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Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody

24 Jan 00 - 11:26 PM (#167895)
Subject: Anyone know these lyrics for Aunt Rhody?
From: elizabethpr

Hi,

My family (from Virginia) passed down this song, goes to the tune of "AUnt Rhody" or "The Old Gray Goose":

Go tell Aunt Martha Go tell Aunt Martha Go tell Aunt Martha The old gray goose is dead

Killed by the soldiers killed by the soldiers killed by the soldiers at General Grant's command

My grandfather told me that this version was sung to his grandfather as a child during reconstruction. Does anyone else know this version? And does anyone happen to know the origin of the tune? I konw it's in the database as being of french origin, but the John and Alan Lomax Folk Song book says that it's american. Any ideas?

Elizabeth

25 Jan 00 - 12:44 AM (#167926)
Subject: RE: Anyone know these lyrics for Aunt Rhody?
From: raredance

The name of the Aunt varies a lot in different versions of this song. Aunt Patsy is found in the Brown collection of North Carolina folklore and includes the following verses:
    Old granny's weeping, Because her true love's dead

    She died last Friday, With the toothache in her head.
Eloise Linscott in "Folk Songs of Old New England" reprts that her source said the tune was a variation of the "Good Shpherd" tune. She has the verse:
    He died this morning, Swimming across the pond.
Vance Randolph in "Ozark Folksongs" refers to versions that have Aunt Tabby, Aunt Abby, Aunt Nancy, Aunt Dinah, and Aunt Phoebe. Among the texts he included were verses:
    Somebody killed it, knocked it on the head.

    It died easy, Out in the old barn-yard.
and
    Go tell Aunt Phoebe, The old gray goose is dead.
    She died last Friday, Floating on the pond
    the one she was saving, To make a feather bed.
    Poor old Aunt Phoebe, She'll have no feather bed.
and
    She died in the manger, With a toothache in her head
and
    She died with the slow fever, Out behind the shed
    No more little goslin's, To make a feather bed.
Randolph discusses several other authors' comments about the origin of the tune. Jackson ("White Spirituals in the Southern Uplands") says the tune was often known as "Greenville" or "Rousseau's Dream" and was published as a piano piece in 1818. According to Chase ("Old Songs and Singing Games") the melody was used in an opera written by Jean Jaques Rousseau about 1750. One of Randolph's contributors said that the same tune is used for the hymn "Come Ye Sinners Poor and Needy". Jackson("Spiritual Folk-Songs of Early America") lists a text for "Come Ye Sinners". He has it to the tune of "I Will Arise"(aka Copme Thou Font) but it does scan to the Aunt Rhody tune. Digging a little further I found another version of "Come Ye Sinners" in a rather acid-eaten songster called "Songs of Grove and Temple" published by the Hall-Mack Company. Judging by the copyrights on individual songs the book was assembled about 1908. The first four measures, are indeed the Aunt Rhody tune; the second four measures are different, the four measures of Aunt Rhody are then repeated for the last lines of the verse. The words were written by Joseph Hart in 1759. This book credits the tune to Jean J Rousseau. For the curious, the following is the text of "Come Ye Sinners" combined first from the songbook and then additional verses from the Jackson book.
    Come ye sinners, poor and needy,
    Weak and wounded sick and sore;
    Jesus ready stands to save you,
    Full of pity, love and pow'r. He is able, he is able,
    He is willin" doubt no more.

    Now ye needy come and welcome;
    God's free bounty glorify;
    True belief and true repentance,
    Every grace that brings you nigh,
    Without money, without money
    Come to Jesus Christ and buy.

    Let not conscience make you linger,
    Nor of fitness fondly dream;
    All the fitness he requireth
    Is to feel your need of him:
    This he gives you, this he gives you;
    'Tis the Spirit's glimmering beam.

    Come ye weary, heavy laden,
    Bruised and mangled by the fall:
    If you tarry till you're better,
    You will never come at all;
    Not the righteous, not the righteous,
    Sinners Jesus came to call.
The verses cited in Jackson are only 4 lines to fit the "I Will Arise" tune with chorus. They are the first 4 lines of verses 1 and 3 above and these 2 additional ones.
    Agonizing in the garden,
    Lo, your Master prostrate lies;
    On the bloody tree behold him,
    Hear him cry before he dies.

    Lo, th'incarnate God ascended,
    Pleads the merit of his blood;
    Venture on him, venture wholely,
    Let no other trust intrude.
This has drifted a bit from General Grant slaughtering geese.

rich r

25 Jan 00 - 08:13 AM (#167991)
Subject: RE: Anyone know these lyrics for Aunt Rhody?
From: elizabethpr

Thanks Rich for such an informative response! I am new to researching histories of folk songs, and this is really fascinating. I had no idea a tune could go through so many changes during its history. I really appreciate it.

Elizabeth

26 Jan 00 - 01:09 AM (#168465)
Subject: RE: Anyone know these lyrics for Aunt Rhody?
From: Abby Sale

In our house the song ran 'Aunt Rodi' & verses varried to items as

Go tell Aunt Rodi, etc.
It's time to go to bed.

But now that I think back, I think this version originated with me singing to my daughter, Rodi.

26 Jan 00 - 02:30 AM (#168478)
Subject: RE: Anyone know these lyrics for Aunt Rhody?
From: Joe Offer

Anybody know the French version? Is the tune the same? Any interesting differences in the French version?
-Joe Offer-

10 Nov 07 - 02:32 PM (#2190610)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: GUEST,chuck

in alabama it went something like this
    go tell aunt tabby go tell aunt tabby
    the old gray goose is dead
    the old gray goose is dead
    she died in the garden
    she died in the garden
    with a rock upon her head   

that is all I can remember my dad used to sing it

10 Nov 07 - 03:00 PM (#2190631)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: Bonnie Shaljean

The line that used to get me when I was a kid (central California, more years ago than I want to think about) was:

The goslings are crying
Because their mother's dead

10 Nov 07 - 08:06 PM (#2190848)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: Dave Hunt

Collected from kids in the N.E. of England

Go tell Aunt Rhody, go tell Aunt Rhody
Go tell aunt Rhody she's really uncle Fred

10 Nov 07 - 09:30 PM (#2190883)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: topical tom

Go tell Aunt Rhody, Go tell Aunt Rhody,
         Go tell Aunt Rhody the old gray goose is dead.


         She died in the mill pond, she died in the mill pond,
         She died in the mill pond standing on her head.

         The goslins are cryin', the goslins are cryin',
         The goslins are cryin' because their mammy's dead.

         The one that she was savin', the one that she was savin',
         To make a feather bed.

10 Nov 07 - 09:43 PM (#2190886)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: Dave Ruch

In the Adirondacks and north country of NY State, we have at least three separate instances where it was sung "Go Tell Aunt Nabby" - has anybody else heard it this way?

10 Nov 07 - 09:56 PM (#2190889)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: topical tom

Sorry, one more verse:

          The old gray gander's weepin', the old gray ganders weepin'
          The old gray gander's weepin' because his wife is dead.

11 Nov 07 - 05:58 AM (#2191036)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: Bonnie Shaljean

Thanks for your input, Tom - you reminded me of something: another verse we used to sing had the line "She's worth the saving..." Can't remember the rest of it but I don't think it had the featherbed reference.

This slightly abstract image used to set off all sorts of associations in my mind. I THINK (don't have a copy and can't check) that in "A Death In The Family" James Agee makes some sort of reflective reference to this line.

The featherbed version certainly makes more sense! But I rather liked the slightly mystic meditations that my line set in motion. [Note to self: Get out more...]

11 Nov 07 - 01:14 PM (#2191282)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: Q (Frank Staplin)

Aunt Rhody went under many names. American Memory has Dinah, Tabby (see Nabby above), Nancy, Patsy and Tildy; there are probably as many more.

13 Nov 07 - 12:26 AM (#2192463)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: Jim Dixon

The Howell First Reader, by Logan Douglass Howell, 1911, has:

Go tell Aunt Patsy;
Go tell Aunt Patsy;
Go tell Aunt Patsy
The old gray goose is dead.

The one she was saving;
The one she was saving;
The one she was saving
To make a feather bed.

Using Google Book Search, I found these variants:
"Go tell Aunt Rhoda" - 1891, 1909
"Go tell Aunt Nabby" - 1895, 1918
"Go tell Aunt Nancy" - 1897, 1909, 1913, 1916
"Go tell Aunt Abby" - 1906
"Go tell Aunt Rhody" - 1908, 1918
"Go tell Aunt Sally" - 1917
(Most of these are only references to the song, where only the title is given.)

18 Feb 08 - 03:01 AM (#2265123)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: GUEST

it's aunt abby. Every irish american child knows it's aunt abby. When we are sick, when we don't feel well, our mothers, sisters, aunts, grandmothers sing us this song and it is always Abby. It is NEVER "Rhody" that is really cute but it's not irish and it is not what is sung to us when we are sick...

18 Feb 08 - 03:11 AM (#2265130)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: GUEST

go tell aunt abby, go tell aunt abby, go tell aunt abby the old grey goose is dead. the one she's been saving, the one shes been saving, the one she's been saving to make a feather bed...

18 Feb 08 - 09:08 PM (#2265853)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: Joe_F

She died a-laughing
Because she'd lost her head.

Also, we used to switch to minor to sing "The goslings are crying...". When I was little (perhaps still?) the minor mode was considered appropriate for sadness.

18 Feb 08 - 10:28 PM (#2265891)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: Barbara

Uhm,
Go tell the roadies (3x)
The microphones are dead

They died in the last set (3x)
We dropped them on their heads.

Fl!p Breskin, I think. That's where I heard it, anyway.

Blessings,
Barbara

19 Feb 08 - 01:25 PM (#2266461)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego

I could be wrong, but I believe Burl Ives did a version of this song during the 1950's. One or two of our old coffee house regulars also performed it more regularly than some of us would have liked. (To Bonnie Shaljean, above - this was also in central California (Fresno) and my 50th reunion is nearing).

19 Feb 08 - 03:25 PM (#2266594)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: dick greenhaus

Yes, Burl did it--in the 40s

19 Feb 08 - 06:17 PM (#2266834)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: Herga Kitty

Dusty Springfield, sang Aunt Rhody when she was singing with the Springfields, in 1962!

Kitty

19 Feb 08 - 07:35 PM (#2266913)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: Slag

Dusty, I do miss you so.

I heard it as a child with "...the old red rooster's dead." Probably just a familial variant.

20 Aug 08 - 09:43 PM (#2419130)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: GUEST,Brittany

My grandmother was fond of singing

Go tell Aunt Patsy, the old gray goose is dead
the one she'd been saving, to stuff her feather bed.

I'd wager she'd heard it from her parents in the 1930s in Central, Florida, but where it came from before that I've no clue.

14 Nov 08 - 09:45 PM (#2494323)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: GUEST

i want the notes to the song i cant remembert them and no website gives them to me notes like F# F# E D STUFF LIKE THAT
    Hi - we have the song in our Digital Tradition Folk Song Database (click). You'll find a "click to play" MIDI link at the end of the lyrics. If you'd like actual music notation, there's a website called Yet Another Digital Tradition (click) that has our songs converted into various types of notation. That Website isn't working just now, but that's probably just a temporary outage.
    -Joe Offer, Forum Moderator-

09 Dec 08 - 03:51 PM (#2511022)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: GUEST,Gary

Go tell Aunt Martha
over the river and round the hill
Go tell Aunt Martha
The old grey goose is dead
Somebody killed it
knocked it on the head
Poor Aunt Martha
will have no feather bed
Go tell Aunt Martha
the old grey goose is dead.

13 Dec 14 - 07:26 PM (#3685459)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: GUEST,Guest

In our family:
Go tell Aunt Abby
Her old goosie died ha-appy.
Tell her he died so happy
under the old goose shed.

Go, go to sleepy,
Mama's little ba-a-by
Go, go to sleepy,
Mama's baby girl (boy).

14 Dec 14 - 12:25 AM (#3685497)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: PHJim

Where I, and probably the majority of folkies, learned this song was from the singing of Jean Ritchie (KTrad). Her lyrics were:

Go tell Aunt Rhody,
Go tell Aunt Rhody,
Go tell Aunt Rhody
The old gray goose is dead.

The one she's been saving,
The one she's been saving,
The one she's been saving
To make a feather bed.

The goslings are mourning,
The goslings are mourning,
The goslings are mourning,
Because their mother's dead.

The old gander's weeping,
The old gander's weeping,
The old gander's weeping,
Because his wife is dead.

She died in the mill pond,
She died in the mill pond,
She died in the mill pond
From standing on her head.

Go tell Aunt Rhody,
Go tell Aunt Rhody,
Go tell Aunt Rhody
The old gray goose is dead.

14 Dec 14 - 09:20 AM (#3685585)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: Airymouse

I learned this song from Mary Richards, who hailed from Pelham GA. I suspect her songs came from East Tennessee. I asked her if it was "Aunt Abby" or "Aunt Tabby". She said she thought it was "Aunt Tabby", but she wasn't sure. Mary had fewer verses than either C. Sharp or J. Ritchie and the only slight difference was that "she died in the garden, under a cabbage head." If you send me a private message with your e-mail, I'll send you an MP3 of her version.

14 Dec 14 - 10:10 AM (#3685594)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: GUEST,Dave Hunt

We got a children's parody from Tyneside

Go tell Aunt Rhody,
Go tell Aunt Rhody,
Go tell Aunt Rhody
She's really Uncle Fred

14 Dec 14 - 02:39 PM (#3685671)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: MGM·Lion

Also, PHJim. surely from the Burl Ives Song Book, which gives "Rhody" as the name, and almost identical lyric to the Jean Ritchie version you cite. Back in the early 50s, that was the source of most or our repertoires, just before the Lomax & MacColl & Lloyd & Nancy Whiskey Club at the Princess Louise led revival...

≈M≈

11 Mar 16 - 11:56 PM (#3778192)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Aunt Rhody
From: GUEST,The Movies

Dick van Dyke in "Lt. Robin Crusoe U.S.N." (1966) sings 'Go tell Aunt Rhody... she's really Uncle Fred'.