Little Fat Boy

Bill Jackson
Arvin, 1941

When I was a little boy fat as I could wad (whistle)
Tuk me by the heels and I slung me up to God
Turn a rink tum a tolly roddle day

When I was a little boy fat as I could be (whistle)
Sat on the roadside to see what I could see
Tum a rink tom a tolly roddle day

As I sat there a giant passed by (whistle)
Head on the ground and feet in the sky
Tum a rink tum a tolly roddle day

Asked me for a wrastle and I beat his own game (whistle)
Shot him with his own gun wasn't that a shame
Tum a rink tum a tolly roddle day

People seen the good I done (whistle)
They give enough money to weigh a million ton
Tum a rink tum a tolly roddle day

Gave me a little box half an acre square (whistle)
And in my little box I put my money there
Tum a rink tum a tolly roddle day

When I travel I travel like an ox (whistle)
And in my shirt pocket I carry my little box
Tum a rink tum a tolly roddle day

Gonna take a journey not a very long while (whistle)
I'm just a goin bout ten thousand mile
Tum a rink tum a tolly roddle day

Gonna be gone just two days and a half (whistle)
Them two days gonna eat a caw and calf
Tum a rink tum a tolly roddle day

Got a little dog his name is Blue (whistle)
Showed me the hog where the hole went through
Tum a rink tum a tolly roddle day

Got a little dog his color is a dun (whistle)
His body weighs a million and his tail weighs a ton
Tum a rink tum a tolly roddle day

Got a little cow and her name is Rose (whistle)
Milk her in the house and I churn her out of doors
Tum a rink tum a tolly roddle day

Got a little hen her color is fair (whistle)
Set her on a mussel shell and she hatched out a hare
Tum a rink tum a tolly roddle day

The hare turned to a horse nineteen feet high (whistle)
And if you beat that you'll have to sing a lie
Tum a rink tum a tolly roddle day.

SOURCE:
Voices From the Dust Bowl

And from the Ballad Index . . .

Little Brown Dog
DESCRIPTION: "When I was a little boy As fat as I could go, They set me there upon the fence...." The boy fights and defeats a giant, induces his hen to hatch out a hare, acquires a dog with legs ten feet long, and otherwise does the impossible
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1891 (JAFL 4)
KEYWORDS: talltale animal chickens dog horse sheep humorous nonsense fight
FOUND IN: Britain(Shetlands) US(MA,NE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Randolph 357, "When I Was a Little Boy" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
FSCatskills 145, "The Lofty Giant" (1 text)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 101, "When I Was a Little Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hudson 129, p. 275, "To London I Did Go" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 24-29, "A Tale of Jests" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Leach-Labrador 111, "The Lying Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 87, "The Liar's Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 103-106, "The Little Bull Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 79, "The Little Bull" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 394, "Little Brown Dog" (1 text)
DT, (AUTUMNTO)
Roud #1706
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Derby Ram"
cf. "The Swapping Boy"
cf. "The Seven Wonders"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Big Jeest
Once I Had
The Lie Song
Notes: I've listed this song under a title by which it's well known; as it was extremely popular in the 1960s folk revival. -PJS
Versions of this song may take almost any form, as long as there is enough exaggeration. The piece is recognized by its short lines and stanzas. Here are samples: "When I was a little boy, To London I did go, Upon that banished (?) steeple, My gallantry to show." "I bought me a little hen, I did not take much care; I set her on an oyster shell, And she hatched me out a bear."
Hudson calls this a rhymed version of the story of Jack the Giant Killer. Some versions were doubtless influenced by that, but the song doesn't require killing a giant. - RBW