HEIST HER IN THE BASKET ^^^
(Bob Coltman)

Down to the ocean to get a little fish
Went little Sally in the morning. .
The grocery boy come a-running along
To follow little Sally wherever she's going,

cho:        Heist her in the basket high,
        Heist her in the basket low,
        Heist her in the basket up so high
        She'll never come down any more.

Tell me where you live at,
I ain't seen you till now,
I'd like to come and visit you .
If you'll be so kind as to tell me how.

Daddy's a mean old jailer,
My Mammy keeps the key.
You'll have to be a tough nut
To get past Daddy and Mammy to me.

Don't you worry, baby,
Don't you worry none.
I'll be in your feather bed
Tonight before the moon goes down.

He got him a good long ladder
And a basket light and strong,
And he went and he got his brother Sam
To climb on the roof and lower him down..

Daddy fell to snorin', I
But Mammy she's awake.
Hark, there's something stirrin',
Listen little Sally's old brass bed shake!

Daddy raised one eyelid,
Said hush your silly noise
Get along to the Devil with you,
Our little Sally don't mess with boys.

Just a daggone minute,
It's exactly like I said.
Somebody's done burgled us
And he's burglin' Sally in her very own bed!

The old'woman come stumbhn',
Into the basket fell
Brother felt her tugging
And he hauled her up like a bucket from a well.

Oh my mercy sakes alive,
Old man don't you see?
You wished me to the Devil just now
And here the Devil's come for me!

Keep on a-haulin',
The old man's heard to say.
You'll do me a favor
If you keep the old lady till Judgment Day.

Her and that Sally,
You can have 'em both to keep
If we could just get peace and quiet,
Maybe I'd get a little wink of sleep.


(The Keach in the Creel, No. 281)
Here's the sort of archaic skin fable that made Chaucer tingle. There are lots more of them, this is only a taste. The Whummil Bore, the Friar in the Well, the Boy and, the Mantle ... oh, look out, I may have to do another record. In fact, the second Son of Child may already be fattening the Muse's pretty waist. As a song, the original doesn't go back very far; it seems to have escaped print until a cluster of scholars nabbed it in the early 19th century. But the incident of consummating an affair by means of ladder, basket and chimney or skylight has a long and honorable history stretching back at least as far as the Middle Urges. There are some good British versions being sung today, and there should have been some good American ones, but evidently the transmigration from Scottish to American sidewalks doesn't work as well as the one from glens to hollers. This song must be my remedy. [BC]

Child #281
filename[ KEACHCR5
SOF


Son of Child CD Track 5