Hi Bob,

Nice work. I don't have Hinton's "Tell Old Bob" sorry. He also does "Mr. Rabbit." I'm not sure of the connection tho. I'll see if I can find Hinton's version/lyrics.

The first post you made seems to point in directions of an African-American source since both Odum and Johnson, The Negro and His Songs (1925) and Hinton's sources probably pre-date Sandburg's.

Any other early versions?

If see if have some that aren't in the DT that I can post later when I have more time.

Thanks,

Richie