The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #61157   Message #982076
Posted By: GUEST,Q
12-Jul-03 - 08:58 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Bake That Chicken Pie
Subject: Lyr Add: CHICKEN IN THE BREAD TRAY and CHICKEN PIE
Not the same song, but about cooking chicken pie.

Lyr. Add: CHICKEN IN THE BREAD TRAY

"Auntie, will yo' dog bite?"-
"No, chile, No!"
Chicken in de bread tray
A makin' up dough.

"Auntie, will yo' broom hit?"-
"Yes, Chile!" Pop!
Chicken in de bread tray;
"Flop! Flop! Flop!"

"Auntie, will yo' oven bake?"-
"Yes. Jes' fry!"-
"What's dat chicken good fer?"-
"Pie! Pie! Pie!"

"Auntie, is yo' pie good?"-
"Good as you could 'spec.'"
Chicken in de bread tray;
"Peck! Peck! Peck!"

Thomas W. Talley, Negro Folk Rhymes, Dance Rhyme Section, no. 11. Coll. 1920 or before. Notes indicate that the verses were occasional, sung by fiddlers in calling sets to a square dance. Also titled "Granny Will Your Dog Bite?"
There are a number of Hen House stealing rhymes in the Negro folk rhymes as well as white. One in Tally begins:
Nigger! Nigger never die!
He gits choked on chicken pie.
Black face, white shiny eye.
etc.

Lyr. Add: CHICKEN PIE
Frank Dumont, 1906
(The original of Uncle Dave Macon's lyrics, passed into Negro folk song)

If you wants to make an ole Nigger feel good,
Let me tell you what to do:
Jes' take a chicken from dat chicken roost,
An' take 'im along wid you.
Take a little dough to roll 'im up in,
An' it'll make you wink yo' eye;
W'en dat good smell gits up yo' nose,
Frum dat home-made chicken pie.

Jes' go round w'en de night's sorter dark,
An' dem chickens. they can't see.
Be sure dat de bad dog's all tied up,
Den slip right close to de tree.
Now retch out yo' han' an' pull 'im in,
Den run lak a William goat;
An' if he holler, squeeze 'is neck,
An' shove 'im un'er yo' coat.

Bake dat Chicken pie!
It's mighty hard to wait
When you see dat chicken pie!
Hot, smokin' on de plate,
Bake dat Chicken pie!
Yes, put in lots of spice.
Oh, how I hopes to Goodness
Dat I gits de biggest slice.

Thomas W. Talley, Negro Folk Rhymes, Dance Rhyme Section no. 90, "Chicken Pie," coll. about 1920. The song was in Negro, if not white, folk song only 14 years after its composition and publication by M. Witmark and Sons in 1906. Uncle Dave Macon recorded his version in 1927 (Vocalion 5148).
I have not checked for the original sheet music lyrics of Frank Dumont. The Negro folk version copied here probably differs from the original.