Somewhat off-topic, I want to return briefly to the song "Jim A-Long, Josey". As it happens, I found out about this forum because a member of Mudcat visited my website, cocojams.com to comment about that song. When I eventually visited Mudcat, my first comment on this forum as a guest-on July 24, 2004-was about "Jim Along, Josey". Fwiw, here's a link to that comment.

Also, for what it's worth, I want to repeat one point that I made in that post-every time Dorothy Scarborough wrote the words "Jim a-long, Josey" she put a comma after the word "a-long" and before the word "Josey". I think that is significant, particularly since another phrase that was used in place of "jim a-long" was "get a-long". Indeed, I believe that "jim a-long" meant the exact same thing as "get a-long", that is "get going", to move rapidly.

In other versions of that song, that verb is given as "Jam a-long" (to dance along?). It's interesting that one definition of "jam" in contemporary African American slang is "to party" (to have a good time). But people often dance when they "party". Of course, in African American slang "a jam" also means a song/musical piece. And being in a jam could mean that you're in trouble...but that may be a whole different etymology for that word.

My point is that "jim a-long", "get a-long" and "jam a-long" are instructional dance calls or phrases. And since they're part of a dance song, the rapid movement that was supposed to be done when those calls were heard was to be accomplished rhythmically (probably by couples dancing) in time with the beat of the song.

**

In the context of that song as given above, "Josey" (also written "Josie" and also given as "Jo" was either a man's name or a woman's name. In other versions of "Jim A-Long, Josey", "the josey" is the name of the dance (or the dance step) that is done.

Hold my mule while I dance Josey
Hold my mule while I dance Josey
Oh, Miss Susan Brown.

-snip-

And in other parts of some versions of "Jim Along, Josey, the word "josey" meant a woman's overcoat.

See John Russell Bartlett, The Dictionary of Americanisms (New York, Crescent Books, originally published 1849). "Joseph, a very old riding coat for women, scarcely now to be seen or heard of-Forby's Vocabulary. A garment made of Scotch plaid, for an outside coat or habit, was wornin New England about the year 1830, called a Joseph by some a Josey.

Olivia was drawn as an Amazon, sitting upon a bank of flowers, dressed in a green Joseph.
-Godsmith, Vicar of Wakefield.

-snip-

While this doesn't directly refer to the subject of this thread, I wanted to note these points-again-for the record (no pun intended).



Azizi Powell