Kemo Kimo info

Subject: Background on Kemo Kimo Please
From:
Date: 24 Feb 99 - 05:13 PM

Can anyone give me some background on Kemo Kimo and how it relates to Frogy went a courting and puddy and the mouse? Thank you.

Subject: RE: Background on Kemo Kimo Please
From: Dale Rose
Date: 25 Feb 99 - 12:16 AM

Go to this thread, and you will find out all I know, and a bunch that I don't. Make sure that you listen to the real audio sample by Harry C. Browne and the Peerless Quartet! By the way, it is from the Origins of Bluegrass, Tape 2. My guess is that it was recorded before 1920.

Subject: RE: Background on Kemo Kimo Please
From:
Date: 25 Feb 99 - 10:35 PM

There is a recording by Chubby Parker in 1928 (so later than what Dale mentions). It is in the "Anthology of American Folk Music". Here is what my book on the "Anthology" says:

Sharp has eleven versions of "The Frog Went A-Courtin'" but none with this fantastic mind-boggling chorus. Chubby Parker, a Kentuckian, and a star of the centrally important radio show "WLS National Barn Dance, recorded this fine children's song with the five string banjo for Columbia in 1928

There the title of the song is spelled "King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O"

So you should probably look at Cecil Sharpe's collection of folk songs to see more "original" versions.

Murray

Subject: Lyr/Tune Add: KEMO KIMO^^
From: Sorcha
Date: 31 Jul 00 - 12:39 AM

What is in the DT is a different set of words than what I have, and the notes to the file say that it is a forerunner to the blackface song Kemo,Kimo. Here are the words I have, and the tune. I am sure there a LOTS more.

KEMO KIMO

There was a frog, lived in a spring,
Sing, song kitty catch a kimee-o.
He could dance and he could sing,
Sing, song, kitty catch a kimee-o.
Chorus:

Kee mo, kimo, day-ro dime,
Hey, ho, subble bubble, sip so,
Periwinkle soap fat,
Pennywinkle nip cat,
Kitty catch a ki mee-o.

O, what you gonna do when the rain don't fall?
Sing, song, kitty catch a kimee-o,
Crops grow small instead of tall,
Sing, song kitty catch a kimee-o

X: 1
T:KEMO KIMO
M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:140
K:F
C2| F2 F2 F2 C2| D2 D2 C4| F2 F2 AG FG | A2 G2 G4 | F2 F2 F2 C2| D2 D2 C4 | F2 F2 AG FG | A2 G2 F4|| A2 c2 c2 c2 |A2 c2 c4 | B4 A4 |GG C C G2 C2 | GG CCG2 C2 | GG CC G2 C2 | GG GB A2 G2 F4 z2 |]

http://www.mudcat.org/!!-supersearch99.cfm?MaxHits=1&Command=search&NumLines=4&file=fall99&request=%5BKEMO+KIMO%5D [ PUDDYWL3

^^

Subject: Lyr Add: KEMO KIMO
From: Irish sergeant
Date: 31 Jul 00 - 09:19 AM

Sorcha: I had never heard those lyrics The ones I have are Kemo Kimo:

In South Carolina the Darkies go, Sing song Kitty can't you ki' me oh!
That's where the white folks plant the to, Sing song Kitty, can't you ki' me oh!
Cover the ground all over with smoke, Sing song Kitty can't you ki' me oh!

Chorus;
Kemo, Kimo, there oh Where"
With my hi, my ho and in come Sally singing;
Sometimes, pennywinkle, lingtum, nipcat,
Sing song Kitty can't you ki' me oh!

Sometimes things just go all wrong, Sing song Kitty can't you ki' me oh!
Cotton grows short instead of long, Sing song Kitty can't you ki' me oh!
What ya gonna do when the rain don't fall? Sing song Kitty can't you ki' me oh!
Crops grow short instead of tall, Sing song Kitty can't you ki' me oh!

There's milk in the dairy nine days old, Sing song Kitty can't you ki' me oh!
Frogs and the 'skeeters getting mighty bold, Sing song Kitty can't you ki' me oh!
They try to sleep but it ain't no use, Sing song Kitty can't you ki' me oh!
They hop all around in the Chicken roost, Sing song Kitty can't you ki' me oh!

There was a frog who lived in a pool, Sing song Kitty can't you ki' me oh!
Sure he was the biggest fool, Sing song Kitty can't you ki' me oh!
For he could dance and he could sing, Sing song Kitty can't you ki' me oh!
And make the woods around him ring, Sing song Kitty can't you ki' me oh!

It's a very popular song in my reenacting circles. It works both as a campfire song and as a marching song. The tune comes from the 18th century marching tune "The Frog in the Well." Kindest regards, Neil

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 19-Feb-02.

Subject: RE: LYR/TUNE ADD: Kemo Kimo
From: Sorcha
Date: 31 Jul 00 - 10:04 AM

See, I told you there were lots more words out there, and we got a NAME for the tune!! Whee, BTW, mine came from the "Wee Sing" Fun n' Folk booklet. Pub. by Price, Stern, Sloan in Los Angeles, US.

Subject: Kemo Kimo Info
From: GUEST,-Richie
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 10:55 AM

I'm studying Kemo Kimo/Sing Song Kitty:

Here's the 1854 version:

In South Carolina de darkies go,
Sing song, Kitty, can't you ki' me, oh!
Dat's whar de white folks plant the tow.
Sing song, Kitty, can't you ki' me, oh!
Cover the ground all over with smoke,
Sing song Kitty, can't you ki' me, oh!
And up de darkies' heads dey poke.
Sing song, Kitty, can't you ki' me, oh!

Shouldn't the second verse be, "Plant the toe" Is there something I'm missing here?

Why isn't it named "Keemo Kimo"?

The notes on the sheet music for Kitty Kimo from American Memory (Same lyrics as Camo Kimo) say: Composed and arranged by Charles White, and sung nightly, by Old Dan Emmit, with thunders of Applause. If you want to spend a pleasant evening and enjoy a hearty laugh, go to White's Melodeon, 53 Bowery.

However there's no "Kitty Kimo" in this version but it is "Kitty Kimo" in the "Kemo Kimo" vrsion. Is this a mistake in the American Memory Collection?

Thanks for your imput,

Richie

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 11:03 AM

See the Lester Levy sheet music collection (Mudcat's links) for facsimile copies.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,Richie
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 11:25 AM

The above verse is from the Levy site. The other 4 versions I have are from the American Memory Collection site.

I just think "tow" is a mistake.

-Richie

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,Richie
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 11:38 AM

I've found one version of "King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O."

I'm also looking for the lyrics to Chubby Parker's 1928 version "King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O."

Thanks,

Richie

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: masato sakurai
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 11:49 AM

For reference:

Title: Keemo Kimo. Geo. Christy Wood's Celebrated Banjo Song.
Composer, Lyricist, Arranger: Arranged by Sedgwick.
Publication: New York: William Hall & son, 239 Broadway, 1854.
Form of Composition: strophic with chorus
Instrumentation: piano and voice
First Line: In South Car'lina de darkies go Sing song Kitty cant you ki'me oh!
First Line of Chorus: Keemo Ki'mo! Dar! oh whar?
Performer: As Sung by P.H. Keenan.
Engraver, Lithographer, Artist: Hays N.Y.
Plate Number: 2852
Subject: African Americans
Subject: Caricatures
Subject: Nonsense songs
Subject: Ethnic stereotypes
Subject: Dialects
Call No.: Box: 022 Item: 098

Title: Keemo Kimo : Geo Christy and Wood's celebrated banjo song / arranged by [A.] Sedgwick. (Originally published: New York : William Hall & Son, [1854?]) ["First line of text: In South Car'lina de darkies go. /
First line of chorus: Keemo Ki'mo! Dar! oh whar?"]

Kemo, Kimo. (Thomas G. Doyle, Bookseller, Stationer, and Song publisher, Md. [n. d.]) ["'Way down South where I was born, / Sing song Kitty, can't you Kimeo, / Chopped the wood and husked the corn, / Sing Song Kitty, can't you Kimeo."]

Kitty Kimo. (Composed and arranged by Charles White, and sung nightly by Old Dan Emmit, with thunders of applause. H. De Marsan, Publisher, 38 & 60 Chatham Street, N. Y. [n. d.] )

Kitty Kimo. (Composed and arranged by Charles White. Andrews', Printer, 38 Chatham Street, N. Y.)

~Masato

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 12:16 PM

"Tow" is material used to make fiber, such as hemp or flax (nowadays synthetics). "Plant de tow" is accurate.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 12:40 PM

The word tow in the sense of fiber goes back to the 14th century. "The original sense may have been textile fibre generally. OED.
Newspapers used the word in price quotations for raw materials used in making cloth throughout the 19th century. An article in 1822 spoke of "tow-cloth" being made for family use. This was cheap, poor quality cloth.

Subject: Lyr Add: SING SONG POLLY WON'T YOU TRY ME OH?
From: GUEST,Richie
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 12:45 PM

I guess I figured that if you plant a toe the rest of the body might
sprout, "And up de darkies' heads dey poke." I have two versions with "toe" in them.

Here's my favorite from American Memory that is a ballad and also use the "Jordan is a hard raod to travel" line:

Lyr. Add: SING SONG POLLY WON'T YOU TRY ME OH?

Down in Skytown liv'd a maid,
Sing song Polly won't you try me oh?
Churning butter was her trade,
Sing song Polly won't you try me, oh?
She loved a feller whose name was Will,
Sing song Polly won't you try me, oh?
His dad he used to own the mill,
Sing song Polly won't you try me, oh?

CHORUS: Kemo kimo where? oh, there! my high, my low,
Then in comes Sally, singing,
Sometimes, medley, winkum lingtum nip cat,
Sing song Polly won't you try me, oh?

She wanted Will for worse or better,
Sing song Polly won't you try me, oh?
She'd have married, but dad wouldn't let her,
Sing song Polly won't you try me, oh?
And so she went and got a knife,
Sing song Polly won't you try me, oh?
She broke her heart and lost her life,
Sing song Polly, won't you try me oh?

CHORUS: Kemo kimo where? oh, there! my high, my low,
Then in comes Sally, singing,
Sometimes, medley, winkum lingtum nip cat,
Sing song Polly won't you try me, oh?

Then Josh he felt his dander risin',
Sing song Polly won't you try me oh?
So he went and swallowed pisin,
Sing song Polly won't you try me, oh?
The village folks laughed in their sleeve,
Sing song Polly won't you try me, oh?
For Jordan's a hard road to travel I believe,
Sing song Polly won't you try me, oh?

CHORUS: Kemo kimo where? oh, there! my high, my low,
Then in comes Sally, singing,
Sometimes, medley, winkum lingtum nip cat,
Sing song Polly won't you try me, oh?

-Richie

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,Richie
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 12:52 PM

-Masasto thanks for the links,

If you look at the links above both "Kitty Kimo" songs have "Sing Song Polly." How did they get that title when there's no "Sing Song Kitty" in the song?

-Richie

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,Richie
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 01:00 PM

According to my info "Kemo Kimo" was around since the early 1840's as a minstrel tune. It was popular during the Civil War and also in the repertoire of minstrel performer Sam Cowell.

Is it possible that originally it was "toe" and that was misheard as "tow." Since "tow" makes sense it was used by the songsters in the 1850's.

-Richie

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 02:30 PM

Newman I. White reported this verse from the MS. of J. H. Drake, heard in Auburn, AL, 1915. By this time, other songs were mixed up with Keemo Kimo.

Milk in the dairy gettin' mighty old,
Skippers and the mice working mighty bold,
Sing song Kitty can't yer kinny meo
Keymo ki mo doro hi me hi me ho.
In come Sally singing, sometimes
Penny with a wink turnings cat.
Sing song Kitty can't yer ki meo
Key mo ki mo doro hi, me hi me ho.

American Negro Folk Songs, N. I. White, p. 176

Keemo Kimo was an old English nonsense rhyme, picked up by the minstrels, among others. See Kittredge, JAFL, xxxv, p. 396 (From White, p. 175) Question- what was this song called in the British Isles? Was it about Kitty or Sally? Does anyone have access to the article?

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 02:45 PM

White put this verse with Keemo Kimo. Not sure that it belongs there:

I went up to town to get a cake of cheese,
The skippers and the maggots and a long-tailed mouse,
Yonder come a nigger with a bucket full o' souse,
Just come down from the white folks house.
Ms. of J. E. Hillhouse, AL, 1915, in White, p. 176.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Irish sergeant
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 04:20 PM

According to the sources i've found (Mostly other musicians) The tune comes from an old marching song called "Frog in The Well" In most if not all of our wars up to and including the Civil War, Some slaves accompanied their master to war. Though there is no proof for it I would like to think the tune was adapted by one such slave. Whoever he or she was, they would have made a hell of a song plugger. ANd just for your information, it works very well as a march and would likely have been adapted as a work song. Kindest regards, Neil

Subject: Lyr Add: KING KONG KITCHIE KITCHIE KI-ME-O
From: Bev and Jerry
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 05:24 PM

KING KONG KITCHIE KITCHIE KI-ME-O

Chubby Parker and his old time banjo, New York,
August 13, 1928 - from the Harry Smith Collection

1. Frog went a-courtin' and he did ride
King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O
With a sword and a pistol by his side
King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O

CHORUS: Kimo keemo kimo kee
Way down yonder in a holler tree
An owl and a bat and a bumble bee
King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O

2. He rode 'til he came to Miss Mouse's door
And there he knelt upon the floor

3. He took Miss Mouse upon his knee
And he said, 'Miss Mouse will you marry me?"

4. Miss Mouse had suitors three or four
And there they came right in the door

5. They grabbed Mister Frog and began to fight
In a holler tree 'twas a terrible night

6. Mister Frog drug(?) the suitors to the floor
With his sword and his pistol, he killed all four

7. They went to the parson the very next day
And left on their honeymoon right away

8. Now they lived far off in a holler tree
Where they now have wealth and children three

Bev and Jerry

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,Richie
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 09:48 PM

Bev and Jerry- thanks for posting Chubby's version. I actually have it (from somewhere on-line)but I didn't know what it was. Here's two additions to you post:

1) Verse 6: I have, "Mister Frog brought the suitors to the floor,"

2) It's obvious to most people but King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O
is sung after each line of the verse:

He rode 'til he came to Miss Mouse's door,
King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O.
And there he knelt upon the floor,
King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O.

I feel like I've really put my foot in my mouth with that "toe" question. I guess you could say I only put my "tow" in my mouth!

-Richie

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,Richie
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 10:14 PM

I generally agree with Irish sergeant about the Frog in the well origin. Here are some of my private notes (sorry about the rank jokes-corporal punishment is deserved):

Spaeth reports that one H. Wood published a song called "Keemo Kimo" in 1854 (George Christy and Wood's Melodies (New Song Book) copyright 1854). "The refrain is not originally Negro, but is an old English nonsense rhyme- Prof. Kittredge in JAFL, xxxv, 396." The "Kemo" refrain probably was based on the "Frog in the Spring/Frog in the Well" songs which is the "Puddy in the Well" offshoot of Froggie:

There lived a puddy in a well,
Cuddy alone, Cuddy alone
There lived a puddy in a well
Cuddy alone and I

There lived a puddy in a well
And a mousie in a mill
Kickmaleerie, cowden down
Cuddy alone and I.

The "Cuddy alone and I" is also where "Kitty Alone" songs originated:

There was a frog lived in a well,
Kitty alone, 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 in a mill.
Cock me cary, Kitty alone,
Kitty alone and I.

"Froggie" comes in two distinct forms. One has the un-huh or hum refrain, while the other has a nonsense lyric refrain that often includes the word "kemo" or other nonsense syllables:


A froggie went a courting and he did ride
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o
with a sword and a pistol by his side
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o.

Chorus: Ki-mo-ke-mo ki-mo-ke,
Way down yonder in a hollow tree
An owl and a bat and a bumble bee
King kong kitchie kitchie ki-me-o.

"Kemo (properly "Keemo") Kimo," because of its popularity and wide oral circulation in the mid to late 1800's in the minstrel era, created a mystifying array of syllables sung to the Chorus. The song was also popular in England in the 1800's by the minstrel vocalist Sam Cowell. The English Morris Dance Tune (2/4 time) version came from the United States minstrels (who got it from the English settlers!)

There is a Keemo Kimo Schottisch composed by James Bellak, 1854, and a version arranged for the cotillion in the on-line Levy Collection (also the 1854 original sheet music).

-Richie

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,Richie
Date: 06 Nov 02 - 09:34 PM

If you think you're good at singing lyrics try singing these seven refrains to "Kemo Kimo" in a row!

Teemy tim-o in the land of neo Pharoah said a rat trap peeny winkle timey doodle rattle buggy rat trap peenie winkle tie me oh

Kemo kimo, dare awa Ma high, ma ho Rump sump sack a nickels Poop-dag, nip-cat Polly won't you kimeo.

Karo, Karo, give to Flayro, Flaro Flaro, Flaaaa-rooooo, Aaaaaany wink-ee flemm-ee doodle yellow bug to my rat-trap a bottom-itchy Kai-m-bo.

Hello naro he's my caro, Hello caro narrow, Ring ting bottom ditty boat around Ring ting bottom and a kymo.

Kero kiro gilt and garo Kero kiro karo Rap jack pennywhinkle flammydoodle yellow buckle Rain down bonny mish ki-me-oh.

Tim a rang tang bottom tim a kimo come a nedro, Keep my caro rum a tum bum stumpy tum dido bodey, Round tim a rang tang bottom a my kimo.

Karo kiro daro boys M'haim M'home M'hime Boomasicle lopasicle along came knick knack sing song kitty wont you kie me oh.

Is this an early form of rap music?

-Richie

Subject: Lyr Add: SING SONG KITTY (from Doc Watson)
From: GUEST,Richie
Date: 06 Nov 02 - 11:23 PM

Lry. add: SING SONG KITTY
Doc Watson At Gerdes Folk City; Cut 5

(guitar inst.)

Way down yonder and not far off,
Sing song kitty can't ya kime-e-o.
A jaybird died with the whoppin' cough,
Sing song kitty can't ya kime-e-o.

CHORUS 1: Hemo hymo, beetle-bug jingo,
Meehee, myho, pretty penny winko,
Ram tom a-doodle-snake a-rank tank a rattle bug,
Sing song kitty can't ya kime-e-o.

Way down yonder on Beaver Creek,
Sing song kitty can ya kime-e-o.
The gals all grow to be six feet,
Sing song kitty can ya kime-e-o.

CHORUS 1: Hemo hymo, beetle-bug jingo,
Meehee, myho, pretty penny winko,
Ram tom a-doodle-snake a-rank tank a rattle bug,
Sing song kitty can ya kime-e-o.

(guitar inst.)

My cow won't give the milk in the summer,
Sing song kitty can ya kime-e-o.
So we've got to take it from 'er,
Sing song kitty can ya kime-e-o.

CHORUS 2: Hemo hymo, beetle-bug jingo,
Meehee, myho, pretty penny winko,
Rip tap a-pitty pat, a blue-eyed pussycat,
Sing song kitty can't ya kime-e-o.

(guitar inst.)

Mama's in the garden siftin' sand,
Sing song kitty can ya kime-e-o.
Sally's in love with the hog-eye man,
Sing song kitty can ya kime-e-o.

CHORUS 2: Hemo hymo, beetle-bug jingo,
Meehee, myho, pretty penny winko,
Rip tap a-pitty pat, a blue-eyed pussycat,
Sing song kitty can ya kime-e-o.

Cabbage in the garden, bees in the gum.
Sing song kitty can't ya kime-e-o.
Sally won't you come and smooch me some
Sing song kitty can't ya kime-e-o.

CHORUS 2: Hemo hymo, beetle-bug jingo,
Meehee, myho, pretty penny winko,
Rip tap a-pitty pat, a blue-eyed pussycat,
Sing song kitty can't ya kime-e-o.

(faster) CHORUS 2: Hemo hymo, beetle-bug jingo,
Meehee, myho, pretty penny winko,
Rip tap a-pitty pat, a blue-eyed pussycat,
Sing song kitty can't ya kime-e-o.

Note: Doc sings two different choruses and sings, "Sing song kitty can't ya kime-e-o" and sometimes "Sing song kitty can ya kime-e-o" instead.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 18 Dec 02 - 05:46 PM

In the Bodleian Library is a broadside printed ca. 1845-1859 by A Ryle and Co., Seven Dials and Portsea, England, with the exact words of the version from American Memory posted by Richie, 05 Nov. 02, 12:45. The heading is "POLLY Won't you try me O." Firth b26(235).

It says it was sung by Mrs. Florence, at Drury Lane Theatre. I wonder how the audience understood "For Jordan's a hard road to travel I believe."

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,guest, Sally
Date: 18 Oct 03 - 12:24 PM

This is how I remember the song as my father sang it to me in the early 50s. I never heard any verses, just the chorus. As a preschooler, I probably misunderstood some of the words, but here's the pseudo-phonetic best I can do:

Karo, kiro, me dairy-o
Me-ha-me-ho
Rum-a-stick-a-bum-a-diddle
Soot-a-pack-a-penny-whittle
Nipkin, catnip, sing a song
Kitchie, kitchie ki-me-oh

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,Big Jim from Jackson
Date: 19 Oct 03 - 11:47 AM

IN 1947 I attended a one room rural school in Gordonville, Mo (near Cape Girardeau, in the southeast part of the state. We sang Kimo Kimo much like the Doc Watson version posted by Richie.

'Way down yonder on Beaver Creek
Sing a Song Kitty, won't you ki-me-O!
The darkies grow to be 6 feet
Sing a song Kitty, won't you ki-me-O!

Ch: Kimo, Kimo, Keero ark!
Mehe, mehi, me humdrum penny winkle
Tip tap, pitty pat, brown eyed pussy cat
Sing a song Kitty, won't you ki-me-O!

They go to sleep, but it aint no use
Sing a song Kitty, won't you ki-me-O!
Their feet stick out for the chickens to roost
Sing a song Kitty, won't you ki-me-O!

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Oct 03 - 01:35 PM

Guest Sally, so many nonsense versions, one would never find them all.
However, a version with penny whistle and some of the other lines that ou give at: Keemo Kimo
or go to Index page, http://www.grandfolkies.com/qsandas.htm and look for Kemo Kimo under K.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Billy Weeks
Date: 20 Oct 03 - 11:51 AM

Guest Sally's verse reminds me that in the 1950s a working colleague gave me a single nonsense verse he used to sing as a kid:

Coyney nair-oh/Kilt a care-oh/ Coyne-ee
With a bin strin stranna bonna fiddle or a ring
And a ring ding bully dinny coynee.

The tune wasn't related to any version of Kemo Kimo that I've ever heard, but a performance of that song is described and written out in full in J Ewing Ritchie 'The Night Side of London' 1857, as sung by Mrs Caulfield at the Canterbury Hall in Lambeth, London. He gives three verses starting with 'Down in Skytown...' and with the 'Sing song Polly' chorus.

Canterbury Hall was a pioneer music hall of the 1850s and Mrs Caulfield was one of its early stars. Another Canterbury star was the great Sam Cowell, mentioned twice in this thread as a 'minstrel vocalist'. I have never heard him so described and I don't think he ever appeared blackface - and if he sang this song, it wasn't one he was well known for. He was certainly the best known, if not the first, singer of 'Villikens and his Dinah' and 'The Ratcatcher's Daughter' and he popularised 'Billy Barlow' in England.

Kilgarriff's 'Sing Us One of the Old Songs' gives Mrs Florence as another singer and notes a version of Keemo Kimo published in 1854 attributed to George or Edwin P Christy, with music by Woods.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Sep 05 - 11:07 PM

Ed McCurdy sings a version of Keemo Kimo on "Children's Songs" accompanied by Billy Faier, an Everest Records Production, recorede by Cue Recordings in 1958. 1958.

Subject: Lyr Req: KEEMO KIMO (Christy and Wood, 1854)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 24 Sep 05 - 10:19 PM

Here are the lyrics from The Library of Congress American Memory Collection:

KEEMO KIMO
"Geo Christy and [Henry] Wood's celebrated banjo song"
arranged by [A.] Sedgwick. [1854?]

In South Car'lina de darkies go
    Sing song Kitty can't you ki? Me oh!
Dat's whar de white folks plant de tow.
    Sing song Kitty can't you ki? Me oh!
Cover de ground all over wid smoke
    Sing song Kitty can't you ki? Me oh!
And up de darkies' heads dey poke
    Sing song Kitty can't you ki? Me oh!

CHORUS: Keemo, Ki'mo! Dar! Oh, whar?
Wid my hi, my ho, and in come Sally singing
Sometimes penny winkle, lingtum, nip-cat
    Sing song Kitty can't you ki? Me oh!

2. Milk in de dairy nine days old
    Sing song Kitty can't you ki? Me oh!
Frogs and de skeeters getting mighty bold
    Sing song Kitty can't you ki? Me oh!
Dey try for to sleep but it ain't no use
    Sing song Kitty can't you ki? Me oh!
Dere legs hang out for de chickens to roost.
    Sing song Kitty can't you ki? Me oh!

3. Dar was a frog lived in a pool
    Sing song Kitty can't you ki? Me oh!
Sure he was the biggest fool
    Sing song Kitty can't you ki? Me oh!
For he could dance and he could sing
    Sing song Kitty can't you ki? Me oh!
And make de woods around him ring.
    Sing song Kitty can't you ki? Me oh!

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 24 Sep 05 - 11:15 PM

Threads on this song include:
1681- 1681
6853- 6853
46177- 46177
52342- 52342
53292 (this one)

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 24 Sep 05 - 11:15 PM

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 24 Sep 05 - 11:53 PM

Several versions seem to have been extant in the mid-1850s.
Sheet Music only, no lyrics- In 1855, Winner and Shuster, Philadelphia, published a group of minstrel melodies under the title "Black Swan Set" (at American Memory:
Few Days
Keemo Kimo
Wait For the Wagon
Pop Goes the Weasel
Jordan Am a Hard Road
Hop De Doo

"Keemo Kimo Polka" by Charles C. Converse was published in 1856 by Wm. Hall and Son, the same publisher who printed the 1854(?) sheet music and lyrics posted above by Jim Dixon

Other song sheets were published by Andrews and de Masran. as 'composed' by Charles White and sung by 'Old Dan Emmit' at White's Melodion, 53 Bowery, NY.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Tannywheeler
Date: 25 Sep 05 - 05:31 PM

How did we get this far in the discussion without mentioning Burl Ives' recording of this song? (Or did I miss it?) I don't remember the whole thing but will give a phonetic try on the chorus:

Keemo, Kimo, dear-o-eye
Mehee, mehigh, and in come Sally, singin'
Sing-song pennywhistle,
Ling-tum nippy-cat;
Sing-song Kitty, cancha
Kie-me-oh.

Just doing my bit to increase the level of confusion in this room. Don't bother to thank me--it's the least I can do for all you wonderful people, who've been so great to me.       Tw

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Barbara
Date: 25 Sep 05 - 06:28 PM

A friend from the SF club sings this chorus, to a version, I think, of the Carrion crow with an in come kitty come ky-mee-o
Hey falaro, gilt in a garrow
hey falaro, gilt in a gay,
Up jump John a ringin' on his bell
With an in come kitty come ky-mo-ray.

tune the same as
Kymaneero kitty come keero,
Kymaneero kymo (okay, a little different on this line)
Ba ba ba ba billy-ily income
In come kitty come kymeeo

And these are the same tune as a song on Gordon Bok's February tapes called, I believe, Barabajagal (no, NOT the Donovan song)
whose chorus, phonetically goes something like this:
(sorry don't have first two lines right now, will go listen)
(it's amazingly difficult to keep different nonsense syllables for the same tune in my head)
Ah bu nom, babba gabbo drom
Delly ding dong billy come por ami.

Anyone know anything more about this tune? Language? Derivation?
I know it somehow goes in this "Kitty Kymeeo" group.

Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Bev and Jerry
Date: 25 Sep 05 - 07:54 PM

Barbara:

Are you thinking of "Daddy Fox"? The chorus to that one goes:

Hey fa lee fa la falaro,
hey falaro, laro lee
Up jump John a ringin' on his bell
With a ling dong dilly dong ki ro me.

It's the first cut on "In Harmony's Way" being led by Sylvia.

We think that's a different tune from

Kymaneero kitty come keero,
Kymaneero kymo
Ba ba ba ba billy-ily income
In come kitty come kymeeo

At least it's different from the way we sing it.

Bev and Jerry

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Sep 05 - 08:16 PM

What is the DATE and Record Company for:
Doc Watson At Gerdes Folk City; Cut 5

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Goose Gander
Date: 25 Sep 05 - 09:01 PM

Kay-O-Kime

KAY-O-KIME

Patricia Hudson
Arvin, 1941

Kay-o-kime a Captain Karo
Bamini she kam-e-o
Day day molini sini
Ba Ba molini sini
Tell me where my lini-wini's gone.

Had an old cow she had two horns
Hadn't been milked since I was born.

Kay-o-kime a Captain Karo
Bamini she kan-e-o
Day day molini sini
Ba Ba molini sini
Tell me where my lini-wini's gone.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Snuffy
Date: 26 Sep 05 - 08:53 AM

My experience is the same as Barabara's on this, although it does look like the songs and choruses are interchangeable:

the only one I know (in UK) with the very slow tune and "Up jumps John" chorus, is Carrion Crow. I've never heard Daddy Fox sung like that, but have occasionally heard it with a quick tune and the "king kong kitchy kitchy kymie-o" chorus.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,Joe_F
Date: 26 Sep 05 - 10:33 AM

Well, here's some more variant nonsense. I could have sworn I posted it on one of the other threads, but now I can't find it. My mother used to sing:

There was a frog lived in a spring

With a ringtang ponny once a kimy oh.

He had such a cold that the could not sing

With a ringtang ponny once a kimy oh.

Kimo, caro, gilto narrow,

Kimo, caro, kimo,

With a strimstram pommadiddle lare upon a ring.

With a ringtang ponny once a kimy oh.

--- Joe Fineman    [e-mail]

||: There's no foolishness like old foolishness. :||

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Goose Gander
Date: 26 Sep 05 - 07:01 PM

Kemo-Kimo-Karo

Kemo-Kimo-Karo
Cat. #1321 (MFH #179) - As sung by Dan Hollingsworth, Fayetteville, Arkansas on July 14, 1967

Froggy did a wooin' go
Kemo, kimo, karo
Sword an' pistol by his side
Kemo, kimo, karo

Kemo, kimo, karo
Kemo, kimo, karo
Strump, strump, dooley, dat
Strump, strump, dooley, dat
Rumble, rumble rig, drump
Kemo, kimo, karo



From the Wolf Folklore Collection: Lyon College

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Goose Gander
Date: 26 Sep 05 - 07:05 PM

No, that would be the Max Hunter Folk Song Collection

Sorry.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Barbara
Date: 27 Sep 05 - 03:57 PM

Bev and Jerry -- the song I am remembering was sung by Deborah not youse guys, but you're right, those are somewhat different tunes.

The Barabajagal song (or maybe it's Barbagal) might be in French or some permutation of French, and the chorus is:
Hey fa lee, fa la, fa ler o
Hey fa lero lero lee,
Ou bu nom babba gabbo drom (barbagalodrom?)
Delly ding dong dilly dong por ami.

... or something like that.
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: Barbagal, lyric add
From: Barbara
Date: 27 Sep 05 - 04:15 PM

So, I did a little googling and answered at least part of my own question about this song.
I can't help but think that the singers of this heard some form of Keemo Kymo, because the tune is the same, and the chorus structure resembles Carrion Crow and versions of Keemo Kymo.
Blessings,
Barbara

BARBAGAL
This is a traditional piemontese song (Piemonte is a north-west of Italy county). The language is a dialect. Who is Barbagal? Barbagal is a poor man (pur'om) who lives doing different jobs..

This is a story about Barbagal, a drunkard, who rode through the town in the middle of the night on his horse with a bottle in his hand wearing nothing but his underwear, waking everyone up by shouting at the top of his voice, "I am a drunken fool."

BARBAGAL

Barbagal l'è n'dait iera ancura noeit
Diridin don, diridon, poura mi.
Cul bunet an's i'oei l'è muntà a caval
Diridin don, diridon, poura mi.

E follì, follà, follero, e follero, lero, lì.
O bun om Barbagal pour'om
Diridin don, diridon, poura mi.

A porte lo cure come fu sal ra
Diridin don, diridon, poura mi
A jo la voi gal, a bara voi gar
Diridin don, diridon, poura mi

E foli, fola, folero, e folero, lero lì
Amora am barbagal porom
Diridin don, diridon, poura mi

'n sal ciuchè la noeit a fasia 'n ciadel
Diridin don, diridon, poura mi.
A criava fort i sun mi 'l pì bel
Diridin don, diridon, poura mi.

E follì, follà, follero, e follero, lero, lì.
O bun om Barbagal pour'om
Diridin don, diridon, poura mi.

Cun le braie curte e cul pintun an man
Diridin don, diridon, poura mi.
A criava a tuta forsa: "Sun an rabadan"
Diridin don, diridon, poura mi.

E follì, follà, follero, e follero, lero, lì.
O bun om Barbagal pour'om
Diridin don, diridon, poura mi.

Quandi che l'Munvis a l'à 'l capel
Diridin don, diridon, poura mi.
O ca fa brut o ca fa bel
Diridin don, diridon, poura mi.

E follì, follà, follero, e follero, lero, lì.
O bun om Barbagal pour'om
Diridin don, diridon, poura mi.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 28 Sep 05 - 10:45 AM

Three versions of "Barbagal" and discussion were posted in thread 22988: Barbagal

It has nothing to do with Kemo Kimo.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 28 Sep 05 - 10:50 AM

Corrected link: Barbigal

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,guest - Jimm G
Date: 26 Nov 05 - 11:24 PM

This sounds pretty close to something my dad and his brother did in the '30s -'60s. They entertained in bars in Pennsylvania Dutch country. My Uncle Clyde played the harmonica and my dad played spoons and danced soft shoe. Their words make more sense:

There was a frog in our well
Gonna' sing some kissey kissey kimeo
he had a cold and he couldn't smell
Gonna' sing some kissey kissey kimeo

He moe hi moe dare I owe
Heem a hyme a rump sucka sog bug
A polly wolly link
And a sing some kissey kissey kimeo

We tied him to a hic-o-ry stump
He reared and he roared, but he couldn't make a jump

Go-o-o-o-oodbye white folk, I'm a goin' away
I'll sing for you some other day.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Azizi
Date: 27 Nov 05 - 10:04 AM

I wondering if any researchers have considered the fact that 'ki'me oh" is a shortened {Black vernacular] way of saying "kiss me, oh".

There once was a time when researchers believed that African languages had no impact whatsoever on American English.

Now that that view has been discredited [with regard to vocabulary and grammatic use etc], I'm wondering if any researchers have considered the possibility that "Kemo, kimo" and "kemo, kimo, karo" may have been folk etymology due to faulty memory by enslaved African Americans of some West African or Central African language or languages.

???

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,scott
Date: 04 May 10 - 12:15 PM

is kemo kimo american or not?

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST
Date: 05 May 10 - 12:08 PM

Here's another from a Scout song page.

Keemo Kyemo

       There was an old frog band he lived ina spring,
       Sing-song kitty catch-ee kye-nne-oh.
       He was so hoarse he couldn't sing,
       Sing-song kitty catch-ee kye-nne-oh.

      Chorus:

       Keemo kyemo dellway Hiho Rumpetee rump
       Periwinkle soap Linkhorn nip cat
       Hit'em with a brickbat,
       Sing-song kitty catch-ee kye-nne-oh.

       Cheese in thye springhouse nine days old,
       Sing-song kitty catch-ee kye-nne-oh.
       Rats and skippers qwful bold,
       Sing-song kitty catch-ee kye-nne-oh.

      Chorus:

       There was a man and he was rich,
       Sing-song kitty catch-ee kye-nne-oh.
       He got a rash and began to ictch,
       Sing-song kitty catch-ee kye-nne-oh.

      Chorus:

      Rose are red, violets are blue,
       Sing-song kitty catch-ee kye-nne-oh.
       Sugar si sweet and so are you,
       Sing-song kitty catch-ee kye-nne-oh.

      Chorus:

       I se England, I see France,
       Sing-song kitty catch-ee kye-nne-oh.
       I see Mary's polka-dot pants,
       Sing-song kitty catch-ee kye-nne-oh.

      Chorus:

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,a.e. mawhinney south carolina
Date: 09 Apr 11 - 12:40 PM

the way i heard the song was.   kemo kimo kimo dray hit cat sit cat pritty little kitty won't you carry home and the chickens they roost with there feet hanging out. i forgot the rest.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: mayomick
Date: 09 Apr 11 - 02:15 PM

Lyrically related to the Bagum songs surely?

Old Bang'em would a-hunting ride,
[Dillem, down, dillem]
Old Bang'em would a-hunting ride
[Dillem down]
Old Bang'em would a-hunting ride,
Sword and pistol by his side
[Cubby, ki, cuddle down
Killi, Quo, Quam]

There is a wild boar in this wood
Will eat your meat and suck your blood

Oh how shall I this wild boar see?
Blow a blast and he'll come to thee

Old Bang'em blew both load and shrill
The wild boar heard on Temple Hill

The wild boar came with such a rush
He tore down hickory, oak and ash

Old Bang'em drew his wooden knife
And swore that he would take his life

Old Bang'em did you win or lose
He swore that he had won the shoes

thread.cfm?threadid=50640

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,Liz
Date: 20 Mar 12 - 06:53 PM

I've had this stupid song stuck in my head since 2nd grade probably. I was wondering its history and if anyone else knew it as well.

I remember going something like this

Way down yonder on Beaver creek
Sing song kitty cancha kimeo
Boys grow up to be six feet
Sing song kitty cantcha kimeo
kimo kimo de ro art me heemy himey hum drum penny tinkle
tit tat pitty pat, blue eyed pussy cat
sing song kitty cancha kimeo!

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 20 Mar 12 - 07:23 PM

The long keemo kimo chorus was well known in 18th century songs and it actually had a sensible meaning at one time. I posted it on one of the other threads.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Mar 12 - 02:38 PM

Some 24 threads linked, and possibly more. Very time-consuming to check them. They should be organized to separate the wheat from the chaff, but a job for someone with a lot of time on their hands.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,Ty
Date: 11 May 12 - 02:40 PM

Tow/"toe"/to... tobacco.

Cover the ground all over with smoke.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 11 May 12 - 05:22 PM

Q
Couldn't find it myself on any of the above threads so I'll repost it here. It certainly proves the long tongue twister chorus is a lot older than the 19thc, and was widely known and utilised in 18thc England. The likelihood is that is where it originated, but we can't say this for definite of course.

The earliest usage I have found so far is on The Camp Garland, printed by John Thornton c1722. My copy comes from the ECCO compilation of 18thc stall copies. These are from various sources, BL, NLS etc and my copy didn't indicate the sources. The tune is given as 'Gameorum' and here is the verse and chorus.

Milkmaid going out of late,
With a rigdum for a little Game.
To see the camp it was her fate,
With a rigdum for a little game.
    Gameorum wildum gorum, game wildum game,
    Can you net a Flumerum, a Rigdum Bolleram
    Rigdum for a little game.

And I've just remembered where I posted it. It was on a thread discussing the meaning of 'Rigdum'. I seem to remember the terms in the chorus here are all cant terms of the period and have something to do with girls ensnaring the soldiers with their 'game'

Of course the rhythm and form could be based on something earlier.

By 1780 the nonsense chorus form was being used in musicals which is probably where that variant of 'froggy' picked it up. Here's the first verse of 'The Old English Baron' from the musical comedy 'The Baron' of which I have several 18thc copies; one not necessarily the earliest is dated 1781.

In days of yore, as I've been told,
With a humdrum woundy length of line-o,
There liv'd a Baron bluff and bold,
With a strim-stram very little coin-o;
    Means I grant ye
    Rather scanty,
But great store of line-o;
Strim-stram, pamma diddle, lara bona, ring tang,
    ring tang, very little coin-o.

In the 'Modern Syren' printed in 1791 by S Hodgson of Newcastle at p181 is a medley containing the following bit of 'Froggy'

There was a frog liv'd in a well
    With a rigdum boni cimi,
    rigdum boni, boni rigdum,
    rigdum boni cimi;
There was a frog liv'd in a well
    With a rigdum boni cimi.

All this really demonstrates is that the tune and form were being recycled all through the 18th and 19th centuries, pretty similar to 'The Keeper' which has a very distinct form, tune and chorus which were constantly recycled in the same way, although we have even earlier versions of this.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Jul 12 - 08:07 PM

"tow" is short for tobacco. What else would the be growing in South Carolina?

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 Jul 12 - 09:19 PM

"Plant de tow"-

Bad guess, guest.

Tow is a fiber, in the 19th c. usually hemp, flax or jute.

Nowadays, tow is generally a synthetic or carbon fiber, but before the synthetics, tow was a natural fiber used to stuff upholstery, or as a staple fiber.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Snuffy
Date: 24 Jul 12 - 09:22 AM

Is it what they made towropes out of?

I'll get me coat .....

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,Nick
Date: 17 Oct 12 - 11:10 PM

So how does this song relate to frog went a courtin

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 18 Oct 12 - 01:44 PM

Nick,
If you look at Liz's post above you'll see that this very popular minstrel song of 1850s has taken the form, tune, and some of the nonsense chorus from the earlier stream of British songs and some of this has become attached to the 'Frog went a courtin' text. It's easy to see how this could happen. Any song written in couplets with lines of that length could be adapted to any number of tune/chorus/formats available in oral tradition.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 19 Oct 12 - 01:39 PM

Just to muddy the waters, Tow (the fiber) rhymes with cow, not with toe.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,rubitzal
Date: 03 Jan 13 - 12:55 PM

When I was a small kid in the 1930's I remember my father singing the following words: Kemo kimo cairo where,timmy I timmy o timmy rough stuff ?????? I've forgotten the rest. It may have been a sporting
"fight" song he learned at Wyoming Seminary in Pennsylvania. But my contact at WS can find no record of it in the WS archives.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,Richie
Date: 17 Oct 15 - 10:52 AM

After the crash in '29 Pop went on the bum, returning periodically from his sojourns through the southern jungles for bedtime songfests on his lap. He's his version (as phonetically as I can manage).

Way down south where I was born,
Sing some Polly watcha kimeo.
Feed your horse on injun corn,
Sing some Polly watcha kimeo.

(chorus)
Guymill dee, guymill doe, Oh, my heart!
With a rum chicka bum chicka chew tabacca soda cracker firecracker, KI...ME...OH.

Next comes two girls dressed in white,
Sing some Polly watcha kimeo.
How'd you like to go to heaven on the tail of a kite,
Sing some Polly watcha kimeo.

(Chorus)

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,Susan B
Date: 03 Apr 16 - 06:49 PM

Hi, dear Mudcatters . . . can anyone help with a children's singing game called "Our Old Sow"? It borrows the Kimo Keemo refrain. I am thinking surely it's a fragment, but I can't find it.

Our old sow is getting very fat.
Kimo Komo Keemo,
Three foot two across the back
Kimo Komo Keemo.

Maybe it's improvised text, but it's a fun game . . . I'd like to find a good source, though.

Many thanks in advance!

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,Terry asher
Date: 20 Oct 16 - 07:40 PM

Rum sticka fum a diddle ox stuck a pennywinkle in come a knick knack johnny get your boot jack sing sing kitty won't you ki meo

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: keberoxu
Date: 20 Oct 16 - 08:17 PM

First recording I ever heard of "sing song kitty etc etc" was Bob Gibson, accompanying himself on banjo.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: keberoxu
Date: 23 Oct 16 - 03:52 PM

Found Bob Gibson's version. It's from the Folk Songs of Ohio Stinson label release.
The title is
"Down in Sky Town."

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,A stranger
Date: 14 May 19 - 11:26 AM

I thought plant the to was plant the tobacco

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Mrrzy
Date: 14 May 19 - 07:14 PM

CHEESE in the springhouse 9 days old? I always heard it as SHE'S in the springhouse, rats and the mice are a-getting mighty bold. I thought they'd eat the baby.

Grew up with this by Ed McCurdy.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,Hutchy
Date: 16 Dec 19 - 12:16 AM

Can anyone give links to the tunes? All I've been able to find have been pretty far off base for what I heard as a child. Thank you.

Old cow died in the middle of the lot.
Sing-a-song Kitty won't you ki-mee-o
Believe to my soul that she's going to rot.
Sing-s-song Kitty, won't you ki-mee-o.
Caro-kiro-daro boys, a hame, a home a hime.
Bomasicka, lamasicka 'long come knick-knack
Sing-a-song Kitty won't you ki-mee-o?

Big cat, little cat, sitting on a wall.
Refrain
Big cat squeal, little cat squall
Refrain
etc.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 16 Dec 19 - 03:48 AM

Probable source of all the American and some British folk versions is the Minstrel song Keemo Kimo which is available on sheet music from about 1854. There are lots of editions at the Lester Levy Sheet Music site. I'm not good at blue clickies but if you can't find it let me have your email address and I'll send you scans of some I have. Mine is gardhams # hotmaildotcom. There are plenty of oral versions in the American State Collections, Maritime Folksongs, Gainer, Eddy, Sharp/Campbell etc. The Minstrel version was popular on both sides of the pond and it wasn't original, just adapted, as this chorus can be found in 18th century English songs.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Feb 20 - 07:35 AM

Here are the lyrics I know - learned it in College over 40 years ago!

Keemo, Kimo, dero-war
Me hi, me low,
Hum drum penny whistle
Tit tat, pity pat, pussy kat
Hey kitty won't ya kimeeo!

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,#
Date: 28 May 21 - 03:36 PM

Chubby Parker & His Old Time Banjo - King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7NBD40v5sE

Subject: Up stump flummadiddle
From: GUEST,Richard Bernard
Date: 21 Feb 22 - 01:36 PM

Does this ring any bells. Does my interpretation make sense?

My grandfather sang to his children, including this nameless tune beginning with, “up stump,” a cricket term signaling the end of play. “Flummadiddle” meant silly or delusive nonsense. A “rig” is a hand drum of the tambourine family, and a “dum” is a stroke on that drum with the right index finger. Ireland may have been the source of the song which has an Irish sound to it. Kerry is a SE County in the Irish Republic, and William Patton’s mother’s family included ancestors from Derry, which is a shortened form of the city of Londonderry, in Ulster.


“Up stump flummadiddle,
Rig dum bully bimmy, Cormy
Cormy Kerry; dandy Derry;
Cormy, cormy Kerry –
Up stump flummadiddle
Rig dum bully bimmy, Cormy.”

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 21 Feb 22 - 03:31 PM

On another thread, possibly titled 'rigdum' there is information showing this chorus dates back in Britain to at least the middle of the 18th century, before it's addition to Froggy went courting. At least some of the words in the early versions had meanings. A camp song if I remember rightly had what must have been an early version if compared with 19th century versions.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,RA
Date: 21 Feb 22 - 04:27 PM

Interesting to read from GUEST,Richard Bernard that 'Derry' is a shortened form of 'Londonderry' - I always thought that 'Londonderry' was a lengthened form of 'Derry'!

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Feb 22 - 08:37 PM

Meantime, I had completely forgotten it was cheese.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,Hutchy
Date: 21 Oct 23 - 05:06 PM

I've come across something interesting. Following the clue that the original is of Scottish origin and plugging the nonsense words into the Dictionary of the Scots Language, I found that "kie" means "key" and that there was (maybe still is) a tradition where Scottish children would hold up a hand to indicate that the "key" was in the "lock" to request a recess during a game. IF that is the origin, then the "won't you kie me, o" would mean "I need a break!"

Kie - 2. In pl.: a state of, or call for, truce in a children's game (Fif.17, w. and sm.Sc. 1959). Cf. Barley. Also in dim. forms keysie, keysies (keysie ne.Sc. 1990s; keysies Edb. 1960s).
Gsw. 1900–38 per Fif.17:
A call for a truce in a game added to the gesture of holding up the hand with the fingers crossed or with the thumb sticking out between the first and second fingers. Also called Key's locked!
https://dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/key

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 22 Oct 23 - 10:34 AM

Hi Hutchy
If you look back through the thread at the evolution of the word in the chorus you'll see that this is highly unlikely, but interesting all the same.

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: GUEST,Hutchy
Date: 21 Oct 23 - 05:06 PM

I've come across something interesting. Following the clue that the original is of Scottish origin and plugging the nonsense words into the Dictionary of the Scots Language, I found that "kie" means "key" and that there was (maybe still is) a tradition where Scottish children would hold up a hand to indicate that the "key" was in the "lock" to request a recess during a game. IF that is the origin, then the "won't you kie me, o" would mean "I need a break!"

Kie - 2. In pl.: a state of, or call for, truce in a children's game (Fif.17, w. and sm.Sc. 1959). Cf. Barley. Also in dim. forms keysie, keysies (keysie ne.Sc. 1990s; keysies Edb. 1960s).
Gsw. 1900–38 per Fif.17:
A call for a truce in a game added to the gesture of holding up the hand with the fingers crossed or with the thumb sticking out between the first and second fingers. Also called Key's locked!
https://dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/key

Subject: RE: Kemo Kimo info
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 22 Oct 23 - 10:34 AM

Hi Hutchy
If you look back through the thread at the evolution of the word in the chorus you'll see that this is highly unlikely, but interesting all the same.