Lyr. Add: Who Built the Ark?

Who built the ark? Noah built the ark;
Some say Noah was a foolish man,
But I says he's a wise man,
For he built his ark on hard ole ground,
He built his ark of gopher wood.
All beasts' kind went in his ark,
Noah came riding by,
And they poked a scorning finger at him,
Ole Noah tell the ark to move, move, move.

Ms. of W. E. Lassiter, Auburn, AL, 1915-1916. No. 42, pp. 99-100.
Newman I. White, 1928, American Negro Folk Songs; reprint 1965, Folklore Associates. Inc.

Lyr. Add: No-eh built de ark,
Yes, he di-id,
No-eh, built de ark,
Yes, he di-id,
No-eh built de ark,
Yes he di-id,
Ole man No-eh built de ark.

N. I. White, heard in Statesville, NC, c. 1907; and in Durham about 1912. Also popular with white people at the same time. No. 42, p. 100, same reference as above.
Also a version heard in the Bahamas (Edwards, 1895, p. 27).

Several early recordings; see The Traditional Ballads Index. www.csufresno.edu/folklore/BalladSearch.html