I had no idea that there were so many songs with the "hand me down my walkin' cane" phrase in them. The only version I knew is from a little song book that I had as a young boy (still have it, btw.) The book is "Treasure Chest of Homespun Songs" copyright by Treasure Chest Publications, Inc., New York, N.Y., 1935. No information or notes accompany it, and it contains only the two verses:

Hand me down my walkin' cane,
Oh hand me down my walkin' cane;
Yes hand me down my walkin' cane,
For I'm goin' to get that midnight train,
'Cause all my sins are taken away.

Hand me down my bottle of corn,
Oh hand me down my bottle of corn;
Oh hand me down my bottle of corn,
For I'm goin' to get drunk sure as you're born,
'Cause all my sins are taken away.

In the book the song is accompanied only by a small pen and ink sketch of a black man dressed in a top hat and tuxedo, dancing (or staggering - it's not clear which) down the street with a walking cane in one hand and a jug in the other!

Reiver 2