The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #163521   Message #4065605
Posted By: cnd
23-Jul-20 - 06:03 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Catfish Floatin' Down the River
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Catfish Floatin' Down the River
Quick amendment to my post at 05:56 PM, the Wetmore text is not actually in the Brown collection.

From the Frank C. Brown collection, linked above:

'Banjo Sam.' Obtained from Obadiah Johnson of Crossnore, Avery county (NC), probably in 1940.

1. Catfish, catfish, goin' up the stream,
Catfish, catfish, where you been?
I grabbed that catfish by the snout,
I pulled that catfish wrong side out.
Yo-ho! Banjo Sam.

2. As I was goin' thro' the field
A blacksnake bit me on the heel.
I grabbed me a stick and I done my best,
And I ran my head in a hornet's nest.
Yo-ho! Banjo Sam.

3. And I was goin' down the road,
I met a terrapin and a toad.
The terrapin he began to sing,
The toad he cut the pigeon wing.
Yo-ho! Banjo Sam.