Origins: Down by the station, early in the morning

Subject: Down by the station, early in the morn..
From: GUEST,ajgoodkids
Date: 27 Mar 00 - 02:44 PM

Can we work this one a little more definitively? Who, what, where, and most importantly, lyrics? My kids' take is:

Down by the station, early in the morning, See all the pufferbellies, all in a row, See the station master, calling out the engines, Puff, puff, toot, toot, off they go.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the mo
From: Sorcha
Date: 27 Mar 00 - 02:46 PM

That's all I ever heard.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the mo
From: GUEST,ajgoodkids
Date: 27 Mar 00 - 02:50 PM

Correction, from my 5 y.o. daughter. The second line is:

"See the little pufferbellies, all in a row,"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the mo
From: Allan C.
Date: 27 Mar 00 - 02:50 PM

DOWN BY THE STATION
The Four Preps

Down by the station early in the morning
Met a little girl about as cute as she could be
I turned on my charms and told her that I loved her
I said that she would always be the number one for me
She'd always be my number one girl
I said there'd be no number two or three

Down in the malt shop shortly thereafter
Met another girl about as cute as she could be
I looked for number one and when I didn't see her
I told number two she was the only girl for me

Went to the drug store and nearly lost my life
There I saw my girlfriends, one and two
Standing there together, I knew I was in trouble
But I'm a clever guy I knew what to do

I went on down by the station early in the morning
I was wooing women as cute as they could be
But then I saw another girl lookin kinda pretty
I said I'm through with one and two
I love you number three
I said I love you number three
And here's what she said to me

Just head on down by the station early in the morning
Catch yourself a trolley car that goes into the sea
I want a love that's true sir, not a love like you sir
You weren't true to one and two
You won't be true to me

Down by the station early in the morning
See the little puffer-bellies all in a row
See the station master pull the little handle
Chug, chug, woo, woo, off they go

(Repeat and fade on 2nd repeat)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the mo
From: jeffp
Date: 27 Mar 00 - 02:55 PM

That's sung to the same tune as Little Rabbit Foo-Foo, isn't it?

jeffp

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the mo
From: GUEST,ajgoodkids
Date: 27 Mar 00 - 03:27 PM

Yes. I'm more interested in info on Down By The Station.

My kids' also sing Little Bunny Foo Foo. They tell me it's an Easter song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the mo
From: Allan C.
Date: 27 Mar 00 - 04:23 PM

Here is the kid's version (an echo song), author unknown:


Down By the Station

Down by the station
(Down by the station)
Early in the morning
Early in the morning)
See the little pufferbellies
See the little pufferbellies)
All in a row
(All in a row)

See the station master
(See the station master)
Turn the little handle
(Turn the little handle)
Puff, puff, toot, toot
(Puff, puff, toot, toot)
Off we go!
(Off we go!)

Down by the station
Early in the morning
See the little pufferbellies
All in a row

See the station master
Turn the little handle
Puff, puff, toot, toot
Off we go!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the mo
From: GUEST,ajgoodkids
Date: 27 Mar 00 - 04:44 PM

Thanks, AC. Looks good. I'll do Little Bunny Foo Foo on a fresh thread.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the mo
From: GUEST,Jim Dixon
Date: 27 Mar 00 - 05:28 PM

I think the correct spelling is "pufferbilly" and I cite as my authority -

http://www.booneiowa.com/pufferbillydays/

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the mo
From: Snuffy
Date: 27 Mar 00 - 05:49 PM

My mother used to sing:

Down at the station, early in the morning,
See the little puffing Billys, all in a row,
The man upon the engine blows his little whistle,
Puff, puff, toot, toot, off we go.

Wassail! V

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the mo
From: Snuffy
Date: 27 Mar 00 - 06:01 PM

Puffing Billy was the name of one of the first engines George Stevenson built (about 1820 I think), to work at a colliery in Northumberland.

As my mother comes from Tyneside, it was natural that Puffing Billy should live on in the folk memory of miners and their families for over a century.

Wassail! V

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the mo
From: Joe Offer
Date: 27 Mar 00 - 06:15 PM

Where's the song come from? Is it traditional? I've known it all my life, but never thought to wonder where it came from.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the mo
From: alison
Date: 28 Mar 00 - 02:46 AM

The tune is very similar to the first 2 lines of Alouette....

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the mo
From: Sourdough
Date: 28 Mar 00 - 03:24 AM

The funny thing is that songs like this are probably our real folk musictoday. There are songs and verses passed on orally, performed unselfconsciously feel like a natural part of the environment. There is probably more folk tradition in the lives of kids under the age of ten then there is in the rest of non-ethnic society.

What do you think?

Sourdough

Subject: Down by the station, early in the morning
From: Joe Offer
Date: 28 Mar 00 - 05:30 AM

What I wanna know is, how come you can never find a good ethnofolkmusicologist when you need one? This song has a history to it, and I believe there oughta be one person out there in Mudcatland who knows that story.
Anyone?
Click for lyrics and MIDI

I am aware of this:

Down by the station.

This is for the people who never rode the train, whether in California or even up in Maine
Makes no diff'rence if you're two or a hundred and two,
You'll get a treat when you order a seat on the ole choo-choo.

Chorus: Down by the station early in the morning, see the little puffer bellies all in a row
See the station master turn the little handle,
Chug, chug, toot, toot, off we go.

Music by: Ricks, Lee, and Slim Gaillard.
Words by: Ricks, Lee, and Slim Gaillard.
P/P/D: New York : American Academy of Music Inc., c1948.
Location: SPC, KIRK PS 1948-1951

...but this is an variation of an older song, with an introductory verse added by Gaillard & Ricks. It seems the "down by the station" verse should be much older.

I learned it as "pufferbillies."

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the mo
From: Alan of Australia
Date: 28 Mar 00 - 08:59 AM

G'day,
I always thought it was Puffing Billy. There is a famous train in Oz by that name.

Cheers,
Alan

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the mo
From: GUEST,guest al c.
Date: 31 Aug 09 - 10:57 PM

Couple o' coincidences re this thread: {{{{ Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the mo
From: Allan C.
Date: 27 Mar 00 - 04:23 PM www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=19708 }}}}
My name is also Allan C. but not the same one. Livin' on West Coast. Relatives partly from Missouri handed down this version in our family. One of my relatives was a Station master, Missouri-Pacific [MoPac] railway.   While researching this topic, the first version I happened on that contained the name "station master" was from the Allan C. with many mudcat messages from prior to 2009. Would like to email him re this but don't know where. Here is the way we were taught it, an often sung childhood bedtime song, along with other train songs, "Sleepy Town Express" & "I been workin' on the' Rail-road": //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////             Down By the Station

Down by the station
Early in the morning
See the little pufferbellies
Standing in a row

See the station master
Give 'em all the sig-nal
Chug, chug, toot, toot
Off we go!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the mo
From: open mike
Date: 01 Sep 09 - 01:20 AM

i thought it was the intro to
I've been working on the rail road..

this song has several changes it goes thru..

with shouting captains, and all..

from Dinah blow your horn...(?who was Dinah?)

to someone's in the kitchen with Dinah..

...strummin' on the old banjo...they're strummin'
Fee fi fiddle ee i o....

and i thought it was Puffer Bellies...

Subject: Lyr Add: PUFFERBILLY SONG
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 02 Sep 09 - 04:09 PM

I searched Google Books for the words "Down by the station, early in the morning, see the little * all in a row"—using an asterisk "wild card" to substitute for the questionable term.

I found lots of current books of children's songs that include those lines. They have various ways of spelling—

puffa-bellies (once)
puffabillies (once)
puff-a-billies (once)
puffer bellies (5 occurrences)
puffer billies (3 occurrences)
pufferbellies (3 occurrences)
puffer-bellies (3 occurrences)
pufferbillies (2 occurrences)
puffer-billies (once)
puffinbellies (once)

If you ignore the hyphens and spaces, you get—

puffabellies (once)
puffabillies (2 occurrences)
puffabillies (once)
pufferbellies (11 occurrences)
pufferbillies (6 occurrences)
puffinbellies (once)

Anyone interested in seeing a pie chart? ;-)

But the oldest version I found was in this magazine or journal:

Recreation by National Recreation Association, Vol. 25, 1931, Page 375:

PUFFERBILLY SONG

Down at the station, early in the morning,
See the little Pufferbillies standing in a row.
See the engine driver twist the little handle,
Tst!—Tst!—Toot!—Toot! There they go.

(May be used as a two or four part round. Music to this found in the Girl Scout Song Book.)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the mo
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 02 Sep 09 - 04:41 PM

Here is an article at Wikipedia about Puffing Billy.

There is also a nice photo as the frontispiece of A History of Railway Locomotives Down to the End of the Year 1831 by Chapman Frederick Dendy Marshall (London: The Locomotive Publishing Company, Ltd., 1953), page ii.

I also suppose there is more information in that book than you want to know.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the morning
From: GUEST,Deb
Date: 05 Nov 09 - 01:37 PM

Down by the station
Early in the morning
See the little puffing billies
All in a row

Hear the station master
Blow his little whistle
Puff puff toot toot
Off we go

The station master used to blow his whistle to let the engine driver know that everyone was on board and it was safe to go.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the morning
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Jan 11 - 03:30 PM

Down by the railroad Early in the morning See the puffing billies all in a row See the engine driver turn his little handle Ifty pifty shoot shoot off we go

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the morning
From: GUEST,A
Date: 04 Apr 11 - 12:52 AM

My grandma used to sing us:

"Down by the station
Early in the morning
See the little Pufferbillies
All in a row
See the little driver
Turn the little handle
Puff Puff! Choo Choo!
Off we go.

I am curious to find if there are any earlier references of this song before the 1930's reference cited in this thread. My grandmother was born in 1916. I know that my grandmother's parents sang to her a lot and I am trying to decipher if this could have been one of the songs they sang to her.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the morning
From: Mysha
Date: 04 Apr 11 - 12:49 PM

Hi,

In English I learned "pufferbillies", which I understand as the name for a small steam locomotive. To me, "pufferbellies" has an American sound to it, I don't know why, exactly.

"See the engine driver twist the little handle," or "Hear the station master blow his little whistle"? Curiously, I would say for the standard pronunciation neither seems to fits the tune I know: Wouldn't it be "!Sta!tion master", and "!En!gine driver", whereas the tunes asks for "Station !mas!ter" or "Engine !dri!ver"?

Dutch:
Op een klein stationnetje (On a little station)
's Morgens in de vroegte (Early in the morning)
Staan de blikken wagentjes (Little metal cars stand)
Netjes op een rij (Neatly in a line)
Ziet de machinist eens, (Watch the engine driver)
Hij draait aan een wieletje (he turns a little wheel 'round)
hakke-hakke, puf, puf (chukka-chukka, puff, puff)
Weg zijn we. (We are off. [Except "off" doesn't rhyme with "line".])

That's the oldest version I know, and I doubt anyone would sing it like that, as "ziet the machinist eens", would be incomprehensible for a child. But as you can see we translated the version with the engine driver, not that with the station master. I don't know whether that means it's more original, though, or was simply the version the translator had learned. The details suggest it's from a later time.

Bye,
                                                                Mysha

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the morning
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 04 Apr 11 - 12:57 PM

We used to sing (UK 40's)
   
       Down at the station, early in the morning,
       See the little puffa trains all in a row.
       Man at the engine pulls a little lever,
       Puff puff! Woo hoo! Off we go!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the morning
From: GUEST,deb
Date: 12 Apr 11 - 04:43 PM

early in the morning down at the station, see the little engines all in a row, see the engine driver turn his little handle, hiffty piffty choo choo, off they go! is how I learnt it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the morning
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Apr 11 - 10:56 AM

. . . Ya'll need to be thrown under the damn train . . . What the hell . . .

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the morning
From: Richard from Liverpool
Date: 16 Apr 11 - 11:11 AM

What I sing to my kid (learned from my Gloucester, MA, USA wife) is:

Down at the station, early in the morning
See the little puffer trains all in a row
See the engine driver turn the little handle
Peep peep peep, and off they go

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the morning
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Apr 11 - 11:59 AM

Down by the station early in the morning
See all the pufferbellys (engines)all in a row
See the station master pull the little handle
Chug, chug, toot toot off they go!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the morning
From: GUEST,maren
Date: 18 Apr 11 - 11:59 AM

Excellent! I love this conversation, that you all care about this little song. It is one of my favorites. wikipedia has a great article on Puffing Bellies, with a picture I can print to show my students.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the morning
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 18 Apr 11 - 01:55 PM

I've just realised why there are so many pufferbillies. It's also those Southerners with arhotic accents, and they're actually singing puffabillies.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the morning
From: GUEST,Guest Liz
Date: 30 Jun 11 - 06:21 AM

I'm from Northumberland and my mother taught me these words in the late 50's

Early in the morning
On the way to London
See the little Puffing Billies
All in a Row
See the engine driver
Turn his little handle
Hiffty piffty puff puff
Off we go

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the morning
From: GUEST,PGM-W
Date: 06 Jan 12 - 12:03 PM

When I learned this song, in the 1940s, it was "Puffing Billies", and "Hifty Pifty Choo Choo"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the morning
From: Mysha
Date: 27 Nov 15 - 11:02 AM

Hi,

Sometimes, I don't know how I even make sense when opening my mouth.
(Maybe I don't, but nobody told me?)

Obviously:

Dutch:
Op een klein stationnetje (On a little station)
's Morgens in de vroegte (Early in the morning)
Staan de blikken wagentjes (Little metal cars stand)
Netjes op een rij (Neatly in a line row)
Ziet de machinist eens, (Watch the engine driver)
Hij draait aan een wieletje (he turns a little wheel 'round)
hakke-hakke, puf, puf (chukka-chukka, puff, puff)
Weg zijn we. (We are off Off we go.)

Still an acceptable translation, but this way it actually rhymes.


Are we any further where the origin is concerned?
NIH Kids' pages has "Lee Ricks and Slim Gaillard © 1948", but also "This famous folk song is believed to have been written in the last 19th century, as railroads expanded across the country, built "all the livelong day" in back‐ breaking work." ("The country" appears to be the USA.)
As we have an 1931 source already, the last ["quarter of the"?] 19th century would seem more plausible than 1948, but do we have anything to support the believe?

It occurred to me, BTW, that while the engine was named "Puffing Billy", that doesn't necessarily mean the original lyrics got it right.

Bye,
                                                                Mysha

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the morning
From: dick.hamlet
Date: 27 Nov 15 - 10:06 PM

When my parents bought a Victorian house outside Milwaukee Wisconsin,
it came with a "music room" in which there was left a wind-up Victrola
and a bunch of 78 RPM records, probably vintage pre-1935. One of
them (my favorite, aged 10) was DOWN BY THE STATION. All I can remember
is that it had a red label (Victor Gold Seal?). The lyrics were as
in previous posts, with "See the station master, turn the little handle..." (which blew the whistle?).

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the morning
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Nov 15 - 11:56 AM

I wish I had tried to remember the words, learned from someone from South Wales I think, before I read this. I think it was

Early in the morning
On the way to London
See the little engines
All in a row
See the engine driver
Turn his little handle
Puff puff toot toot
Off we go.

However, I do remember that I learned it a four part round which was made all the more entertaining by it having 'actions' for most lines. These are fairly obvious and better with 'puff puff toot toot' than with some of the other versions above.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the morning
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Nov 15 - 11:59 AM

No, now I remember, it was 'As I went down to London' and 'saw' rather than 'see'. So tense only inconsistant on the last line.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the morning
From: PHJim
Date: 28 Nov 15 - 03:08 PM

Tommy Dorsy recorded this in 1948 with an intro and outro that used a different melody and different changes, but these will stand on their own. May not be quite word for word, but these words fit (The third verse is done in a faux cockney accent):

Down by the station early in the morning
See the little puffer bellies all in a row
See the station master pull the little handle
Puff puff toot toot off we go

Down by the station early in the morning
Grab a cup of coffee while I'm waitin' for the train
Chage another quarter, gotta pay the porter
Chug chug poop poop looks like rain

Down by the station shinin' up me brass plates
All the gandy dancers on the main line
See the diamond cracker warmin' up the big jack
Chug chug poop poop off we go.

First verse done as a round.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the morning
From: PHJim
Date: 28 Nov 15 - 03:10 PM

That should be "Change another quarter".

I wonder how much theporter was paid.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the morning
From: GUEST,hugo
Date: 27 Jan 17 - 01:19 PM

Ref: GUEST comment about learning this from someone in South Wales. My gran was born in Treherbert in the Rhondda valley in 1913 and learned this song as a child. This one will take an ethnomusicologist a few seconds to answer this definitively, but what fun is that. It would spoil the conversation.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the station, early in the morning
From: Joe Offer
Date: 27 Jan 17 - 01:57 PM

I thought I was working on this song just the other day, but I can't find where I did whatever I did. These ethnofolkmusicologists at the Traditional Ballad Index don't have anything on the song, but there is a Wikipedia article that says this:

"Down by the Station" is a popular song written by Lee Ricks and Slim Gaillard in 1948, and most famously recorded by Tommy Dorsey. The song remains popular today as a children's music standard. The opening lines of the song are: Down by the station, early in the morning, see the little pufferbellies all in a row. The song itself is much older than 1948; it has been seen in a 1931 Recreation magazine.
Whether deliberately copied or not, the tune is very closely related to the chorus of the French/Canadian folk song "Alouette".
The Four Preps recorded a version of the song in 1959, featuring an entirely different set of lyrics by group members Bruce Belland and Glen Larson.

My heart sank when I saw it was written by Lee Ricks and Slim Gaillard in 1948, the year of my birth. I was very glad to see that it had been seen in a 1931 magazine.
Maybe I came across "Down By the Station" a couple weeks ago, when we were working on I'm a Little Teapot, another song that we can trace only back to the 1930s. It just doesn't seem right that these two songs are so recent.
Either that, or if they're NOT recent, then I'm really old...

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the station, early in the morning
From: chrisgl
Date: 17 Jul 18 - 09:25 AM

This was known during WW1 as "Call the Roll"
It appears in Tommy's Tunesm pub. 1917, page 88
Tommy's Tunes

Call The Roll
Early in the morning, down at the station,
See the little puff-puffs all in a row;
Man at the engine turns a little handle:
Choo! choo! choo! choo! off they go.

Call the roll, call the roll, call the roll, call the roll,
And we’ll meet you at the cookhouse door.

Early in the morning, on the parade ground,
See the little fatigews† all in a row;
Up comes the sergeant, gives them their orders:
Left, right ! left, right ! off they go.

Call the roll, call the roll, call the roll, call the roll,
And we’ll meet you at the cookhouse door.

Early in the morning, outside the sick tent,
See the little sick boys all in a row;
Up comes the Doctor, gives them each a No. 9‡:
Left, right! left, right! off they go.

Call the roll, call the roll, call the roll, call the roll,
And we’ll meet you at the lathouse¤ door.

† Men detailed for fatigue or routine drudgery.
‡ A pill; an aperient.
¤ Latrines.

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the station, early in the morning
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 22 Jul 20 - 09:04 AM

Down at the station
Early in the morning
See the little puffertrains
All in a row
Pull the little lever,
turn the little handle
Toot toot whoo whoo
Off we go


Words that I remember from mother, but can’t find them written anywhere