Sorry to start another thread on the subject of "The Blue-tailed Fly" but it will only get buried if I don't. Please may I ask this one question on this thread.

Which "Blue-tailed Fly" was the favourite of Abraham Lincoln?

"The Blue-tailed Fly" is in print in 1846 from 2 publishers. Oliver Ditson in Boston and F. D. Benteen in Baltimore.
The main difference in the words is the fact that only the Benteen version has the familiar chorus -- "Jimmy rack corn etc."

I now know that the performer I'm studying sang the other version. The Oliver Ditson one with a refrain - "an' cratch 'im with a briar too." The tune is quite different -- minor key -- discordant. This all fits with my man. He performed this song as a comic song-and-dance routine. (Although I have no copy of the tune he used)

Thing is -- I've come upon references -- from Aus and NZ -- to the song he sang being called, "The buzzing song". That is the name Lincoln used for his favourite version.

My man was in the right place, at the right time, associating with the right people, when this song was first printed.

Might be coincidence of course -- but does anyone actually know which one Lincoln heard and liked?
Cheers, Joy