very few sing it today, though several persons know the tune. Robert Smith recalled the above verses lately." The fourth stanza of this text, incomplete, runs : Whiskey and brandy all played out Little brown jug was up the spout. 'Little Brown Jug.' Reported by Clara Hearne of Pittsboro, Chatham county. The third of her four stanzas runs : As I went down the railroad track I took my brown jug on my back. I stubbed my toe and I went down. And broke my brown jug on the ground. D 'Little Brown Jug.' Reported by Gertrude Allen (Mrs. Vaught) from Taylorsville, Alexander county. Here the third stanza (incomplete) runs : Went to milk and didn't know how, Milked a goat instead of a cow. 'Song.' Reported by Sarah K. Watkins as known in Anson and Stanly counties. Here the second stanza runs : ' This refrain stanza is so placed in the manuscript, probably by error. It should come after each successive stanza. 64 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Every night when I go to bed Little brown jug does^ under my head ; Every morning when I wake up Little brown jug turns bottom-side up. 'Little Brown Jug.' As reported by Miss Doris Overton of Durham, this stanza takes a slightly different form : Every night when I go to bed Put the little brown jug under my head ; Every morning when I get up Little brown jug is all dried up. In Lois Johnson's version, from Davidson county, it ends more piquantly : Next morning I gave a pull : Jug was empty, and my wife was full ! 34 Pass Around the Bottle The Archive of American Folk Song has a record under this title from Kentucky. As we have it in North Carolina it is a drinking song only in the first two stanzas ; stanza 3 is universally known since Civil War times, and stanzas 4-6 are scarcely less familiar. The refrain line shows that it is really a marching song. 'Pass Around the Bottle.' From the John Burch Blaylock Collection. Each stanza repeats, including the refrain line, as indicated in stanza i. 1 Pass around the bottle and we'll all take a drink. Pass around the bottle and we'll all take a drink. As we go marching home. 2 Pull out the stopper and fill it up again. 3 Hang John Brown on a sour apple tree. 4 Grasshopper sitting on a sweet potato vine. 5 Old turkey gobbler come slipping up behind. 6 Old turkey gobbler ]:)icked the hopper from the vine. 35 JuDiE Mv Whiskey Tickler A college drinking song of a hundred years ago which seems to have dropped out of the memory of present-day collegians. ^ Miswritten, one supposes, for "goes." U R I N K AND GAMBLING SONGS 65 'Judie .My Whiskey Tickler.' Communicated by S. M. Davis of White Hall uii the Neuse River, Wayne county, as "a song my grandfather used to sing while at Jefferson's Academy in 1839." He adds that there are two otiier stanzas which he does not know. 1 Judie, my whiskey tickler. Judie, vou debl)il, vou l)()ther me so. Woe! "Woe! Woe! Like a red-hot potato vou are all a-^low. Woe! Woe! Woe! 2 By^ faith, you are both elegant in form and face, You walk with such stately magnificent grace ! Judie, you debbil, you bother me so. Woe! Woe! Woe! 36 I'll Never Get Drunk Any More The four texts here given have little in common beyond the re- frain stanza. Shearin's syllabus shows that this is known in Ken- tucky, and Perrovv (JAFL xxviii 151) reports it as sung by both whites and blacks in Tennessee. It is reported also from Virginia (FSV 308) and from Missouri (OFS 11 413-14, iii 140-1). Mrs. Sutton notes that Miss Emeth Tuttle of Lenoir found it in ALssissippi. T'll Never Get Drunk Any More.' Reported by Thomas Smith of Zion- ville, Watauga county, sometime between 1914 and 1920, with the nota- tion : "This song was once popular around here (25 or 30 years ago). Young people sang it a great deal in those days. The tune is still well known to several of my neighbors." 1 When I go out on Sunday What pleasure do I see? For the girl I loved so dearly Has gone square back on me. Clionts: Lll never get drunk any more, any more, I'll never get drunk any more. Lll lay my head in my true love's door, Lll never get drunk any more. 2 When I go out on Sunday. My head all racked with pain, Lll tell my little honey Lll never get drunk again. ' So the manuscript. One supposes that it should be "My." N.C.F., Vol. Ill, (7) 66 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Once I had a fortune ; I laid it in a trunk. I spent it all a-gambling The night I first got drunk. No title. Reported by Miss Gertrude Allen (afterwards Mrs. R. C. \'aught) from Taylor sville, Alexander county. 1 Some say that love is pleasure. What pleasure do I see? The girl I loved so dearly Has turned her back on me. CJiorus: I'll never get drunk any more, I'll never get drunk any more, I'll lay my head in the barroom door, I'll never get drunk any more. 2 As I go home tonight I'll smoke my long-stemmed pipe, I'll have no wife to bother my life, No children to holler and squall. 3 Dem chickens they crowed for midnight, Dem chickens they crowed for day, Dem chickens they crowed for midnight, And I got drunk again. Til Never Get Drunk Any More.' Reported by Mrs. Sutton (while she was still Miss Maude Minnish) from the singing of Mrs. Woody of Jonas Ridge. Date not given. 1 One time I had an old blue hen. I set her in a stump. A 'possum come and got her One night when I got drunk. Chorus: I'll never git drunk any more, any more, Oh, I'll never git drunk any more. I'll lay my head in some still-house door, But I'll never git drunk any more. 2 One time I had a fortune ; I put in a trunk. I lost it all a-gamblin' One night when I got drunk. DRINK AND GAMBLING SONGS 67 'I'll Never Get Drunk Any More.' From the John Burch Blaylock Collection. 1 I'll never get drunk any more, I'll never get drunk any more ; I'll lav my head in some poor man's door, I'll never get drunk any more. 2 Once I had a fortune, I laid it on my trunk ; I lost it all hy gambling One night when I was drunk. 3 Once I had a sweetheart My laziness did ensnare ; But now I've got no money Her poor little feet go bare. 4 Once I had fine horses. I fed them on good hay. I swapped them off for whiskey One cold December day. 5 There are . . . region. The flames they do not wilt ; But down below the spring house You'll find them at the still. 37 Show Me the Way to Go Home, Babe This seems to be a fragment of the desultory Negro lyric that Odum and Perrow collected, though this particular bit does not appear in their collections as published in JAFL xxiv ^ 255-94, 351-96, XXV 137-55, ^xvi 123-73, XXVIII 129-90. Sbearin's sylla- bus shows it known in Kentucky. Although our texts are much alike, it seems desirable to give them all, for comparative study. A 'Song.' Communicated by Ethel Hicks Buffalo from Granville county. No date given. Good mornin', Carrie. When you gwine to marry? I've been dreamin' 'bout you, My dusky babe. Chorus: Show me the way to go home, babe, Show me the way to go home ; 68 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE I've been drunk for the past six months ; Show nie the way to go home. 'Oh, Goodbye, Babe, Forever More.' From Miss Jeannette Co.x, W'ii? terville, Pitt county, in 1921 or 1922. Oh, goodbye, babe, forever more. My boozing days will soon be o'er. I've had a good time, as you may see ; Just see what booze has done for me. Show me the way to go home, babe. Show me the way to go home ; I ain't been sober since last October. Show me the way to go home. c 'Negro Fragment.' This also comes from Miss Cox, and with the tune. Show me the way to go home, Show me the way to go home ; I ain't been sober since last October; Show me the way to go home, babe. Show me the way to go home. Show me the way to go home ; I've been drunk for the last six months; Show me the way to go home, babe. D 'Show Me the Way to Go Home." Reported liy WilHam B. Covington in 1 91 3 from "reminiscences of my early youth spent in the country on the border of the sand hills of Scotland county." Show me the way to go home. Show me the way to go home ; I ain't been sober since last ( )ctober ; Show me the way to go home, babe. Show me the way to go home. Show me the way to go home. I've been drunk for the last six months; Show me the way to go home, babe. E 'Show "S\e the Way to Go Home.' From T.ouisc Bennett, .Middleburg, Vance county. Not dated. I ain't been sober since last October — Show me the way to go home. I's been drunk for de last six months — Show me the way to go home. DRINK AND GAMBLING SONGS 69 'Show Me the Way to Go Home.' From Antoinette Beasley, Monroe, Union county. Not dated. I been drunk since the last month. Show me the way to go home, babe, Show me the way to go home. Ain't been home since last October. Show me the way to go home, babe, Show me the way to go home. G Lucille Cheek of Chatham county reports a single line: "Haven't been sober since last October." H 'Show Me the Way to Go Home.' From the John Burch Blaylock Collection. 1 Show me the way to go home, I'm tired and I want to go to bed. I had a little drink about an hour ago, And it's gone right to my head. 2 Wherever I may roam O'er land or sea or foam. You'll always hear me singing that song, Show me the way to go home. 38 Pickle My Bones in Alcohol This jocose jingle seems to have a special appeal for Negroes, though it is not confined to them nor is it, probably, of Negro origin. It has been reported from New York (ANFS 368), Ten- nessee (JAFL XXVIII 130), North Carolina (FSSH 438), Georgia (FSSH 438), Missouri (OFS iii 197-8), and from Negroes in Mississippi (JAFL xxviii 130). In a form which probably is of Negro origin 'lasses and corn bread take the place of alcohol : so in a text reported from Alabama Negroes (ANFS 277) and in some of our North Carolina texts. Or the two notions may be combined, as in our A text and in Negro versions reported from Alabama (ANFS 368-9) and without specific locale bv Talley (Negro Folk Rhymes 26). 'When I Die.' Reported by Julian P. Boyd, Alliance, Pamlico county, as obtained from Duval Scott, a pupil in the school there. I When I die don't bury me deep ; Put a jug o' 'lasses at my feet. NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Put a pone o' bread in my hand, And I'll sop my way to the promised land! When I die don't bury me at all ; Just pickle my bones in alcohol. Put a bottle of booze at my head and feet, And then PU know that 1 will keep. For Pm a man w4io must have a little likker When Pm dry, dry, dry ! 'When Colonel Died.' Reported by Miss Gertrude Allen (afterwards Mrs. Vaught ) from Taylorsville, Alexander county. Not dated. I When Colonel died with a bottle by his side 2 When I die don't bury me at all. Just pickle my bones in alcohol. 3 Put a bottle of booze at my head and feet And say, 'Colonel died in joy complete.' c 'Drinking Song.' From Lucille Cheek, Chatham county. Oh, when I die don't bury me at all ; Just pickle my bones in alcohol. Place a bottle of booze at my head and feet. Tell all the girls Pve gone to sleep. 'When I Die.' From ]\Iiss F. Shuma, in 1920. Location not given. The same as C except the last line, which runs : "So these old bones shall rest in peace." 'When I Die.' From Miss Kate S. Russell, Person county. Here the alcohol has disappeared. When I die, want you bury me deep. Put a jug of lasses at my head and feet. Pone corn bread in the palm of my hand ; Going to sop lasses in de promised land. 'O When I Die Don't Bury :\Ie Deep.' Contributed in 1919 by H. H. Hanchey as heard in the southeastern part of North CaroHna. Like E, but has its last line in the more familiar fdrni: "So I kin sop my way to de promise land." DRINK AND GAMBLING SONGS 71 39 Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones This line is found in Negro songs reported from North Carolina and Alabama (ANFS 145) which are not specifically drinking songs but are concerned, like the texts here presented, with the singer's posthumous reputation — an element which Dr. White says occurs "in various spirituals." 'A Drunkard's Song.' Contributed in 1913 by William B. Covington with the notation : "Reminiscences of my early youth spent in the coun- try on the border of the sand hills of Scotland County." Sticks and stones may break my bones, Say what you please when I'm dead and gone; But I'm gona drink corn liquor till I die, Till I die, till I die, I'm gona drink corn liquor till I die. B 'Song.' From Louise W. Sloan, Bladen county. No date given. I'm a-living high till I die. Bet your life I'm a-living mighty high; Oh, sticks and stones for to breaker my bones, I know you'll talk about me when I'm gone But I'm a-living high till I die. 'Ise Gwine to Live in de Harvest.' Reported by Julian P. Boyd as ob- tained from Duval Scott, one of his pupils in the school at Alliance, Pamlico county. 1 Ise gwine to live in de harvest. Till I die, till I die ; Life Ise livin' is not so very high ; Sticks and stones gwine break my bones, I know you gwine talk about me when Ise gone ; Ise gwine live in de harvest till I die ! 2 Ise gwine build me a graveyard Of my own, of my own ! Ise gwine build me a graveyard of my own. Sticks and stones gwine break my bones, I know you gwnne talk about me when Ise gone. Ise gwine live in de harvest till I die ! 72 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 40 Just Kick the Dust over my Coffin In form this is akin to 'Pickle My Bones in Alcohol,' above ; but its spirit is somewhat different, the speaker being about to die of love, and perhaps it should not be here among the drinking songs. I have not found it elsewhere. The manuscript is without name in the Collection, but from surrounding circumstances it is believed to have come from Obadiah Johnson of Crossnore, Avery county. 1 Just kick the dust over my coffin. Say, 'There lies a jovial young lad :' Pile the earth upon my carcass/ Then carve on the stone at my head : Chorus: Oh, ain't it a wonderful story That love it will kill a man dead. 2 Oh, none of you bawling and squalling Around me as tho' you'd gone mad ; Just kick the dust over my coffin And tell my true love that I said : 41 The Hidden Still This little hymn to the moonshiner's still I have not found else- where. 'Down under the Hill.' Reported, probably in 1939, by S. M. Holton as known in Buncombe county. 1 Down under the hill There is a little still, W^here the smoke goes curling through the air. You can easily tell By the perfume and smell There is licker in the air close hy. 2 How it fills the air With a perfume so rare! 'Tis only known to a few. So you wrinkle up your lip And you take a little sip ()f the good old mountain dew. ^ The manuscript has an alternative reading that is lictter : "Pile the earth high up o'er my carcass." DRINK AND GAMBLING SONGS 73 42 Moonshine This laudation of the potency of the mountaineers' favorite product has already been reported by Mrs. Richardson (A MS 94-5). Presumably it is the work of some native celebrant. 'Moonshine.' From the manuscripts of Obadiah Johnson of Crossnore, Avery county ; obtained in July 1940. 1 Come all ye boozefighters, if you want to hear "Bout the kind of booze they sell round here, Made way back in the swamps and hills Whar there's plenty of moonshine stills. 2 Whar they don't give a darn for the Volstead law 'N for prohibition they don't give a straw. Made of buckeye, lye, and cawn. And was bottled up in some barn. 3 One drop'U make a rabbit whup a fool dawg, And a taste will make a rat whip a wild hawg ; Hit'll make a mouse bite off a torn, cat's tail. Make a tadpole have a fuss with a whale. 4 Hit'll make a feist bite off an elephant's mouth. ^ ^lake a fool dawg put a tiger to rout ; Hit'll make a toad spit in a black-snake's face. Make a hard-shell preacher fall from grace. 5 A lamb will lay down with a lion After drinkin' that ole moonshine. Then thrown back your head and take a little drink. And for a week you won't be able to think. 6 Then you'll just take another little bit. Then git ready to have a fit. First thing you know you're awfully tight And out in the street a-tryin' to raise a fight. 7 Then you begin to feel awfully sick ; You think you feel worse than the very ole Nick. You say that you'll never drink it any more ; But you've said that a hundred times before. 8 The moonshiners are gettin' mighty slick And the bootleggers are gettin' mighty thick ; If they keep on bagging they better beware. They'll be selling each other. I declare. * So the manuscript ; but the rhyme and the sense call for "snout." 74 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 43 Old Corn Licker Of the following fragment the first line appears in a parody of 'The Old-Time Religion' reported by Perrow from South Carolina (JAFL XXVI 149), and a similar two-line fragment mider the same title is reported from Virginia (JAFL xxviii 133). 'Old Corn Licker.' Reported in 1923 or thereabouts — the manuscript is not dated — by Kate S. Russell of Roxboro, Person county. I got drunk and lost my hat ; Old corn licker was cause of dat. 44 Sal and the Baby This may be a fragment of a vaudeville song. I have not found it anywhere in print, and in our collection it comes only from Duplin county. No title. From Miss Minnie Bryan Farrior, Duplin county. No date given. I went down town to see my lady. Nobody's home but Sal an' the baby. Sal was drunk, and the baby crazy ; All that comes of being so lazy.^ 45 Sweet Cider Apparently a fragment of the song reported from Tennessee (ETWVMB 86, SSSA 184) as 'Pretty Little Black-Eyed Susan.' Ford, Traditional Music of America 41, gives it as a square-dance song, with "Paddy" in place of "Sallie." Most likely a product, originally, of the music-hall, it has lived in memory here and there in the Southern mountains. 'Sweet Cider.' Contributed by Clara Hearne of PittsI)oro, Chatham county, in 1923. Where's the mule and where's the rider? Where's the gal that drinks sweet cider? Refrain: Sallie, won't you have some, Sallie, won't you have some, Sallie, won't you have some of my hard cider? ^ Another copy of this same quatrain lias here "crazy." DRINK AND c; A MULING SONGS 75 46 A Little More Cider Too Evidently from the minstrel stage, this has become a college song, and is so entered in Wier's Book of a Thousand Songs. It is very generally known and sung but has not often been admitted to folk-song collections. It is reported from the Midwest (Pound 66) and from the Ozark region (Ford 332-3 — with "white" and "black" where our text has "blonde" and "brunette") and Henry C. Davis (JAFL XXVII 249) lists it as sung by South Carolina Negroes. 'A Little More Cider.' Reported by K. P. Lewis as taken down from the singing in 1910 of Dr. Kemp P. Battle of Chapel Hill. 1 I love the blonde girl and brunette, and I love all the rest, I love the girls for loving me, but I love myself the best. Oh, dear, I am so thirsty, I've just come down from supper ; I drank three pails of apple-jack and a tub of apple butter. Chorus: A Httle more cider, cider, cider, a little more cider too, A little more cider for Miss Dinah, a little more cider too. 2 When first I saw Miss Snowflake, 'twas on Broadway I spied her, I'd have given my hat and boots, I would, if I had been beside her. She looked at me. and I looked at her, and then I crossed the street ; And smilingly she said to me, 'A little more cider sweet.' 3 I wish I was an apple and Snowflake was another. To tiiink how happy we would be upon the tree together ! And then the darkies all would cry. wdien on the tree they spied her. To think how happy we would be all squashed up into cider. 4 Now old age comes creeping ; I grow ole and don't get bigger, And cider sweet and sour then, but I'm the same ole nigger. Be the consequences what it may, long, short, or wider, She am the apple of my eye, and I'm boun' to be beside her. yd NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 'A Little More Cider.' Received from Otis Kuykendall of Asheville in 1939- Stanzas 2 and 3 of A, without significant variation. No title. From the manuscript notebook of Mrs. Harold Glasscock of Raleigh lent to Dr. White in 1943. Fragmentary; the first half of stanza 2, the chorus, and the first half of stanza i of A, witli "blacks" and "whites" in place of "blonde girl" and "brunette." D 'A Little More Cider.' From Mrs. Laura M. Cromartie of Garland, Sampson county. Fragmentary, consisting of tlit chorus and the fol- lowing : 1 Oh, I wish I was a great big horse apple And snowflake was another. What a pretty pair we would make Upon the tree together ! 2 How mad the darkies all would be. When on the tree they spied us. To think how happy we would be All squashed up in apple cider ! 3 Oh dear me, I am so thirsty ! I've just come down from supper. I had a pail of apple-jack And a tub of apple-butter. 'A Little More Cider Sweet.' Obtained, apparently in 1923, by Jesse T. Carpenter from Mrs. Mary Martin Copley of Durham. The chorus and the first three stanzas of A, without significant variations except that the chorus seems of a slightly different rlixthm: A little more cider, cider, A little more cider sweet ; A little more cider for Miss Dinah, A little more cider sweet. 'A Little More Cider.' Contributed in 1922 by J. H. Burrus of Weaver- ville, Buncombe county, with the music and the notation : "This old folk- song was used for an old-fashioned reel and cotillion (or square dance)." The text here has undergone extensive changes, having picked up frag- ments of several other songs. Chorus: A little more cider for Miss Dinah, A little more cider sweet. DRINK AND GAMBLING S O N c; S yj A little more cider for Miss Uiiiah, A little more cider sweeter. 1 I wish I was an apple And Dinah was another ; What a handsome time we'd have Hanging on a tree together ! 2 If you love me like I love you \\'e'll have no time to tarry, We'll have the old folks flying round Fixing us to marry. 3 If I were only young again I'd lead a different life; I'd make some money and huy me a farm, Take Dinah for my wife. 4 I wouldn't marry an old woman, I'll tell you the reason why; Her neck's so long and stringy I'm afraid she'd never die. 5 I had rather marry Dinah W ith an apple in her hand Than to marry an old woman With a house and tract of land. 'Plantation Song.' Contributed by Virginia C. Hall (place and date not given) with the note: "This memory is of a gray whiskered old gentle- man bouncing a little boy on his knee and singing to him 'plantation songs' which he had learned as a child from the Negroes on his father's plantation." Merely the first two lines of the second stanza of -A., and the chorus with "sweet" instead of "too." 47 Sucking Cider Through a Straw This well-known college song is ascribed in Downes and Sieg- nieister's Treasury of American Song 290, words and music, to Carey Morgan and Lee David. It has been reported as folk song from Virginia (FSV 172), Tennessee (BTFLS v 38-9). Georgia (ASb 329), and the Midwest (Pound 38, ASb 329). Only a frag- ment appears in our collection. 'The Prettiest Girl I Ever Saw.' Communicated by B. S. Russell, Rox- boro. Person county. No date given. The prettiest girl I ever saw Was sucking cider through a straw. 78 NORTH CAROLINA I'OLKLORE 48 Drinking Wine This fragment has not been found elsewhere. Perhaps it is from some college drinking song. 'Drinking Wine.' Reported by Gertrude Allen (later Mrs. Vaught) from Taylorsville, Alexander county. Not dated. Drinking- wine, wine, Drinking wine, wine, Ought a been three fotn- thousand years Drinking wine. 49 The Journeyman The song of 'The Roving Journeyman,' in which he describes his way of life and particularly his success with the girls, has under- gone extensive adaptations in this country; the journeyman has become a gambler, a soldier, even a guerrilla of the Civil War. See BSM 374-5, and add to the references there given Virginia (FSV 125-6), Arkansas (OFS iv 356-60), and Indiana (BSI 342-4). Fairly persistent through these transformations are the lines She took me in her parlor And cooled me with her fan and the girl's dialogue with her mother, which form the substance of the texts in our collection. The title 'Broom Field Town' given to the first text seems not to occur elsewhere. 'Broom Field Town.' Reported by Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga county, as sung by Mrs. Julia Grogan of Silverstone in 191 5. Smith notes : "She heard the song about twenty-five years ago. . . . Mrs. Grogan is about sixty. Her father, John Yarber, came to this county over sixty years ago . . . from the Cheraw Hills of South Carolina" and "was a popular singer here just after the Civil War." 1 I rode unto my journey Till I came to the Broom h^ield Town. 2 I had not been there two weeks, I am sure it was not three. Till I fell in love with a pretty little girl And she in love with me. 3 I asked her to marry me. To see what she would say. She said she would ask her mother And see what she would say. DRINK AND GAMBLING SONGS 79 4 'How can you treat me so, To leave your kind old mother And with the soldier go ?' 5 'Oh, mother, oh, mother, I love you well. But how much I love the soldier No human tongue can tell.' B 'The Rovin' Gambler.' From the John Burch Blaylock Collection. 1 I am a rovin' gambler, I gambled down in town; Whenever I meet with a deck of cards I lay my money down. 2 I gambled down in Washington, I gambled down in Spain ; I'm going down to Georgia To gamble my last game. 3 I had not been in Washington Many more weeks than three, When I fell in love with a pretty little girl And she fell in love with me. 4 She took me in the parlor. She cooled me with her fan ; She whispered low in her mother's ear, 'I love that gambling man.' 5 'Oh, daughter, oh, dear daughter, Why do you treat me so ? To leave your dear old mother And with a gambler go?' 6 'Oh, mother, oh, dear mother, You know I love you well ; But the love I have for the gambling man No human tongue can tell. 7 'I can hear the train a-coming, Coming round the curve. Whistling and blowing And straining every nerve. 8 *Oh, mother, oh, dear mother, I'll tell you if I can ; If ever you see me again I'll be with a gambling man.' NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 'Journeyman.' Collected by M. F. Morgan in Nash county "from an old lady." Note that while in A the man is a soldier and in B a gambler, he is here simply a journeyman, as in the original song; and that here the girl, not the man, is the narrator. 1 I went along the other day, I met a journeyman. I fell in love with [the] journeyman And he fell in love with me. 2 I took him [into] my parlor, I cooled him with my fan ; I whispered in my mother's ear, 'I love that journeyman." 3 'Daughter, daughter, daughter, Don't you tell me so ; For if you love that journeyman Away from me you go.' Jack of Diamonds A gambler's song — in one text the song of the gambler's wife. It is known in Tennessee (JAFL xxviii 120-30), Mississippi (FSM 207-8), Texas (CS [1910 ed.] 292-4, TNFS 279-80, OSC 303-5, the last two from Negroes), and the Ozarks (OFS in 405-9) ; 'Hustling Gamblers,' also reported from Tennessee (SSSA 102-4, ETWVMB 23-5), has the "Jack o' Diamonds" phrase; a song re- ported from Kentucky (FSMEU 223-4) voices the complaint of a gambler's wife but it is not the same song. Our four texts vary considerably, wliich is not surprising, for like many other American folk songs it is an aggregate of stanzas some of which may be used in other songs. 'Jack of Diamonds.' Reported by Edna Whitley — unfortunately without indication of time or place. Stanza 2 seems incomplete. 1 Jack of diamonds, I know you of old. You raveled my pockets for silver and gold. For silver and gold, You raveled my pockets for silver and gold. 2 I'm ragged, I'm ragged, I am ragged, I am ragged, I know it's nobody's business how ragged I go. 3 I'll tune up my fiddle, I'll raise my l)Ow, I'll carry sweet music wherever I go. DRINK AND C. A M B L I N G S 0 N G S 8l Wherever 1 go, I'll carry sweet music wherever I go. It's not this long journey I'm dreading to go, It's leaving this country and the people I know, And the people I know, It's leaving this country and the people I know. 'A Card- Player's Song.' From Thomas Smith, Silverstone, Watauga county, probably in 1915; with the notation: "This song has been sung in this part of the country a good many years. I heard some card players sing it 18 or 20 years ago. There are several people near here who still sing it." The music was noted by Dr. Brown. 1 Jack of diamonds, I know you, I know you of old, You've robbed my poor pockets of silver and gold. 2 I've played cards in England, I've played cards in Spain, And I'm goin' to old Ireland to play my last game. c 'Jack o' Diamonds." Obtained from Obadiah Johnson of Crossnore, Avery county, in 1940. Here it is in the mouth of the gambler's wife. The second stanza is one of the movable bits of folk lyric; see BSM 487, 488. 1 Jack o' diamonds. Jack o' diamonds. I know you of old, You've robbed my poor pockets of silver and gold. 2 I'll build me a log cabin on yon mountain high. Where the blackbirds will see me as they pass me by. 3 My children are crying for the w^ant of some bread ; My husband's a gambler ; I wisht I was dead. 'Jack o' Diamonds." Reported by Evelyn Moody of Stanly county ; not dated. Only a single couplet. Jack o' diamonds. Jack o' diamonds, I know you of old ; You lost me a fortune in silver and gold. 51 Shoot Your Dice and Have Your Fun From Howell J. Hatcher, Trinity College student, December 5, 191 5, with music. .As in White ANFS 364 (without music). Shoot your dice and have )'our fun, I'll have mine when the police come. Police come, I didn't wanta go ; I knocked him in the head wid a forty- fo'. .V.C.F., Vol. Ill, (8) 82 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE I Got Mine White (ANFS 195-9, 200) says that this was originally a vaude- ville song that attained wide popularity among the Negroes, and gives texts from North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. Perrow had already (JAFL xxiv 369) reported it from the singing of Negroes in Mississippi. The texts vary rather widely. 'I Got Mine.' Contributed by Otis Kuykendall of Asheville in 1939. 1 I went out to a nigger crap game ; It was against my will. Dem coons got all my money Except a greenback dollar bill. A hundred dollar bet was on the table, The nigger's point was nine ; Just then a cop stepped through the door And I got mine. Chorus: I got mine, boys, I got mine ; I grabbed that hundred dollar bill. Through the window I did climb. Ever since then been wearin' good clothes, Living on chicken and wine ; I'm the leader of Society Since I got mine. 2 I went out to a buzzard feast ; The eatables they were fine. Half an hour before that table was set Dem coons all formed in line. When they brought that eagle in Their eyes began to shine. One grabbed that eagle by the neck, But I caught on behind. 3 A coon in front thought he had the whole thing. But I got mine. I tried to get through the window, But I didn't get through in time ; I eat my meals from a mantel piece Since I got mine ! Ill HOMILETIC SONGS THE MUSE of folk song has no antipatliy to incjralizing ; indeed, street balladry is rather fond of it. But among the preachments found in the North Carolina collection are few items that have any long traditional history. 'When Adam Was First Created' is on a theme, the proper relation between man and wife, that goes back to Chaucer and less definitely to medieval sermonizing. But most of the pieces of social moralizing, 'Pulling Hard against the Stream,' 'Paddle Your Own Canoe/ and the like, are certainly modern. 'Meditations of an Old Bachelor' and 'Why Do You Bob Your Hair, Girls?' reprove newfangled fashions. 'Who Is My Neigh- bor?' and 'You Say You Are of Noble Race' are apothegms. Of those of a more definitely religious cast 'The Wicked Girl' is prob- ably the oldest and certainly the most widely known. 53 When Adam Was Created Whether or not this is to be admitted as folk song, it is at least traditional and embodies a piece of folk-wisdom — wisdom that goes back, as Jackson (Dozvii-Easf Spirituals 77-8) shows, to Chaucer's "Parson's Tale" and back of that to church teachings as early as the twelfth century. As traditional song it exists in two forms, one of which may be called the English, the other the American form. The English form is traceable as far back as the middle of the eighteenth century and is found in Bell's Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England (pp. 451-2 of the 1877 print), in Baring- Gould's Songs of the Jl'cst No. 100 (from Devonshire), in Folk- Lore XXIV 82 (from (Oxfordshire), in Williams's collection (FSUT 1 15-16, from Oxfordshire), in a stall print without printer's name which I found in the Harvard College Library with the title 'The Honest Man's Favourite,' and is the version given by Newell (JAFL XII 250-1) as obtained from Mrs. E. Allen of Massachu- setts. The American version is reproduced by Jackson from The Social Harp of 1855 (SFSEA 41, the first stanza only) and from The Original Sacred Harp of 191 1 (SFSEA 74-5, a complete text), is that which has been attributed to Lincoln,^ was found by Sharp in North Carolina (SharpK 11 272), and is in our collection. Appar- ^ So I am informed by Professor Francis Lee Utley, of Ohio State University, who has made a detailed study of this song. 84 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE ently it is of Southern origin; both TJic Social Harp and The Original Sacred Harp were compiled by Georgians, and Newell's Massachusetts text represents the English, not the American version. A 'When Adam Was Created." A clipping from the Lenoir Ncu.'s (also from the Lenoir Times — or are these one publication?) of January 27, 1914, sent in by J. L. Nelson. The piece was sent to the paper by S. C. Sherrill with a note that it was sung by Mrs. Nancy Coffee at the age of eighty-four. "Mrs. Coffee could not read, but had learned many hymns when young." With the music. 1 When Adam was created he dwelt in Eden's shade, As Moses has related, before a bride was made. Ten thousand times ten thousand creatures dwelt around Before a bride was formed or any helpmeet found. 2 He had no conversation, he seemed like one alone. Till at his consternation he found he'd lost a bone. Great was his admiration when first he saw his bride. Great was his adoration to see her by his side. 3 He spoke like one in rapture: T know from whence she came ; From my left side extracted, and woman is her name.' This seems to be one reason why man should love his bride, A part of his own body, the product of his side. 4 This woman was not taken from Adam's head, we know, And she must not rule over him. 'tis evidently so. This woman was not taken from Adam's feet, we see. And he must not abuse her, the meaning seems to be. 5 This woman was extracted from under Adam's arm. And she must be protected from injury and harm; This woman was extracted from near to Adam's heart. By which we are directed that they should never part. 6 Here's counsel to the bridegroom and counsel to the bride: Let not this loaded volume be ever laid aside. The book that's called the Bible be sure you don't neglect. In every sense of duty it will you both direct. 7 To you, most noble bridegroom, to )'ou 1 lay aside. Be sure to live a Christian, and for your house i)rovidc. Avoid all contentions, sow not the seed of strife; That is the solemn dutv of every man and wife. 'Adam and Eve.' From Miss Sadie Jolmson, as sung by her grand- mother, of Dchart, Wilkes county, in i<).V>. it is the same version II <) Mil. K T I f S O N <; S 85 as A; Init it lias "maid" instead of "hclpnifi-t" in line 4. "adviration" instead of "consternation" in line 0, "exultation" instead of "admira- tion" in line 7, and "alimation' 'instead of "adoration" in line 8, and from there on, though the matter is much the same, it has been so thoroughly rearranged that it seems best to give the text (it is here written in quatrains of short lines, so that the stanza numbering is douliled ) : 5 He spoke as in a fapture : 'I know fi-om whence she came; From my left side extfacted. And woman is her name.' 6 The woman was not taken From Adam's head, we know. And he must not ahuse her, It's evidently so. 7 This woman was not taken From Adam's feet, we see. And she must not rule o'er him. The meaning seems to he. 8 This woman she was taken From near of Adam's heart, By which we are directed That they must never part. 9 This woman she was taken From under Adam's arm And she must he protected From injury and harm. 10 Here's council for the hridegroom, Here's council for the l)ride : Be sure you hoth live Christians And for your house provide. 1 1 Avoiding all contention. Don't sow the seeds of strife. This is the solemn duty Of every man and wife. 12 This hook that's called the Bihle Be sure you don't neglect ; In every scene of heauty It will you both direct. 86 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 54 Pulling Hard against the Stream This homely homiletic is listed in the Pound syllabus, p. 54. and is given in Spaeth's IVcep Some More, My Lady, pp. 157-9, with- out author's name. The California Check List notes a print of it by De ^larsan, New York. "Fulling Hard against the Stream.' Contributed by Miss Elizabeth Janet Black of Wilmington, formerly of Ivanhoe._ Sampson county. In the first line "word" should probably be "world." 1 In this word Pve gained my knowledge, And for it have had to pay. Though I never went to college Yet Pve heard the poets say Life is like a mighty river Rolling on from day to day. Men are vessels launched upon it, Sometimes wrecked and cast away. So Chorus: Then do your best for one another, Making life a pleasant dream ; Help a worn and weary brother Pulling hard against the stream. 2 Many a high, good-hearted fellow, Many a noble-minded man. Finds himself in water shallow; Then assist him if you can. Some succeed at every turning ;^ Others, too. tho' more deserving, Have to pull against the stream. 3 If the wind is in your favor And you've weathered every s(iuall. Think of those whose luckless labors Never got fair winds at all. Working hard, contented, willing. Struggling thro' life's ocean wide. Not a friend and not a shilling. Pulling hard against the stream. ^ 4 Don't give way to foolish sorrow. Let this keep you in good cheer : Brighter days may come tomorrow * The sixth line of stanza 2, "Fortune favors every scheme." has dropped out from Miss Black's text; and the last word of stanza 3 should be "tide." II O M 1 L i: T I C S 0 N G S 87 If you try and persevere. Darkest nights will have a morning Tho' the sky be overcast ; Longest lanes must have a turning And the tide will turn at last. 55 Paddle Your Own Canoe This song, the work of H. Clifton, must have achieved consider- ahle currency ; it is given in both the Franklin Square Song Col- lection (ill 91) and Heart Songs (286-7). Davis reports it from Virginia (FSV 129). 'Paddle Your Own Canoe.' Contributed by Miss Duo K. Smith of Houstonville, Iredell county. Not dated. 1 I've traveled about a bit in my time And of troubles I've seen a few, But I found it better in every clime To paddle my own canoe. My wants are small ; I care not at all If my debts are paid when due ; I drive away strife in the ocean of life AMiile I paddle my own canoe. Chorus: Then love your neighbor as yourself, As the world you travel through. And never sit down with a tear or frown. But paddle your own canoe. 2 I have no wife to bother my life. No lover to prove untrue ; But the wdiole day long, with a laugh and a song, I paddle my own canoe. I rise with the lark, and from daylight till dark I do wdiat I have to do ; I'm careless of wealth if I've only the health To paddle my own canoe. 3 It's all very well to depend on a friend, That is, if you've proved him true ; But you'll find it better by far in the end To paddle your own canoe. To borrow is dearer by far than to buy, A maxim, though old, still true ; You never will sigh if you only will try To paddle your own canoe. 0» NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 4 If a hurricane rise in the mid-day skies And the sim is lost to view, Move steadily by, with a steadfast eye. And paddle your own canoe. The daisies that grow in the bright green fields Are blooming so sweet for you ; So never sit down with a tear or a frown, But paddle your own canoe. 56 Why Do You Bob Your Hair, Girls? Sounds more like a preachment than an attempt at humor, yet it may have come from the vaudeville stage. Randolph, reporting it from Arkansas, savs his informant called it a Holv Roller song (OFS1V83-4). 'Why Do Vou Bob Your Hair, Girls?" Obtained from Mrs. Minnie Church of Heaton, Avery county, in 1930. 1 Why do you bob your hair, girls? It is an awful shame To rob the head God gave you To bear the flapper's name. 2 You're taking off your covering. It is an awful sin. Don't never hob your hair, girls; Short hair belongs to men. 3 Why do you bob your hair, girls? It's not the thing to do. Just wear it, always wear it, And to the Lord be true. 4 And when before the Judgment You meet the Lord up there. He'll say 'well done' for, wandering. You've never bobbed vour hair. 57 Meditations of an Old Bachelor This, doubtless from the music-hall stage, modernizes a theme of which the pioneer age was fond. See 'Tlie Carolina Crew,' and 'When Young Men Go Courting,' and compare BSAI 426. This particular embodiment of the theme has not been found elsewhere. 'Meditations of an Old Bachelor.' Reported liy Macie Morgan, Stanly county. H O M 1 I. K TIC SON C. S 89 1 The girls today are different from those I used to know. They never seem contented unless they're on the go. I can't quite understand them; I'm fond of them, it's true, But they ahvays keep you guessing as to what they'll say or do. 2 These made-up girls don't please me. At heart I'm really sick Of painted checks and eyebrows and abundance of lip- stick. On costly shows and cabarets your time and money's spent. The modern girl, without a doubt, [isj always pleasure- bent. 3 The styles are all so different: short hair, short dresses too. Womanly characteristics that we loved and prized are few. But these modern girls are clever, and will keep you on the go, And if you please their fancy they'll surely let you know. 4 No courting by the fireside as in the days of old. But on the highways riding, in weather warm or cold. They call you up and make the dates, do their courting too. Now this is just their way, you say ; to me it's wholly new. 5 The old-time girls were modest, endowed with queenly grace. With voices soft and tender, a blessing to the race. Now the mannish girls confront us, no more that graceftil curl. The average man is yearning for the good old-fashioned girl. 6 In dreams I'm often with them, the girls of other days. The happy blushing maiden, who walked in wisdom's ways. \\ hen with these gay young creatures my mind's kept in a whirl ; I'm longing — sadly longing — for the good old-fashioned girl. 58 The Thresherman Well known in the old country — Burns contributed a text to the 1792 edition of Johnson's Miiscidii, and it is still remembered in Scotland ( Ord 48-9); it has been reported from Westmorland 90 NORTH C x\ R O L I N A 1' O L K L 0 R E (JFSS V 299). Berkshire and Oxfordshire (FSUT 138), Essex (JFSS II 198-9), Sussex (JFSS i 79), Hampshire (JFSS iii 202-3), and Dorset (JFSS v 202, tune only), and is also to be found in stall ballad print — but infrequently recorded in America : Vermont (VFSB 157-9, from the Green Mountain Songster of 1823), New Jersey (JAFL lii 60), Virginia (JAFL xxx 354-5, FSV 169), Arkansas (OFS i 436), and now from North Carolina. 'Jolly Thrasher.' Contributed by Juanita Tillett of Wanchese, Roanoke Island, in March, 1923. 1 As I rode out a-htmting. a-htmting one day, I met a jolly thrasher all on the highway. With a staff upon his shoulder and a bottle of good beer He was as happy as a lord with a thousand pounds a year. 2 'O thrasher, jolly thrasher, come tell to me now How you maintain your family with only one cow. Your family it is large and your wages they are small, And how you maintain them I know not at all.' 3 'Sometimes a-hedging, a-ditching I go. Sometimes I reap and other times I mow, Other times 1 follow the harrow and the plow. I earn all my money by the sweat of my brow. 4 'When I go home at night just as tired as I can be. I take the youngest child and I dangle him on my knee. The other ones around me with their racket and their noise ; And that's all the comfort a poor man enjoys.' 59 You Say You Are of Noble Race This fragment has not been found elsewhere. The collector's account of it suggests that the whole, if it could be recovered, would probably be a piece of moralizing. No title. Contributed by Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga county, in 1915 with the following note: "Mrs. Polly Rayfield recalls one verse (if an old song sung by Thomas Williams (who was a great singer of old songs) over 40 years ago. Nothing more of the song can Mrs. Rayfield remember — not even the story, except that it was about a 'stuck up' young lady who refused to marry a young man because he was of a poor class of people." Yoti say yoti are of noble race And 1 of low degree. We are all of Adam's race ; Pray, what more can we be? H 0 M I L E T I C S O N G S 9I 60 Will) IS AU' Nkic.hbor? A bit of moralizing which I have not found elsewhere. 'Who is my Neighbor?' Reported by Carl G. Knox of Durham in 1924 or 1925. With the tune. 'Who is my neighbor ?' Hear the poor Jew cry. 'Who will a-yescort me? Help me ere I die.' 61 Dying from Home and Lost Randolph, reporting this song from Arkansas and Missouri (OFS IV 41-3), says it seems to be part of a longer song written by the Reverend S. M. Brown and published in his Songs of Zion with a copyright date of 1892, and he quotes from a later print (James D. Vaughan's Crowning Praises, 191 1, in which it appears) the de- tailed story of the young man in whose mouth the song is put, killed in a bridge-building accident in Kansas City. 'Dying from Home and Lost.' Contributed by O. L. Coffey of Sinill's Mills, Watauga county, in August 1939. 1 Companion, draw nigh. They say I must die ; Early the stnnmons lias come from on high. The way is so dark ! And yet I must go. Oh, that such sorrow yott never may know ! Chorus: Only a prayer, only a tear. Oh, if sister and mother were here ! Only a song; 'twill comfort and cheer, Only a word from that book so dear. 2 Ah, can you not bow and pray with me now? Sad the regret — we have never learned how To come before him who only can save, Leading in triumph through death and the grave. 3 And can you not sing a song of his love? How he came down from the mansion al)ove To bleed and to die on Calvary's tree, Bringing salvation to sinners like me. 4 Alas, it is so. But thus it must be, No word of comfort or promise for me ; To die without God or hope in his son, Covered in darkness, bereaved and undone. 92 X () K T 11 C A R 0 L I X A 1* () L K L 0 R E S ( ) people of God who have his l)lest word, Will you not heed the command of your Lord And puhlish to all of Adam's lost race Pardon, forgiveness, salvation through grace? 62 The Wicked (hrl Belden BSM 460-4 gives an account of tlie liistury of thi^ ballad, indicating its American (possibly New England) origin; cites printed and traditional appearances (including, among die former. The Original Sacred Harp, and among the latter, versions from Jamaica, Rhode Island, Virginia, West Virginia, Mississippi, Arkan- sas, Indiana, and Iowa) ; and prints four Missouri texts. See Hud- son JAFL XXXIX 175 ff. for a counterpart from Mississippi. Add Chappell FSRA 194, Eddy BSO 305-6, Brewster BSI 303, Ran- dolph OFS IV 16-20, and Davis FSV 298. Of the following North Carolina texts, A has considerable antiquity as judged by American folk-song tradition. In order and content of stanzas and in rhymes it is close to the Missouri A text, but lacks a stanza corresponding to the last stanza of that text. A 'Young People Hark.' From the Adams manuscript book (western North Carolina, 1824-5), owned by W. Amos Abrams and copied by him for the Frank C. Brown Collection in 1944. Professor Abrams notes that he has several variants and that the song is known as 'Wicked Polly,' 'The Dying Girl Unprepared to Meet Her God,' 'The Downward Road Is Crowded.' etc. The manuscript spellings, lines, and stanzas have been followed zr/'/x//;;;; ct scriafi)ii. 1 Young people hark & I will tell the misteries of a soul in hell a woman who was young & fare Who died in sin and black dispare 2 Her tender parents oft did pray for her poor soul from day to day they gave her council good advice hut she delighted still in vice 3 Shed go to frolick dance and play in spite of all her friends could say I'll return to (iod when I am old And then he will recieve my soul 4 .\t length she heard the spirit say thou sinful wreach forsake thy way And tiu'n to mv or you shall dwell for ever in the flames of hell H O M I L E T 1 C S O N i; S 93 5 I am too young she then rephde my comrades all will me deny the spirit then bid her farwell and so to commits this wreach to hell 6 it was [ ?| not long ere death did come to call this hapless sinner home and where-upon her diing bed she calld her friends & thus she sd 7 My friends 1 bid you all farwell I die I die I sink to hell there I must lie & scream & cry (down I Im lost I am [ ] ft)rever more I doom I 8 her tender parents she address I hope your souls will boath be blest but your poor child you now may se but soon will be in misery amen B 'A Sad Parting.' From Mrs. Minnie Church, Heaton, Avery county, 1930. This is close to Brewster's BSI 303 text, from Indiana, having one more stanza (the last) than that. 1 Young {)eople who delight in sin. I'll tell you what has lately I)een : A lady who was young and fair. She died in sin and dark despair. 2 She'd go to frolics, dance, and play, In spite of all her friends could .say. 'I'll ttu'n to God when 1 get old. And tlu'n lie will receive my soul.' 3 On I^^-iday she was taken ill ; Her stubborn heart began to fill. 'Alas ! Alas ! My days are spent — Too late, too late now to repent.' 4 She called her mother to her bed ; Her eyes were rolling in her head. 'Oh, earthly mother, farewell ; Your wicked daughter screams in hell.' 5 She called her father to her bed. Her eyes still rolling in her head. 'Oh, earthly father, farewell ; I\Iv soul is lost and doomed in hell.' 94 N O R T 11 C A R () I. I N A I" O L K L 0 R E 6 She gnawed her tongue before she died. She wrung her hands, she screamed, she cried "Oh, must I burn forever more. Ten thousand years rolls o'er and o'er? 7 "Young people all. with one accord Take warning by my dying word. You may escape these Hellish flames While I am doomed to Endless Pain." 'Wicked I'olly." A phonograph recording made b}- Mrs. Church in i«J39. The record has not lieen transcribed. No title. One of several songs sent in September 1944 to Professor A. P. Hudson, Chapel Hill, by Mrs. Katherine Thomas, a teacher in the Durham High School for Negroes, who had been a member of one of Professor Hudson's classes at the North Carolina College for Negroes, Durham, in the spring of 1943. Regarding the songs, Mrs. Thomas wrote, "I secured most of them from my students." 1 Young people who delight in sin, I'll tell you what has lately been. A lady who was young and fair Who died in sin and sad despair. Chorus: She'd go to frocks,^ dance, and play, In spite of all her friends wotild say. T'U turn to God when I am old, And then he will receive my soul.' 2 On Friday morning she took sick. Her stumble heart begin to break. 'Alas, alas, my days I've spent. Too late, too late for to repent !' 3 .She gnaw her tongue before she died. She gown, she moun, she scream, she cried, '( )h, must I burn forever more Till tbou.sand. thousand davs arc old?' 4 She said. 'Oh, mother, mother, tell my mates To turn to Ciod and seek His faith, Upon their needs for mercy cry. In sin and shame like Mary died.' * So in the manscript. Read 'frolick,' II U M I L E T 1 C SO N c; S 95 63 A Poor Sinner Tliis resembles in theme, tone, and style 'The Wicked Girl,' above, but seems to be an independent homiletic ballad. Dorothy Scar- borough, SCSM "Ji, says that a Mrs. J. G. Stikeleather of Asheville "sang a fragment of song with a Kentucky scene" and prints a text with stanzas corresponding to the first and last of the following. 'A Poor Sinner.' From Miss Monnie McDonald, Lillington, Harnett county. Not dated. "From her grandmother, as sung at a camp meet- ing at Cool Springs Methodist Church, near Lillington, N. C, during the Civil War." A line seems to have been lost from the third stanza. 1 Hark, sinner, hark, while 1 relate What happened in Kentucky State. A poor young woman lately died ; She dropped from all her wealth and pride. 2 She once professed the Lord to know And did with saints to meeting go, But the young sinner drew her on And brought her soul to laugh and scorn. 3 She called her father ; thus she said : 'Oh, father, mother, fare you well ! Oh, brother, sister, fare you well !' 4 'Oh, loving Betsy, fare you well ! I'm afraid your soul has gone to hell.' She closed her eyes ; her nails turned blue ; And she bade this world adieu. 64 Advice to Sinners With music. From Miss Fannie Grogan, Silverstone, Watauga county. Words and air by Miss Grogan as "written April 16, 1916, for Lawton Grogan." I Oh, Sinner, you'd better take heed to the Saviour's word today. You will follow the Christian round and still you will not pray. God in his angry frown Some day will cut you down. For your body has to lie in the ground. Chorus: Your body has to lie in the ground. You will follow the Christian round. 96 X () R T H L A k O 1. I X A FOLKLORE And \(tu'll trv to i)ull him down ; But vour body has to he in the ground. 2 You join the church, poor Sinner, with sin polhite God's land. You never will be able before your Cod tcj stand. You will travel on your ways. And you'll sin away your days ; For your body has to lie in the ground. 3 Oh. Death will soon recei\e you; your breath you'll cease to draw. When followed by the dragon it is then too late to war. Woe and misery you will see Throughout all eternity ; For your body has to lie in the ground. 4 When Gabriel sounds his trumpet, poor Sinner, you'll be lost. You'll see the good old Christian come wagging with his cross, With his garments white and clean. Crying, 'Lord, I've been redeemed.' For your body has to lie in the ground. 5 Now turn your back on Satan and give the Lord vour heart. My God sits in His kingdom and always does His part. Oh, the angels they will shout When He casts the Devil out. For your body has to lie in the ground. 6 One minute spent in Glory will satisfy your mind For all the worldly pleasure^ that you have left behind. You will fly around God's throne W'ith Peter. James, and John. For your body has to lie in the ground. 65 Wild ( )ats There are in the Collection two — somewhat contradictory — ver- sions of what Mrs. Emma M. Backus reports (JAFL xiv 297) as a sinji^ing- f^ame played in rural Connecticut in 1865. Mrs. L. D. Ames reports it as a ])lay-])arty song- in Missouri (JAFL xxiv 314). See also Botkin, API'S 36, 58 n., and 170-1. There is noth- inji^ to show, however, that it is a i)lay-party song in North Caro- lina. It seems rather to he homiU'tic. II O M 1 I. K TIC SON (i S 97 Turn, Young Men.' From Miss Gertrude Allen (afterwards Mrs. Vaugiit), Taylorsville, .\lexander county. Not dated, but sent in some time ill the 1920s. Turn, young men. from your evil ways ; Go sow yoin- wild oats in the early days — That you may be happy when you grow old. B No title. From Ethel Brown, Catawba county. Not dated. Turn ye, young men, from your evil ways ; Don't sow wild oats in your early days — That you may be happy when you grow old. 66 You Can Run on a Long Time From Julian P. Boyd, Alliance, Pamlico county, as collected from Min- nie Lee, a pupil; undated, but c. 1927-28. "Negro fragment." 1 When I looked down into holiness, I saw it true and plain ; I saw that I could not despise his word And in his love remain. Chants: You can run on a long time With the cover of the world pulled over your face ; You can run a long time ; But your sins are going to find you out. 2 Let me tell you about a liar. He won't do to trust ; He'll tell a lie to make a fuss, Tell another to make it wuss. 3 See that sister shoutin' ? She seems to be mighty glad. But when you tell the gospel truth, You are sho' to make her mad. 4 We have some folks in de church. You have often heard it said ; You just can't live that holy life L'Util you get upon your dying bed. 5 ^^ e have some brethren in the church Who believe in having two wives. X.C.F., Vol. TII. (9) 98 N 0 K T II C A K O L I N A F O L K L 0 R K Vou can call them up into counsel r>ut their temper will l)egin to rise. 6 Some women loving other women's husbands; They had better be loving their own. If they haven't got one. they had better get one, Be ready when the judgment comes. 7 You told me you had been converted ; Be sure you do not lie. They say that in my leather's house They are holy and satisfied. 8 \Ve have some sisters in the church ; They say I am growing cold ; They say I'm doin' nothin' wrong But tattlin' from do' to do'. IV PLAY-PARTY AND DANCE SONGS THE PLAY-PARTY is an American institution, a compromise between the ineradicable love of social merrymaking and the Puritan distrust of dancing as one of the wiles of the devil. Throughout wide reaches of American life, especially along the ever- moving frontier in the latter half of the nineteenth century, young people would get together for an evening not for dancing, for danc- ing was not respectable, but for a play-party. And what was a play- party ? Why, it was a dancing party in everything except the name and — in most communities — the help of instrumental music. For the parlor organ was not very well suited to dance music, and the fiddle and the banjo were gadgets of the devil. But dancing without music to lift and carry the rhythm would be a dull affair; and so they sang. The songs are of various origin. Many of them are old English songs used in singing games of the sort gathered by Lady Gomme in the old country and by William Wells Newell in the United States. INIany of these are still used as children's games in America, and the play-party is in considerable part a relic of these games, become the play no longer of children but of grownups. Others have been adopted from the minstrel stage ; others are mem- ories of the frontier, of the War of 1812, of the Mexican War. Some, like 'Old Joe Clark' and 'Uncle Joe Cut Off His Toe,' have no discoverable origin and no very fixed content but a swinging tune that ensures their popularity. And some are simply old dance tunes with words to carry them, like 'Pop Goes the W'easel' and "Turkey in the Straw.' North Carolina has never been so definitely in the Bible belt as many of the Midwestern states. The fiddle and the guitar, and especially the banjo, have never been without their devotees in the Old North State. Accordingly we find in our collection many songs or fragments of songs described as favorites with "banjo pickers," and these we have included in this section. There are also a con- siderable number of songs which are not labeled by the contributors as play-party songs or dance songs but which seem from their structure and content likely to have been used as such. These we have assembled at the close of the section. 100 i\ 0 r t ii c a r o l i n a i- o l k l 0 r e W'eevilv Wheat Perhaps tlic most widely known and used of play-party songs is this relic of the Jacobite sentiment of two hundred years ago. See Botkin's The American Play-Party Song 345-51 a"fi the McLendon finding list in SFLQ viii 228, and add X'irginia ( FSV 223-4) and the oV.arks ( OFS in 297-301). Not infrequently all trace of its Jacobite origin has been lost. "Over the River to Feed the Sheep." Contributed in 1920 by O. J. Burrus. 1 As I come down the motuitaiii I give me horn a hlow. You ought to have heard those pretty httle girls Say, 'Yonder comes my heau.' Clionis: Oh. wait a little while, hoy, We will all go. Don't you know that old shanghai Go ook 00k 00k 00k 00k? 2 One cold frosty morning Barney come down the road. He had no shoes upon his feet ; The frost bit ofif his toes. 3 Over the river tf) feed the sheep. Over the river to Charlie. Over the river to feed the slieep, Feed them well on barley. 4 I won't have none of your weevily wheat, I won't have none of your barley ; T must have some of the best of wheat To bake a cake for Charlie. 5 Cliarlie he's a nice young man. Charlie he's a dandy ; Charlie is the very man That 1 would ])ull my candy.* No title. Obtained from Miss Jewell R(ibl)iiis, Pekin, Montgomery county, in 1922. In the form of a record, on which Dr. Brown notes: ^ This line is evidently corrupt, l)ut the editor will not venture to correct it. P I. A V - 1' A K T V A N I) I) A N C K S () N C S lOI "Song mack- up on two lovers, Florence Andrews and Charley Braid- shire." The four-line fragment gives no clear idea of what the story may be, but it evidently uses the "weevily wheat" verse and rhyme. Florence ran tli rough the weevily wheat, Florence ran through the barley ; Florence fell down and broke her neck And .so she died for Charley. 68 Here Comes Three Lawyers One of the many variants of the singing game "Here Come Three Dukes A-Riding,' for wliich see the McLendon finding list, SFLQ viii 209. Reported also by Davis for Virginia (FSV 228-9) and by Randolph for Missouri (OFS iii 360-1). The riders may be three knights, three kings, three brethren otit of Spain, or still other variants. To the references in the McLendon list should be added Massachusetts (FSONE 13-15). Tennessee ( BTFLS v 26-7), and the Czarks (OFS in 367-8). ' 'Here Comes Three Lawyers, Three Lawyers Are We." From the manu- script notebook of Mrs. Harold Glasscock of Raleigh, lent to Dr. White in 1943. This, like other items in Mrs. Glasscock's book, was learned from her parents. A note in tlie book explains that, in "acting it out, Lawyer carries a book, merchants, goods, farmer, corn. Peddler with pack on end of stick." 1 'Here conies three lawyers, three lawyers we are. A-courting your daughter so rare and so fair. Can we get lodgings here, oh here, Can we get lodgings here ?' 2 'This is my daughter that sets by my side. And none of you lawyers can get her for a bride. You cannot get lodgings here, oh here, And you cannot get lodgings here.' 3 'We care nothing for your daughter and less for yourself. I betcha hve dollars I can better myself, And we do not want lodgings here, oh here, We do not want lodgings here." Similarly fur merchants and farmers. Last come the peddlers : and now the response is : "This is my daughter that sits by my side. And one of you peddlers can get her for a bride ; And you can get lodgings here, oh here. And you can get lodgings here.' 102 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 69 Jennie Jenkins A color song, presumably a derivative of the very widely known and sung 'Miss Jennia Jones,' for which see the McLendon finding list SFLQ viii 216 — though 'Jennie Jenkins' is not there listed as a title nor have our North Carolina texts any suggestion of a funeral or of the wearing of mourning. A 'Jennie Jenkins' song has been reported from New Hampshire (F.SONE 199-200), Ver- mont (VFSB 164-7). N'irginia ( OSC 129-30), and Missouri (OF.S III 208). 'Julie Jenkins.' Sung by Mrs. Nancy Prather of Sugar Grove, Watauga county, in August 1937. 1 'Will you wear red, my true love? Will you wear red, Julie Jenkins?' 'I won't wear red, it's the color of niy head : Refrain: 'So I'll buy me a falli-ralli-dilly-dally Servi-jtiicy-douhle binding- To wear with a robe, Julie Jenkins.' 2 'Will you wear white, my true love? Will you wear white, Julie Jenkins?' 'I won't wear white, the color is so light.' 3 'Will you wear blue, my true love? Will you wear blue, Julie Jenkins?' 'T won't wear blue, the color is so true.' 4 'Will you wear black, my true love? Will you wear black, Julie Jenkins?' 'I won't wear black, it's the color of a sack.' 5 'Will you wear brown, my true love? Will you wear brown, Julie Jenkins?' 'I won't wear brown, it's the color of a crown.' 6 'Will you wear yaller, my true love? Will you wear yaller, Julie Jenkins?' '1 won't wear yaller, the color is so shaller.' 7 "Will you wear ])ur]:)le, my true love? Will you wear purple, Julie Jenkins?' 'I won't wear ])ur])le, it's the color of a tiu'kle.' 'Jti'.nit.- Jiiikiiis' l\(.iHirtf(l by Thomas Smith of Zionviilc, Watauga county, in 1921 as sung l)y Ik'niictt Sniitli and i^. J. Sniitli of that place. P L A Y - P A R T Y A N D DAN C K S O N (i S I03 "They hoard it first sung over forty years ago in Caldwell county. This song, they say. was very jxjpular just after the close of the Civil War. Tlic Misses Green of Caldwell county were the ones who sung the song to Bennett Smith and E. J. Smith over forty years ago." Nine colors are proposed, I)lue, green, red, white, yellow, gray, hlack. hrown, and spotted. The answers correspond often to those of A, hut the re- frain is not just the same. It runs: I'll buy me a turly whirly double lolly sookey juley Salley katy double double row stick a beany WsLU ter ma rose. Jennie Jenkins. The answers for five of the colors are different from those of A : 'I won't wear green, for it is too clean.' 'I won't wear gray, for it's too gay.' 'I won't wear black, for it is too slack.' 'I won't wear brown, for it's the color of the ground.' 'I won't wear spotted, for it is too drotted.' 'Jenny Jenkins.' Contributed by R. D. Ware in 1921 from Albemarle, Stanly county. Chorus and three stanzas dealing with red, black, and brown as in A except that brown, as in B, "is the color of the ground." 'Tooley Wooley Iser.' From the manuscript notebook of Mrs. Harold Glasscock of Raleigh, lent to Dr. White in 1943. "Most or all of her songs Mrs. Glasscock learned from her parents." 1 'Oh will you wear the green, oh dear, oh dear. Oh will you wear the green, Jennie Jenkins ?' 'I won't wear the green, for the color will be seen; So buy me the tooley wooley Iser.' Chorus: Buy me the tooley wooley double lucky sucky tucky ripe grown green brandy beer, Bend your hooks, won't you wear it. Jennie Jenkins? 2 'Oh will you wear the blue, oh dear, oh dear. Oh will you wear the blue. Jennie Jenkins?' 'I won't wear the blue, for the color isn't true; So buy me the tooley wooley Iser.' 3 'Oh will you wear the gray, oh dear, oh dear. Oh will you wear the gray. Jennie Jenkins?' 'I won't wear the gray, for the color will betray; So buy me the tooley wooley Iser.' 104 ^' '* '< ' " *-' '^ ^ " '- ^ '^' ''^ FOLKLORE Oh. Pretty Polly Like "Miss Jennia Jones' this is a color song, but I have no evi- dence that it is a play-party or game song. Indeed. I have nowhere found it reported as traditional song. 'Oh. Pretty Polly.' Contributed in 1924 or thereabouts by Carl G. Knox, Durham. With the tune. 1 Oh. pretty Polly, don't you cry. Yotir sweetheart's a-comiiig by-and-by. When he comes, he'll come in green ; Then you may know that his love is keen. 2 Oh, pretty Polly, don't you cry. Your sweetheart's a-coming by-and-by. When he comes, he'll come in blue ; Then you may know his love is true. 3 Oh, pretty Polly, etc. When he comes, he'll come in yellow ; Then you may know his love is shallow\ 4 ( )]i. pretty Polly, etc. \\ hen he comes, he'll come in black ; Then you may know he'll turn his back. 5 Oh, pretty Polly, etc. W^hen he comes, he'll come in brown ; Then you may know he'll turn you down. 6 Oh. pretty Polly, etc. When he comes, he'll come in red ; Then you may know his love is dead. 7 Oh. pretty Polly, don't you cry. Your sweetheart's a-coming by-and-by. 71 Don't Cry It is not clear whether this is a play-party song, a cliild's singing game of colors like 'Jennie Jenkins,' or a hillahy. It might, of course, serve all three fiuictions. It is evidently a variant of tlie preceding song. 'Don't Cry.' Secured by M. (i. b^ilton df Davidson College in 1914 from W. C. l-'ricrson. I. (nation not <iivtii. I Ddu't cr\', little bab\'. don't you cry. Your sweetheart will come by and by. When he comes, if he's dressed in green. Then voti ma\- know you'll be his (|ueen. P LAV- 1' A K r N' A X I) 1) A N C E S O N c; S IO5 Don't cry, little liaby. don't you cry, ^'otir sweetheart will come by and by. W hen he conies, if he's dressed in red, Then you may know his love is dead. Don't cry, little baby, don't you cry. Your sweetheart will come by and by. \\ hen he conies, if he's dressed in yellow, Then you may know he's a jolly good fellow. Don't cry, little baby, don't you cry, Your sweetheart will come by and by. When he comes, if he's dressed in black, Then you may know he's going back. Don't cry, little baby, don't vou cry. Your sweetheart will come by and b}'. When he comes, if he's dressed in blue. Then you may know his love is true. Don't cry, little baby, don't you cry. Your sweetheart will come by and by. A\'hen he comes, if he's dressed in purple. Then you may know you will make a nice couple. Don't cry, little baby, don't vou cry. Your sweetheart will come by and by. \\ hen he comes, if he's dressed in gray, Then you may know he's going away. Don't cry. little baby, don't you cry. Your sweetheart will come by and by. When he comes, if he's dressed in brown. Then you may know he's going to town. 72 Here We (lo in Mourning Possibly this lias grown out of those forms of 'Miss Jeniiia Jones' which represent a death and a funeral: at any rate it is clearly a song-game or a play-party song. 'Here We Go in Mourning.' Obtained by Julian P. lioyd from Minnie Lee, one of his students in the school at Alliance, Pamlico county, in 1927. The tliird stanza seems to be imperfect. I Here we go in mourning. In mourning is my cry. I have gone and lost my true love. And surely 1 must die. I06 NORTH CAROLINA l-OLKLORE 2 It's yonder lie c(jmes. And it's How do you do ? And it's How have you been Since I parted from you? 3 Come now and let's go and get married ; For I told you in Georgia Just how the love would be. 73 Row THE Boat, Row the Boat This is the play-party song which Cox (SFLQ vi) calls 'Uncle John' and Wolford (The Play-Party in Indiana 97) calls 'Uncle Johnie's Sick A-Bed.' It is really a form of the old singing game 'Wallflower, Wallflower, Growing Up So High' of which Lady Gomme (11 324-42) gives thirty-five English texts. With the curi- ous lines constituting the second half of the second stanza of our A text, it is or has been known in Connecticut (JAFL xii 293), Mis- souri (OFS IV 123-5), Ohio (JAFL xl 12), and Idaho (JAFL XLiv 22) ; without these lines but with the opening lines of the next stanza in Michigan (JAFL xxxiii 132-3). The title of our A is echoed in Randolph's Missouri title for the song, 'Ride About, Ride About.' I have not found elsewhere anything nuich resembling the more ballad-like matter of our B te.xt. .\ 'Row the Boat, Row the Boat.' Reported hy K. P. Lewis from the rendering of Dr. Kemp P. Battle of Chapel Hill in 1910. 1 Row the boat, row the boat, where shall we land? At Mr. Jones', and there we'll find land. Who goes there, all booted and spurred. But little Mr. Smith, a clever young man? 2 He knocked at the door and he rang at the bell And asked Mrs. Jones if her Annie was well. 'She's neither within, she's neither without, But she's upstairs a-frisking about.' 3 Down conies Miss Annie as white as milk Her hands before her sewing of silk. He hugged her and kissed her and parried her nails And gave her a girdle of peacocks' tails. 4 Though peacock tails be ever so dear Miss Annie shall have one once a vear. 'Tommy Jones." Contrilmtcd l)y .Miss (iirtrude' .MUmi (later .Mrs. Vaught) from Taylorsville. .Alexander county, in 1023. P L A V - r A K T Y A X 1) DANCE SON C. S 10/ 1 I've been woiuk-rini; all my life Where Toniiny Jones would ,^et him a wife. 2 Up to Mr. Smith's house, so they say. He goes courting night and day. 3 Carries a pistol by his side. Wants Miss Mary for his bride. 4 Up comes Tommy so brave and l)old. Roses in his coat as yellow as gold. 5 'Say, Mrs. Smith, can you say Wliere Miss Mary is today?" 6 "She's not in and she's not out, She's upstairs flirting about.' 7 Down comes Mary all dressed in silk, Roses in her hair as white as milk. 8 Out comes Mrs. Smith, jug in her hand : 'Say, Tommy, won't you have a little dram?' 9 'No, I thank you very kind. Rather have Mary than any of your wine.' 10 Out comes Mr. Smith, club in his hand: 'Run, Tommy, run! I'll kill you if I can!' 'I'm Going to .' Published by John A. Loma.x in the North Caro- lina Booklet, vol. XI, No. I. Clearly a fragment of the same song in another version. 1 I'm going to , an' that will be the place To get Miss Laura, if God'll give me grace 2 Out came Miss Laura all dressed in silk With a rose in her hair as white as milk. 74 The Needle's Eye Our collection has only a fragment of this very widely known play-party song; more properly, a singing game. See the McLendon finding list, SFLQ viii 217. To the references there given should be added Maine (FSONE 43-4) and the Ozarks (OFS 111 351-2). The Archive of American Folk Song has records of it from Vir- ginia, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Washington, D. C. Mrs. Steely found it in the Ebenezer community in Wake county. I08 X () R T H (■ A K 0 I. 1 X A I" () L K L 0 R E 'Needle's Eye.' Contributed, words and music, in 1922 Ijy J. T. C. Wright of Boone, Watauga county. The missing second Hue slT.mld be 'The thread that runs so true." Needle's eye did supply (line missing) Many a beau have I let go For the sake of kissing vou. The Miller Bov This is perliaps the oldest and most widely known of the play- party songs. For English texts see Lady Gonime's Traditional Songs I 289-93 and Northall's English Folk-Rhymes 366. and for references to American texts Botkin's The American Play-Party Song 247-52 and the ]\IcLendon finding list in SFLQ viii 209, adding Virginia (FSV 22/) and the Ozarks (OFS iii 293-5). It is represented in our collection only by the opening stanza. A 'The Miller Boy.' Reported by Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga county, as obtained from Miss Mae Smith. Oh. the miller boy that tends to the mill He takes the toll with his own free will. ( )ne hand in the hopper and the other in the sack — The ladies step forward and the gents fall back. B 'Miller Boy.' From Ethel Brown, Catawba county. Hapi)y is the miller that lives by the mill. The mill ttirns around and gains what it will. Hands in the hopper and hands in the sack — Ladies step forward and the gents step back. c 'Little Johnny .Miller." A manuscript in Dr. Brown's hand, with the query 'G. S. Black?' Tiiis is repeated in another hand with the manu- scrij)! (if tile music. Little Johnnie Milk-r he worked at the mill. He worked all day, no matter what you will. With a hand in the hopper and the other in the sack. The ladies keep a-going while the gents turn back. 76 In and ( )ut the \\'inim)w An old favorite for play-parties. For Kngli.sh texts see Lady ("lonnue's Traditional Songs 11 122-43 and for its vogue in America tlu' .McLcndon tinding list, S1""LQ \-iii 207; and add X'irginia (FSV P I. A Y - I' A R T V A N I) I) A N C K S O N C. S IO9 22S) and tlic Ozarks (01*\S iii 313-14, 336-8). It is also known as "Marchins: round the Levee' (for earlier "Marchins: round the Val- ley'). It appears hut once in our collection. Mrs. Steely found it in the Mhenezer coniniunity in Wake county. "Marching round the Love-Ring.' Reported l)y Dr. Rrown as "played hy grown girls and boys in Buncombe, Madison, and Haywood counties." 1 ( '.(> in and out the window, Chj in and out the window, Go in and out the window, .Since you have gained the day. Chorus: We're marching round the love-ring, We're marching round the love-ring. We're marching round the love-ring, .Since we have gained the day. 2 Step forth and face your lover, Step forth and face your lover. Step forth and face your lover, Since yoti have gained the day. 3 I'll measure my love to show you, I'll measure my love to show you, I'll measure my love to show you, Since you have gained the day. 4 I'll kneel because I love you, I'll kneel because I love you, I'll kneel becatise I love you. Since you have gained the day. 5 ( )ne kiss before I leave you. One kiss before I leave vou. One kiss before I leave you, Since you have gained the day. 77 Shoot the Buffalo This is a fraf,nnent of the sinj^ing game or play-party song so called, which in temper reaches back to early pioneer days. .See Botkin. The American Play-Party Song 308-12. and the McLendon finding list, SFLQ viii 223-4. Randolph reports it from the Ozarks (OFS III 306-9). 'Ohio.' Contributed by Jesse T. Carpenter of Durham with the note : "I think this is a song game. It was sung before the Civil War in the neighborhood around McMannen's Chapel." 1 10 NORTH C A R 0 L I N A F 0 I. K L O R K O my dearest clear, 1 will take you by the hand And I'll lead you to the far off country Where there's a better and fairer land ; Where the girls can knit and sew. Where the boys can plow and mow, And I'll settle you on the banks of that river Ohio. 78 Coffee Grows on White Oak Trees A favorite play-party song pretty much everywhere that play- parties are — or have been — in vogue is made up of three elements: a stanza beginning with the line liere chosen as title, another begin- ning "pretty little pink" (sometimes '"my blue-eyed gal") and an- other beginning "I'll put my knapsack on my back." It goes back to the Mexican War. As Sandburg remarks ( ASb 166) : "a dance song known in Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois became a knapsack and marching tune with Mexican War references." For its range see the McLendon finding list, SFLQ viii 204 and 221, and add to the references there given \'irginia (FSV 219-20) and the Ozarks (OFS III 296-7, 309, 311). Sometimes only two of the elements appear, and sometimes only one. Sometimes New Orleans or Quebec appears in place of Mexico, carrying the reference back to the War of 181 2. 'Daisy.' Communicated by Mildred Peterson of Bladen county, prob- ably in 1923. 1 Coffee grows in the white oak tree, The rivers run with brandy. My little gal is a blue-eyed gal As sweet as any candy. 2 Fly around, my blue-eyed gal. So fly around, my daisy ; Every time I see that gal She almost runs me crazy. 'Song.' Communicated In' LuciUe Cheek from Cliatham county in 1923 or tliereabouts. I The sui^ar grows on a white oak tree, The river flows with brandy, The little girls in Mexico Are sweet as sugar candy. All night long, all night long. V L A V - l" A R T V A X 1) I) A N C E SON C. S 2 The rooster spreads his tail and crows, The jayhird spreads his tail ; The whippoorwill ain't got no tail. But you ought to hear him sing All night long, all night long. c 'Pretty Little Pink." Reported by Ruth Morgan from Stanly county, 1 Pretty little pink, I used to think That you and I would marry. But now I've lost all hopes of that, So farewell, my darling. 2 I'll throw my knapsack on my hack. My rifle on my shoulder. And march away to Mexico To live to be a soldier. 3 Where the coffee grows on the white oak trees And the rivers flow with brandy And the street all lined with five dollar [bills] ^ And the girls as sweet as candy — And the boys as sour as vinegar. 'My Darling Little Pink.' Contributed by J. B. Midgett of Wanchese. Roanoke Island, probably in 1920. With the tune. 1 My darling little Pink. I once did think That you and I would marry ; But now I've lost all hope of love, So I can no longer tarry. 2 I'll take my knapsack on my back, My gun upon my shoulder. And march away to New Orleans To view a pleasant country. 3 Where money grows on white oak trees. The rivers flow with brandy. The streets are paved with radiant gold. And the girls are sweet as candy. E Tretty Little Pink.' From Clara Hearne, student at Duke University in 1923; a version probably from Chatliam county. Like the preceding except that it has "Mexico" instead of "New Orleans" and the last two lines are ' Omitted in the manuscript, doubtless by accident. 112 X O R T II CAROLINA FOLKLORE Where the boys are like a lump of gold, And girls are sweet as candy. F "Song." Contriljuted by Cozette Coble — probably from Stanly county. 1 I take my knapsack on my back. ]\Iy rifle on my shotilder. March away to Mexico Where for and yank a soldier.^ 2 Where the coffee grows on the white oak trees And the river is float brandy,^ Streets are lined with ten dollar bills, And the girls are sweet as candy. G 'I'll Put My Knapsack on My Back.' Contributed in 1914 or there- abouts by Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga county, with the nota- tion : "The above song sung lately by Polly Rayfield, also by Bennett Smith. They heard it over fifty years ago." 1 I'll put my knapsack on my back. My rifle on my shoulder, And march down to New Orleans Just to be a soldier. 2 Where coffee grows on white oak trees And rivers flow with brandy. And ladies' hearts are lined with gold And lips as sweet as candy. No title. Contributed by V. C. Royster in 1914 from Wake county, with the notation that it goes back to times before the Civil War. I'll take my knapsack on my back. My rifle on my shoulder, And march away to old Quebec There for to be a soldier. I No title. From Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga county, in 1915. The same as H except that it has "New Orleans" for "old Queliec." 79 Little Fkhit in Mkxico This memory of the Mexican W ar of a liundn-d years a.^o has retained its place as a play-i>arty sonj^ pretty well in the .South and ^ The first of these lines should perhaps read "There for to be a Yankee soldier"; the second can be understood by reference to preceding te.xts. V LAY- r A U T Y A \ I) I) A N C K S C) N (1 S I I3 West; see the McLemlon tinding list, SFLQ viii 214. Davis re- ports it also from Virginia (FSV 220 J and Randolph from the Ozarks (OFS 111 357-9). Our text, like that remembered by Hud- son from his boyhood in INIississippi (FSM 289;, reverses the atti- tudes of the girl's and the boys in the presence of danger. 'Me.xican War.' Reported by Merle Smitli from Stanly county. Not dated. There was a war in Mexico And all the boys and girls they had to go. Btit when they got to the place where the blood was shed The boys turned back and the gals went ahead. Sing fol dol da, sing fol dol da. 80 Pig in the Parlor One of the most generally known of the play-party songs. See the McLendon finding list, SFLQ viii 220, and add Randolph, OFS III 305-6. Our North Carolina texts are fragmentary. A No title. Communicated by Jessie Hauser from Forsyth county. 1 My father and mother were Irish. My father and mother were Irish, My father and mother were Irish, And I am Irish too. 2 We put the i)ig in the parUn-. We put the pig in the parlor, We put the pig in the parlor, And it is Irish too. B 'My Father and Mother Were Irisli.' From Mildred Peterson. Bladen county. The same as A except that the second stanza has We keep a pig in the kitchen. 'We Have a New Pig in the Parlor." From J. C. Knox, Brunswick county, with the tune. Only two lines, each repeated three times : W^e have a new pig in the parlor and And he is Irish too. X.C.F., Vi.i. III. rio) 1 14 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 8i Buffalo Gals S. Foster Damon (Scries of Old American Songs No. 39) points out that the original form of this is the minstrel song 'Lubly Fan,' the work of Cool White (real name John Hodges), copy- righted in 1844. From this grew 'Bowery Gals,' which was in Christy's repertory. The finally successful form of it, "Buffalo Gals,' was copyrighted (without indication of author or composer) in 1848, and spread all over the country, becoming a favorite play- party song. See Botkin, The American Play-Party Song 150-4 and the McLendon finding list, SFLQ viii 203. Davis reports it also from X'irginia (FSV 243 ) and Randolph from the Ozarks (OFS iii 332-4). Perhaps it was suggested by an old English singing game, 'Pray, Pretty Miss,' known in Scotland, Yorkshire, Sussex, and Cornwall (Gomme 11 65-7), an invitation to dance that has a like catchy rhythm. Any place-name may be substituted for Buffalo. 'Won't You Walk Out Tonight." Contributed some time in the years 1921-24 by Miss Jewell Robbins of Pekin, Montgomery ccninty. With the tune. 1 Oh, Buffalo gals, won't you walk out tonight. Won't you walk out tonight, won't you walk out tonight ? Oh, Buffalo gals, won't you walk out tonight And dance In- the light of the luoon? 2 I kept a-dancin" and my heels kept a-rockin', My heels kept a-rockin', my heels kept a-rockin', I kept a-dancin' and my heels kept a-rockin' Till I danced around the big round moon. B 'Round Town Girls.' Reported by Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga county, in 1915, with the notation: "This was a favorite tune of Ranzo Miller the fife player. I recall hearing him play it on a fife for a sch(X)l entertainment over twenty years ago." Round Town girls, won't you come out tonight, Won't you come out tonight, won't you come out tonight And dance by the light of the moon ? 82 ( )ld Dan Tucker This song of Dan Ennnett's, like some of Stephen Foster's, has become indubitable American folk song. Perhaps because of its rousing chorus, it is a favorite play-party song: the McLendon finding list (SFLQ viii 218-19) has as many entries for it as for 'Weevily Wheat.' Davis reports it also for X'irginia (FSV 154) I' I. A \- - r A R T Y A N I) D A N C IC S O N G S 1 1 5 and KaiKlolph fur tlie Ozarks (OFS in 301-4)- Although none of our North Carohna texts is so marked, it is prohahle that most of them are play-party or dance memories. It has even crept into the tradition of' the Thames valley (FSUT 142-3)- And it has accumulated a wide variety of stanzas in its course as traditional song. Indeed, our thirty-odd North Carolina texts show hardly a trace, beyond the chorus, of the original Emmett text (Damon, Scries of Old American Songs No. 2)7 > fi'0"i a print of 1843 i" the Harris Collection at Brown University), nor nmch more of the fuller text which White (ANFS 446-7) reprints from Marsh's Selection} And texts reported from other regions show variations not found in the North Carolina texts. Some stanzas appear in pretty much all the texts recorded from tradition: others occur less often, though not, apparently, with any regional significance. Since all our texts, if they exceed two stanzas (very many of them consist of a single stanza), are a medley, they are presented here stanza by stanza with notation of their occurrence elsewhere. A 'Ole Dan Tucker.' Reported bv K. P. Lewis as obtained in 1910 from Dr. Kemp P. Battle of Chapel Hill. I Old Dan Tucker, he got drunk. He fell in the fire and kicked up a chunk. A coal of fire got in his shoe. And l)less my soul, honey, how the ashes flew '.- Chorus: Get out the way, old Dan Tucker, Get out the way, old Dan Tucker, Get out the way, old Dan Tucker, You're too late to get your supper.'^ 'The Lomaxes, ABFS 261-2, print still another text as the original Emmett version, but do not say where they found it. " This is one of the persistent stanzas ; not in Damon's or Marsh's text, Init reported from Kentucky (BKH 163, JAFL xl 97), Tennessee (ETWV^JB 140, BTFLS v 31), North Carolina (ABFS 258), South Carolina (JAFL xliv 427, Negroes), Oklahoma ( Botkin APPS 253), the Ozarks (OASPS 151. JAFL xlu 210), Missouri (JAFL xxiv 309), Indiana ( BSl 340), and Nebraska (JAFL xxviii 284). It is also in the versions given in Trifet's Budget of Music and in Ford's Traditiunal Music of Avicrica. And in our collection it is reported by T. J. Gill, Jr., from Durham; Miss Amy Henderson from Burke county; Miss Minnie Brvan Farrior from Duplin county: Miss Katherine Bernard Jones, and 'Miss Dorothy McDowell Vann, from Raleigli ; Miss Mildred Peterson, from Bladen county ; Mrs. W. L. Pridgen, from Durham ; and Miss Irene Thompson, from Surry county. There are slight variations in the wording of some of these. " The chorus shows little variation— none in our texts, but in Ken- tucky (BKH 163), Tennessee (BTFLS v 30), Texas (Owens 39 K the Ozarks (JAFL lu 210), Ohio (JAFL xl 23), Indiana (Wolford 78). and Nebraska (JAFL xxvni 284), and in the Lomaxes' version of Emmett's text the last two lines sometimes run : I l6 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 2 A bullfrog jumped froui the bottom of the well, He jumped so high I could not tell. I tied him fast to a hickory stump. And he reared and he pitched, but he couldn't get a hump.^ 3 Some folks say that a nigger won't steal. But I caught one in my cornfield ; I tied him fast to a knotty pine And gave him with a horsewhip thirty-ninc.- 4 There was a man in Chapel Hill town W ho carried a load of molasses down ; The "lasses worked, and the hoops did bust And sent him home in thundergust.'^ B 'Old Dan Tucker.' Obtained in 1927 by Julian P. Boyd from Minnie Lee, one of his pupils in the school at Alliance, Pamlico county. 1 Old Dan Tucker was a grand old sinner. He never said grace till he went to his dinner. Then he hung his head, and laughed, and said: 'Lord Jesus Christ, what a big pone of bread \'^ 2 Old Dan Tucker clam a tree His Lord and Saviour for to see. The limb did break and he did fall ; He never saw his Lord at all !"' 3 0\(\ Dan Tucker saw a hole in a hollow tree And run [his] bill in there to see. A snake slipped down and caught him by the bill; Says "Please, good Lord, do keep him still !'" Supper's over and breakfast's a-cookin' And old Dan Tucker's standin' and lookin' or the like. ^ This stanza is reminiscent of 'The Frog in the Well.' I have not found it elsewhere associated with 'Old Dan Tucker.' " This stanza from 'Some Folks Say that a Nigger Won't Steal' — sec p. 508 — is nowhere else, so far as I can find, associated with "Old Dan Tucker." ■'This stanza, clearly a local adaptation of "I.ynchlnirg Town,' is not elsewhere brought into our song. * The first half of this stanza is in Trifet's text, and the whole of it constitutes an anonymous text in our collection; otherwise I have not found it. ■"' This occurs as a stanza of "Old Dan Tucker' in Kentucky (J.AFL xl 96), North Carolina (ABFS 260). Oklahoma (Botkin APPS 263), and Indiana (BSI 349) ; not elsewhere, so far as I can find. " This is one of the few bits of the original song that appear in our P L A Y - P A K T Y A N D 1) A N C K S 0 N G S I IJ c 'Old Dan Tucker.' Contributed by Katherine Bernard Junes of Raleigh. Not dated. 1 Old Dan Tiicker was a tine old fellow Hut he would play cards with the ueLjroes in the cellar.^ 2 1 went over heeple steeple. There I saw a good many people ; Soiue were white, some were hlack, And some were the color of an old chaw tobacco. - 3 ( )ld 1 )an Tucker he got drunk ; Fell in the hre and kicked up a chunk. Coal of fire got in his shoe ; Ha, ha, ha. how his coat-tail flew!'* D No title. From Miss Dorothy McDowell \'ann, Raleigh. 1 Old Dan Tucker was a mean old man, Washed his face in the frying pan, Coiuljed his hair with a wagon wheel, Died with the toothache in his heel. 2 Old Dan Tucker he got drunk, Fell in the fire and kicked up a chunk ; A red-hot coal got in his boot, And old Dan Tucker went toot, toot, toot.^ collection. It is a corruption of the fourth stanza of tlie song in the original text and the seventh stanza of Marsh's text as reprinted by White. None of the other texts found has it. ^ This appears as stanza 2 of the Negro song 'Captain Dime' (Talley 5), in a Kentucky text (JAFL xl 97), and as part of a stanza in our collection contributed by Esther Royster from Vance county ; not found elsewhere. - Another remnant of the earlier form of the song. It is not in Em- mett's text as given by Damon but it is the sixth stanza of Marsh's text as given by White (ANFS 447) — where, however, the rhyme is better: Some was black, an some was blacker. Some was de color ob brown tobacur. It is really a riddle and not properly a part of 'Old Dan Tucker.' It has been reported from Ontario (JAFL xxxi 43), Kentucky (JAFL XXVI 152), North Carolina (JAFL xxx 202), and Indiana (Wolford 78 — the last two lines only). ^ Already noted under A. " For the second stanza see under A, above. Tlie first stanza is prob- ably the most widely known of all, especially at play-parties. There is nothing of the sort in Emmett's text as given t)y Danujn ( thougli it is in what the Lomaxes, ABFS 262, give as Emmett's form of the song) or in Marsh's or Trifet's; but it appears in Ford's Midwest version and in reports from Ontario (JAFL xxxi 61, 152), Kentucky (BKH 163. JAFL XL 97), Tennessee (JAFL xxvni 132, BTFLS v 30), North Il8 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE E No title. Contributed by Louise Bennett, Middleburg, Vance county. Old Dan Tucker singing for his supper. What shall he eat ? Cold bread and meat. How shall he eat it without a knife ? How shall he marry without a wife?^ 'Old Dan Tucker.' Obtained by Dr. J. F. Royster from William C. Daubken of the class of IQ15 at the University of North Carolina. 1 Old Dan Tucker he got drunk. Fell in the fire and kicked out a chunk ; Combed his hair with a wagon wheel. Died with the toothache in his heel. Refrain: O run, nigger, run, the patteroller ketch ye, Run. nigger, rim. it's almost day. 2 Old Dan Tucker an' er Henry Clay They went to ride in a one-horse shay ; Shay it broke an' they fell through. Old Dan Tucker an' er Henry Clay. 83 Yonder Comes a Georgia Girl This belongs to the general type of love songs represented by 'Knights of Spain,' 'Here Comes a Duke,' etc. in Newell's Games and Songs of American Cliildren, but it is not in Newell or Botkin or the McLendon finding list. It is, however, reported as a play- party song from Virginia by Davis (FSV 228). Carolina (ANFS 161, Negroes), Texas (Owens 40), the Ozarks (OASPS 151, JAFL XLH 210). Missouri (JAFL xxiv 310). bidiana (Wolford 78, BSI 340, 341), Illinois (JAFL xxxn 489), Michigan (JAFL xxxni 116), Nebraska (JAFL xxv 273. xxvni 384), and Idaho (JAFL XLiv 16). And it appears sixteen times in our collection, fre- quently as the only stanza remembered, in contritnitions from Gertrude Allen (Mrs. Vaught), Oakboro, Stanly county; Antoinette Beasley, Monroe, Union county ; Caroline Biggers, Union county ; Lucille Cheek, Chatham county; J. T. Gill. Jr., Durham; Minnie S. Gosney, Raleigh; Amy Henderson, Worry, Burke county ; Lois Johnson, Davidson county ; Flossie Marshl)anks, Mars Hill, Madison county; Lida Page, Durham county; Mrs. W. H. Pridgen, Durliam ; Esther Royster, Vance county; Irene Thompson, Surry county ; Louise F. Watkins, Goldsboro, Wayne county ; Sarah K. Watkins, reporting from Anson and Stanly counties. ^ This stanza, evidently a reminiscence of 'Little Tommy Tucker,' appears in connection with our song, so far as I have found, only in Botkin's Oklahoma texts (Botkin 262). P L A Y - P A R T Y A N 1) I) A N C K S O N G S 1 19 'Yonder Comes a Georgia Girl.' Contributed by Mrs. Peggy Perry of Silverstone, Watauga county, in 1915, witli tlie notation: "Heard as a play-song over sixty years ago." 1 Yonder comes a (k'()r<;ia i^irl. Don't she look funny ? She's got on a roundabout Without a cent of money. 2 Once I could have married you. Once I could, my honey. \\'hen you wore your roundabout With a pocket full of money. 84 Captain Jinks This seenis {Weep Some More, My Lady 47) to have got its start from the singing of William Lingard, apparently in the seventies. There was a play of the same name. The song was sung all over the country and became a play-party song; see the McLendon find- ing list, SFLQ VIII 203 : and MAFLS xxix 23-4, 30. Our col- lection has one stanza and chorus from Miss Florence Holton of Durham, and a fragment reported by T. J. Gill, Jr. I'm Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines, I feed my horse on corn and beans And sport young ladies in their teens Though a captain in the army. I teach young ladies how to dance. How to dance, how to dance, I teach young ladies how to dance, For I'm the pet of the army. Chorus: Captain jinks of the Horse Marines. I feed my horse on corn and beans. And often live beyond my means. Though I'm a captain in the arm\-. 85 Hop Light. Ladies Perrow (JAFL xxviii 184) found this sung by country whites in Virginia and Mississippi, not more than two couplets in either place. Davis reports it from Virginia (FSV 249) and Randolph (OFS II 323) as part of a text of 'Jump Jim Crow' in Missouri. 1 20 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE A 'Hop Light, Ladies." From Aliss Jewell Robbins, Pekin. Montgomery county, in 1922. Hop light, ladies, yo' cake's all dough. Hop light, ladies, yo' cake's all dough. Hop light, ladies, yo' cake's all dough. You needn't mind the weather so the wind don't hlow. No title. From Miss Louise Bennett. Vance county. Walk light, ladies, de cake's all do', Neber min' de weder so de wind don't blow. 86 Old Joe Clark Essentially this is a play-party or dance song. See Randolph's headnote to his Missouri texts, JAFL xlii 221, and to those from Arkansas and Missouri, OFS iii 324. Botkin's study of its relation to other song texts in Tlie American Play-Party Song 269-72, and the McLendon finding list, SFLQ viii 219. The refrain, and very likely the tune, have drawn to it stanzas from a variety of other songs. Payne, commenting on his Texas version (PFLST i 32), says a dance-caller once told him there are one hundred and forty- four verses of it ; and Botkin calls it "this vigorously and fabulously vulgar epic." It is widelv known in the South: Virginia (SharpK 11 259, FSV 244-5), West Virginia (FSS 495). Kentucky ( DD 106-7), Tennessee ( TAFL xxv 152, BTFLS v 23), North Caro- lina (SCSM 65, ANFS 337), Mississippi (JAFL xxv 152), Texas (PFLST I 32-4, Owens 56-61), Oklahoma (Botkin 272-85), Arkan- sas and Missouri (see above); Brewster (SFLQ iv 192-3) reports it from Indiana; the Archive of American Folk Song lists thirty- seven records of it from a variety of places. Mrs. Steely found it in the Ebenezer community in Wake county. It seems not to be known in New England. The Brown Collection has two texts illustrating the tendency to attach to it stanzas from other songs, and three shorter versions. A 'Old Joe Clark.' Cuntrilnitcd in i<),V) by Otis Kuykendall (if .\slieville. I Now I've got no money. Got no place to stay, I've got no place to lay my head. And the chickens a-crowin' for day. Chorus: Fare you well, old Joe Clark, Fare you well, 1 say, PL AY -PARTY AND DANCE SONGS 121 Fare you well, old Joe Clark, I'm goin' away to stay. 2 I wish I had a nickel, I wish I had a dime, I wish I had a pretty little girl To kiss and call her mine. 3 I don't like old Joe Clark, I'll tell you the reason why : He goes about the country A-steaHn' good men's wives. 4 I went down to old Joe Clark's, I did not mean no harm ; He grabbed his old forty-four And shot me through the arm. 5 Old Joe Clark's a mean old man. I'll tell you the reason why : He tore down my old rail fence So his cattle could eat my rye. 6 I went down to old Joe Clark's, I found old Joe in bed ; I stuck my finger in old Joe's eye And killed old Joe stone dead. 7 I wouldn't marry that old maid, I'll tell you the reason why: Her neck's so long and stringy I'm afraid she'll never die. 8 I went down to Dinah's house. She was standin' in the door With her shoes and stockings in her hand And her feet all over the floor. 9 Yonder sits a turtle dove. Sitting on yonder pine ; You may weep for your true love And I shall weep for mine. B 'Old Joe Clark.' From the manuscripts of G. S. Robinson of Asheville, copy taken in August, 1939. This text uses few of the elements used in A. I Old Joe Clark he killed his wife. Threw her in the branch ; Going to be hung as sure as your life, Ain't no other chance. 122 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Clwrus: Fare thee well, old Joe Clark, Fare thee well. 1 say, Fare thee well, old Joe Clark, I'm going away to stay. 2 1 don't like old Joe Clark, I never think I shall. I don't like old Joe Clark, But I always liked his gal. 3 Old Joe Clark was a mean old man, I'll tell you the reason why : Ran across my garden plot And tore down my rye. 4 I went up on the mountain top To give my horn a blow. I thought I heard my sweetheart say 'Yonder comes my beau.' 5 If I had no horse at all I'd be found a-crawling Up and down the rocky branch Looking for my darling. 6 The possum in the simmon tree. The raccoon on the ground ; The raccoon said. 'You rascal, you. Shake them simmons down.' 7 The jayl)ird in the sugar tree. The sparrow on the ground ; The jaybird shake the sugar down. The sparrow passed it round. 8 The jaybird and the s])arr()whawk They fly all round together. Had a fight in the briar patch And never lost a feather. 9 The jaybird died with the wlnxipiiig cough. The sparrow with tlie colic. Along came a terrajjin with a fiddle on his back Inquiring the way to the frolic. c 'Rock, Rock. Old Joe Clark." Rf])<)rted by Miss Jt-wcU Kohbins (after- wards Mrs. C. P. Perdue) from Pekin, Montgomery county, some time in the period 1021-24. With tlie tune. P LAY- V A R T V AND I) A N C E SONGS I23 1 If you see that s^irl o' iniiie when you go, Tell her, it you please. Tell 'er, 'fo' she makes u\) doui^h To roll uj) her dirty sleeves. Chorus: Rock. rock, old Joe Clark, Cjoodhye. Betty Brown ; Rock, rock, old Joe Clark, Goodbye, Betty Brown. 2 Taylor wears a roundabout. So does all the rest ; John Henderson wears a long-tailed sack And I lo\e him the best. 3 Farewell, my true love, Farewell, I'm gone. Farewell, old Joe Clark ; Goodbye, Betty Brown. D 'Old Joe Clark." This text was supplied by G. S. Block, but the manu- script has no indication of time or place. It is accompanied by the music. 1 Never liked the old Joe Clark, Don't think I ever shall ; Never liked the old Joe Clark, Always liked his gal. Chorus: Round and round the old Joe Clark, Round and round, I say. Round and round the old Joe Clark, Ain't got long to stay. 2 Fare you well, old Joe Clark, Fare you well, Fm gone. Fare you well, you old Joe Clark, Goodbye, Lucy Long. 'Old Joe Clark." 01)tained l)y Dr. llrown from Eugene C. Crawford. a student at Trinity College; no notation of date or place of origin. Dr. White points out that the first stanza comes from the Jolin Hardy song, and suggests that the "rock, rock" of the chorus refers to tlie old dance of 'Rock Candy," concerning which see ANFS 162. I I don't want no fifteen cents, I don't want no change. 124 -'^' " K T H CAROLINA FOLKLORE All I want is a forty-four gun, Shoot John Hardy through the hrain. Chorus: Rock, rock, old Joe Clark, Rock, rock, I say, Rock, rock, old Joe Clark, Rock, rock, I say. 2 Last time I saw my wife She was standing in the door ; Shoes and stockings in her hand And harefoot all over the floor. 3 If you see my wife Tell her, if you please, To roll up those dirty sleeves Before she make of her dough. 87 What's the Lady's ^NfoTTON? This game song appears to have been reported hitherto only from Virginia (JAFL xxxiv 119). 'Monkey Motions' (TNFS 133) is something like it but not the same song. 'Skip o'er the Mountain.' Reported in 1927 by Julian P. Boyd from the singing of Catherine Bennett, one of his pupils in the school at Alliance, Pamlico county. The first line and the refrain are repeated with each stanza. 1 Skip o'er the mountain, Tra-la-la-la-la, Skip o'er the mountain, Tra-la-la-la-la. Ski]) o'er the mountain, Tra-la-la-la-la, Oh, she loves sugar and cheese 1 2 What's the lady's motion? Oh, she loves sugar and cheese! 3 It's a very lovely motion. Oh, she loves sugar and cheese! 4 Yonder goes a red-hird. Oh. she loves sugar and cheese! PLAY -PARTY AND DANCE SONGS 1 25 88 The Farmer's Boy This romance of farm life is well known in England both tra- ditionally and in stall print and has been reported in this country from Vermont, Virginia, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Wyoming; see BSM 272 and add to the references there given Virginia (FSV 71-2), Missouri (OFS i 426-7), Wisconsin (JAFL Lii ij), and Iowa (JAFL liv 172). It is known also in Michigan (BSSM 479, listed but text not given). The texts in the North Carolina collection are so closely alike that only one is given here. It appears from Mrs. Sutton's account of it that it is a play-party song in Caldwell and adjoining counties. She writes: " "The Farm- er's Boy' is a grand tune for twistification. The good dancers can stamp hard on the o sounds in the chorus. A group of boys and girls singing 'For to reap or to mow, or to plow or to sow, or to be a farmer's boy' and dancing an old English dance is a pretty sight. 'Twistification' is a modified form of an intricate old dance 'The Grapevine Swing.' It takes skill and the figures are pretty." Our four texts : A 'The Farmer's Boy.' Contributed, without date but probably in 191 5 or 1916, by I. G. Greer of Boone. Watauga county. With the music. B 'The Farmer's Boy.' From Miss Averie M. Martin. Text given below. C 'The Farmer Boy.' Collected for Professor E. L. Starr of Salem College, Winston-Salem; probably in 1915. D 'The Farmer's Boy.' Collected, probably in the early 1920s, by Mrs. Sutton in Caldwell county. With the music. 1 The sun had set behind the hill When across the dreary moor. All weary and lame, a poor bo}' came Up to a farmer's door. 'Can you tell me if any there be Who'll give to me employ. For to plow or to sow. or to reap or to mow. ( )r to be a farmer's boy ? 2 'My father's dead, my mother's left With her five children small. And what is worse for my mother yet I'm the eldest of them all. Though little I be I fear not work, If you will me employ For to plow or to sow, or to reap or to mow Or to be a farmer's boy.' 126 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 3 'W'f'll try the lad' the farmer said. 'No longer let him seek.' 'Oh, yes. dear father.' the daughter cried While tears ran down her cheeks. 'I<"or a lad who'll work 'tis hard to want ( )r to wander for employ For to plow or to sow. or to reap or to mow. Or to he a farmer's boy.' 4 In the course of time the lad grew up And the good old farmer died. Me left for the lad the farm he had And his daughter for a bride. And that same lad who is a farmer now Doth often smile with joy On the lucky, lucky day when he came that way For to be a farmer's boy. 89 Sally Goodix This seems to be a plav-party or dance sons^. It is sung in Vir- ginia (FSV 249), Kentucky (BKH 158), Tennessee (ETWVMB 98), Mississippi (JAFL xxxix 168), and Missouri (JAFL xlii 227-8, OFS II 350-1), and Ford (Traditional Music of America 64) reports it as a square-dance song. What appear to be frag- ments of it, dealing with "pie" and "pudding," are reported also from INIissouri (JAFL xxiv 313, where Mrs. Ames calls it a song used in kissing games), and a Negro version of 'Miss Mary Jane' from South Carolina (TNFS 117) says that "Sally got a house in Baltimo' an' it's full o' chicken pie." Compare also texts E and F of 'Wish I Had a Needle and Tln-ead' in this volume. Because of this apparent connection certain North Carolina fragments are here presented although they do not include Sally's name. A No title. This appears in the collection as 'from Mother (ioosc i)i the Ocarks, by Ray Wood,' and so is not proi)crly North Carolina folk song ; but it was probably iiichulcd by Dr. Brown because be know it in North Carolina. 1 Tlad a ])iece of pie. I lad a piece of puddin', (iave it all away To see .Sally (loodin. 2 1 looked down the road, .Saw .Sally coniin' : I thought to my soul I'd kill myself a-runnin'. P L A Y - P A R T V AND DANCE S 0 N c; S I27 B 'Sally Goodin.' Reported by Thomas Smith of Zionville, presumably in 1915, as a dance song for fiddle and banjo, with the comment: "The only verse so far as I can learn of this old tune. It was played by lifers in the Confederate Army. 1 am told one of these old fifers, L. D. .Miller, who lives near Zionville, can yet play this tune. Sally Goodin has also been long time a favorite with fiddlers and banjo i)ickers." Later the tune was secured as sung by a cousin in Silverstone. I love a peach pie and I love a tater ptuUHn' And I love that gal they call Sallv (ioodin. 'Hunks of Pudding and Pieces of Pie.' Rejxjrted by Miss Adelaide L. Fries of Winston-Salem in 1926 as "traditional in our family." Hunks of ptiddin' and pieces of pie IVly nianiniy gave nie when I was a boy ; If you don't believe, then come and see W'hat hunks of puddin' and pieces of pie, Hunks of puddin' and pieces of pie IMy mammy ga\e me when I was a boy. D 'Had a Pie.' Reported by Mrs. Doris Overton Brim of Durham, prob- ably in 1922, as a nursery rhyme. Had a pie Made out of rye, Rough enough and tough enough, More than all can eat. 'The Jaybird and the Sparrow.' Contributed by W. E. Poovey of Marion, McDowell county, in 1924. This is, as Dr. White notes on the manuscript, "probably a stanza of 'Sally Goodin.' " The jaybird and the sparrow went down in the field together. They had a fight in the brier patch and never lost a feather. Refrain: Old Sally Goodin, you can't fool me, Old Sally Goodin, you can't fool me. 90 Doctor Jones Known also in Kentucky (SharpK ii 368). Dr. Brown reports it as "a game played by grown boys and girls in Madison Countv. N. C, on Paw-Paw Creek, between Little and Big Pine Creeks?' 128 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 1 Dr. Jones is a good man, a good man, a good man; Dr. Jones is a good man, he'll help whoever he can. 2 Ladie*; and gentlemen, sail around, sail around, sail around ; Ladies and gentlemen, sail aroimd. and kiss just who you please. 3 Spider in the dumpling, roll around, roll around, roll around, Spider in the dumpling, roll around, roll around and roll. 91 She Loves Coffee and I Love Tea This is rather a phrase, a line, or a stanza that may be put into a song than an independent song itself. It probably derives from an English nursery jingle (Halliwell 86) "I love coffee and Billy loves tea." It has been found in North Carolina (SharpK 11 383, as a play-party song), South Carolina (JAFL xxvii 253, in a Negro dance song), Mississippi (JAFL xxviii 186), the Ozarks (JAFL XLii 219-20, as a play-party song), Indiana (SFLQ iii 174, as a rope-skipping chant) ; it appears without precise localiza- tion in Negro dance songs (Talley 81, 84-5) ;^ Winifred Smith of Vassar College reports it as a jumping rhyme (JAFL xxxix 84) ; Mrs. Richardson (AMS 53) gives it as the final stanza of 'The Keys of Canterbury,' i.e., 'A Paper of Pins,' as sung in the South- ern mountains. Although in several of these instances it appears in play-party or dance songs, it is not recognized as a play-party song either in Botkin's study or in the McLendon finding list; probably because it is merely an element in the songs, not a song by itself. It appears in two forms in our collection. 'I Love Coffee, I Love Tea.' From Miss Doris Overton of Durliam in July 1922. 1 love coffee, I love tea, I love the boys, and the boys love me. Wish my mama would hold her tongue; She loved the boys when she was ycjung. 'I Love Coffee, I Love Tea.' From Mrs. W. L. Pridgcn, Durham. The same as A. ' A couplet couinuuiicatcd l)y Cousor, Bishopsville, South Caro- lina, sIkjws that it lias i)asscf! into the repertory of the Carolina Negroes: I drink coffee and she drinks tea, I love a yaller gal and she loves me. PL AY -PARTY AND UANCE SONGS I29 c No title. From Allie Ann Pcarce, Colerain, Bertie county. 'I'lie same as A and B. D 'I Love Coffee, I Love Tea.' From Carl G. Kno.x, Durliam. The first four lines as above and then these two : 1 wi.sh my i)apa would do the same, For he eau.sed a girl to change her name. 'Me and JMy Sister, We Fell Out.' From Carl G. Knox of Durham, the same who supplied D ; but the text is quite different : Me and my sister, we fell otit. What was it all about ? She loved coffee, and I loved tea ; That's the reason we couldn't agree. 92 I Do Love Sugar in My Coffee O This seems to be no more than a refrain, and a tmie, to which various matter may be attached. I have found it reported else- where from Tennessee (BTFLS v 32-3), Iowa (JAFL xxviii 281), and as Negro song not localized (Talley 30). A 'I Do Like Sugar in My Coffee.' Contributed in 1915 by Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga county, as a "dance song — fiddle and banjo." He says it "was played and sung thirty or thirty-one years ago by a fiddler named Jehiel Smith who lived on Sharp's Creek." I do like licker and I will love a dram. I'd ruther he a nigger than a pore white man. Chorus: I do like sugar in my coffee O x\nd I do like sugar in my coffee O Black man stole the white man's wife. White man struck him with a barlow knife. B 'A Little More Sugar in My Coffee.' Communicated by Mrs. Sutton (then Miss Maude Minish) in 1923 from the singing (and banjo play- ing) of "a typical story-book mountaineer" apparently in Caldwell county. "He has blue-black hair, snappy black eyes, a debonair manner and a devilisli smile, and how he can play the banjo!" There are two copies among her papers. Tlie longer is given here, with notes of its variations from the other. The tune was taken down by Miss Vivian Blackstock. N.C.F., Vol. Ill, (11) 130 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 1 The rahhit hipped, tlie rabbit hopped, The rabbit bit off the turnip top. I do love sugar in my coffee O 1 do love sugar in ni}- coffee O. 2 I do love licker and 1 will take a dram. 'Druther be a nigger than a pore white man. I do love etc. 3 I'll make my licker and I'll have my fun. But I'll run like hell when the Revenues come. I do love etc. The shorter text has "I do want sugar" in the refrain the first time, "a little more sugar" the second time ; and it lacks the third stanza. 93 Pop Goes the Weasel This old favorite dance and play-party song — perhaps one should say tune — is represented in our collection by but a single stanza. For its vogue as a play-party song, see the McLendon finding list, SFLQ VIII 221 ; for its history see the headnote to Randolph's Ozarks texts (OFS iii 368). Davis reports it as a Civil War song in Virginia (FSV 251). Our stanza appears in one of Davis's texts and in a text from the Midwest, Ford's Traditional Music of America 412. But the whooping cough seems to have some special appeal to the fancy of singers in the South ; see 'The Jay- bird' in this volume. 'Papa Has Got the Whooping Cough.' Contributed by H. F. Shaw from "the eastern part of North Carolina." Not dated. Papa has got the whooping cough. Ma, she's got the measles ; That's where all the money goes — Pop ! goes the weasel. 94 Turkey in the Straw A general favorite. See Botkin 335-6 and the McLendon finding list, SFLQ VIII 226. Randolph reports it from the Ozarks (OFS II 353-5) with an informative headnote. 'Turkey in the Straw.' Contributed by Aliss Kate S. Russell of Rox- boro, Person county, probably in 1923. With the music. Did you ever go a-fishing On a bright sinnmer day. See the little fishes Come out to play, P L A Y - 1' A R T Y AND DANCE SONGS I3I \\ ith their i)ants in their pockets And their pockets in their pants? Did you ever see the ladies Do their hoochv-koochy (kmce ? 95 We're All A-Singing This seems to be a mimetic singing game. The "dodging" of the last two lines belongs to a popular satirical song, reported by Davis from Virginia (FSV 155) and by Randolph from Arkansas (OFS III 218), and found also in our collection, pp. 387-9, below. 'Oh, We're All A-Singing, A-Sing-Sing-Singing.' From the manuscript songbook of Airs. Harold Glasscock of Raleigh, lent to Dr. White in December 1943. Most of the songs in the book Mrs. Glasscock learned from her parents. 1 Oh, we're all a-singing, a-sing-sing-singing. Oh, we're all a-singing so happy and so gay ; We open wide oiu- lips with a soft fa fa, And merrily we skip o'er the fra la la la, Oh, we're all a-singing so happy and so gay. 2 Oh, we're all a-weaving, a-weave-weave-weaving, Oh, w-e're all a-weaving so happy and so gay ; The shuttle in our hand we send with a glide And through the goods it goes with a stride-stride-stride ; Oh, we're all a-weaving so happy and so gay. 3 Oh, we're all a-sewing, a-sew-sew-sewing. Oh, we're all a-sewing so happy and so gay. The needle in our hand we stitch-stitch-stitch And through the goods it goes with a switch-switch-switch, Oh, we're all a-sewing so happy and so gay. 4 Oh, we're all a-sawing, a-saw-saw-sawing. Oh, we're all a-sawing so happy and so gay ; The saw up and down we push-push-push And through the wood it goes with a swish-swish-swish ; Oh, we're all a-sawing so happy and so gay. 5 Oh, we're all a-dodging. a-dodge-dodge-dodging, Oh, we're all a-dodging so happy and so gay. . . . 96 The Dolly-Play Song Not a play-party, i.e., dance song but a singing game of little girls. 'Early Sunday Morning,' reported from Virginia (SharpK II 373)) is similar but has no dolls. 132 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 'The Dolly Play Song.' Contributed by \\'. N. Vaughan, student at Trinity College, probably in 1920 or thereabouts. The fifth stanza is in Dr. Brown's hand, possibly procured from elsewhere. 1 Here we come with our dollies dear. Dollies dear, dollies dear ; Here we come with our dollies dear. And we're their little mothers. 2 This is the way we comb their hair. Comb their hair, comb their hair; This is the way we comb their hair. For we're their little mothers. 3 This is the way we dress our dolls, Dress our dolls, dress our dolls ; This is the way we dress our dolls, For we're their little mothers. 4 This is the way we rock them to sleep. Rock them to sleep, rock them to sleep ; This is the way we rock them to sleep. For we're their little mothers. 5 This is the way we put them to bed. Put them to bed, put them to bed ; This is the way we put them to bed. For we're their little mothers. 6 Here we come with our dollies dear. Dollies dear, dollies dear ; Here we come with our dollies dear And we're their little mothers. 97 Uncle Joe Cut Off His Toe 'i'his title is chosen because the stanza to which it belongs seems to have a certain currency independent of the rest of the A text. Stanza 4 suggests that the A text niiglit be reckoned a form of 'Liza Jane' — which is a song of very indefinite content. Most of its stanzas are found in other contexts; stanza i commonly with "raccoon" instead of "'squirrel," as in "De Raccoon Has a Bushy Tail.' which see; stanza 2 as part of a square-dance song (Ford's Traditional Music of America 29) ; stanza 3 as a separate item. 'If I Had a Scolding Wife'; stanza 5 is substantially the same as a bit of Negro song reported by Pcrrow from Mississippi (JAFL XXVI 126) ; stanza 7 is but a slight variation of the second stanza of 'Tlie Jaybird' A and D in our collection. See also White, ANFS 234-6, and Davis, FSV 152. The chorus (which appears as the P 1. A V - 1- A R T Y A X I) I) A X C I". S () N V. S I33 last stanza in A) is known also in Arkansas and 'I'exas (TNFS 153-4). Probably, altboujjh tlie contributors do not say so, the whole thing was sung as a play-party, i.e., dance song. A 'Song.' Contributed by Elsie Doxcy of Currituck county as sung in western North Carolina. 1 The scitiir'l he has a btishy tail. The posstini's tail is bare. The rabbit has no tail at all But a little bit of hair. 2 The raccoon up a chestnut tree, The possum in the holler, A purty girl at our house As fat as she can waller. 3 Ef I had a scolding wife I'd lick her sho's yo' bawn ; I'd take her down to New Orleans En trade her off for cawn. 4 Git erlong, Liza, Git erlong, Liza Jane ; I don't keer wherever yoti go Jes' so you come back ergain. 5 Once I had an old gray mule ; 'Member day she wuz bawn. Ever' tooth that ol' mule had Would hold a barrel of cawn. 6 Apples in the spring-time. Peaches in the fall ; Ef I can't get the one I want I won't have none a-tall. 7 Jay bird sitting on a hickory limb \\'inked at me, I winked at him ; Up with my gun and let her go An' knocked her plumb to Mexico. 8 Uncle Joe cut oft' his toe And hung it up to dry ; And all the girls began to laugh And Joe began to cry. 9 Rock the cradle, rock the cradle, Rock the cradle, Joe. Rock the cradle, rock the cradle, Rock the cradle, Joe. 1 34 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE B 'Peaches in the Summer Time.' Contributed by W. B. Covington, with the notation: 'Sung anywhere in X. C, but first heard in Scotland countj'. Tliis is one of those never ending songs." But all that he set down is a form of stanza 6 of A and the start of another stanza. Peaches in the summer time. Apples in the fall ; If I can't get the gal I want I won't have none at all. Cabbage in the summer time, Collards in the fall. . . . c 'Old Uncle Joe Cut Off His Toe.' Reported by S. AI. Davis of White Hall on the Neuse River as a nursery rhyme : "A song my mother's old nurse used to sing her to sleep by." 1 Uncle Joe cut off his toe And hung it up to dry ; The ladies began to laugh And Joe began to cry. Clionts: Rock the cradle, rock the cradle, Rock the cradle, Joe. 'I will not rock, I shall not rock, For the baby is not mine.' 2 My wife is sick, my wife is sick. My wife is sick abed. You hateful Reb, you hateful Reb, There's whiskey in your head. The first stanza of C is reported by K. P. Lewis of Durham as sung in iQio l)y Dr. Kemp P. Battle of Chapel Hill. 'Uncle Joe Cut Off His Toe.' The same stanza reported by Fairley, a student at Duke University. Locale and date not noted. 98 ( )H. L()\i:i:y. Co.mk This W'.w Despite the mention of tlie ])reacher, the church, and the devil, this seems to be rather a play-jjarty sonti; than a spiritual. I have not found it elsewhere. 'Oh, Lovely, Come llus Way.' Contributed by Miss Pearle Webb, Pineola, Avery county, in 1922. The first line of each couplet and of the chorus is rejK'ated three times, making a four-line stanza. PLAY-PARTY AND DANCK SONGS I35 1 1 had an old shoe, it had no heel, I had an old shoe, it had no heel, I had an old shoe, it had no heel, I looked like a i)i"eacher with a mouthful of meal. Clwrits: Oh, lovely, come this way, Oh, lovely, come this way, Oh, lovely, come this way. Never let the wheels of the church roll away. 2 I had an old shoe, it had no sole, I looked like a terrapin a-going to his hole. 3 Whip old Satan round the stump, To hear his heart go flumpety flump. 4 I had an old ox, I led him to the well, He stumped his toe and in he fell. 5 Devil in the meal sack shaking out the bran, He will get you if he can. 6 I had an old horse, he was white as snow ; I rode him every w4iere I'd go. 7 Had an old banjo hanging on the wall ; It hasn't been tuned since away last fall. 8 Granny's pup treed the devil in a stump ; I heard his heart go flumpety flump. 99 The Duke of York This old English singing game or jingle (Gomme i 121-2, Halli- well 12, Northall 98-9) is known everywhere, especially to college students. It is recorded as traditional song in Pennsylvania (NPM 195) and North Carolina (OSSG 41); otherwise collectors have not thought it worth while to report it. 'The Duke of York.' Contributed by the Misses Holeman of Durliani in July 1922. The noble Duke of York He had three thousand men. He marched them up the hill one day And then marched them down again. And when he was up he was up. And when he was down he was down, But when he was only half-way up He was neither up nor down. 1 36 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 100 I'll Tell Your Daddy These two stanzas look as if they might be fragments of a play- party song, but they are not so described by the contributor. The first of them is reported as the chorus of a mimetic play song of children in Cincinnati (JAFL xl 16). See also Davis (FSV 149) and Randolph (OFS iii 315-16). 'John, John, John.' Sent in by Julian P. Boyd as obtained in 1927 from Minnie Lee, pupil in the school at Alliance, Pamlico county. 1 John, John, John, I'll tell your daddy, John, John, John, I'll tell your daddy, John, John. John, I'll tell your daddy. So early in the morning. 2 The blue-eyed gal is dead and gone. The blue-eyed gal is dead and gone. The blue-eyed gal is dead and gone. So early in the morning. lOI I Want to Go to Baltimore Altha Lea McLendon's finding list for play-party songs (SFLQ VIII 202) cites several texts of a song called 'Baltimore,' but none of them is much like our North Carolina fragment. William A. Owens (Sun'ng and Turn 22) says of his Texas form of it that "this song seems to be a variant of the old bawdy song 'Baltimore,' which is still sung by certain persons of low repute." 'I Want to Go to Baltimore.' Reported by Mrs. W. L. Pridgen of Durham in 1923. I want to go to Baltimore, I want to go to France, I want to go to Baltimore To see the ladies dance. 102 Poor Little Laura Lee Perrow (JAFL xxviii 175-7) gives versions of this song ob- tained from mountain whites in North Carolina, Tennessee, Ken- tucky, and Mississippi and from Negroes in Mississippi. It is a hodgepodge of stanzas trailing off into the 'I wouldn't marry' theme: but there is no doubt that our A version is a form of it. Our other text is connected with it only by the name 'Laura Lee' and the mention of the yellow girl, who appears in one of Perrow's stanzas. .Stanza 2 of A seems to be a reminiscence of 'CoiYee Grows on White Oak Trees,' but the contributors do not say either piece is used as a i)lay-party song. r I. A V - r A R T Y AND DANCE SONGS I37 A 'Laura Lee.' Contributed hy Clara Hcarnc of Pittsl)oro, Cliatliani county, in or about 1022. 1 Poor little Laura Lee gal. Poor little Laura Lee gal. Poor little Laura Lee gal, Do pray remember me. 2 Rifle on my shoulder, Banjo on my knee. Poor little Laura Lee gal. Do pray remember me. B 'Up the Lane and Down the Level." From Miss Kate S. Russell of Roxboro. Person county. Not dated, but about 1923. The pointing is editorial and may not be right. L'^p the lane and down the le\'el. Salute your bride, you ugly devil. Laura Lee ! Went down the road, didn't go to stay. Met up with a yaller gal and couldn't get away. 103 Darling. You Can't Love but One This number song, Professor Hudson tells me. is a familiar tune at North Carolina square dances. The Archive of American Folk Song has recordings of it from Connecticut, Virginia, and Ohio. 'New River Train.' From the John Burch Blaylock Collection. 1 Lni leaving on that New River train. I'm leaving on that New River train. The same old train that brought me here Is going to carry me away. 2 O darling, you can't love but one. O darling, you can't love but one. You can't love but one and have au}- fun. O darling, you can't love but one. 3 O darling, you can't love two. O darling, you can't love two. You can't love two and still be true. O darling, you can't love two. 4 ( ) darling, you can't love three, O darling, vou can't love three. 138 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE You can't love three and still love me, O darling, you can't love three. 5 O darling, you can't love four, O darling, you can't love four. You can't love four, and love me any more, O darling, you can't love four. 6 O darling, you can't love five, O darling, you can't love five. You can't love five and get honey from my beehive, O darling, you can't love five. 7 O darling, you can't love six, O darling, you can't love six. You can't love six and still love Saint Nix, O darling, you can't love six. 8 O darling, you can't love seven, O darling, you can't love seven. You can't love seven and go with me to heaven, O darling, you can't love seven. 9 Oh, I'm leaving on that New River train. Oh, I'm leaving on that New River train. The same old train that brought me here Is going to carry me away. 104 Page's Train Runs So Fast Southern Pines is in Hoke county near the Cumberland county line. Dr. Brown has noted on the manuscript: "Made when South- ern Pines was built up." The song is made on the pattern of 'Cotton-Eyed Joe,' a dance song the words of which generally do not extend beyond two or three couplets, though as known in Texas and Louisiana (TNFS 69-70) it has something like a story: the singer tells how cotton-eyed Joe "hoodooed" liis girl away from him "forty years ago." The Lomaxes (ABFS 262-3) have a nine- couplet version, provenience not given. In its reduced form of a couplet or two sung to a dance it is known in Tennessee (BTFLS v 25, OSC 99) and the Midwest (Ford's Traditional Music of America 60) and among the Negroes (ANFS 359, Alabama, and Talley's Negro Folk Rhyi)ies 32 without definite locale). 'Page's Train Runs .So I-ast." From Miss Kwcll Rolihins, I'ckin. Mont- gomery county, in ]<)22. 1 Page's train runs so fast Can't see nolhin' httt the window glass. P I. A Y - I' A R T V A X 1) I) A N C K SONGS I39 2 1 got a gal ill Sdutlicni I'ines, She ain't so prctt\' hut she (h-ess so fine! 3 Hadn't a heen for cotton-eyed Joe I'd a been married forty years ago. 105 Turkey Buzzard There are in the Collection three fragments of song that hear this title and another that might. One of them, in which with the turkey huzzard stanza is combined a memory of the Civil War, is dealt with under the title "Harness Up Yo' Horses' in the group of Martial, Political, and Patriotic Songs, below. Texts A and C certainly, and B probably, are dance songs. C is a stanza from 'Junip Jim Crow' and has already been reported (with some slight dilTerences) from North Carolina (ANFS 163). South Carolina (JAFL XLiv 428). and New Orleans (TNFS 127). Turkey Buzzard.' Communicated by Thomas Smith from Zionville, Watauga county, probably in 1915; the tune was obtained a few years later frum Mrs. N. T. Byers. In her singing, the first line of "each stanza is sung three times, which makes one suspect that the text of the first stanza is not correctly reported. Mr. Smith calls it a jig and says that it is "very popular among mountain musicians." 1 Shoot that turkey buzzard Come flopping down the hollow. Come flopping down the hollow. 2 Shoot old Davy Dugger dead ; He eat my meat and stole my bread. 3 Shoot old Davy Dugger, Take his wife and hug her. 4 Oh, that gal with a blue dress on, She stole my heart and now she's gone. B 'Old Turkey Buzzard.' Contributed probably in 1924 by Carl G. Kno.x, student at Trinity College, as a "banjo song." With the music. Four lines only : Old turkey buzzard. Lend me your wings To fly across the river To see Sally King. c No title. Contributed by Flossie Marshbanks of Mars Hill. Madison county. It is a stanza from T. D. Rice's famous 'Jump Jim Crow.' For 140 X 0 K T H CAROLINA FOLKLORE its use as a play-party song, see the AIcLeiidoii finding list, SFLQ viii 213. Other texts show that "grub and hoe" in the last line should be "grubbin' hoe," a familiar instrument in Southern agriculture. 'Where you gwine, turkey buzzard, Where you gwine, crow ?' 'Gwine down in the new ground To get the grub and hoe.' 106 All Around de Ring, Miss Julie Presumably from the minstrel stage originally, and probably used as a dance song in North Carolina, though the informant does not say so. 'All Around de Ring, Miss Julie." Obtained, probably in 1927, by Julian P. Boyd at Alliance, Pamlico county, from Catherine Bennett. All around de ring. Miss Juhe, Julie, Julie ! All around de ring. Miss Juhe ! All on a summer day. Oh, de moon shines bright, de stars give light ; Look way over yonder ! Hug her a little and kiss lier too, And tell her how you love her ! 107 Too Young to Marry This scrap of song I have not found elsewhere. Mr. Smith's note on his text implies tliat it is a dance or play-party song. A 'Pm Aly Mammy's Youngest Son.' Contributed by I. G. Greer of Boone, Watauga county, apparently in 1915 or 1916. I'm my manuny's yoiuigest son, I'm my mammy's baby, I'm my mammy's youngest son, I'm too ycjinig for to marry yet. I'm too young, I'm too young to marry yet; I'm my mammy's youngest son, I'm my mammy's baby, I'm my manuny's youngest son, I'm too young for tcj marry yet. 'I'm My .Mammy's Youngest Child,' Kejxjrted liy Thomas .Smith of Zionville, Watauga county, in i<n.=; as a "banjo s(jng," with the nota- PL AY -PARTY AND DANCE SONGS I4I tion tliat it is all that he could recall of "a song witli a good tunc. This tunc lias been a favorite with fiddlers and banjo pickers for many years." I'm my mammy's youngest child. I am my mammy's darlin', 1 am my mammy's youngest child, 1 am too young to marry. 'Love Somebody." Recorded by Dr. Brown as s>ung by Mark Erwin on Rabit Ham in Leicester Township, P)uncombe county, probably in 1921. The second stanza belongs to a quite different song. I'm my mamma's darhn' chile. I'm my mamma's darlin' chile, I'm my mamma's darlin' chile, I'm most too young to marry yet a while. I love somehody. ves I do, I love somebody, yes I do, I love somebody, yes I do, And I wish somebody loved me too. 108 Poor Little Kitty Puss This dance song is known in Virginia (JAFL xxvi 131) and Mississippi (FSM 293), and a stanza that accompanies it in Mis- sissippi is known in Missouri (JAFL xxvii 291). 'Pore Little Kitty Puss.' Reported in 1915 by Thomas Smith of Zion- ville, Watauga county, as a "dance song — fiddle and banjo" with the notation: "This silly song with a tune resembling 'Black-Eyed Susie' is very old. I am told it was popular here before the Civil V/ar. It w^^j olayed at dances a great deal and there are lines somewhere in the song which run as follow-s : 'If you can't dance Kitty Puss you can't dance nothin'.' " There is in the Collection also a recording of this song, as sung by B. L. Lunsford at Turkey Creek, probably in 1921. Pore little Kitty Puss, Pore little feller, Pore little Kitty Puss Died in the cellar. CJionis: Pore little Fido, Pore little Fidie, Pore little Fidie Died last Friday. 142 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 109 Fare You \\'ell, My Own True Love This has not been lound elsewhere reported as a play-party song. The 'keg o' rum' stanza is known in Georgia (FSSH 439) and among the Negroes in Alabama (ANFS 164). Of our text Dr. Brown notes : "Words and air from the Rev. Andrew Jackson Burrus originally of Rockford. N. C. He sang this to his own accompaniment on the banjo. I remember the first stanza thus: If I had a keg of rum And sugar by the pound And a silver spoon to stir it with I'd treat them ladies round." Actually, however, the text was supplied later, in August 1922, by the singer's brother, J. H. Burrus of Weaverville, Buncondje county, with tlie notation that it was "used for an old Virginia break- down." The "Fare you well" stanza is evidently a chorus. Fare yon well, my own true love, Fare you well, I say ; Fare you well, my own true love, T am gwine away. 1 Jf I had a keg o' rum, Sugar by the pound, •\ great big bowl to put it in, A spoon to stir it around. b'are you well, etc. 2 I f ever you intend to marry at all Oh, do pray tell me now. You broke my heart, yoti killed me dead. And vou'll be hung for mtirder. Fare you well, etc. 3 I'll give my heart to you right now; ( )h. do give yotU"s to me. We'll lock them up together right close And throw away the key. Fare \'ou well, etc. no Mr. Carter A fragment of dance song, very likely from some music-hall piece. But I have not found it elsewhere. 'Mr. Carter.' Rci)orted by Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga county ; r L A Y - 1' A K T Y A N 1) 1) A N C K S 0 N (; S 143 "said to liave been played here over twenty years ago. A great favorite with liaiijo-pickers." Mister Cyarter, Mister Cyarter, Won't you be my dawg? He won't bite a sheep But 'e will bite a hog. Ill Wish I Had a Needle and Thread Here are brouglit togetlier a number of songs tliat are linked by stanzas or phrases, though not all of them have the element that I have chosen for the general title. Indeed, they are hardly integral songs but chance aggregates of song elements, all or most of them used in plav-party or dance songs. The needle-and-thread motive is found in'Virginia (TNFS 125), North Carolina (JAFL vi 131, ASb 308-9, in both cases as part of a 'Liza Jane' song), Texas (Owens 70-1), Missouri (JAFL xlii 223, OFS in 184, 2<77) , and the Bahamas (JAFL xlii 294). The "give my horn a blow" motive has been found" in Missouri (JAFL xxiv 299) and without specific locale in the Midwest (Ford 395, again in a 'Liza Jane' song), and sung by Negroes in North Carolina (ANFS 337). With F and stanza 4 of E compare 'Sally Goodin' A and 'Eliza Jane' (I) in this collection. The basic stanza appears also in 'Eliza Jane' (II). The chorus of A appears also in 'Shady Grove' and the third stanza of D is the first stanza of 'Shady Grove' B. The fourth stanza of E prompts the inclusion here of F. No title. Obtained from someone named Hodgin ; date not noted, and place only as "Southeastern" — which probably means the sontheastern part of the state. 1 I wish I had a needle and thread Fine as I could sew. I'd stitch my darling to my side And sail to Baltimo. Chorus: Wash your face and comb your head, Put on your Sunday clothes. Wash your face and comb your head. For we're going to Bridge's Grove. 2 Wish I had a pig in a pen. Corn to feed him on, A pretty little girl to stay at home To feed him when I'm gone. 144 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE '"Wish 1 Had a Pig in a Pen.' Contributed by tlie Misses Holeman of Durham in July 1922. With the tune. 1 Wish I had a pig in the pen And the corn to feed him on. All I want is a pretty little gal To feed him when Tm gone. 2 Wish I had a needle and thread Fine as 1 could sew ; I'd sew my true love to my side And down the road I'd go. 3 (iit up on the mountain top, Give my horn a blow, Think 1 hear my true love say 'Yonder comes my beau.' 'If.' This single quatrain conies not from North but from South Caro- lina, from Cousor, Bishopville, S. C. If I had a needle and thread As fine as I could sew. I'd sew my true love to my side And down the road I'd go. D 'I Wish I Had a Pig and a Pen.' This text comes from W^orry, Burke county, in 1914. Name of contributor not given; perhaps Miss .Amy Henderson, who supplied many texts from that neighborhood. 1 I wish I had a pig and a pen. Corn to feed him on. Pretty little girl to stay at home. Feed [him| while I am gone. 2 Mamma give me silver. Papa give me gold. Sweetheart give me a sweet little kiss And (jod bless her sotil. 3 (lod bless the ocean, (i(jd l)less it sweet, ^ (]od bless the pretty little girls That fell m love with me. ' The priiici|)le of i)arallelism and the rhyme call for "the sea" here, as in 'Siiadv drove' H. P L A Y - P A R T Y A X D I) A N C l'. S () N C S I45 'Italy.' Sung by Willard Randall of Ellenhoro, KiitlKTlurd county. No (late given. With the tune. I Yonder comes a pretty little ,i;irl. Tell you how 1 know ; Her head is full of pretty little curls A-haiigiii' down so low. Clionts: I'm going- to Italy 'fore long, Going to Italy 'fore long, I'm going to Italy 'fore long To see that gal of mine. 2 Finger ring, tinger ring. Shines like glittering gold. I'm going to see my dear love Before she gets too old. 3 Apple like a cherry. Cherry like a rose. How I love my pretty little girl. Oh. God in heaven knows. 4 I have a house in Baltimore, Sixteen stories high ; Every story in that house Is filled with rock and rye. 5 I wish I was an apple Hanging in the tree ; Every time my sweetheart passed She'd take a hite of me. 6 I wish I had a needle and thread As fine as I could sew, And a thimble from Ijaltimore To make that needle go. 'Big Fine House in Baltimore.' Contributed by Lucille Cheek from Chatham county, witiiout date. The text is different from that of the same title in John \V. Work's American Negro Soiu/s (1940 ed.) 241 but is probably a version of the same piece. Similar "chicken pie" stanzas are sung by Negroes in South Carolina (JAFL xxvu 249, TNFS 117) and Alabama (ANFS 155), which are perliaps to be traced back to a Yorkshire knitting rhyme reported in JAFL vui 81. I Big fine house in Baltimore. Big fine house in Baltimore, X.C.K.. \i.l. Ill, (IJ) 146 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Big fine house in Baltimore, Sixteen stories high. 2 Every story in that house, Every story in that house, Every story in that house, Filled with chicken pie. 'Song.' Reported by Cozette Coble, apparently from Stanly county; not dated. For lines 5-8 see headnote above. For the "apron strings" motive see BSM 202. In line 6 "horny" is of course for "horn a." 1 Yonder comes my old true love ; How do I know ? I tell her by her apron string Hanging down so low. 2 If I were on the mountain top I'd give my horny blow. I hear my true lover say, 'Yonder comes mv beau.' LULLABIES AND NURSERY RHYMES OF THE LULLABIES, some— 'Rock-a-hy Baby,' 'Bye Baby Bunting.' 'Kitty Alone' — are part of our Engbsb inberitance. Tbe last of tbese, 'Kitty Alone,' derives from 'Tbere 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 accomplish- ments. 'Oh, Dear, What Can the Matter Be?' is no doubt much better known than the two texts reported would imply. The imita- tion 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. Se(|uence 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 frag- ments that cannot be traced and are of doubtful validity as folk song have been included. 148 NORTH CAROLINA I- 0 L K L 0 R E 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 \'irginia (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 col- lection, 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 borne To rock-a-byc-a-baby bttnting. Mama stayed at home To bake a cake for babv bunting. "3 Rock-a-1jNk I)Aby in the Tree-Top Like 'Bye Baby Bunting.' this old English lullaby ( Halliwell 102 and 137, Northall 425-6, Riml)ault 17) seldom appears in col- lections of traditional folk song; it is listed in ]\Iiss Pound's Mid- western syllabus and by Davis as found in X'irginia (FSV 182), and as sung in Jamaica (JAFL xli 500). But uncjuestionably 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 l)lows tbe cradle will rock. When the bough breaks tbe cradle will fall And down will come cradle, babv. and all. L U L L A 1! 1 !•: S AND N L' K S K R Y K H V M K S I49 One text slitilitly chaniics the tliird line, reading- Tile liiul) will break and the cradle will fall. Down will come babies, cradle, and all. Down will come babies, cradle, and all. One tills out tlie trisyllabic rhythm expected in tlie last line: Down will come bab\\ bough, cradle, and all. And one has lost the third line of the quatrain: Rocky b\-, baby, in the tree top. When the wind blows the cradle will rock. Down comes baby, cradle, and all. 114 Kitty Alone 'There Was a Frofj Lived in a Well,' with its "Kitty alone" re- frain, 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 Halli well'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. 'Cradle Song.' Reported by Mrs. Sutton as sung by Mrs. Silas Bu- chanan of Horse Creek, Ashe county, "sitting in a homemade chair in the little porch of her log cat)in crooning this song to a hlackhaired baby. . . . 'It's a sleepy song,' my hostess said; 'mammy sung hit to me, I sing Iiit 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 babv 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 I 50 N 0 R T II CAROLINA I- O L K L O R E And a star a-sailin' l)y. Rockabye baby l)\e, lockabye bab}- bye. 3 Saw tbe moon in tbe river bed, Kitty alone, kitty alone. Saw tbe moon in tbe river bed, Kitty alone alee. Saw tbe moon in tbe river bed. Big black frog swnm 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. "5 Hush-a-Bye, Don't You Cry This lullaby is perhaps of Southern origin. It is not recorded by Halliwell or Rinil)ault nor has it been reported by folk-song col- lectors in New England or the Middle or the Western states, but it is known in Virginia (SharpK ii 341, FSV 182-3), South Caro- lina (JAFL XLiv 419), Georgia (JAFL xlvii 334, ASb 454-5), Louisiana (TNFS 147, Negroes), and Texas (TNFS 145-6, Negroes). It appears four times in our collection. 'Hush-a-Bj-.' 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 Statcsville, N. C., ca. 1898." 1 Hush a by an' don't you cry, x^n' go to sleep, little baby ; When you wake you shall have some cake An' ricle a pretty little horsey. 2 You shall have a little canoe An' a little bit of a i)addle ; You shall have a little red mule An' a little bitty saddle. 3 Tbe black an' the bay, the sorrel an' the grey, .\11 belong to my baby. So hush a by an' don't you cry An' go to sleep, little baby. LULLABIES AND NURSERY RHYMES I5I 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 piu'ty little, little horsies. W hen baby wakes, give him cake. Let him ride them purty little horsies. '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 yoti a cake And five or six little horses. '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, ]\Iy Little Pickaninny Perliaps tliis 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. igoo." In ANFS 397 it is re- ported from Alabama, in TNFS 146-7 from Texas, in JAFL xli 590-1 from Jamaica, all these as sung by Negroes; SharpK 11 346 reports it from Virginia, presumably from the singing of whites. A 'Little Alabama Coon.' Contributed in 1927 liy Julian P. Boyd of Alli- ance, Pamlico county. I 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 : 1 52 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 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-luU-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 mamni}' 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 i, 6, 7, 8 of the chorus of A. No place nor date indicated. 117 Poor Littlk La.mh Cries 'Mammy!' This lullaby — suf^^estive, somewhat, of "The 1 \va Corbies' ( Child 26) — is reported by Miss Scarborous^h (TNF.S 147-9) "" three forms: one from Virj^inia (where it is told of a cow and her calf). one from New Orleans (ewe and Ianii)|, and one known in both Virp^inia and South Carolina (where as in our A it is the "mannnv" whose eyes are beini;: picked out by jjnats and Hies). Davis lists two te.xts from Virg^inia (F.SV 204) and Randolph two from Mis- souri (Ol'^.S II ,:545-6). Jolui W. Work's .Inicn'caii Xcgro Songs 250 has a version w ithout the macabre trait of tlio eyes bcinir ])ickcd L V I. I, A li 1 E S A N I) N V R S K R Y R H V M K S I 53 out. Mrs. Riclianlson (AMS 49) gives a version of 'The Foolish Boy' which uses "tlie pore httle 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, WHiere 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 yotir lamb?' 'I left iiim 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 yotir 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. 1 54 N 0 R T H C A R O L I N A FOLKLORE Go down to the barn. \\ akt" up the boys. And liave a Httle banjo pickini;-. Tink-a-link a-Hnk a-link a-link a-Hnk a-bnk. "Refrain with banjo. The refrain is a banjo sound and produces the effect of a banjo being played." 119 PiTTY Patty Poke A nursery jini::le said wliile 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.' ■Pitty Patty Poke. Nursery Kliyme." 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. 120 The Frog's Courtship For the history and range of this nursery classic, see Kit- tredge's bibliographical note (JAFL xxxv 394-9), Payne's study (PFLST V 5-49), Grace Partridge Smith's (JAFL lii 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), X'irginia (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 hunnned 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 lullabv, ,111(1 is therefore presented as a separate item. Sam Cowell's adapta- tion 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 '.■\ I'rog Went .A-Courtin'.' Reixirted liy Flossie .Marslibanks of Mars Hill, Madison county. Not dated. LULL A 1! 1 1". S A \ I) N V R S I'. K V K H Y M E S 155 1 Vvog went a-courtin' and he did ride, Ring ting bottom and a kynio Sword and pistol by his side. Ring ting bottom and a kymo Clionts: Hello naro he's my caro. Hello caro narrow. Ring ting bottom ditty boat aroun(l 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 l)e? \\'ay 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 ^liss 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 tunc. 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 rf)ar. ' The refrain line is thus interpolated in and the cliorus sung after each stanza. 1 =6 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 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: ■Prav. 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 he?' 'Way down yonder in a hollow tree.' 8 'What will the wedding supper be?' 'A fried mosquito and a roasted flea.' 'One Two Three." From Thomas Smith. Ziunville, 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 l)ottom 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 l)lack-eyed pea.' 4 First come in was Mrs. \'\y. She brought her peaches and her ])ie. 5 Next come Mrs. Ikitterfly. She fanned all as she passed by. 6 Next come in was .Madam Cat. .She took -Miss Mousf\' 1)\' the back. 'Frog Went .\-Courting.' Reported liy K. 1'. Lewis as set down in igio by Dr. Kemp P. Battle of Chapel Hill. Each stanza is a couplet e.xtended to three lines l)y reixating the first line, and the nasal hum comes after tlu- first and third lines of each such stanza. L U L L A n I K S A N I) X T R S K K V K H Y M E S 157 1 Frog went a-courtin'. he did ride, M-ni 11 -ni Frog went a-courtin". he did ride. Sword and pistol by his side, M-ni 11-ni 2 lie 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 ( )ld Uncle Rat came a-riding lK)me. "Who's been here since Fve been gone?' 7 'A very tine 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 bt- a bride. 9 'Where shall the wedding supper be?' 'Wav down yonder in the old hollow tree.' 10 'What shall we have for the wedding supper?' "Black-eyed peas and bread and butter.' 1 1 The first came in was Capt. Bedbug, Who swore by all he was a run^ jug. 12 The next came in was Colonel Mea ; He danced a jig wMth 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 l)y a big black snake. 17 This is the end of one. two, three. Frog and Rat and Miss Mousie. ^ So the manuscript. Proba))ly it should be "rum." 158 NORTH C A R O L 1 X A !• 0 L K L 0 R E E 'Frog Went A-Courting.' Contributed hy Miss Amy Henderson of Worry, Burke county, in 1914. Refrain and stanza structure as in D and corresponds in i)art 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 hrst to come in was the humhlehee With his fiddle on his knee. I o The next come in was a great hig flea ; He said, 'Dance with the humhlehee.' I I Next to come in was Major Tick, Who ate so much it made him sick. 12 Then they sent for Dr. Fly, Who swore l)y George old Tick would die. 13 They all went sailing down the lake And were swallowed up by a great hig snake. 14 That's the end of one, two. three, The rat and the mouse and little froggie. F 'Frog Went A-Courting.' Reported I)y Miss Gertrude Allen (later Mrs. Vaught) from Oakboro, Stanly county. C'lose to E through the first nine stanzas, but inserts after stanza 5 Uncle Rat he went down town To I)uy his niece a wedding gown. The account of the wedding party, however, is different: 10 T'^irst came in was a little seed tick; It ate so much it made it sick. I I Next came in was a hig black snake; lie ate up all the wedding cake. I J Next came in was a little fat pig; Thought he'd have a little jig. 13 Lady Mouse came a-tripi)ing down; She fell over her wedding gown. 14 Then Frog came a-swimming across the lake. He got swallowed by a big black snake. LULL A 1! 1 K S A X I) N U K S K R Y RHYMES 1 59 'Froggy Went A-Courtin'.' Contributed by I. T. Poole from Burke county. A somewhat reduced version. 1 l*roggy went a-courtin' and he did ride nniph-luiinph l">uggy went a-courtin' and he did ride. Sword an pistol hy his side uniph-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.' '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 j^late of souse. 12 Next came in was a great big tick. Walking around with a hickory stick. 13 Next came in was a l)unil)lel)ee. Took a jig with a broken-back flea. l6o N () K T H CAROLINA FOLKLORE 14 Next catne in was a little sea tick,^ Eat so much it made him sick. 1 5 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 hy a great hig snake. I 'Frog and tlie Mouse.' From a notebook of Mrs. Harold Glasscock of Kalcigli, lent to Dr. White in 1943, in whicli Mrs. Glasscock had set down s(jngs she had learned from her parents. Much like D, but has a preliminary stanza : Gentleman frog lived in the well em hu Gentleman frog lived in the well, Lady mouse lived in the mill em hu. 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. ' Miswrittcn no doubt fur "seed tick," wliicli occurs in F and I. L L' L I, A H 1 K S A N U N V 1< S K K Y K II V M K S l6l J 'Frog Went A-Courtiiig.' Contributed l)y Miss Marj^aret Higgs of Green- ville, Pitt county. Fourteen stanzas, introducing nothing not already presented in the preceding versions except a junel)ug. It ends: 13 The iH'xt to come- in was the little Jtine 15 tig ; He jumped in the fi(X)r and gave the hricle a luig. 14 Mr. Ffug gut mad and jtimped in the lake .And there he got hit hy a hig hlack snake. K 'Frog Went A-Courting.' From Mrs. Sutton, who says she has heard it in Caldwell, Mitchell, .Avery, Watauga, Henderson, and Bunconil)e 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 i 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 bttild 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 lie?' '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 Dur- ham 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 hddle and she cut loose. 10 Thev all went swimming down the lake. And all were swallowed bv a big blacksnake. 'Frog Went A-Courting.' Reported by James .\. McKay, student at Trinity College, as sung in New Hanover county. Five stanzas, giving X.r.I-"., Vol. III. 11:0 l62 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE only tlie first part of the song. The bride was dressed in "green pea sHppers and a big brass breastpin" and they had for supper "black-eyed peas and dog-foot liutter." 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 humhle])ee With his fiddle on his knee. I o The next to come was a great big flea ; He said, "Dance with the l)umblebee.' p 'Frog Went A-Courtin'.' Reported by Sarah K. Watkins as known in Anson and Stanly counties. Only four stanzas, corresponding to stanzas I, 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 preced- ing 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 Alinnie 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 I^^irst came in was a bumljle-bee ; Stung Miss Mousie on the knee. Uhuli uliuh 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, Air. Tick woidd die. 4 Mr. b'roggie rode by Miss Mousie's den; Says he. 'Aliss Mousie. are you within?' 5 Took Miss Mousie on his knee; Says he. 'Miss Mousie, will \du marry me?' 6 Mr. I'Vcjggie went U) town To buy Miss Mousie's wedding gowiL 7 Mr. Froggie went by the lake. There he was swallowed u]) b\- a big black snake. L r I. L A H 1 I". S A N I) N U K S K K V K II Y M E S 1 63 8 That snake swum to shore. A big black negro killed hiui there. 9 That big black negro lias gone to h^-ance To teach the negroes how to dance. 10 Now 1 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 tlie 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 191 5 from William C. Doubkin. student at the Univer- sity 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. Fur 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. .A.n 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 wed- ding 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. 1 64 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 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, tlius : Frog went a-coiirting and he did ride tih tih F"rog went a-courting and he did ride nh tih 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 .\-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 dav fodlin doddv. 'Froggie Went A-Courting.' A second te.xt reported by Mrs. Vaught (see F), this one from Taylursville, 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 tine collection. 1 .\ frog he would a- wooing go Whether his niotlier 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 Thev soon arrived at Mousy's hall; They gave a loud knock and gave a loud call : 'Pray, Mis.s .Nhmsy, will vou give us some beer? Froggie and 1 are fond of good cheer.' 3 .\s 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. L V 1. 1. A i; 1 K S A \ 1) \ V K S K R Y U H V M K S 165 The frog was in a k'rrihlt' fright ; He picked up his hat and hade them gdochiis^ht. 4 As tix)ggy was crossing a sihery hrook A lily white duck came and gohhied him up. So this was the end of one, two, three. The frog, the rat, and the little mousie. AA Xo 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 coun- try 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. 'Kitchie Ki-Me-0.' I \\ ay 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 ])enny-winkle linktnm nipcat Sing song kitchie kitchie ki-me-o. l66 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 2 There was a frog lived in a pool, Sure he was the biggest fool ; l^'or 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. 1 tried to sleep but 'tain't no use. So I hung my legs for the chickens to roost. Tlie followinij- is clearly another ineniory of the same song. 'Keemo Kinid." RcpMrted 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 Ixjth said so. Kitchy kitchy kitchy kime-o Kime-o kime-o Kitchv kitchy kitch\' kime-o. Milk in the dairy nine days old Kitchy kitchy kitchy kime-o Kime-o kime-o Kitchv kilcln- kitcln- kime-o. I Jl l')ll.l.^• P)OV This old English nursery song is very widely known. See BSM 4()(). and add to the references there given Rinibault's Nursery h'hvmcs .^2-3, and for this cmnitry X'irginia ( h"S\' i<).V.^). Indiana L V L L A I! 1 I". S A N 1) XI' R S I". K Y R H Y M E S 1 67 (^Woltord 24. a play-party suiis^ ) , Arkansas (OFS i 392-3), and Missouri (OFS 1 391-2, ^^'•j^^). Tlierc are forty-seven texts of it in our collection, coverinj^ all parts of the state from Nag's Head on the Banks to the western mountains. The ([uestions asked vary, thouijh some of them, especially "Can she make a cherry pie?" are fairly persistent. Instead of .i,nving- all the texts it will be sufficient to print a few of the fuller versions; hut a listing here of the (jues- tions 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 titten 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 (juestioner'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, ill 1914. 1 'Where have yoti been. Billy boy, Billy boy, Where have yoti been, charming Billy?' "I've been seeking me a wife, she's the comfort of my life; She's a yoting thing, and cannot leave her mother.' 2 'Did she ask ycni to come in, Billy boy, Billy boy. Did she ask yoti to come in, charming P)illy ?' 'Yes, she asked me to come in ; she's a dimi)le in her chin. She's a young thing, and cannot leave her mother.' 3 'Did she bid you ha\e a chair, liilly boy. Billy boy. Did she bid yoti have a chair, charming I'illy ?' 'Yes, she bade me have a chair; she has ringlets in her hair. She's a young thing, and cannot leave her mother.' l68 X () R T II C A K O L I X A I- O L K L 0 R E 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 voung thing, and cannot leave her mother.' 0 "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 'lldw old is she. Billy boy, Billy boy. How old is she, charming Billy?' 'She'll be fortv-four next fall, and she's got no teeth al all. She's a young thing, and cannot leave her mother.' B 'Billy Boy.' From Miss Florence Holton of Durham. 1 'W here have you been. Billy boy. Billy boy. \\ here have you been, charming Billy?' '1 have been to see my wife, she's the joy of my life; .She's a young thing, and can't leave her mother.' _' 'Did she ask you in. Billy boy. I'illy boy. Did she ask you in, charming Billy?' 'She did ask me in. with a dimple in her cliin ; She's a young thing, and can't leave her mother.' 3 'Can she make a cherry i)ie. i'illy boy. l>illy boy. Can she make a cherry pie, charming Billy?' 'She can make a cherrv pie (|uick as a cat can wink his eye. She's a \'(iung tiling, and can't leave lier nidther.' 4 'Did she set for \<n\ a chair. I'illy boy. Billy boy. Did she set for you a chair, charming I'illy?' '.She did set for me a chair with a ringlet in her hair. She's a voung thing, and can't leave her mother.' 5 '(an she make a feather brd. r>ill\- boy. I'illv bov. Can she make a feather bed. charming Billv?' '.She can make a feather bed. with a candle on her head. She's a voung thing, and can't leave her mother.' h V L I. A I! I K S A N I) N U R S E R Y RHYMES 169 6 "How tall is she, l*>illy hoy. Billy hoy, How tall is she. channing IJilly ?' 'She's as tall as any pine and as thin as a pumpkin vine. She's a younj^- tliin.i;-. and can't leave her mother.' 7 "Is she worth anything. IJilh- hoy. P)illy 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. \\ hat 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 l)illv ?' 'Twice six. twice seven, twice twentv 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 i, 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. Ijilly 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 lea\e her mother.' 6 "Can she make up a bed. P)illy boy. \V\\\\ bov. 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. IJilly boy. Billy l)oy. 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.' IJO NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 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 (NPIM So), Virginia (FSV 197), West Virginia (SFLQ vi 252, as a play-party song), Kentucky (DD 144-5). ^ii^^ Mississippi (JAFL XXVIII 169); it is listed in Miss Pound's syllabus for the ^lidwest and is given in Ford's Traditional Music of America and in Heart Songs. Unquestionably it is nmch 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 w^oiild 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, w hat can the matter be ? Oh, dear, wdiat can the matter be. Johnny's so long at the fair ? lie 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. B 'Oh iJcar, What Can the .Matter P>e?' Cdmniunicated liy 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 Wklshmax 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 Mississij)pi (JAM. xxvui 141), and of the second from Vir- ginia ( I'".SV 167, TNFS 103); and the first stanza of our B cor- resjjonds to stanza 3 of another Virginia song (TNFS 166). ' This is a misunderstanding of the old word "fairing," a present from the fair. L U L L A B 1 K S AND N U K S IC U \- 1< U V M K S I/I 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 lo Suckie's hotise to i;el a ctip of tea. What do yoti s'pose old Stickie had for me? Chicken feet, sparrowgrass, hominy, and tea. 2 I went down to Stickie's hou.se and fell upon mv knees And I like to lau,i;h myself lo death to hear the turkey sneeze. B 'Napper.' Contributed in 191 4 by C. R. Bagley of Moyock. Currituck county, as a fragment of vviiat are "known among the Negroes as breakdowns." 1 Napper come to my house, I th(jught he come to see me. \\ hen I come to find him out He 'suade my wife to leave me. Cliorus: Break down, Napper, hoo, hoo, Break down, Napper, hoo. 2 I went to Napper's house ; Ole Napper sick in hed. 1 ruhbed my hand across his head And killed ole Napper dead. 3 Goose chewed tobacker. Duck drinked de wine. Hog played de cwards^ In de punkin vine. c 'Old Napper.' Contributed by P.cll Brandon of Durham. Not dated. I Napper went a-htintin' ; 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! ' So in the manuscript. One supposes it should be "cyards." witii the familiar Southern breaking of the vcjwel after palatals. It will t)c seen that this final stanza is a form of the jingle dealt with under tlie title 'Get Along, John, the Day's Work's Done' in the section on Bird and Beast Jingles. 1 -z X O K T H t' A K 0 L I X A FOLKLORE 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 Barxyard Song A 'I Bought Ale a Hen.' Reported by Mrs. Sutton with the following com- mentary : "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 Blow- ing 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 .A.nn 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 1 bought nie a turkey and my turkey loved me. 1 fetl my turkey under yonder tree. Turkey said '(Gobble gobble.' Hen said 'Fiddle 1 fee.' 3 1 bought me a guinea and my guinea loved me. ] fed my guinea under yonder tree. (luinea said 'Potrack, ])otrack.' Tiu'key said '(Gobble gobble,' Hen .said 'b'iddle 1 fee.' 4 I bought me a duck and my duck loved me. 1 fed my duck under yonder tree. Duck said 'Ouack (|uack,' Guinea said 'I'otrack, ])otrack.' LULL A H 1 K S A N I) N U R S K R Y R H V M K S 1/3 I'urkcy said '( lohhlc i^obble,' Hen said 'I'^iddlc 1 fee.' 5 I bought me a gouse and my goose loved me, I fed my goose under yonder tree. (loose said 'honk honk,' cfc. And so on witli the cow. whicli said "Moo, nioo," the horse, which said "Neigli, neisli," tlie slieep. which said "Baa. liaa," up to this conclusion: 9 I bought me a wife and my wife lo\ed me, 1 \cd my wife under yonder tree. \\ ife wotild scold, scold, Sheep said 'Baa. baa,' Horse said 'Neigh, neigh,' Cow said 'Moo, moo,' CJoose said 'Honk, honk,' Duck said 'Quack, qitack,' (hiinea 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 w-ow"), cow, horse, wife; but it adds at the end a stanza that brings it up to date : T bought me a I'^ord and my Ford pleased me, And 1 fed my Ford under yonder tree. ]"ord went 'Get you there, get you there,' \\"\ie 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 mys- terious "oneyers tree," and the sounds ascribed to tliem are different. The hen, to be sure, says "Fiddle-like-fcc" ; but the duck says "dey, dey," tile 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,* 1 74 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Hog says 'grifify-greffy,' Turkey says 'shimmy shack,' Guinea says 'poterack,' Hen savs 'fiddle-like fee!' 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"). Xo 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 m}' duck said quack, quack, Every fellow feeds his chicken And I feed my chicken too. etc. 125 McDonald's Farm So called in one of our texts ; each of the five 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'. ' hut its structure is different. It seems to have arisen from the familiar "this-a-way that-a-way" sonj? f^ame 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. 'Possibly this is "bit"; the manuscript is not clear. Neither word seems to make sense in this connection. LULL A I! I K S A \ I) X r K S K R Y K H Y M K S 1 75 Old McDonald had a tarni. E-i ei o And on that farm he had sonic chicks, E-i ei o \\'ith a chick chick here and a cliick chick there. And a here chick, there chick, e\ ervwhere 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 gobble gobble there. And a here gobble, there gobble, everywhere gol)ble 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 \\'ith a quack quack here and a quack quack there, And a here (juack, there quack, everywhere quack (|uack, etc. And on that farm he had some geese, E-i ei o With a honk honk here, and a honk honk there, etc. '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. \\ ith a quack quack here And every now and then a quack cjuack In the merry green fields of Ireland. 2 My grandmammy had some ver}- fine sheep In the merry green fields of Ireland. etc. 3 My grandmammy had some very fine pigs etc. 4 ^ly grandmammy had some very fine cows etc. 176 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 5 My graiidinaniniy had some very fine dogs 'etc. 6 J\ly grandmainniy had some very fine cats etc. c 'Oil, Grandma Had Some Very Fine Geese.' Reported by Julian P. Buyd as collected from Minnie Lee, one of his students in the school at Alliance, Pamlico county, in 1927. ( )h, (irandma had some very fine geese That Alary feeds in the morning. Otiick (|uack here ! Quick qtiack there ! ICvery then a ([uick and every now a qtiack. Ouick, quack, quack in the morning. And so on for dogs ("l)o\v 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 how. and every now a meow. Baa, baa. ])aa-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-{|uack 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 hll 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 l)y tlie numlier of animals and fowls whose names and cries arc known to the singer." 'Come,' says Harry, 'will you gang with nu- To the merry green woods that I own ?' 'Come,' says Harry, 'will you gang with nu- To see my father's sheei)?' With a baa. baa here and a baa, baa there, Here baa. there baa. here and there baa. baa. baa. L U L L A H 1 K S A N I) N U K S K K Y K II V M K S I// 126 Quack, Ouack, Quack A nursery rhyme, apparently. I have not found it elsewhere. 'Quack, Quack, Quack.' Reported by Miss xMainie Maustield as obtained from a fuurtli-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, (juack, (|uack. Chorus: Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, ( )h. he ruled the others with a ({uack. c|uack, ([tiack. 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, (jitack. 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, (|uack. 127 The Dogs in the Alley A jingle on animal sounds akin to the familiar '1 had a duck and the duck pleased me,' thougli I have not found just this use of the idea elsewhere. 'O, the Dogs in tlie .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 x.wi 130). North Carolina (.SharpK 11 345, N.C.F.. Vol. in, (l-t) 178 N O R T II CAROLINA FOLKLORE ANFS 177, OSSG 3), Georgia (JAFL xlvii 336), Texas (TNFS 8 and 195-6), the Ozarks (OFS 11 347-9), Iowa (JAFL lvi ho), and perhaps Kentucky ( Shearin 38). ^Irs. Steely found it in the Ebenezer community in Wake county. 'Old (iray Goose." Reported by Etliel Brown from Catawba county. No date given. 1 Go tell Aunt Patsy, Go tell x^unt 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 \\ ith 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. '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.'' I 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 lea\c this town-e-o.' L U L I. A I! I !•: S A X I) N I' R S K K Y K II V M K S 1/9 2 The fox marched up to the farmer's cooj) 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 nigli cut to his den. ( )ut 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 ( )ld 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. Durliani. Not dated. 1 The fox jumped up one moonshiny night. He prayed for the moon to afiford 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 ( )ld iMother Huhhard jumped out of her hed And out of the window she popped her head : 'John, John, John, the hlack cluck's gone; I thought I heard 'er holler "Quin (|ua nn'o. (|uin (|ua niio, quin (|ua mio," I thought I heard her holler "yuin (|ua mio!" ' No title. Reported by Miss Iris C. Chappeile (later Mrs. H. C. Turling- ton) from Creedmoor, Granville county. I A fox went out one moonshiny night. Prayed to the Lord to 'ford him a light; Had many miles to go that night Before he reached the town O, town ( ), Before he reached the town O. 1 8o NORTH CAROLINA !•* 0 L K L 0 R E 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 (Jld 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. . . .^ 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