Lyr Req: 'Little Dutch Girl' & 'Jump in the Well'

Subject: Lyr Req: 'Little Dutch Girl' & 'Jump in the Well'
From: GUEST,Sean Belt
Date: 05 Mar 15 - 11:22 AM

Looking for some help if anyone can provide it. There are two mid-western fiddle tunes that I understand have lyrics to them, but I'm darned if I can find them anywhere. One is "Little Dutch Girl", a Missouri tune from down around the Cape Girardeau/Dutchtown area. My recollection is that Marion Thede's book mentions that there are lyrics, but doesn't print them.

The other I'm looking for is "Jump in the Well My Pretty Little Miss", an Illinois tune. I've heard that the late, great fiddler Garry Harrison had lyrics to this, but I've not been able to get ahold of them.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Little Dutch Girl' & 'Jump in the Well'
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 05 Mar 15 - 03:25 PM

Is 'Little Dutch Girl' the same tune as 'Ach du Liebe Augustin'? If so I have heard my mother sing the words 'I'm a little Dutch girl, a Dutch girl, a Dutch girl' to it. Probably a playground song.

The crude version is 'Balls to Brother Banglestein'.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Little Dutch Girl' & 'Jump in the Well'
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Mar 15 - 04:00 PM

There's a hand-slapping game my sister used to play that started, "I AM a pretty little Dutch girl" - there's a Wikipedia page on that one. The song has a melody that I'm sure has been used for many songs, not that I can remember what it is - and it's not "O du lieber Augustin."
Is that the song you're thinking of, Sean?

Somebody, please put me out of my misery and tell me the name of the tune for "I Am a Pretty Little Dutch Girl."

Yu might want to play around on JC's ABC Tune Finder and see if you can come up with a link to the tune you're wanting to know about. Click here to see what I came up with when I searched for "Little Dutch Girl."


When I search for Pretty Little Miss, I come up with "Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss" and a couple tunes called simply "Pretty Little Miss." No wells in the listing...

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Little Dutch Girl' & 'Jump in the Well'
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Mar 15 - 04:13 PM

Googling for will bring up much more satisfactory results. The "Little Dutch Girl" Sean is looking for is most likely the one in this YouTube Video.

Sean, be sure to follow my Google link. There's some terrific stuff there, like Old Town School of Folk Music and Traditional Tune Archive.

Also check Fiddler's Companion.

I realize that I didn't answer your question about the actual lyrics for these songs, but I sure found some interesting stuff that at least kept ME entertained....

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Little Dutch Girl' & 'Jump in the Well'
From: Sean Belt
Date: 06 Mar 15 - 12:31 PM

Steve & Joe,

That Youtube video was the "Little Dutch Girl" that I'm talking about. I've looked in the places you mention, but no luck so far. It is not the same as the hand clapping game or 'Ach du Liebe Augustin', both of which are familiar to me. Though, those guesses do make sense.

I've also talked with most of the old-time players here in the St. Louis area (and there are a lot of us!), but no one can remember the lyrics to either tune.

I will keep plugging away at it and will report back here if I ever find what I'm looking for.