Origins: Dig a hole to put the devil in

Subject: Origins: Dig a hole to put the devil in
From: GUEST,Richie
Date: 04 May 11 - 02:17 PM

Hi,

Anyone have versions of "Dig a hole to put the Devil in"?

Know where it came from? When did the expression originate?

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: Dig a hole to put the devil in
From: MartinRyan
Date: 04 May 11 - 02:22 PM

Hasn't the HBO series "The Wire" got a bluesy sig tune based on that phrase/idea?

Regards

Subject: RE: Origins: Dig a hole to put the devil in
From: GUEST,Richie
Date: 04 May 11 - 03:12 PM

One version was copyrighted in 1945. Here are some lyrics to one version:

God made man And man made money.
God made the bee And the bee made honey.
God made Lucifer And he made sin.
Go dig a hole and put the Devil in.

Leadbelly also sang a version quite different

Subject: RE: Origins: Dig a hole to put the devil in
From: MartinRyan
Date: 04 May 11 - 03:20 PM

The one I was thinking of seems to be by Tom Waits - here's The Blind Boys of Alabama singing it.

Regards

Subject: RE: Origins: Dig a hole to put the devil in
From: GUEST,Richie
Date: 05 May 11 - 01:54 AM

Hi,

I've been trying to straighten out my web-site since I threw a bunch of info on the songs but never proofed it or carefully researched it.

Here's what I have on "Gwine Dig a Hole":

http://bluegrassmessengers.com.temp.realssl.com/gwine-dig-a-hole-and-put-the-devil-in--leadbelly.aspx

As far as I can tell Leadbelly recorded three versions two titled "Fidler's Dram"- one accidentally titled Fiddler's Dream- haha

The lyrics are in my 1936 Lomax book but they are different slightly,

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: Dig a hole to put the devil in
From: Snuffy
Date: 05 May 11 - 09:37 AM

Old Johnny Pucker/Booker/Bugger/Bucker/Bucca - Lots of versions and links to other threads here

Subject: RE: Origins: Dig a hole to put the devil in
From: GUEST,Doc John
Date: 05 May 11 - 02:29 PM

Richie, It may have been from Leadbelly's L of C recordings I heard it. The expression is supposed to refer to what slaves or convicts would like to do to their overseer (= the devil)

Subject: RE: Origins: Dig a hole to put the devil in
From: GUEST,Richie
Date: 05 May 11 - 10:23 PM

Thanks,

Snuffy-It's interesting that the Johnny Booker lyrics are a source. Good job!

John Doc- you're right about the Leadbelly reference- it's in my Lomax Leadbelly book.

Richie

Subject: RE: Origins: Dig a hole to put the devil in
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Aug 12 - 08:57 PM

gwine dig a hole to put the devil in is a song on an ablum "classic blues volume 1" by Shack of Peasants

Subject: RE: Origins: Dig a hole to put the devil in
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 08 Aug 12 - 12:00 AM

Parallel topic/verse

Circa 1975....west coast...USA...Hispanic community...Sunday School 10 y.o.

Satan is a sly old fox
If I could I 'd tie him in a box.
Tie him in a box, and throw away the key
For all the tricks he 's played on me.

I 'm glad that I 'm a Christian (3X)
And I 'm walking with the Lord

Sincerely,
Gargoyke

Subject: RE: Origins: Dig a hole to put the devil in
From: Jack Campin
Date: 08 Aug 12 - 04:04 AM

Is the origin perhaps the tale "Putting the Devil into Hell" as in Boccaccio? (which he probably didn't originate).

Subject: RE: Origins: Dig a hole to put the devil in
From: GUEST,hg
Date: 10 Aug 12 - 01:08 AM

hey gargoyke!

Subject: RE: Origins: Dig a hole to put the devil in
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 10 Aug 12 - 03:23 PM

Here's a reference from Notes and Queries 1870, sent in by James Henry Dixon, he of the ballad books in the 1840s.

'Some years ago I sent to N&Q a much better version of the lines contributed by F.S. (there must have been a previous query I've not copied) I do not, however, remember their insertion, and probably they never came to hand. My copy, which I now append, was transcribed from the fly-sheet of a Bible that belonged to a pitman who resided near Hutton-Henry, Durham. He was a Methodist. I pitched upon the quatrain while leafing through the Bible. The lines I later found were well-known in the pit villages. I believe they belong to the North of England. (Dixon wasn't a very knowledgeable scholar.)

'God made bees, and bees made honey;
God made man, and man made money;
Pride made the Devil, and the Devil made sin;
So God made a coal-pit to put the Devil in.'

I have another copy, which I took from a chalking on an engine-house door near Houghton-le-Spring.'

It looks like I will have to try to get a copy of the note that prompted this reply. It mentioned Billy Purvis a North Country Music Hall artiste.

It might also be significant, if my memory serves me right, that the Elliots of Birtley in Co. Durham used to sing 'Old Johnny Booker'.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dig a hole to put the devil in
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 10 Aug 12 - 03:37 PM

Here's a version from the Journal of American Folklore April-June 1913 which was recorded from 'East Tennessee negroes in 1905'.

'God made de bee, and de bee made honey;
God made man, an' de man made money;
God made Satan, an' Satan made sin;
God made a hole, an' rolled Satan in.'

An addition is given from Kentucky negroes, 1912.

'Satan got mad, an' said he wouldn't stay;
God tol' Satan that he couldn't get away.'

Subject: RE: Origins: Dig a hole to put the devil in
From: GUEST,Nathan Greb
Date: 11 Jan 17 - 02:20 PM

God made Man Man made money God made Bees Bees made honey God made Satan Satan made sin God made a hole to put Satan in Satan said he wouldn't stay God said he would cause he couldn't get away so God made a hill sliker than glass down come Satan sliding on his ass

By Nathan Greb

Subject: RE: Origins: Dig a hole to put the devil in
From: Joe_F
Date: 11 Jan 17 - 02:58 PM

God made Satan, Satan made sin.
God made a hot place to put Satan in.
Satan didn't like it, and he said he wouldn't stay.
He's been acting like the devil ever since that day.
          -- The Darky Sunday School

Subject: RE: Origins: Dig a hole to put the devil in
From: Jack Horntip
Date: 11 Jun 20 - 09:03 AM

The Dublin Literary Gazette and National Magazine, July to December 1830. Pg 645.

'God made man, an' man made money;
God made bees, an' bees made money;
God made Satan, an' Satan made sin;
An' God made a hole to put Satan in.'

This is quoted as part of a story... so it is earlier than 1830.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dig a hole to put the devil in
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 11 Jun 20 - 06:35 PM

From about 3:30. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqcBtpb6hJM

Subject: RE: Origins: Dig a hole to put the devil in
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Apr 25 - 10:01 PM

You cannot put the Devil anywhere. That being is spirit. The Devil needs people to work through. God did not make Satan. Don't talk like Satan. God gave every good thing to Lucifer. That being wanted more. Death gives the illution of more. God gave us every good gift. People demand money before anyone can have anything. Satan through a person. God wants to work through us. Lucifer became Satan.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dig a hole to put the devil in
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 27 Apr 25 - 06:57 AM

This is a humorous folk ditty??. Like many more the lyrics are not there to be scrutinised, verified or vilified. But thanks for the sermon, Your Holiness!

Subject: RE: Origins: Dig a hole to put the devil in
From: Jack Horntip
Date: 27 Apr 25 - 07:58 AM

For God made man
And man made money.
And God made bees
And bees made honey.
And God made a rabbit
And sent it through the grass
And God made a dog
For to like the rabbit's ass.

-- Unidentified New York City correspondent to Alan Steyne, March 30, 1926, in the Canfield collection.

Variant referenced in the notes of Ed Cray's Erotic Muse III.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dig a hole to put the devil in
From: Jack Horntip
Date: 27 Apr 25 - 08:03 AM

The Canfield Collection has the above variant titled "ATHEISTIC DITTY".


See online here: https://archive.org/details/1926canfieldcollection/page/n16/mode/1up?q=%22god+made%22

Subject: RE: Origins: Dig a hole to put the devil in
From: Jack Horntip
Date: 27 Apr 25 - 08:42 AM

When God made Man, he made him out of string.
He had a little left, so He left a little thing.
When God made Woman, He made her out of lace.
He didn't have enough, so He left a little place.
Here's to God!

Variant:

When God made man, he had a little left, so he left a little thing.
When God made woman, there wasn't *quite* enough, so he left a little space..
Here's a toast to "things in space."

Thematically related.