Alan Lomax collected the song "from the singing of Negro roustabouts" in Savannah in 1944. Here's what he has for #279 on page 530 of The Folk Songs of North America:

PAY ME

1. Pay me or go to jail
Pay me my money down
Pay me or go to jail
Pay me my money down

CHORUS
Pay me, o pay me
Pay me my money down
Pay me, o pay me
Pay me my money down

2. Pay me, Mr. Stevedore
Pay me my money down
Pay me, Mr. Stevedore
Pay me my money down

3. This is not the end of the song;
the remaining stanzas will
be left to the reader's devising.


And there you have it.