...WK McNeil notes that the original version of this song was written in 1913 by George "Honey Boy" Evans (1870-1915), a blackface minstrel from Wales. More verses:
Now I've got a gal and her name is Phyl
She's down in the Arkansas
I loved her once and I love her still
But she's down in Arkansas
Now she's cross-eyed, that's a fact
She cries and the tears roll down her back
But she's down in the Arkansas

Now a funny wedding happened the other day
a gal named Oats married a boy named Hay
Twas down in Arkansas
Then the organ played in a minor key
Down in the Arkansas
They played what will the harvest be?
Down in Arkansas

She was cutting hay while the north wind blows
Down in Arkansas
The sickle slipped and cut off her nose
Down in Arkansas
The doctor put it on upside down
Down in Arkansas
Now when it rains she almost drowns
Down in the Arkansas...