From http://hetzler.homestead.com/NBCakeWalk.html

QUOTE

Whistling Rufus

Ole Rufus would go to a ball or a party,
Rainy weather or shine,
And when he got there he was handsome
After the chicken and the wine.

When he got through with the chicken and the wine,
Then he whistled and he sung so grand
That they thought the angels' harps was a-playing.
And they called him the one-band man.

(Chorus): Don't make no blunder, they couldn't lose him,
For perfect wonder they had to choose him;
A great musician with a high position
Was whistling Rufus, the one-band man.

The above are Kerry Mills' original lyrics from 1899 (slightly edited to remove offensive language).

Variations of this song were widely recorded in the 1920's with blatantly racist lyrics. The melody has survived as an Old Time fiddle tune. Thankfully the lyrics have not.

Colored Aristocracy (1899) and Whistling Rufus (1899) are often played as reels, but they were originally intended to be played at a stately march tempo. Both tunes were written specifically for a dance known as the Cakewalk. They were the popular commercial music of their day,

The Cakewalk dance craze started in 1889, peaked in popularity between 1895 and 1905 and survived into the 1920's.

The Cakewalk grew out of the dancing of African-American slaves who, as early as 1850, did a dance known as the Chalk Line Walk. Many of the movements of this dance, such as bending back the body and dropping the hands at the wrists, were features of African Kaffir dances.

The Chalk Line Walk consisted of a couple promenading in a dignified, but exaggerated manner with high stepping and kicking. The name Cakewalk comes from the practice of plantation owners entertaining their neighbors by holding dance contests with their slaves. The winning dance couple would receive a cake.

The Cakewalk also has roots in the minstrel shows that toured the country beginning in the 1840's. Minstrel shows always ended with a Grand Finale called a walk-around. This started out as a way to showcase individual performers, but grew into elaborate and stylized routines which included exaggerated dancing often mocking society's elite.

These routines eventually made their way to the ballroom and became the Cakewalk. At its peak the Cakewalk was a grand promenade with dignified walking, bowing, waving canes, doffing hats, etc.

The Cakewalk was the first American dance to cross over from black to white society as well as from the stage (minstrel shows) to the ballroom.

UNQUOTE

And from Albert's Hillbilly Songster No.2, here are unedited lyrics:

WHISTLING RUFUS
By Kerry Mills.

Copyright 1959, F. A. Mills, New York

1. Down in de south whar de sly ole possum
Hides in de sycamore tree,
Dar lived a coon name o' Rufus Blossom,
Black as a nigger could be.
Rufe had a head like a big sledge hammer,
Mouth like a terrible scar,
But nothin' could touch him in Alabama
When he played on his old guitar.

CHORUS: Don't make no blunder.
You couldn't lose him.
A perfect wonder,
They had to choose him.
A great musician
Of high position
Was Whistling Rufus the One Man Band.

2. Miles he would tramp to a ball or party
In rainy weather or fine.
When he arrived, he was welcomed hearty.
Out came chicken and wine.
When he was froo wid de wine an' chicken,
He'd play an' whistle so grand,
You'd think dat de angels on harps was pickin',
And dey called him One Man Band.