Shula's explanation of "Tray" is one of those wonderful little gems you pick up hanging around Mudcat.

I first saw the phrase, "Old Dog Tray" at my surprise seventh birthday party when my parents showed a series of cartoons and there was one called "Ole Dog Tray". It seemed like a curious title for a cartoon and I assumed it had something to do with the plate that the dog's food was served on.

Over the next seven dog years, I would run across the phrase and could make no further sense of it. About twenty years ago, I began playing "Blue RIdge Mountain Blues" but still had no clue about why singers would keep choosing the name, "Tray". When I did discover the Stephen Foster song, I could only assume that it was a relic of that song, an echo of the time when everyone was familiar with that old song. Now, in another milennium, I got the answer and one of those tiny pestering questions that has remained whispering in my folk ear all these decades is not only answered but expanded upon.

Thanks, Shula

Sourdough