The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #170343   Message #4119892
Posted By: Joe Offer
13-Sep-21 - 08:16 PM
Thread Name: Origins: Roll Over (aka Ten on/in the Bed)
Subject: ADD : Nine Men Slept in a Boarding House Bed
Well, this is the earliest printed version I've found so far - 1948.

NINE MEN SLEPT IN A BOARDING HOUSE BED

Nine men slept in a boarding house bed,
    Roll over, roll over.
They all rolled over when anyone said,
    "Roll over, roll over."
One of them thought it would be a good joke,
Not to roll over when anyone spoke,
And in the souffle his neck got broke,'"
    Roll over, roll over.

Eight men slept in a boarding house bed,
    Roll over, (etc. until nobody left)

Thirteen slept in a shelter for six,
One of them thought it would be a good prank
To shove the others against the plank,
But he (she) got thrown in the lake and sank


Source: Song Fest, by Dick and Beth Best, published by the Intercollegiate Outing Club Association/Oliver Durrell Publishers, New York, ©1948 by R.L. Best - Page 95