107 - Roll The Cotton Down ( A ) - Halyard Shanty A very popular halyard shanty "Roll the cotton down", opens a big family of the shanties, which Stan Hugill describes as the shanty with the word 'Roll'. As a matter of fact, it vies with 'blow' and 'hilo' as the most popular word in a sailor work-song. At Tops'l halyard it was a hardy perennial, although it suited t'gallant halyards it was a hardy perennial, although it suited t'gallant halyards even more so, being of a fairly lively march time. This version is a "Negro" theme version. "Shanties from the Seven Seas" by Stan Hugill (1st ed p 152 ). Roll The Cotton Down ( A ) Oooh, roll the cotton down, me boys, - ROLL the cotton DOWN! Oh, roll the cotton down, me boys, - Oh, ROLL the cotton DOWN! *2* I,m goin' down to Alabam, To roll the cotton down, me boys, *3* When I lived down south in Tennessee, My old Massa, oh, he said to me. *4* Oh, the slaver works for the white man boss, He's the one who rides on the big white hoss. *5* If the sun don' shine, then the hens don'lay, If the slaver won't work, then the boss won't pay. *6* Away down south where I was born, I worked in the cotton and the corn. *7* Oh the slaver works the whole day long, The Camptown ladies sing this song. *8* When I was young before the war, Times were gay on the Mississippi shore. *9* When work was over at the close of day, 'Tis then you'd hear the banjo play. *10* While the darkies would sit around the door, And the piccanninies played upon the floor. *11* But since the war there's been a change, To the darkey everything seems strange. *12* No more you'll hear the banjo play, For the good ol' times have passed away. *13* And now we're off to New Orleans, To that land of Slaver Queens *14* Oh, in Alabama where I was born A-screwin cotton of a summer's morn.
|