Some more variants from Texas and Missouri . . . .


SAW AN OLD CROW

Saw an old crow sittin' in an oak
Watchin' a tailor out a cloak
And a colly milly dilly ky yo
Ay flay ro dill to kay ro
Up jumped come along colly milly dilly ky ro
Flay ro dill to men

Me and my wife sprang to the house
To make some cool blood pudding and a souse
And a colly milly dilly ky yo
Ay flay ro dill to kay ro
Up jumped come along colly milly dilly ky ro
Flay ro dill to men

Sung by Mrs. Imogene Hyde, Calvert, Texas, 1938.

Source:
William A. Owens, Texas Folk Songs (Dallas: SMU Press, 1950), p. 145


KIMONARO

There was an old man and he lived on a hill
Tim-a-linny-danny, finny-danny, kimo
And if he's not moved he's living there still
Tim-a-linny-danny, finny-danny, kimo
Kimonaro nelton karo kimo
A-hum-a-jum a-fum-a-jum a-fike-ta-ma-ling-dum
Dilly-lally-lingdum, kimo

He called to his wife for his arrow and bow
That he might shoot that carrion crow

He set his arrow straight to the mark
And shot their fat hog right through the heart

'Old woman, old woman, some brandy in a spoon
Or our fat hog will die very soon.'

'If our old hog dies we'll haul him to the house
And we'll have pudding and chitlings and souse.'

Notes:
"Sent to me in 1906 by Elizabeth Bedford of Christian County. No tune is given, but the refrain shows that it was sung to one of the tunes of The Frog's Courtship."



CARRION CROW

Carrion crow a-sittin' on an oak
Lala diddle lala diddle li dol lo
Carrion crow a-sittin' on an oak
Spyin' a tailor a-cuttin' out a coat
Sing heigh ho! Carrion crow!
Lala diddle lala diddle li dol lo

'Wife, O wife, fetch my arrow and my bow
Till I take a shot at the carrion crow.'

He fired away and he missed his mark
And shot his old sow through the heart

'Wife, O wife, bring some brandy in a spoon,
For my old sow's in a devil of a tune.'

Notes:
"Secured by Miss Hamilton at Kirksdale in 1912 from a Mrs. Ballard of La Plata, Vernon County, who learned it from her parents. Note that it has not the 'kimokaro' refrain.'

Source:
Henry Belden, Ballads and Songs Collected by Missouri Folk-Lore Society (Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Studies, 1940; reprint 1955), p. 270-271