Lyr. Add: ONE MORE RIVER

Now ladies, give this ark a tow,
There's one more river to cross,
Just pull the string and let it go,
There's one more river to cross.

Chorus:
One more river, and that's the river of Jordan,
One more river, there's one more river to cross.

Old Noah, he did build an ark,
There's one more river to cross,
He built it out of hickory bark,
There's one more river to cross.

Old Noah had to load his stock,
There's one more river to cross,
He anchored to a great big rock,
There's one more river to cross.

The animals went in one by one,
There's one more river to cross,
The elephant chewin' on a caraway bun,
There's one more river to cross.

The animals went in two by two,
There's one more river to cross,
The rhinoceras and the kangaroo,
There's one more river too cross.

The animals went in three by three,
There's one more river to cross,
The bat, the bear and the bumblebee,
There's one more river to cross.

The animals went in four by four,
There's one more river to cross,
Old Noah got mad and hollered for more,
There's one more river to cross.

The animals went in five by five,
There's one more river to cross,
With Saratoga trunks they did arrive,
There's one more river to cross.

The animals went in six by six,
There's one more river to cross,
The hyena laughed at the monkey's tricks,
There's one more river to cross.

The animals went in seven by seveen,
There's one more river to cross,
Says the ant to the elephant who are you shovin'?
There's one more river to cross.

The animals went in eight by eight,
There's one more river to cross,
Old Noah hollered it's a-gettin' mighty late,
There's one more river to cross.

The animals went in nine by nine,
There's one more river to cross,
Old Noah hollered for to cut that line,
There's one more river to cross.

The animals went in ten by ten,
There's one more river to cross,
Old Noah blowed his whistle then,
There's one more river to cross.

Then the voyage did begin,
There's one more river to cross,
Old Noah pulled his gangplank in,
There's one more river to cross.

They never knowed where they was at,
There's one more river to cross,
Till the old ark bumped on Ararat,
There's one more river to cross.

This version is more fully developed than versions in the DT and Forum. The 1st verse is from another song. Ms. from Mrs Maggie Morgan, Arkansas, 1942; heard it sung "about 1890." From Vance Randolph, 1982, Ozark Folk Songs, vol. 2, version B, pp. 380-382. Higginson, 1867, gave a Negro version in his article in the Atlantic Monthly. "Pull the String" appeared in a songbook in 1897. Others suggest the song was originally from minstrel or tent shows. The animals vary from version to version, as does the type of bun chewed by the elephant.