Finally turned up. Minor differences to the above, a few lines reversed &c:

“DOWN BY THE RIVER
Down by the river
        Mama she wash my shirt,
She like to use a stone
        to knock out the dirt.
The river is shallow,
        The kids jump about,
And when it's time for supper
        Mama has to pull them out.

Chant:
Don't go'way, don't go'way Mister River,
Can't you stop and play,
As you travel out to sea.

Down by the river
        got a good fishin' hole,
Down by the river
        cut a big bamboo pole.
When Papa gets time off,
        so he could be free,
He comes down by the river
        and he goes to fish with me.
                –Repeat Chorus

The River is important to man. It has always been a means of transportation and communication and used for food, work and washing.

Wash Day takes the form of a picnic; mothers and children, food and play. A day spent at the River is fun and work and deep satisfaction. Gosip and jikes are exchanged to lighten the labor as the water brightens the clothes.

Upstream, Father and the older boys may be fishing for the evening meal.”
[Little Calypsos, Krugman, Ludwig, Roth, (New York: Carl Van Roy) 1955, p.16]