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Lyr Req: Kitty Alone
DigiTrad:
HURRAH, LIE!
WHO'S THE FOOL NOW or MARTIN SAID TO HIS MAN
Related thread:
Kitty Alone -- meaning? (40)
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: GUEST,David Usher Date: 29 Apr 24 - 11:01 AM This is the best version I have heard, as done by Howie Mitchell. It was performed at the Fox Hollow Folk Festival in 1967 by a Michigan group called the Young 'Uns and is on the Fox Hollow "Pitter Poon, the Rain Come Doon" Vol. 1 LP Side B cut 6. This version is a captivating arrangement I do at shows. Audiences love it. this version in not on youtube yet but I am tempted to put it out there. I am not sure where this version came from -- it may be documented by Howie Mitchell somewhere. It does not appear to be related to the more common Appalachian versions referencing the "little bat" kiddie tunes on many recordings. Kitty Alone Howie Mitchell Key of A for non-soprano singers, Key of C is singable for many, best key for banjo instrumentation (As done by the Young 'Uns. Saw a crow flying low Kitty alone, kitty alone. And a cat spinning toe Kitty alone-alee, Saw a crow flying low and a cat spinning toe Kitty alone-alee, rocka-ma-rye-ree. Saw a possum in a log, Kitty alone, kitty alone. Looking like a big groundhog Kitty alone-alee, Saw a possum in a log, looking like a big groundhog Kitty alone-alee, rocka-ma-rye-ree. Big ol' owl in a tree Kitty alone, kitty alone. Just as sleepy as he can be Kitty alone-alee, Big ol' owl in a tree, just as sleepy as he can be Kitty alone-alee, rocka-ma-rye-ree. Way up yonder above the moon Kitty alone, kitty alone. Bluebird sleeps in a silver spoon, Kitty alone-alee, Way up yonder above the moon, bluebird sleeps in a silver spoon, Kitty alone-alee, rocka-ma-rye-ree. Way up yonder above the sun Kitty alone, kitty alone. Eagle flies when his work is done, Kitty alone-alee, Way up yonder above the sun, eagle flies when his work is done, Kitty alone-alee, rocka-ma-rye-ree. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Jim Carroll Date: 30 Sep 19 - 02:53 PM "Recording of Uncle Rat by Elizabeth Cronin " There's a nice BBC recording of it sung by Thomas Moran of Country Leitrim He said he learned it from a neighbour who "never crossed a cow track" (never travelled anywhere) This is said to be the first folk song ever mentioned in literature (in 1549 in "Weddeburn's Compalyt of Scotland" It's described as a "shepherds song" Jim Carroll |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: GUEST Date: 30 Sep 19 - 01:18 PM The original song I believe was an old British folk song called kiss you alone I can't find it anywhere it's driving me crazy |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: AmyLove Date: 02 Apr 17 - 05:33 PM Recording of Uncle Rat by Elizabeth Cronin (and the lyrics are exactly as posted by Charlie Baum) Uncle Rat (Kitty Alone) - Elizabeth Cronin |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Airymouse Date: 02 Dec 13 - 12:37 AM Jim Dixon: What a joy to see the book again thanks to your selecting Project Gutenberg. My copy, I hope, is with my grandchildren. Although Gibson is a precocious reader, he seems more interested in dinosaurs than the rabbits, mice and squirrels that Beatrix Potter wrote about. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 01 Dec 13 - 09:18 PM paduasoy = peau de soie |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Jim Dixon Date: 01 Dec 13 - 02:25 PM Airymouse: I never heard of paduasoy until you mentioned it (or maybe I had forgotten it) and I was sure you had misspelled it, but Project Gutenberg has the text of "The Tailor of Gloucester" on file, and there it is, in the first sentence:
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Jim McLean Date: 01 Dec 13 - 10:03 AM The version I have is an EP Scottish Records SR. 4517EP, probably mid seventies. It a series if recitations by Duncan MacRae, including his well known Wee Cock Sparrow. His The Frog and the Mouse is very Scottish and has the repeated lines " Cuddy alang, Cuddy alang, cock ma Cary, Cuddy alang, Cuddy alang and I " and "sing kinkum Kerrie con dum down, Cuddy alang and I". After the wedding the drake takes the frog and the mouse runs up the wall. There are some lovely scotch lines like "Fye gar busk the bride alang " is Uncle Rat's reply to his neice's suitor meaning "quickly dress the bride for the wedding". We know a Cuddy in Scotland generally means a horse but in this poem the words are meaningless, adding only to its music and rhythm. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Jim Carroll Date: 01 Dec 13 - 06:08 AM Cuddy = donkey, also simpleton Jim Carroll |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Jim Carroll Date: 01 Dec 13 - 04:03 AM "earliest known version of at least a third of them came from a broadside or similar cheap print." Hate to be the elephant in the room (again), but can I point out that the "earliest known versions" are merely those that have made it into print and that there is no evidence whatever to confirm that these originated in print. After thirty odd years of field research among traditional singers I have come to the unavoidable conclusion that 'the folk' were not only capable of producing songs without the aid of professional song-makers, but that they did so in huge quantities in the form of anonymous local songs which never made it into the national repertoire because of their parochial nature. Our field work includes a thirty year association and close friendship with a many who spent a section of his youth selling ballad sheets around the fairs and markets of rural Ireland in the 1940s and 50s. He went to a printer and recited his father's songs or those he'd learned from his Travelling community over the counter - the printer then ran them off in the required number. As our friend said - "why bother to write songs when there were so many about to just pick out of the air. Humanity, by their very nature, are natural song-makers and until somebody proves beyond any doubt that our folk songs were the product of the broadside presses and not poetic expressions of everyday life and observation. Sorry to interrupt, but I find this somewhat illogical drift towards 'broadside origins' more than a little disturbing - not quite ready to empty my shelves of more than a century's worth of folk song scholarship on the say-so of a very-much unproven theory. Carry on! Jim Carroll |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 30 Nov 13 - 11:53 AM There are three "Puddy" (Scottish) versions (Cuddy alone) in the DT. Neither paddock nor Duncan MacRae show up. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Jim McLean Date: 30 Nov 13 - 04:15 AM I posted a Scottish version of this some time ago. It was from a recitation I have by Duncan MacRae and was called The Puddock, the Scotish word for a frog. The chorus, I think, was something Cuddy alane. I must try and find the previous posting. (Not the "a Puddock sat by the lochan's brim ....) |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Airymouse Date: 29 Nov 13 - 05:37 PM Saw an eagle in the sun Kitty Alone, Kitty Alone Saw an eagle in the sun Kitty Alone am I Saw an eagle in the sun Making circles when his work is done Kitty alone am I Pull my ring Off topic: Tailor of Gloucester was my favorite Beatrix Potter story. I recall "no more twist" and "paduasoy." Spell checker is telling me I'm misspelling "paduasoy", but it was on about the second page, and it's a pretty tough word for a six-year old: try it on an adult after you find out how it's really spelled. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Steve Gardham Date: 29 Nov 13 - 04:56 PM I feel a little uncomfortable starting such a thread myself (rather blowing one's own trumpet) but if you want to start one I'll gladly contribute. I will be offline for a while from Monday but I will gladly put lists up with Roud numbers. It would take me too long to list all of the sources and their titles on broadsides but I could easily list the folk songs as they are now. The Child ballads are almost all well documented in Child anyway. The A list is fairly short though the B list is quite long. It is the A list I will be presenting at the TSF meeting at C# House on the 14th. I haven't started copying the images of the B list yet. I hope to have this done by the TSF meeting at Sheffield in June. I have Excel spreadsheets of the 3 lists but I don't know how they would copy to Mudcat format. I ought to also add that the project is only based on folk songs found in oral tradition in England and therefore doesn't cover Scotland, Ireland or America where there are such songs from 17th century English broadsides. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 29 Nov 13 - 02:03 PM Steve, a new thread listing your three groups and members found in oral tradition might be the start of a worthwhile discussion. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Steve Gardham Date: 29 Nov 13 - 01:26 PM I ought to add, apologies for thread drift! |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Steve Gardham Date: 29 Nov 13 - 01:25 PM 'Child himself never declared definite criteria, possibly changing his mind over the years, and certainly admitting that some of the ballads that he DID include had a very poor claim.' Absolutely, Richard. I'm pretty certain he became more dejected at what he felt obliged to include as he went along. We know he had misgivings about some of the material before he started on ESPB. There are plenty of ballads that go back at least to the 17th century and have been found recently in oral tradition. I'm giving a presentation on these in a couple of weeks' time in London. I've split them into 3 groups for convenience, well-known folk songs, scarce folk songs, Child Ballads. Child might not have thought very well of broadside ballads but the fact is that the earliest known version of at least a third of them came from a broadside or similar cheap print. In fact most of the Robin Hood ballads only existed in cheap print and have never been known in oral tradition. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Richard Mellish Date: 28 Nov 13 - 06:13 PM Steve Gardham asked "Under what criteria should Child have included it? "It is narrative and it has a long pedigree in somewhat different forms, but so have thousands of other songs." Child himself never declared definite criteria, possibly changing his mind over the years, and certainly admitting that some of the ballads that he DID include had a very poor claim. I presume that the thousands that you have in mind are the outpourings of the broadside presses, which Child evidently didn't think much of. But there are surely not that many narrative songs that go back as far as The Frog and the Mouse AND have remained current for so long. Unless he was totally unaware of it, which seems unlikely, there must have been something about it that made him reject it, but it's not obvious what that might have been. Perhaps the anthropomorphising? Some of the ballads that he did include have animals that talk, but not that behave like humans. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Steve Gardham Date: 28 Nov 13 - 01:15 PM The 'Hey ho says Roly' version has also changed very little over the centuries. I'd say a lot of the variety experienced in the whole family is mainly down to rewriting and publishing. The strain with the most variety in oral tradition seems to be the 'Rigdum' one with the long tongue-twister chorus. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 28 Nov 13 - 12:44 PM It is interesting how little change occurred in the "Kitty Alone" version between 1810 and some versions found in the 20th C. I wonder, did the version Jim Dixon posted also occur in the earlier 1784 booklet, or was it one of the later additions? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Steve Gardham Date: 28 Nov 13 - 10:48 AM Interesting thought, Susan! Under what criteria should Child have included it? It is narrative and it has a long pedigree in somewhat different forms, but so have thousands of other songs. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Susan of DT Date: 28 Nov 13 - 07:35 AM Back in 2000, Jackie B said that Froggie went A-Courting is a Child ballad. It is not. We gave it DT #306 (there are 305 Child ballads), since we think Prof Child should have included it. Mr Frog Frog's Wedding Bull Frog Ding Dang...Bells Frog 4 Frog 7 Frog 8 Puddy 1 Puddy 2 Puddy 3 |
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Subject: Lyr Add: THE FROG AND MOUSE (1810) From: Jim Dixon Date: 27 Nov 13 - 09:42 PM This is the oldest version I can find that has the "Kitty alone" refrain. From Gammer Gurton's Garland by Joseph Ritson (London: R. Triphook, 1810), page 1: THE FROG AND MOUSE. There was a frog liv'd in a well, Kitty alone, Kitty alone, There was a frog liv'd in a well, Kitty alone and I. There was a frog liv'd in a well, And a farce* mouse in a mill, Cock me cary, Kitty alone, Kitty alone and I. This frog he would a wooing ride, Kitty alone, &c. This frog he would a wooing ride, And on a snail he got astride. Cock me cary, &c. He rode till he came to my Lady Mouse hall Kitty alone, &c. He rode till he came to my Lady Mouse hall And there he did both knock and call, Cock me cary, &c. Quoth he, Miss Mouse, I'm come to thee, Kitty alone, &c. Quoth he, Miss Mouse, I'm come to thee, To see if thou can fancy me, Cock me cary, &c. Quoth she, answer I'll give you none, Kitty alone, &c. Quoth she, answer I'll give you none, Until my uncle Rat come home, Cock me cary, &c. And when her uncle Rat came home, Kitty alone, &c. And when he/ uncle Rat came home, Who's been here since I've been gone? Cock me cary, &c. Sir, there's been a worthy gentleman, Kitty alone, &c. Sir, there's been a worthy gentleman, That's been here since you've been gone, Cock me cary, &c. This duck she swallow'd him up with a pluck, Kitty alone, Kitty alone, This duck she swallow'd him up with a pluck, So there's an end of my history book, Cock me cary, Kitty alone, Kitty alone and I. * Merry. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 25 Nov 13 - 12:26 PM Version collected in Arkansas, Wolf Collection. Lyr. Add: THE FROG AND THE MOUSE (KITTY ALONE) There was a frog lived in the well, Kitty lone, kitty lone, And a mouse lived in the mill, Kitty lone and I. There was a frog lived in the well, And a mouse lived in the mill. Rock ma rarey kitty lone, kitty lone and I. Gentleman frog got up to ride, Kitty lone, kitty lone, Gentleman frog got up to ride, Kitty lone and I. Gentleman sword got up to ride, Sword and pistol by his side. Rock ma rarey kitty lone, kitty lone and I. He rode till he came to the lady mouse hall, Kitty lone, kitty lone, He rode till he came to the lady mouse hall, Kitty lone and I. He rode till he came to the lady mouse hall, There he gave one knock and call. Rock ma rarey kitty lone, kitty lone and I. Lady mouse came stepping down.... In her silk and satin gown.... Pray kind miss will you have me.... Answer the question I ask thee.... Oh, kind sir, can't tell you that.... Till I ask my uncle rat. Uncle rat came stepping home.... Who's been here since I've been gone.... A nice young man with a red coat on.... Long legs, crooked thighs, bald head and big eyes. Saddle and bridle he hung on the shelf.... If you want any more you can sing it yourself.... Sung by Mrs. Claude Collie. The John Quincy Wolf Folklore Collection, Lyon College, Batesville, Arkansas. http://web.lyon.edu/wolfcollection/songs/colliefrog1232.html |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Steve Gardham Date: 24 Nov 13 - 05:33 PM Hi Amanda, Why not post what you can remember and then we will hopefully be able to tell you how the chorus fits into the general stock of variants? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: GUEST,Fred McCormick Date: 24 Nov 13 - 03:49 PM There's no Gaelic versions that I ever heard of and I doubt any of the choruses are Gaelic or corruptions of same. Just nonsense syllables, as with many another song. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: GUEST,CanadaAmanda Date: 24 Nov 13 - 03:14 PM Here to resurrect an old thread I guess! I have been looking for information on a song that has been passed down for generations in my family. The version I learned is obviously some variant of "Kemo Kimo" but we were only taught the chorus and it's similar in some ways but seems to make less sense in English. My grandma said she had heard it was Irish Gaelic, but I can't find anything at all that is exactly like it. Does anyone know of an Irish Gaelic version? I'm starting to think our family has just mixed up the lyrics through the years... |
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Subject: Lyr Add: Tidy Ann From: michaelr Date: 08 Feb 11 - 07:40 PM From the album Idir an Da Sholas by Mighread and Triona Ni Dhomhnaill (Hummingbird, 1999) There was a frog lived in a well Fall aye linkum laddie And a mouse that kept him ill Tidy Ann, tidy Ann, ditherum di dum dandy One day says the frog, I'm going to court With my shoes as black as soot The horse he rode was a big black snail Saddle and bridle in under his tail Frog rode up to the mouse's hole Rapped the door stout and bold Arrah missie mouse are you in? Yes I am, I sit and spin Arrah missie mouse will you wed? Will you come into my bed? Now uncle rat is not at home Without his leave I'll marry none Uncle rat he then came down In his silk and muslin gown Bring in the table til we dine Change a farthing and bring in wine Just as the talk was getting slack In walked a kittling and a cat Cat seized uncle by the crown Kittling knocked wee mousie down Horsey snail rode up the wall Says the devil is among you all Frog he then rode round the room Just like any sporting groom In came a flock of neighbour's ducks Soon devoured the backelors up Now this whole family went to rack Between the kittling, ducks and cat (From the singing of Annie McKenzie, Boho, Co. Fermanagh, recorded by Sean Corcoran) |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: LindsayInWales Date: 29 Apr 04 - 07:52 PM the only place I have ever heard the song is on the video of Beatrix Potter's "The Tailor of Gloucester" |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Joybell Date: 29 Apr 04 - 06:47 PM Q, Thank you. Might be a trail worth following. If I don't return I'll be lost in the 19th Century somewhere. "Where is the Joy?" They'll say. Joy |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Bearheart Date: 29 Apr 04 - 02:33 PM Thank you! Bekki |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: dick greenhaus Date: 29 Apr 04 - 01:37 AM MacColl sang (on Matching Songs_ There lived a puggie in the well Kitty alone, kitty alone There lived a puggie in the well Kitty alone and i There lived a puggie in the well And a moosie in the mill Tip ma lay-ley, count 'em down Kitty alone and I |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 28 Apr 04 - 11:07 PM Not pertinent, but 'Jenny alone' reminds me of a line from Burns- "Where are the Joys?" A' that has caused the wreck in my bosom Is Jenny, fair Jenny alone! |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: kytrad (Jean Ritchie) Date: 28 Apr 04 - 10:49 PM Charlie, Mrs. Cronin sang the song for me in 1952, and definitely it was "Mister Frog went out to ride..." and he was the one courting Mistress Mouse. "Ask my Uncle Rat, says she," comes later, and it's Uncle Rat who makes the wedding. So someone has got the song all mixed up- is that the folk process? Maybe so! Anyway, we got the song again later from Seamus Ennis, and it now reposes in our Archive at the James Hardiman Library in Galway. Seamus also got it from Elizabeth Cronin, as he and Peter Kennedy visited her a year or two earlier. Seamus' song goes like this: Mister Frog went out to ride, Kitty alone, Kitty alone; Mister Frog went out to ride, Kittle alone and I. Mister Frog went out to ride, Sword and buckles by his side- To me tat, me tear, me ditt'n O dill, Kitty alone and I!(tear is pronounced tare, as in "tear your clothes" It's a lovely lilting tune. Makes one want to skip, and I bet many a child has done so when singing it! |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Joybell Date: 28 Apr 04 - 07:01 PM Here in Australia, during the 1860s, a performer I've been studying sang a song he called "Jenny Alone and I". "Froggy Went a-courtin'" was particularly popular at the time as sung by Sam Cowell. Has anyone found a version of "Kitty Alone" with Jenny substituted for the name? I'd be very interested in a link. Joy |
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Subject: Lyr Add: UNCLE RAT (from Altan) From: Charlie Baum Date: 28 Apr 04 - 05:48 PM From Altan's website at http://www.altan.ie/theblueidol/track2.htm: Uncle Rat: song Trad. arr. Ní Mhaonaigh, Curran, Kelly, Byrne, Tourish This funny little ditty was learned from the singing of the great Elizabeth Cronin of Ballyvourney, County Cork. There are many variants on this theme ("The Frog's Wedding", "Froggie went a-courting") and it is still sung in many parts of the English-speaking world. A version of the song was first published in "The Complaynt of Scotland" in 1549, making it very old indeed! Uncle Rat went out to ride, Kitty alone Kitty alone, Uncle Rat went out to ride, Kitty alone and I. Uncle Rat went out to ride, Sword and buckle by his side, Ma cax macari duck and a dil, Kitty alone and I. Lady Mouse, will marry me? Kitty alone Kitty alone, Lady Mouse will marry me? Kitty alone and I. Lady Mouse will marry me? Ask my uncle Rat, says she, Ma cax macari duck and a dil, Kitty alone and I. Uncle Rat, will you marry Lady Mouse? Kitty alone Kitty alone, Uncle Rat will you marry Lady Mouse? Kitty alone and I. Uncle Rat will you marry Lady Mouse? Yes, kind sir, and half my house, Ma cax macari duck and a dil, Kitty alone and I. Lady Mouse, where will the wedding be? Kitty alone Kitty alone, Lady Mouse, where will the wedding be? Kitty alone and I. Lady Mouse, where will the wedding be? Ask my Uncle Rat, says she, Ma cax macari duck and a dil, Kitty alone and I. Uncle Rat, where will the wedding be? Kitty alone Kitty alone, Uncle Rat, where will the wedding be? Kitty alone and I. Uncle Rat, where will the wedding be? Up at the top of a holly tree, Ma cax macari duck and a dil, Kitty alone and I Additional musicians: Jim Higgins.....................................bodhrán James Blennerhassett.......................bass |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Bearheart Date: 28 Apr 04 - 05:30 PM I was doing a search for this song and found this thread, but the version I'm looking for is the one recorded by Altan and also by Danu. The frog is never mentioned in their versions, but it is clearly the the courting song. The chorus is the part I need. First verse goes: Uncle Rat went out to ride Kitty alone, kitty alone Uncle Rat went out to ride Kitty alone and I Uncle Rat went out to ride Sword and buckle by his side (to me cax ma kerry ..... can't really make out any of this chorus!) Other verses: Lady Mouse will you marry me Ask my Uncle Rat said she Uncle Rat will I marry Lady Mouse Yes kind sir and half my house Lady Mouse where will the wedding be Ask my Uncle Rat said she Uncle Rat where will the wedding be Up at the top of a holly tree. Any help would be appreciated. Bekki |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 18 Jul 02 - 04:09 PM It occurred to me that it could go back to making a frog sound, if the Kitty was pronounced more like Kirry, which it would be in some places. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 18 Jul 02 - 04:09 PM It occurred to me that it could go back to making a frog sound, if the Kitty was pronounced more like Kirry, which it would be in some places. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Mrrzy Date: 18 Jul 02 - 04:03 PM Sounds a lot like Sing Song Kitty Kitche Kime-O, or however you spell that... it's in the Trad, I think, but I can't get the search function to work right now. There was a frog lived in the spring ... he was so hoarse he could not sing... |
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Subject: Lyr Add: JOHNNY FOOL (trad. Ozarks) From: Dicho (Frank Staplin) Date: 17 Jul 02 - 09:27 PM A number of songs are put into the pile with "Martin Said to His Man," in which animals perform unlikely activities. See The Traditional Ballad Index. Included are Kitty Alone, Johnny Fool, Hurrah, Lie!, The Bed-time Song, Who's the Fool Now?, Old Blind Drunk John, and Fooba-Wooba John. The earliest date is 1609 for "Martin Said To His Man" (but registered in 1588). "I saw a crow flying low," mentioned by Joe Offer, Matt S. and Dicho, appears in "Johnny Fool," Randolph vol. 3, pp. 200-201. A few verses: I saw a crow flying low, Hooey, hooey, hooey, hooey, I saw a crow flying low, Hooey, hooey, John. I saw a crow flying low, It was eight miles under snow, It was the last time For old blind Joe I saw a louse chase a mouse, etc. From the kitchen to the house, etc. I saw a sow weaving silk, etc. And her pigs were stripping milk, etc., I saw a flea wade the sea, etc. And it struck him to the knee, etc. Also, in another variant: I saw a sow weavin' silk, While six pigs was churnin' milk, Johnny Fool, Johnny Fool. Saw two geese makin' cheese, One would hold and the other would squeeze, etc. Saw a mule teachin' school, To the bullfrogs in the pool, etc. These songs seem to depart pretty far from the "Kitty Alone" group. I couldn't find lyrics for "Martin Said To His Man." |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 17 Jul 02 - 08:30 PM And your Mudcat name is pretty close too isn't it?
No, it doesn't matter, but it's good to know, and sometimes the Mudcat can come up with the most surprising stories about stuff like that. I love the name, which is why we called our daughter Kitty, many years ago. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: kytrad (Jean Ritchie) Date: 17 Jul 02 - 07:02 PM "Kitty" probably because it's good song-poetry, rings well, or however said. Perhaps she was a kittycat? Or maybe the first person who ever sang that refrain was rocking a little person named "Kitty." Does it matter? My sister Kitty used to love to sing it because that was her name... |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 17 Jul 02 - 08:08 AM And there's another fine variant, written by Leslie Haworth, a fruit farmer from Cheshire, which is in the DT, though without any mention of Leslie Haworth. The Spinners used to sing it.
The chorus is
Here's to Cheshire, here's to Cheese And the rest of it is here. As they nearly say in the old songs "If you want any more, you can find it yourself." But Kitty has gone missing. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 16 Jul 02 - 06:53 PM But why Kitty? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: kytrad (Jean Ritchie) Date: 16 Jul 02 - 06:10 PM Joe Offer- hello! You've been about as scarce as I have, here. Welcome back. The version used by Cindy and Ann seems to be the one I have sung much in the past. At least the first two verses are. The use of the word "Bandyrowe" is mine, and the verse about "little Jon" is mine...when I was rocking my little boys, I made up a verse for each:
Next come in was little Jon
Next come in was little Pete "Fixin around to go to sleep" refers back to an earlier verse about two little ants, "Fixin around to have a dance," so Pete's verse would end the song. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Dicho (Frank Staplin) Date: 16 Jul 02 - 05:14 PM Hawker- Lucy please give us the rest of it. A lot of fun comparing the variants. Some came across to North America, some did not. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: Hawker Date: 16 Jul 02 - 04:57 PM On the CD 'Dead Maid's Land' - Traditional Songs From Devon & Cornwall from the collection of Sabine Baring Gould, recorded by the Wren Trust, http://www.wrentrust.co.uk It is listed as Frog and Mouse - sleevenotes:"Delighting children and adults alike for centuries, here is the full story of Froggie went a-courting/Anthony Rowleythat Sam Fone of Lewdown gave to Baring Gould. The tune is very complete and beautiful and the song has resonancees of the Elizabethan England in which it was published." First verse words: There was a frog lived in a well Crock-a-ma daisy, Kitty alone There was a frog lived in a well Kitty alone and I There was a frog lived in a well, And a merry mouse that lived in a dell Crock-a-ma daisy Kitty alone, Kitty alone and I can transpose rest if required....... Cheers, Lucy |
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Subject: Lyr Add: KITTY ALONE (Nursery rhyme) From: Dicho (Frank Staplin) Date: 16 Jul 02 - 03:56 PM Lyr. Add: KITTY ALONE (Nursery rhyme) Saw a crow a-flying low Kitty alone, kitty alone. Saw a crow a-flying low, Kitty alone, alone. Saw a crow a-flying low And a cat a-spinnin' tow. Rock-a-bye baby bye, rock-a-bye baby bye. Verse from North Carolina Folklore, The Music of the Folk Songs, vol. 5, p. 82, with music. Coll. 1921-1925. See earlier posting by Howie Mitchell |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kitty Alone From: katlaughing Date: 30 Sep 00 - 12:52 AM Thanks for the intriguing information, Bruce. It is much appreciated. I find this to be quite a lovely tune; it certainly sticks with me! kat |
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