Lyr Add: Old Aunt Jemima & Aunt Jemima's Plaster

Subject: Lyr Add: Old Aunt Jemima
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 10 Apr 10 - 04:30 PM

OLD AUNT JEMIMA
(Words and music James Grace, 1876)

1
I went to de church de other night,
Old Aunt Jemima, oh! oh! oh!
To hear de colored folks sing and pray,
Old Aunt Jemima, oh! oh! oh!
Old Pomp got tight, and Dinah walk along,
Old Aunt Jemima, oh! oh! oh!
And made old Gumbo sing a song,
Old Aunt Jemima, oh! oh! oh!

Chorus
Car'line, Car'line, can't you dance de peavine,
Old Aunt Jemima, oh! oh! oh!

2
Dar was a bullfrog dressed in soldier clothes
Old Aunt Jemima, oh! oh! oh!
He went out to drill dem crows,
Old Aunt Jemima, oh! oh! oh!
But de bullfrog he made such a mighty splutter,
Old Aunt Jemima, oh! oh! oh!
Dat I up wid my foot and kicked him in de water,
Old Aunt Jemima, oh! oh! oh!
3
I carried a hen coop on my knee,
Old Aunt Jemima, oh! oh! oh!
I thought I heard a chicken sneeze,
Old Aunt Jemima, oh! oh! oh!
'Twas nothing but a rooster saying his prayers,
Old Aunt Jemima, oh! oh! oh!
He gave out a hymn, such a getting up stairs,
Old Aunt Jemima, oh! oh! oh!

Many verses, often floaters, linked by 'Old Aunt Jemima, oh! oh! oh!, sung by various minstrel groups.

Verses above by James Grace, for banlo accompaniment by George C. Dobson.
Sheet music 1876, John F. Perry & Co., Boston.
American Memory.

---

OLD AUNT JEMIMA
Words in Wikipedia:

The monkey dressed in soldier clothes,
Old Aunt Jemima, etc.
Went out in the woods for to drill some crows,
Old etc.
The jay bird hung on a swinging limb.
Old etc.
I up with a stone and hit him on the shin.
Old etc.

Oh, Carline, oh, Carline,
Can't you dance the bee line
Old Aunt Jemima, oh! oh! oh!

The bullfrog married the tadpole's sister,
Old etc.
He smacked his lips and then he kissed her,
Old etc.
She says if you love me as I love you,
Old etc.
No knife can cut out love in two.
Old etc.

Subject: Lyr Add: SHEEPSKIN, BEESWAX (Old Aunt Jemima)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 10 Apr 10 - 04:43 PM

SHEEPSKIN, BEESWAX
19th. C. songsheet

Now I'm gwine to sing a song
'Bout old Aunt Jemima,
Who used to make the Blister Plaster,
Down in North Carolina.

Chorus-
Sheepskin, beeswax,
Bergindy pitch and plaster,
The more you try to pull it off,
It only sticks the faster.

2
Old Aunt Jemima had a dog,
His tail was rather stumpy,
She put the plaster on his back,
And draw'd him to a monkey.
3
She bought a box of blacking,
So big, or a little bigger,
She put de plaster on de box
And draw'd it to a nigger.
4
She had a horse and cart,
They stalled upon de level,
She put de plaster on de cart
And draw'd 'em to de debble.
5
Old Aunt Jemima's dead and gone,
You mayn't believe the story,
Dey put de plaster on her head,
And draw'd her up to glory.

J. Andrews, No. 38, Chatham St., N. Y.
American Memory.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Old Aunt Jemima
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 10 Apr 10 - 10:31 PM

A couple more floater verses.

My old missus promised me,
Old Aunt Jemima, oh! oh! oh!
When she died she'd set me free,
Old Aunt Jemima, oh! oh! oh!
She lived so long her head got bald
Old Aunt Jemima, oh! oh! oh!
She swore she would not die at all,
Old Aunt Jemima, oh! oh! oh!

"Lyle's Great Georgia Minstrel Song Book," 1875

It is assumed that Billy Kersands, "Essense of Virginny," 1875 (but perhaps 1871), was the original composer.

The 'promised me' verse in various forms appears in minstrel songs as early as 1845.
Massa and misse promised me
When they died they'd set me free
Massa and misse dead and gone
Here's old Sambo hillin' up corn.

Billy Kersands (c. 1842-1915) was an African-American singer and dancer, originally with the Georgia Minstrels. See Wikipedia.
He toured, including England, and his marching band led a Mardi Gras parade in 1886.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Old Aunt Jemima
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 Apr 10 - 02:23 PM

Anyone have lyrics for "Old Aunt Jemima," 1947 recording by the "Singing Sentinels"?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Old Aunt Jemima
From: Richie
Date: 13 Apr 10 - 03:32 PM

That's a great chorus:

Chorus-
Sheepskin, beeswax,
Bergindy pitch and plaster,
The more you try to pull it off,
It only sticks the faster.

Thanks Q

Subject: ADD Version: Old Aunt Jemima
From: Joe Offer
Date: 14 Apr 10 - 03:51 AM

Margaret MacArthur sang it to the tune of "Yankee Doodle Dandy."

AUNT JEMIMA

Aunt Jemina climb a tree
She had a stick to boost her,
There she sat a-shelling corn
For our old bob tailed rooster.

CHORUS
Humpty Doodle skiddlebing
Humpty Doodle Daddy,
Humpty Doodle skiddlebing
Wax for Torttle-addy

Corn cobs will twist your hair
Cart wheels around you,
Fiery dragons scare you off
And mortar pestles pound you.
CHORUS

Aunt Jemima's dead and gone
It's hard to tell the story,
They put the plaster on her back
And threw her up to glory.
CHORUS

Sheepskin, bees wax
Makes the sticky plaster,
The more we try to pull it off,
The harder it sticks the faster.
CHORUS

Tune: Yankee Doodle Dandy


From the singing of Mrs. Austin Nichols, Guilford, Vermont; verses three and four from Jean Chase, Putney, Vermont.



Source:
Album notes from Folksongs of Vermont, a Folkways LP by Margaret MacArthur.

Subject: Add: Aunt Jemima's Plaster
From: Joe Offer
Date: 14 Apr 10 - 04:07 AM

Here's another one, from the Folkways LP titled Folksongs of the Midwest, by Loman D. Cansler. I don't recognize the melody.

AUNT JEMIMA'S PLASTER

Aunt Jemima she was old
But very kind and clever
She had a notion of her own
That she would marry never.
She said that she would live in peace
That none should be her master,
She made her living day by day
Selling of a plaster.

CHORUS (after each stanza):
Sheepskin and beeswax
Made that awful plaster,
The more you tried to get it off
The more it stuck the faster.

There was a thief at night and day
Kept stealing from the neighbors.
None could keep the rascai out
With all their tricks and labors.
She set a trap upon the step
And caught him with the plaster,
The more he tried to get away
The more it stuck the faster.

She had a sister very tall
And if she's kept on growing,
She might have been a giant now
In fact there is no knowing.
All of a sudden she became
Of her own height the master,
And all because upon each foot
Jemima put a plaster.

Her neighbor had a Thomas cat
That ate like any glutton,
He never caught a moue or rat
But stole both milk and mutton.
To keep it home she tried her best
But ne'er could be its master,
Until she stuck it to the floor
With Aunt Jemima's plaster.

Now if you have a dog or cat,
A husband, wife, or lover,
That you woul wish to keep at home
This plaster just discover.
Jemima she was taken sick
You may not believe this story
But she put a plaster on her head
And it drawed her up to Glory.

Subject: Lyr Add: AUNT JEMIMA'S PLASTER
From: GUEST,STU WILSON
Date: 19 Apr 10 - 11:08 AM

AUNT JEMIMA'S PLASTER

Aunt Jemima she was old
But very kind and clever
She had a notion of her own
That she would marry never.
She said that she would live in peace
That none should be her master,
She made her living day by day
Selling of a plaster.

CHORUS (after each stanza):
Sheepskin, paraffin, beeswax, flax seed,
Buttermilk, sweet milk, wheat flour dough
Horse glue, fish glue, pine tar, smart weed,
Put it in the oven and you bake it sort of slow
Fry it up, tie it up, throw it on, sew it on,
Cures anything thing from a chill to a cough.
It'll burn a blister on a petrified pig
And you'll have trouble when you try to get it off

There was a thief at night and day
Kept stealing from the neighbors.
None could keep the rascal out
With all their tricks and labors.
She set a trap upon the step
And caught him with the plaster,
The more he tried to get away
The more it stuck the faster.

She had a sister very tall
And if she's kept on growing,
She might have been a giant now
In fact there is no knowing.
All of a sudden she became
Of her own height the master,
And all because upon each foot
Jemima put a plaster.

Her neighbor had a Thomas cat
That ate like any glutton,
He never caught a mouse or rat
But stole both milk and mutton.
She tried her best to keep it home
But none could be its master,
Until she plugged the cat hole up
With Aunt Jemima's plaster.

Now if you have a dog or cat,
A husband, wife, or lover,
That you would wish to keep at home
This plaster just discover.
Jemima she was taken sick
You may not believe this story
But she put a plaster on her head
And it drawed her up to Glory.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Old Aunt Jemima
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Apr 10 - 01:43 PM

I wonder when "Old Aunt Jemima" changed to "Aunt Jemima ('s Plaster)."

Interesting how these songs changed.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Old Aunt Jemima
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 21 Apr 10 - 06:35 PM

AUNT JEMIMA'S PLASTER appears, with musical notation for four voices, and without attribution, in Franklin Square Song Collection, Volume 8, by John Piersol McCaskey (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1892), page 124.

The lyrics mostly agree with those posted by Joe Offer from the Cansler recording, except for the last 4 lines of the last verse:

And if you wish to live in peace,
Avoiding all disaster,
Take my advice and try the strength
Of Aunt Jemima's plaster.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Old Aunt Jemima
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Apr 10 - 08:41 PM

That probably is close, Jim. I have two earlier FSSC, but it is not in them.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Old Aunt Jemima
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Jul 10 - 09:49 PM

I'm still looking for a recording of the Renfro Valley Boys' song by the same name (Aunt Jemima's Plaster). My grandparents had the album when I was a little boy. The melody and lyrics were different than the others listed here. Here are a some of the lyrics that I remember:

I had a maiden auntie and Jemima was her name
She used to make a pu-laster that brought her lots of fame
She made it out of everything and other things too
The principal ingredients were mucilage and glue

Us children wore a pu-laster to keep away a cough
They put it on in Winter and in Spring they took it off
We used it for the measles, for the croup and chicken pox
And brother used to use a piece for holding up his socks

________________________________________________ plaster
When you tried to pull it off it just stuck faster
Hard times, good times, triumph or disaster
A friend would never stick as tight as Aunt Jemima's plaster


If anyone could tell me where I might be able to get a copy of this recording, I'd appreciate it.