Doc Watson includes a "nip cat penny winkle" phrase in his "Kemo-Kimo" version, but I have never transcribed his exact refrain. My wife's mother, raised in Savannah, Georgia, sang a Kemo-Kimo version, but without the nip-cats. Don't underestimate the widespread influence of early recordings and radio in extending the area in which many songs have been found. These early 78 rpm recordings had a profound effect on the traditional methods of oral transmission.

Would it be possible for you, Annabelle, to write down the text of the entire song as your friends sing it, and post it to us here? I, for one, would love to see it, and so, I'm sure, would many others.

Sandy