Since I was focused on trying to figure out the meaning of "Aint gonna grieve my lord no more" I didn't share a version of the preacher went down".

I don't remember singing this verse when I was growing up. I heard it for the first time from an African American woman in her mid to late 30s in 2002 {Duquesne, PA}. I had come to the summer camp where she worked to meet with the children there to gather some rhymes {songs} that they knew. In between their informal renditions of some handclap and other rhymes, this woman {Miss Crystal} said "I got one". And she told the children and me to repeat each line after her. And then she started sing/songing these words:

Oh the preacher went down
To the cellar to pray
But he got drunk
and stayed all day
Oh the preacher went down to the cellar to pray
but he got drunk and stayed all day

[and then Crystal chuckled and abruptly ended the song]
-snip-

The 2nd time that Crystal sung the "Oh the preacher.."and "He got drunk..." lines, these lines were sung much faster than the first time it was sung.

Crystal didn't sing any other verses with this song. She also didn't end it with the "aint gonna grieve my lord" line. Because the song ended abruptly, I asked her "Was that the end" and she said "Yes". I then asked her when and where she learned this "song". She said she learned it when she was growing up Duquesne {a community near Pittsburgh, PA}.

It wasn't until I read this thread that I connected that rendition with the song "Aint gonna grieve my lord". I suppose that this version is part of that song, but Crystal either didn't learn it that way or didn't remember those verses or the song's ending line.

I should note that Crystal sang this song with a kinda "This is naughty, but so what. Let's have some fun" attitude. It was my impression that the children {ages 5-12 years} in attendance at that camp definitely did not know this song. But they repeated the words like she told them to do. I thought that this song was kinda strange to be singing to children and that maybe it wasn't the right thing to do to sing a song about the preacher being drunk. But I went along 'with the flow'. I remember that the children's response to this song was on the order of "Hun??? What was that about?" I got this imprssion from the children's facial expressions. They were much too respectful of their "teacher" to say these words out loud.

I should note that immediately after Crystal answered my question about when she learned that "song", she said "Here's another one." She then shared another kinda risque call & response song/rhyme with me and the children. But that example doesn't have anything to do with this thread.

After those two examples, Crystal gave the children more opportunities to share songs that they knew. I think that seeing their teacher share songs that she knew helped the children feel more comfortable about singing and performing in front of me -though they appeared to be pretty comfortable doing so before Crystal offered her examples. {I hope no one misinterpretes these remarks. I am very grateful to Crystal for sharing those two songs and allowing me the opportunity to collect some songs from the children present-and see them perform them. It was a very interesting, culturally enriching and productive, experience.