Received the words--they're what I was looking for. I have an old 78 out in my barn somewhere with this song on it--never could understand more than a few of the words--I don't know if it was your Doc Watson or not--as I recall it had probably two men singing with guitar and fiddle, and has "A Short Life of Trouble" on the other side.

I'm curious about the evolution of the song. It sounds, in maqny ways, more "authentic" than "Big Rock Candy Mountains", is obviously related, but has a completely different tune. The 19th century parody referred to is I'm sure part of the story. In any event, many thanks.