Lyr. Add: OLD MARIAH

Old Mariah jumped in the fire;
The fire was so hot, she jumped in the pot;
The pot was so black, she jumped in the crack;
The crack was so high, she jumped in the sky;
The sky was so blue, she jumped in the canoe;
The canoe was so deep, she jumped in the creek;
The creek was so shallow, she jumped in the tallow;
The tallow was so hard, she jumped in the lard;
The lard was so soft, she jumped in the loft;
The loft was so rotten, she jumped in the cotton;
The cotton was so white, she staid all night.
vol. 26, p. 143.

MS. of W. C. Stokes, collected from Mississippi whites. E. C. Perrow, Game Songs and Nursery Rhymes, no. 17, "Songs and Rhymes from the South," JAFL, 1911-1915, vol. 25, pp. 137-155; vol. 26, pp. 123-173; vol. 28, pp. 129-190.
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Also collected in North Carolina, Burke Co., by Amy Henderson, 1914-1915. (1952, Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore, vol. 1, p 199).

OLD MARIA

Gena Maria fell in the fire;
The fire was so hot she fell in the pot;
The pot was so little she fell in the kettle;
The kettle was so black she fell in the crack;
The crack ws so high she fell in the sky;
The sky was so blue she fell in the canoe;
The canoe waas so long she fell in the pond;
The pond was so deep she fell in the creek;
The creek was so shallow she fell in the tallow;
The tallow was so hard she fell in the lard;
The lard was so soft she fell in the loft;
The loft was so rotten she fell in the cotton;
The cotton was so white she stayed there all night.

The similarity of the Mississippi and North Carolina versions may suggest both were derived from a printed source. "Obadiah" was also collected in Burke Co., NC; the last line- 'The cotton was so white he jumped out of sight.'

Also reported from UK, but I don't know any details. I doubt an African-American origin.