We probably need a new tag: something like “what lily tells us.”
We have reached a moment where it is often wiser to wait and let Lily tell us things, rather than leaping ahead of her — or at least that’s how we initially think about it. The result is almost always funny, and, in the case of the example above, sometimes metaphorically richer.
In the most recent issue of Make magazine, Cory Doctorow finds himself face to face with the central contradiction of many contemporary museums: charged with spreading/sharing art and knowledge, most museums simultaneously prohibit unauthorized replications of the works in their collections. In the case of fragile artifacts, this makes sense, Doctorow notes, but in this particular instance he finds himself in a science museum. What sense then? A flash of light will do brass and stainless steel no harm.
The answer comes from a curator: the museum makes money on sales of postcards and books. Doctorow asserts that this is no answer, no respectable answer for such institutions. Two readers [take him to task][task], pointing out that the world is a bit more complex than the scene he describes. First, intellectual property is a mine field to navigate — with more mines being added every day. (If only it were more “minds.”) The second reader points out that the financial underpinnings of most museums are not so sure and the sale of such baubles and books are a necessary part of any institution’s revenue. In short, keep those post cards coming because they keep the doors open.
I think both readers make a good point, but they miss the larger point, and perhaps the bit of irony with which Doctorow writes: that’s not the way things should be. Instead, wouldn’t it be more interesting to imagine an open museum. I’m not entirely sure what it would look like, or even that it would succeed, and I’m pretty sure that many of the denizens of today’s museums probably won’t like what my vision looks like, but let me try it on for size.
Funnily enough, I’m going to start with an actual museum and with an actual event that happened this past weekend. UL-Lafayette, thanks to some generous local patrons, now has a state of the art museum, which has three gallery spaces, two on the first floor and one on the second. In addition to these galleries, there is a capacious, if also somewhat broken up, lobby and a second floor bookshop space which has additional display space as well as a terrific view of the older museum building designed by noted local architect, A. Hays Town.
The older museum is everything the newer one is not: it is a plantation structure with small galleries. The newer facility is spacious, for the most part. Tragically, Gallery 2 is a cave. It is cramped and because of its cramped nature it always feels like all the light being poured out of its many fixtures is simply trying to overcome a darkness that constantly threatens the visitor from every corner. It is also the gallery which they chose to house the annual senior art show, packing in both fine and graphical art exhibits of over a dozen young artists into a space that measures on a good day something like 20 by 40 feet.
This past Saturday was the opening for the show, and it was, not to be too redundant, packed. Despite the highly efficient HVAC unit of a modern museum and an overcast day that kept Louisiana’s subtropical sun at bay, visitors to Gallery 2 on Saturday afternoon had to move quickly through the exhibits both because the press of people was so great and because it was one way to keep air moving. Why were all those people in there? For purely parochial reasons, of course. Most of us there, I would bet, were there to see the work of either our students or our children.
FOOBA WOOBA JOHN
G
Saw a flea kick a tree
C G C
Fooba wooba fooba wooba
G
Saw a flea kick a tree
D G
Fooba wooba John
G
Saw a flea kick a tree
C G
In the middle of the sea
Em G
Hey john ho john
D G
Fooba wooba john
Saw a frog chase a dog...
Sitting on a hollow log...
Saw a snail chase a whale...
All around the water pail...
Heard a cow say meow...
Then I heard it say bow-wow... There was once upon a time a rich king who had three daughters, who daily went to walk in the palace garden, and the king was a great lover of all kinds of fine trees, but there was one for which he had such an affection, that if anyone gathered an apple from it he wished him a hundred fathoms underground. And when harvest time came, the apples on this tree were all as red as blood. The three daughters went every day beneath the tree, and looked to see if the wind had not blown down an apple, but they never by any chance found one, and the tree was so loaded with them that it was almost breaking, and the branches hung down to the ground.
Then the king’s youngest child had a great desire for an apple, and said to her sisters, our father loves us far too much to wish us underground, it is my belief that he would only do that to people who were strangers. And while she was speaking, the child plucked off quite a large apple, and ran to her sisters, saying, just taste, my dear little sisters, for never in my life have I tasted anything so delightful. Then the two other sisters also ate some of the apple, whereupon all three sank deep down into the earth, where they could hear no cock crow.
When mid-day came, the king wished to call them to come to dinner, but they were nowhere to be found. He sought them everywhere in the palace and garden, but could not find them. Then he was much troubled, and made known to the whole land that whosoever brought his daughters back again should have one of them to wife. Hereupon so many young men went about the country in search, that there was no counting them, for everyone loved the three children because they were so kind to all, and so fair of face.
Three young huntsmen also went out, and when they had traveled about for eight days, they arrived at a great castle, in which were beautiful apartments, and in one room a table was laid on which were delicate dishes which were still so warm that they were smoking, but in the whole of the castle no human being was either to be seen or heard. They waited there for half a day, and the food still remained warm and smoking, and at length they were so hungry that they sat down and ate, and agreed with each other that they would stay and live in that castle, and that one of them, who should be chosen by casting lots, should remain in the house, and the two others seek the king’s daughters.
They cast lots, and the lot fell on the eldest, so next day the two younger went out to seek, and the eldest had to stay home. At mid-day came a small, small mannikin and begged for a piece of bread, then the huntsman took the bread which he had found there, and cut a round off the loaf and was about to give it to him, but while he was giving it to the mannikin, the latter let it fall, and asked the huntsman to be so good as to give him that piece again. The huntsman was about to do so and stooped, on which the mannikin took a stick, seized him by the hair, and gave him a good beating.
Next day, the second stayed at home, and he fared no better. When the two others returned in the evening, the eldest said, well, how have you got on? Oh, very badly, said he, and then they lamented their misfortune together, but they said nothing about it to the youngest, for they did not like him at all, and always called him stupid Hans, because he did not know the ways of the world.
On the third day, the youngest stayed at home, and again the little mannikin came and begged for a piece of bread. When the youth gave it to him, the elf let it fall as before, and asked him to be so good as to give him that piece again. Then said Hans to the little mannikin, what, can you not pick up that piece yourself? If you will not take as much trouble as that for your daily bread, you do not deserve to have it. Then the mannikin grew very angry and said he was to do it, but the huntsman would not, and took my dear mannikin, and gave him a thorough beating. Then the mannikin screamed terribly, and cried, stop, stop, and let me go, and I will tell you where the king’s daughters are.
When Hans heard that, he left off beating him and the mannikin told him that he was a gnome, and that there were more than a thousand like him, and that if he would go with him he would show him where the king’s daughters were. Then he showed him a deep well, but there was no water in it. And the elf said that he knew well that the companions Hans had with him did not intend to deal honorably with him, therefore if he wished to deliver the king’s children, he must do it alone.
The two other brothers would also be very glad to recover the king’s daughters, but they did not want to have any trouble or danger. Hans was therefore to take a large basket, and he must seat himself in it with his hunting knife and a bell, and be let down. Below are three rooms, and in each of them was a princess, who was lousing a dragon with many heads, which he must cut off. And having said all this, the elf vanished.
When it was evening the two brothers came and asked how he had got on, and he said, pretty well so far, and that he had seen no one except at mid-day when a little mannikin had come and begged for a piece of bread, that he had given some to him, but that the mannikin had let it fall and had asked him to pick it up again, but as he did not choose to do that, the elf had begun to scold, and that he had lost his temper, and had given the elf a beating, at which he had told him where the king’s daughters were. Then the two were so angry at this that they grew green and yellow.
Next morning they went to the well together, and drew lots who should first seat himself in the basket, and again the lot fell on the eldest, and he was to seat himself in it, and take the bell with him. Then he said, if I ring, you must draw me up again immediately. When he had gone down for a short distance, he rang, and they at once drew him up again. Then the second seated himself in the basket, but he did just the same as the first, and then it was the turn of the youngest, but he let himself be lowered quite to the bottom.
When he had got out of the basket, he took his knife, and went and stood outside the first door and listened, and heard the dragon snoring quite loudly. He opened the door slowly, and one of the princesses was sitting there, and had nine dragon’s heads lying upon her lap, and was lousing them. Then he took his knife and hewed at them, and the nine fell off. The princess sprang up, threw her arms round his neck, embraced and kissed him repeatedly, and took her stomacher, which was made of pure gold, and hung it round his neck.
Then he went to the second princess, who had a dragon with five heads to louse, and delivered her also, and to the youngest, who had a dragon with four heads, he went likewise. And they all rejoiced, and embraced him and kissed him without stopping. Then he rang very loud, so that those above heard him, and he placed the princesses one after the other in the basket, and had them all drawn up, but when it came to his own turn he remembered the words of the elf, who had told him that his comrades did not mean well by him. So he took a great stone which was lying there, and placed it in the basket, and when it was about half way up, his false brothers above cut the rope, so that the basket with the stone fell to the ground, and they thought that he was dead, and ran away with the three princesses, making them promise to tell their father that it was they who had delivered them. Then they went to the king, and each demanded a princess in marriage.
In the meantime the youngest huntsman was wandering about the three chambers in great trouble, fully expecting to have to end his days there, when he saw, hanging on the wall, a flute, then said he, why do you hang there. No one can be merry here.
He looked at the dragons, heads likewise and said, you too cannot help me now. He walked to and fro for such a long time that he made the surface of the ground quite smooth. But at last other thoughts came to his mind, and he took the flute from the wall, and played a few notes on it, and suddenly a number of elves appeared, and with every note that he sounded one more came. Then he played until the room was entirely filled.
They all asked what he desired, so he said he wished to get above ground back to daylight, on which they seized him by every hair that grew on his head, and thus they flew with him onto the earth again. When he was above ground, he at once went to the king’s palace, just as the wedding of one princess was about to be celebrated, and he went to the room where the king and his three daughters were. When the princesses saw him they fainted.
Hereupon the king was angry, and ordered him to be put in prison at once, because he thought he must have done some injury to the children. When the princesses came to themselves, however, they entreated the king to set him free again.
The king asked why, and they said that they were not allowed to tell that, but their father said that they were to tell it to the stove. And he went out, listened at the door, and heard everything. Then he caused the two brothers to be hanged on the gallows, and to the third he gave his youngest daughter, and on that occasion I wore a pair of glass shoes, and I struck them against a stone, and they said, klink, and were broken.
I have carried around this version of the Grimms tale for years. I am unsure of its copyright status or where it falls in the Grimms’ own versions.
Please note: this was an early draft of the proposal I made to Louisiana Public Broadcasting in the spring of 2006. I would later go on to produce two segments for their weekly news magazine, Louisiana: The State We’re In, working closely with Donna LaFleur. The first was on John Colson, a Creole filé maker, and the second was on Lou Trahan, a Cajun Mardi Gras mask maker. The folks at LPB were fantastic throughout the process, and I would gladly do more, time willing.
“Louisiana Folk Masters” is the title of the CD series published as a cooperative venture between the Archives of Cajun and Creole Folklore and Louisiana Crossroads Records. It’s an umbrella framework that I came up with several years ago, one part of which was always open to a television component. Having said that, I am not wedded to “Louisiana Folk Masters” being the title of any or all segments. These folks could ust as easily be called “Living Legends” or, following the Japanese, “Living Treasures,” with Louisiana appended to the title or not.
The only thing that is important is that the focus is on the individual and how they embody, through the things they do and the stories they tell, dimensions of Louisiana’s history and culture that deserve a larger audience and a place in our collective memory.
STORY: Fiddler from Lake Arthur. Real story here is the Conner family, who continue the tradition of getting together and playing music which brought Barry Ancelet to Conner’s door in 1975 – VC himself was continuing a tradition his father participated in. VC retired from the music scene to focus on his family life and supported himself as a logger. The family still owns the property where the mill once stood, only now they use it as a sugar mill – where they make syrup every year.
VISUALS: Family jam session in Lake Arthur. They will, at the drop of a hat, put together a barbecue or gumbo on a weekend night and call together the family to play all the old songs they learned from their elders. David Greely, of the Mamou Playboys, is a big fan of Varise Conner and has become something of an adopted son by the family. If invited, and we work with his schedule, he will turn up. Michael Doucet actually did play with Conner and would make for a great on camera commentator.
STORY: Creole storyteller. She appeared on Swapping Stories telling a Bouki and Lapin story. She wants to teach her niece how to make soap and to teach her about the Creole tradition. In one scene we get a great aunt passing down to a member of her family important lessons about life and how to live it. While the soap is cooking, she tells her niece about growing up in south Louisiana, about going to work while she was still only a young girl, about meeting her husband. She also tells stories about a girl who gives her lover her skeleton so that he can make a ladder of bones to save her, a magic tale with roots in Europe from hundreds of years ago. Her Bouki and Lapin stories have their roots in Africa. She is a living connection back to two continents.
VISUALS: Mrs. Matthews lives in Jennings in a gray-sided bungalow with a large yard and a small dog. She makes soap in a large cast-iron pot atop a wood fire out in the yard. She can recount her stories outside or inside in her rocking chair.
STORY: This one, like the Varise Conner piece, is a little outside the ostensible frame for these pieces, but like the Conner piece it represents an opportunity that should not go unconsidered: Joseph Broussard is the child star of Robert Flaherty’s Louisiana Story. The feature-length 1948 film has, of course, something of a mixed reputation, since it is often considered a documentary, but really was entirely scripted by Flaherty and his crew and funded by Standard Oil. The opportunity here is the chance to interview Broussard about his memories of making the film and how it intersected with his life then and his life now – no one, to my knowledge, has done any oral history or biographical work with the man. Last year Elemore Morgan, Jr. held a series of events about the film, and he would make an excellent commentator. VISUALS: Joseph Broussard; Elemore Morgan, Jr.; scenes from Louisiana Story itself – it would be nice to have Broussard take us out to where the film was shot and recount events in situ.
STORY: Venable Fabricators, in Rayne, make the crawfish boats that ply the rice fields of south Louisiana. The boats are themselves miracles of Cajun engineering: the wheels in their hulls along with their unique form of propulsion – a paddle wheel that also acts as a crawler – allows them to cross rice field levees as well as pass down country roads.
SCENE: Two locations here: the factory itself as well as someone operating one of their boats to harvest crawfish. (Keith Leleux, who lives south of Crowley, has one of their boats.)
There is an old saying in south Louisiana: “Lâche pas la patate.” Translated literally, it means “Don’t drop the potato,” but what it really means is “Hold on to what’s important.” Cajun and Creole musics have proved to be of central importance to south Louisiana, to the United States, and to the world, demonstrating as they have not only the possibility for, and importance of, maintaining a vibrant folk culture but also revealing the connections between Louisiana and the rest of the world. That is, the musics of south Louisiana not only underline Africa and Europe as original contributors of people to the American experiment (in addition to the already present First World nations) but also that the American experiment is one of hundreds, if not thousands, of experiments around the world where people mix together to produce new, but still related cultures and musics-in terms of south Louisiana, the connections to the Caribbean and the western Indian Ocean are most striking.
The purpose of this project is to preserve the unique collections of the Archives and Cajun and Creole Folklore in order to (1) stabilize the collections and (2) make them more accessible to researchers, area musicians, and the public. The Archives currently holds almost two thousand reel-to-reel tapes and audio cassettes. While a small number of the reel-to-reel tapes are copies of recordings, which can only otherwise be found in the Library of Congress, all the rest are unique to the collection. A large number of the recordings were done in the field by a variety of trained professionals-thus, the quality is as high as the various media and technology involved allowed.
Most of these field recordings provide intimate glimpses into the past: musicians talking and playing in their own homes. In some cases, only the performer and the fieldworker are present; in other cases they are joined by old friends or by some of the young musicians of the day-e.g., Grammy winner Michael Doucet-who went on to revitalize the tradition. These recordings from the past still hold the keys to the music’s future. Musicians continue to clamber for access to the collections: e.g., David Greeley of Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys is a regular listener.
Time has not been kind to any musical archive. Reel-to-reel machine manufacturers are down to two; makers of tape, one. It is clear that for Archives like our own to survive and to continue to play a role in not only keeping history alive but also in making new traditional music possible we must move materials onto formats that are (1) currently in use and will be for the foreseeable future and (2) allow for ready and rapid copying, in a way that tapes did not, so that the collection’s future can be secured-perhaps equally important is that with high capacity hard drives, a lot of material can be kept in a relatively small space.
The collections in need of restoration and digitization that are unique to the Archives of Cajun and Creole Folklore-which also holds copies of recordings by Alan Lomax and Ralph Rinzler (originals are housed in the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress)-are:
There are a huge number of recordings of area festivals, like the nationally known Festivals Acadiens, as well as a few unique recordings done at the Festival of American Folklife, all of which are on cassette, but many of which were professionally recorded, in need of restoration. There are also several hundred recordings by students, students who had been trained in proper recording and fieldwork methods.
The mechanics of the process are straightforward and follow the Academy’s own guidelines as well as those that have been worked out by various other agencies and organizations:
*Reel-to-reel tapes and audio cassettes are played on the appropriate equipment-those familiar with the variety of head arrangements on the former machines will recognize that getting the right equipment is a task in and of itself, fed through an Alesis 1622 mixer, through an Apogee PSX-100 audio-to-digital converter, into a Gateway workstation running Sound Forge Studio.
*Each digitized file is stored in raw form on both a hard drive and a CD, which is stored separately. (For listening purposes, we normalize the files (service copies) and save them using the MP3 codec, in order to enhance listening and to facilitate moving files onto machines dedicated as listening stations.)
All original materials (preservation masters) are kept in climate-controlled conditions in a designated space within the university’s main research library. While a number of other facilities have seen holding onto original materials as a moot point, we do not plan to dispose of our original holdings at any point in the future: we realize that technology is changing quickly and we have an obligation to the future to make it possible for others to revisit either the original materials or their un-enhanced digitized copies, having as they probably will better methods for extracting more information out of either.
We are a small unit within a much larger organization, a public university to be exact. For the purposes of preserving the materials which we deem most important and the most in danger of suffering further by the hands of time, we have acquired a graduate research assistant whose primary responsibility is to begin digitization of some of the holdings-our grant request is for professional help in this regard because we do not have enough expertise to deal with the more fragile materials. We have also gathered together a part-time team primarily focused on indexing and cataloging the materials: preservation is important, but we must also begin to assess what is being preserved and to make it possible for researchers, musicians, and other publics to locate materials relevant to their own work or project, be it a book, an album, or simply knowledge of times past.
A breakdown of the personnel involved is as follows:
Verot School Road
--> Guillot Road
--> Piat RoadThings Seen:
Mardi Gras trailers.
Below is the prospectus I originally wrote for Louisiana Folk Masters in 2003. It’s an interesting historical document, and I am surprised that in a few short years I had actually done two out of the three things listed here:
Housed in the Center for Cultural and Eco-Tourism at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette, the Louisiana Folk Masters series spotlights individuals from around the state who represent the very best of what Louisiana’s diverse folk cultures have to offer. While initially focused on the CD series, the project’s larger goal is a portfolio of offerings that will give a wide-range of audiences access to quality, humanities content through the rubric of getting to know particular practitioners of various traditions.
The Louisiana Folk Masters project reflects the Center’s vision that all of us necessarily create the future out of the past here in the present and that our best resource in guiding us to our creation of the future is each other. We encourage all inquiries.
The Bluegrass Messengers Frog in a Well- Version 7
Frog in a Well/Kitty Alone
Traditional Song and Dance Tune- US and British Isles, Widely known
ARTIST: From unknown on-line source;
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes
DATE: “Froggie Went A Courtin’” branch- 1549; “Martin Said to His Man” branch-1588
OTHER NAMES: “Who’s the Fool Now?,” “Old Blind Drunk John,” “Fooba-Wooba John,” “Johnny Fool,” “Kitty and I,” “Frog in the “Well,”
RELATES TO: “Martin Said to His Man,” “Froggie Went a Courtin’,” “Limber Jim,” “Kemo Kimo/Sing Song Kitty.”
ORIGINATES FROM: Two main sources of origin are: “A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go” and “Martin Said to His Man.”
SOURCES: Kinloch-BBook XIV, pp. 50-54, “The Man in the Moon” (1 text) Randolph 445, “Johnny Fool” (2 texts); Wyman-Brockway I, p. 22, “The Bed-time Song” (1 text, 1 tune) Lomax-FSNA 136, “Hurrah, Lie!” (1 text, 1 tune); Chappell/Wooldridge I, p. 140, “Martin Said to His Man” (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDING INFO: Beers Family. Seasons of Peace. A Great Family Sings, Biograph BLP 12033, LP (1970), cut#B.03; Bradley, Hank; and Cathie Whitesides. American Fogies. Vol. 2, Rounder 0389, CD (1996), cut#18a; Hills, Anne; and Cindy Mangsen. Never Grow Up, Flying Fish FF 671, CD (1998), cut# 1. Martha Hall, “Kitty Alone” (on MMOK, MMOKCD)
Old Blind Drunk John -Feldmann, Peter. Barnyard Dance, Hen Cackle HC 501, LP (1980), cut#A.05 (Fubba Wubba John); Mitchell, Howie. Howie Mitchell, Folk Legacy FSI-005, LP (1962), cut#B.01 (Kitty Alone); Seeger, Mike. Music From the True Vine, Mercury SRMI-627, LP (1972), cut# 8;
We’re A’ Jolly Fu’- MacColl, Ewan. Scotch (Scots) Drinking Songs, Offbeat OLP 4023, LP (196?), cut# 1
Kitty Alone- Beers Family. Seasons of Peace. A Great Family Sings, Biograph BLP 12033, LP (1970), cut#B.03; Bradley, Hank; and Cathie Whitesides. American Fogies. Vol. 2, Rounder 0389, CD (1996), cut#18a; Hills, Anne; and Cindy Mangsen. Never Grow Up, Flying Fish FF 671, CD (1998), cut# 1
NOTES ON KITTY ALONE: “Kitty Alone” is branch of the “Froggie Went Courtin’” and “Frog in the Well” songs. For detailed notes see: “Froggie Went a Courtin” and “Kemo Kimo.” It is also related to the “Old Blind Drunk John/Martin Said to His Man” songs and the text is found in the “Limber Jim/Buck-Eye Jim” group of songs.
NOTES ON KITTY ALONE- FROGGIE ORIGIN: One origin of the “Kitty Alone” text is the “Frog in the Spring/Frog in the Well” songs which is the “Puddy in the Well” offshoot of “Froggie Went A Courtin’.”
“A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go” or “Froggie Went a Courtin’” in the US: The air for this song (which Horace M. Belden believes is the most widely known song in the English language) first appears in Thomas Ravenscroft’s “Melismata” (1611). It is an early version of the song (“Froggie Went A-Courtin'”) famous in British and American traditional folklore and folksong, of which the earliest appearance was in Wedderburn’s “Complaynt of Scotland” (1549) where it is called “The frog cam to the myl dur.” Another early version is found in a broadside text of 1580, called “A moste Strange weddinge of the ffrogge and the mowse” (Rollins).
From David G. H. Parsons The History of “The Frog’s Courtship” A Study of Canadian Variants: Tolman and Eddy document another group of texts from the Scottish tradition that contain a “Cuddy alone” burden or variation such as “Kitty alone.” The origin or meaning of this burden remains a mystery. Here’s a typical verse:
There lived a puddy in a well,
Cuddy alone, Cuddy alone
There lived a puddy in a well
Cuddy alone and I
There lived a puddy in a well
And a mousie in a mill
Kickmaleerie, cowden down
Cuddy alone and I.
Here’s a typical verse from “The Frog” in the Well:”
There was a frog lived in a well,
Kitty alone, Kitty alone;
There was a frog lived in a well;
Kitty alone and I!
There was a frog lived in a well,
And a merry mouse in a mill.
Cock me cary, Kitty alone,
Kitty alone and I.
Many “Kitty Alone” versions of “Froggie” have been recorded, some are mixed in with the “Kemo Kimo” versions of Froggie.
Two more Canadian variants have this “Kitty alone” burden. Helen Creighton collected one in which the burden is altered to “Kitty in the kimeo” and another where it is “Kitty me love.” In both cases the informants remembered only one verse. Tolman and Eddy give a detailed list of the published variants of this family and mention several developments. A burlesque using the ‘kimo’ burden was once popular on the African-American minstrel stage, and there is a different song, but still “Keemo kimo,” on a British broadside, though obviously American in origin. (Parson)
Here is an example of the nonsense syllables in the Kemo Kimo chorus:
Keemo kyemo dell ray hi hoe
Rumpity Rump
Periwinkle soap fat
Link horn nip cat
Hit ’em with a brick bat
Sing song kitty catchy kye me oh
NOTES ON KITTY ALONE- MARTIN SAID TO HIS MAN ORIGIN: In a long note on this song, Professor G. L. Kittredge shows that the “Old Blind Drunk John” songs derive from “a famous old English song, ‘Martin Said to His Man,’ and entered in the Stationers’ Register in 1588.” It is a lying song—“I saw a louse run a mouse…. I saw a squirrel run a deer…. I saw a flea kick a tree…, in the middle of the sea.” One Scottish version cited says, “Four and twenty Hilandmen chasing a snail,” etc.
Referred to in Dryden’s 1668 play “Sir Martin Mar-all, or the Feign’d Innocence” (act IV). It seems to have been very popular in the century prior to that. The American versions can generally be told by their narrative pattern, “(I) saw a ( ) (doing something),” e.g. “Saw a crow flying low,” “Saw a mule teaching school,” “Saw a louse chase a mouse,” “Saw a flea wade the sea.” Other names for “Kitty Alone” are “Who’s the Fool Now?,” “Old Blind Drunk John,” “Johnny Fool,” and “Fooba-Wooba John.”
Here’s an example of the Martin Said to His Man- Kitty Alone:
Saw a crow a-flying low
Kitty alone, kitty alone.
Saw a crow a-flying low,
Kitty alone, alone.
Saw a crow a-flying low
And a cat a-spinnin’ tow.
Rock-a-bye baby bye, rock-a-bye baby bye.
FINAL NOTES: It’s not difficult to distinguish the difference between the “Froggie Went Courtin’” and “Martin Said to His Man” versions. It’s more confusing to sort through and identify the numerous variants of the popular “Froggie” and categorize them.
Here’s a version of “Kitty Alone/ Frog in the Well:”
There was a frog lived in a well,
Kitty alone, Kitty alone;
There was a frog lived in a well;
And a merry mouse in a mill.
Cock me cary, Kitty alone,
Kitty alone and I.
This frog he would a-wooing ride,
Kitty alone, Kitty alone;
This frog he would a-wooing ride,
And on a snail he got astride,
Cock me cary, Kitty alone,
Kitty alone and I.
He rode till he came to my Lady Mouse Hall,
Kitty alone, Kitty alone;
He rode till he came to my Lady Mouse Hall,
And there he did both knock and call.
Cock me cary, Kitty alone,
Kitty alone and I.
Quoth he, “Miss Mouse, I’m come to thee,” –
Kitty alone, Kitty alone;
Quoth he, “Miss Mouse, I’m come to thee
To see if thou canst fancy me.”
Cock me cary, Kitty alone,
Kitty alone and I.
Quoth she, “Answer I’ll give you none,” –
Kitty alone, Kitty alone;
Quoth she, “Answer I’ll give you none
Until my Uncle Rat comes home.”
Cock me cary, Kitty alone,
Kitty alone and I.
And when her Uncle Rat came home,
Kitty alone, Kitty alone;
And when her Uncle Rat came home:
“Who’s been here since I’ve been gone?”
Cock me cary, Kitty alone,
Kitty alone and I.
“Sir, there’s been a worthy gentleman,” –
Kitty alone, Kitty alone;
Sir, there’s been a worthy gentleman,
That’s been here since you’ve been gone.”
Cock me cary, Kitty alone,
Kitty alone and I.
The frog he came whistling through the brook,
Kitty alone, Kitty alone;
The frog he came whistling through the brook,
And there he met with a dainty duck.
Cock me cary, Kitty alone,
Kitty alone and I.
This duck she swallowed him up with a pluck,
Kitty alone, Kitty alone;
This duck she swallowed him up with a pluck,
So there’s the end of my history-book.
Cock me cary, Kitty alone,
Kitty alone and I.
Subject: LimberJim/Buck-eye Jim History
From: GUEST,Richie
Date: 17 Nov 02 – 12:50 PM
I wanted to share this with you.
There’s been some extensive research on Buck-eye Jim and Limber Jim in several threads. I’m posting my notes on Limber Jim for Turtle
Old Man and others that are interested. Any comments or additional info would be appreciated.
NOTES: The Limber Jim Songs originated from and combined with various 1800 minstrel song adaptations of the “Froggie Went a Courting/Martin Said To his Man” songs including the “Kemo Kimo” songs, “Kitty Alone” songs and “Goodbye Liza Jane” songs.
Some titles of the “Kemo Kimo” songs are “Keemo Kimo” “Sing Song Kitty (Won’t You Ki-Me-O);” “King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O;” “Kyman-I-Doe;” and “Beaver Creek” which are variants of the old “Froggie Went Courting” songs.
Here are some excerpts from two “Kemo Kimo” songs:
King Kong Kitchee:
Ki-mo, kemo, ki-mo, kee
Way down yonder in a holler tree
An owl and a bat and a bumblebee
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o
Sing Song Kitty:
Way down yonder and not far off,
Sing song kitty can’t ya kime-e-o.
A jaybird died with the whoppin’ cough,
Sing song kitty can’t ya kime-e-o.
Way down yonder on Beaver Creek,
Sing song kitty can ya kime-e-o.
The gals all grow to be six feet,
Sing song kitty can ya kime-e-o.
The Limber Jim Songs are also related to the “Kitty Alone” songs which are variants from the “Martin Said to his Man” and “Froggie Went a Courting” songs. “Limber Jim” relates to the “Martin Said to his Man” branch of “Kitty Alone.” In a long note on this song, Professor G. L. Kittredge shows that the “Old Blind Drunk John” songs derive from “a famous old English song, ‘Martin Said to His Man,’ and entered in the Stationers’ Register in 1588.” It is a lying song-“I saw a louse run a mouse…. I saw a squirrel run a deer…. I saw a flea kick a tree…, in the middle of the sea.” One Scottish version cited says, “Four and twenty Hilandmen chasing a snail,” etc. Other names for “Kitty Alone” are “Who’s the Fool Now?,” “Old Blind Drunk John,” “Johnny Fool,” and “Fooba-Wooba John.”
Here’s an example of the Martin Said to His Man- Kitty Alone:
Saw a crow a-flying low
Kitty alone, kitty alone.
Saw a crow a-flying low,
Kitty alone, alone.
Saw a crow a-flying low
And a cat a-spinnin’ tow.
Rock-a-bye baby bye, rock-a-bye baby bye.
There are also Froggie variants that introduce the “weave and spin” line commonly found in Limber Jim/Buck-eye Jim.
FROGGIE: From Mrs. Ford Kent of New York
A frog he would a-wooing go
A-too-re-lal, a-too-re-lal,
He went into Miss Mouse’s hall
And there he loudly rapped and called,
He said, Miss Mouse, are you within?
She said, I sit and spin.
BUCK-EYE JIM:
Chorus: Buck-eyed Jim, you can’t go
Go weave and spin, you can’t go
Buck-eyed Jim
From Children Of The Levee, published by the University of Kentucky Press in 1957. It is a reprint of the original articles written by Lafcadio Hearn in 1874-1877 for the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Cincinnati Commercial. Hearn: “But the most famous songs in vogue among the roustabouts is “Limber Jim,” or “Shiloh.” Very few know it all by heart, which is not wonderful when we consider that it requires something like twenty minutes to sing “Limber Jim” from beginning to end, and that the whole song, if printed in full, would fill two columns of the commercial! The only person in the city who can sing the song through, we believe, is a colored laborer living near Sixth and Culvert streets, who “run on the river” for years, and acquired so much of a reputation by singing “Limber Jim,” that he has been nicknamed after the mythical individual aforesaid, and is now known by no other name.
Here’s an excerpt of Limber Jim from Hearns, March 17, 1876:
Chorus: Limber Jim,
[All.] Shiloh!
Talk it agin,
[All.] Shiloh!
Walk back in love,
[All.] Shiloh!
You turtle-dove,
[All.] Shiloh!
Went down the ribber, couldn’t get across;
Hopped on a rebel louse; thought ’twas a hoss,
Oh, lor’, gals, ‘t ain’t no lie,
Lice in Camp Chase big enough to cry,–
Bridle up a rat, sir; saddle up a cat,
Please han’ me down my Leghorn hat,
Went to see widow; widow warn’t home;
Saw to her daughter–she geve me honeycomb.
Jay-bird sittin’ on a swinging limb,
Winked at me an’ I winked at him.
Up with a rock an’ struck him on the shin,
G-d d–n yer soul, don’t wink again. (posted by Masato)
The origin of the closely related “Buckeye Jim” song is obscure. According to the Library of Congress, Fletcher Collins collected “Buckeye Jim” (aka “Limber Jim”) from Mrs. J.U. (Patty) Newman in 1939, at Elon College, in North Carolina, which is the first documented version.
The “Limber Jim” group of songs includes “Buck-eye Jim” and “Shiloh”. There are connections with other fiddle tunes such as “Seven Up”. The “Seven Up,” “Charlotte Town is Burning Down,” “Shiloh,” and “Goin’ Down to Cairo” are all related to the large body of “Goodbye Liza Jane” songs.
This fiddle tune has floater verses and many variants. There are two distinct versions: the “Way Up/Down Yonder” versions (see also: Jim Along Josie), and the “Weave and Spin” (Limber Jim) versions. There are also versions that include “Shiloh” which appears to be a slang word for a type of dance or dance step in connection with the tune.
-Richie
MARTIN SAID TO HIS MAN. AKA – “Fooba-Wooba.” English, Air (3/4 time). C Major. Standard. One part. Chappell (1859) reports the song appears with its music as one of the Freeman’s songs to three voices in Deuteromelia (1609) and the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. Regarding those songs, in the life of Sir Peter Carew by John Vowell, he says “For the King himself (Henry VIII) being much delighted to sing, and Sir Peter Carew having a pleasant voice, the King would often use him to sing with him certain songs they call ‘Freeman’s Song’s.'” Registered as a ballad with the Stationers’ Company in 1588, it seems a satire on the tellers of marvelous tales, much in the vein (says Kines) of such traditional songs of exaggeration such as “Tom-a-lyn,” “Paddy Backwards,” “The Darby Ram,” “Amhran na mBreag,” and “I was born 1000 years ago.” A much later derivative of “Martin Said to his Man” was written by William Courtright, published in 1877 and called “Flewy, Flewy.”
Martin said to his man, fie, man, fie
Martin said to his man, who’s the fool now?
Martin said to his man, fill thou the cup and I the can,
Who hast well drunken man, who’s the fool now?
Chappell (Popular Music of the Olden Time), Vol. 1, 1859; pg. 140. Kines (Songs From Shakespeare’s Plays and Popular Songs of Shakespeare’s Time), 1964; pg. 91.