63. Dirty Lil

The Opies in their Lore and Language of Schoolchildren give a variant from English youngsters (p. 20):

I'm dirty Bill from Vinegar Hill;
Never had a bath and never will.

and also quote a Negro rhyme printed in Talley's Negro Folk Rhymes (1922,
p. 94) which is an antecedent form of "Dirty Lil," entitled 'Wild Negro
Bill":

I'se Wild Nigger Bill
From Redpepper Hill,
I never did wo'k an' I never will.

I'se done killed de Boss.
I'se knocked down de hoss.
I eats up raw goose with apple sauce.

I'se Run-a-way Bill,
I know dey mought kill,
But ole Masser hain't cotch me, an he never will!

[The Opies only give the first stanza. The complete text is from Talley]

The contemporary form of "Dirty Lil" appears in "Old American Ballads" (1952, p, 39). Eighteen texts of the song in the IUFA [Indiana University Folklore Archives] are from
Michigan State students, one was collected on the Indiana University campus, and a half dozen or so have come from high schools in both states.

A 1949 Michigan State variant [Collected by Sally Snider] alters the lyrics to fit the "I know a girl..." pattern commonly found in "Hey La Li Lo" (#35) and other songs
with the same verse pattern:

Dirty Lil, Dirty Lil,
Lives on top of Garbage Hill.
She won't do it, but her sister will.
Ack pooey. Dirty Lil.

Jean Anderson, also of Michigan State, reported the following take-off on "Dirty Lil" in 1950:

(Say the following words in a bored tone of voice)
Slightly soiled Lillian,
Slightly soiled Lillian,
Resides on the summit of a garbage pavillion.
Never bathed, never will.
(clear throat) Slightly soiled Lillian.

The tune used is "Little Brown Jug


63 . I [[Richard Reuss]] learned these lyrics at freshman camp at Ohio Wesleyan University in September, 1958, and as such it was the first college song I heard within a campus setting.

Dirty Lil, Dirty Lil,
Lives on top of Garbage Hill.
Never washes, never will
Whhctt Pttu [make spitting sound]. Dirty Lil!

Pg 321-323, An Annotated Field Collection of Songs from the American College Student Oral Tradition by Richard Reuss.

https://archive.org/details/1965annotatedfieldcollectionofsongs/page/321/mode/2up?q=dirty+lil