Maybe we can glean some more lyrics out of the sources cited in the Traditional Ballad Index:

Polly Wolly Doodle

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, I went down south for to see my Sal, Sing polly wolly doodle all day...." Sal is described in nonsense terms ("curly eyes and laughing hair"). Floating verses may describe the difficult journey
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1880 (Harvard "Student's Songs")
KEYWORDS: love courting nonsense floatingverses campsong
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (16 citations):
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore3 462, "Sing Polly Wolly Doodle" (1 text)
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore5 462, "Sing Polly Wolly Doodle" (1 tune plus a text excerpt)
Hugill-ShantiesFromTheSevenSeas, p. 42, "Polly Wolly Doodle" (1 verse of a shanty version)
Spaeth-ReadEmAndWeep, pp. 82-83, "Polly-Wolly-Doodle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pankake/Pankake-PrairieHomeCompanionFolkSongBook, p. 274, "Polly Wolly Doodle" (1 text)
Messerli-ListenToTheMockingbird, pp. 43-45, "Polly Wolly Doodle" (1 text)
Heart-Songs, p. 436, "Polly-wolly-doodle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Jolly-Miller-Songster-5thEd, #162, "Polly-Wolly-Doodle" (1 text)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 240, "Polly Wolly Doodle" (1 text)
Fuld-BookOfWorldFamousMusic, pp. 434-435, "Polly-Wolly-Doodle"
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, pp. 118, 175, 240, "288, Polly Wolly Doodle" (notes only)
Rodeheaver-SociabilitySongs, p. 45, "Polly-Wolly-Doodle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zander/Klusmann-CampSongsNThings, p. 16, "Polly Wolly Doodle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zander/Klusmann-CampSongsPopularEdition, p. 18, "Polly-Wolly-Doodle" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, POLYWOLY
ADDITIONAL: Henry Randall Waite, _College Songs: A Collection of New and Popular Songs of the American Colleges_, new and enlarged edition, Oliver Ditson & Co., 1887, pp. 78-79, "Polly-Wolly-Doodle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11799
RECORDINGS:
Walter Coon & his Joy Boys, "Polly Wolly Doodle" (Gennett 7079/Champion 15896/Supertone 9680 [as "Polly Wally Doodle"], 1930; Superior 2671 , 1931; rec. 1929)
Vernon Dalhart, "Polly Wolly Doodle" (Edison N-20001, 1929)
Louise Massey & the Westerners, "Polly Wolly Doodle" (Vocalion 05296, 1939)
Pete Seeger, "Polly Wolly Doodle All Day" (on LonesomeValley)
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "Polly Woddle Doo" (Columbia 15200-D, 1927; rec. 1926)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Fiddler's Bitch" (tune)
cf. "The Golden Axe" (floating verse)
cf. "Pep (The Peppiest Camp)" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
The Fiddler's Bitch (File: RL346)
The Big Fat Boss and the Workers (Greenway-AmericanFolksongsOfProtest, pp. 250-251)
Our Cow ("We've got a cow down on our farm, Moo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo!") (Harbin-Parodology, #76, p. 24)
Little Red Box ("O, I wish I had a little red box To put Mister ??? in") (Harbin-Parodology, #211, p. 54)
File: SRW082

---

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography

The Ballad Index Copyright 2023 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.