But seriously, folks..

A number of verses to "Polly Wolly Doodle" that Joe Offer gave in his July 27,2004 are floating verses that can be found in various songs from Thomas W. Talley's 1922 book "Negro Folk Rhymes".

I'm studying this collection and "offer" these examples to you for your study or just for the heck of it... The page numbers that I cite are from the 1968 Kennikat Press reissue. I believe there is a newer edition out now...The cited verse found in "Polly Wolly Doddle is preceded by a star or stars and the examples that I found are placed under it.

*I went to the river and couldn't get across:

"Crossing The River" p.6 has this line and these 2nd verses:
1."I jumped on er mule an' I thought 'e wuz er hoss"
2nd verse: "So I mounted on a ram, fer I thought ie wus er hoss"
3rd verse: "So I give a whole dollar fer a ole blin' hoss"

"Crossing The River doesn't have the "jumped on a "N-" verse . However, it does include the infamous "N" word in the second couplet of the first verse "Dat mule 'e walk in an' git mired up in de san'/You'd oughter see'd dis N- make back fer de land"
---

The verse "I went to the river an' I couldn't get across/paid five dollars for an old blind {or ole gray} horse" is also used as a verse in a number of other songs that are included in Tally's collection. For instance, the song "Gray And Black Horses", p.45 is composed using a formula in which the person trades one defective item for another:

I went down to de wooods an' I couldn' go 'cross
So I paid five dollars fer de ole gray hoss.
De hoss wouldn' pull, so I sol' im fer a bull.
De bull wouldn't holler, so I sol' im fer a dollar.
De dollar wouldn' pass, so I throwed it in de grass.
Den de grass wouldn't grow. Heigho! Heigh!
---
You can still hear very similar versions of these verses in contemporary hand-clap rhymes.

Here's two more examples of "river/get across":
"The Negro And The Policeman", p. 66:
I runs to the river, I can't git 'cross
Dat Police grap me an'swim lak a hoss.
---

"Walk Tom Wilson", p. 69
Tom went down to de river, an' he couldn't go 'cross.
Tom tromp [jumped?] on a 'gater [alligator] an'e' think 'e wus a hoss.
---

**Grasshopper sitting on a railroad track, etc.,
Picking his teeth with a carpet tack, etc.:

I didn't find that exact verse but did find these examples from Tally's collection:
"Grasshopper Sitting On A Sweet Potato Vine" p. 173
Grasshopper a settin' on a sweet tater vine,
'Long came a Blackbird an' nap him up behind.
---

"Young Master And Old Master, p. 169
De monkey 's a-settin' on de end of a rail,
Pickin his teeth wid de end of his tail.
Mulberry leaces an' homespum sleeves!
Better known dat ole Mosser's [Master] not
easy to please.
---

***I went to bed, but it was no use,
   My feet stuck out for the chicken roost,

"The Alabama Way", p. 164
'Way down yon'er 'in de Alerbammer way
De N-s goes tp wo'k [work] at de peep o' de day
De bed's too short, an' de high posts rear;
De N-gs needs a ladder fer to climb up dere.
De cord's wore out, an
De bed-tick's gone,
N-g's kegs hang down fer de chickens t' roost on
---

****That chicken sneezed so hard with the whooping cough, etc.,
    He sneezed his head and tail right off, etc.

I didn't find this verse, but found verses that I've seen in publications preceding it: 'I went to the henhouse/and' I fall on my knees/I thought I heard that chicken sneeze'

One song in "Negro Folk Rhymes" that has that verse is "Dinah's Dinner Horn", p. 18. Instead of "I thought I heard that chicken sneeze, the line is given as "It's 'nough to make a rabbit laugh /To hear a chicken sneeze"

And "Frightened Away from A Chicken Roost", p.95 has this verse:
I went down to the hen souse on my knees,
And I thought I heared dat chicken sneeze"
---

Finally, there are a number of dance songs in "Negro Folk Rhymes" that make references to dyin with a whoopin cough. One of these examples is titled "Jaybird Died With The Whooping Cough", p. 36-37.