B"H

11/27/05

Last Friday night at our Shabbes dinner table, my mother, who is now 91, sang:

A sinna-man
was sitting on the gates of hell (2)
A sinna-man
was sitting on the gates of hell (fast)
The gates fell down and down he fell
No hiding place down there
    Halaluya luya
No hiding place down there

For some come a limpin' some come a lame,
some come a callin' their master's name
No hiding place down there.

I went to the rock to hide my face (2)
I went to the rock to hide my face (fast)
The rock called out no hiding place
No hiding place down there
Halaluya luya
No Hiding place down there


For some come a limpin' some come a lame,
some come a callin' their master's name
No hiding place down there.


There was also a verse about rowing the boat from side to side - similar to one of those already posted -- but until I saw that posting, I didn't remember that my mother sang it -- when I was a little boy, more than 45 years ago.

My mother, from an Orthodox Jewish family, learned it at summer camp in New York as a young girl.


I guessed that it was originally a slave spiritual from the expression "some come a callin their master's name" .

When I was a little boy, and knew nothing of southern slavery, I thought that "master's name" meant God.

Halaluya is a Hebrew word -- meaning praise God.

A. S. Adler, Bronx, NY

PS: My mother still has a good voice -- and doesn't limp!!