I wonder if the biblical Norah-Noah is not meant in that work song, but a convict named Norah-Noah.

Lyr. Add: Old Norah* (Noah)

Here's old Norah,*
Stick him in the bosom;
Stick him in the bosom;
Stick him in the bosom;
Here's old Norah, stick him in the bosom,
And let old Norah go.

Here's old Norah's daughter,
Stick her in the bosom; (3x)
Here's old Norah's daughter, stick her in the bosom,
And let old Norah go.

Here's a long giraffe,
Stick him in the bosom; (3x)
etc.

Here's a humped-back camel,
Stick him, etc.

Here's a great big elephant,
Stick him, etc.

Here's a little monkey,
stick him, etc.

Here's a big kangaroo,
Stick him in the bosom;
Stick him in the bosom;
Stick him in the bosom;
The flood is all over,
Let old Norah go.

* Spelled Norah in Jour. American Folk-Lore, vol. xxiii, p. 435. Spelled Noah in the title but spelled Norah in the verses, Jour. Amer. Folklore, vol. xxvi, Religious Songs and parodies of Religious Songs, part IV, no. 33.
Collected from Mississippi Negroes, MS. of F. R. Rubel, 1909. From E. C. Perrow, 1913, "Songs and Rhymes from the South," Jour. American Folklore, vol. 26, Part IV, pp. 123-173. Courtesy John Mehlberg, www.immortalia.com.