The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #167902 Message #4208366
Posted By: Lighter
14-Sep-24 - 06:57 PM
Thread Name: Origins: I Can Whip the Scoundrel
Subject: RE: Origins: I Can Whip the Scoundrel
James M. Carpenter collected a stronger version of one familiar stanza in Wicklow, Ireland (!), in 1928. The singer had learned it from "Southern negro [sic] singers." It was tacked on to another, unrelated song:
The Yanks they took me prisoner, And they gave me my parole; They axed me if I'd fight for them, But I said "No! damn yo' soul!"