The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #10834   Message #4150786
Posted By: Joe Offer
23-Aug-22 - 02:12 AM
Thread Name: Origins: I Bought Me a Cat / Fiddle-i-Fee
Subject: RE: Origins: I Bought Me a Cat / Fiddle-i-Fee
Here's a delightful performance of the Copland setting by
Susan E. Dillard: And get a load of this performance by the King's singers:

Here are the lyrics we have in the Digital Tradition. The source is not identified.

BOUGHT ME A CAT (DT Lyrics)

Bought me a cat and the cat pleased me,
I fed my cat under yonder tree.
Cat goes fiddle-i-fee.

Bought me a hen and the hen pleased me,
I fed my hen under yonder tree.
Hen goes chimmy-chuck, chimmy-chuck,
Cat goes fiddle-i-fee.

Bought me a duck and the duck pleased me,
I fed my duck under yonder tree.
Duck goes quack, quack,
Hen goes chimmy-chuck, chimmy-chuck,
Cat goes fiddle-i-fee.

Bought me a goose and the goose pleased me
I fed my goose under yonder tree.
Goose goes hissy, hissy,
Duck goes quack, quack,
Hen goes chimmy-chuck, chimmy-chuck,
Cat goes fiddle-i-fee.

Bought me a sheep and the sheep pleased me,
I fed my sheep under yonder tree.
Sheep goes baa, baa,
Goose goes hissy, hissy,
Duck goes quack, quack,
Hen goes chimmy-chuck, chimmy-chuck,
Cat goes fiddle-i-fee.

Bought me a pig and the pig pleased me,
I fed my pig under yonder tree.
Pig goes oink, oink,
Sheep goes baa, baa,
Goose goes hissy, hissy,
Duck goes quack, quack,
Hen goes chimmy-chuck, chimmy-chuck,
Cat goes fiddle-i-fee.

Bought me a cow and the cow pleased me,
I fed my cow under yonder tree.
Cow goes moo, moo,
Pig goes oink, oink,
Sheep goes baa, baa,
Goose goes hissy, hissy,
Duck goes quack, quack,
Hen goes chimmy-chuck, chimmy-chuck,
Cat goes fiddle-i-fee.

Bought me a horse and the horse pleased me,
I fed my horse under yonder tree.
Horse goes neigh, neigh,
Cow goes moo, moo,
Pig goes oink, oink,
Sheep goes baa, baa,
Goose goes hissy, hissy,
Duck goes quack, quack,
Hen goes chimmy-chuck, chimmy-chuck,
Cat goes fiddle-i-fee.

Bought me a dog and the dog pleased me,
I fed my dog under yonder tree.
Dog goes bow-wow, bow-wow,
Horse goes neigh, neigh,
Cow goes moo, moo,
Pig goes oink, oink,
Sheep goes baa, baa,
Goose goes hissy, hissy,
Duck goes quack, quack,
Hen goes chimmy-chuck, chimmy-chuck,
Cat goes fiddle-i-fee.

@kids @cumulative @animal
filename[ ROOSTR3
JP

And here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry:

I Had a Little Rooster (Farmyard Song)

DESCRIPTION: The singer enjoys the company of various animals, e.g. "I had a little rooster by the barnyard gate, And that little rooster was my playmate, And that little rooster went Cock-a-doodle-doo...." And so forth, cumulatively, for various animals
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1849 (Halliwell)
KEYWORDS: animal cumulative nonballad farming humorous chickens sheep horse dog
FOUND IN: Britain(England(All),Scotland(Aber)) Ireland US(Ap,SE,So) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (35 citations):
Randolph 352, "I Bought Me a Rooster" (4 texts, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen-OzarkFolksongs-Abridged, pp. 290-291, "I Bought Me a Rooster" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 352A)
McNeil-SouthernMountainFolksong, pp. 126-129, "I Bought Me a Cat" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnold-FolkSongsofAlabama, p. 126, "Greenwood Trees" (1 fragment, 1 tune); p. 140, "Had a Little Rooster" (1 text, 1 tune)
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore3 124, "Barnyard Song" (1 text plus3 excerpts and mention of 2 more)
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore5 124, "Barnyard Song" (3 tunes plus text excerpts)
Morris-FolksongsOfFlorida, #219, "The Farmyard" (1 text)
Moore/Moore-BalladsAndFolkSongsOfTheSouthwest 192, "The Farmyard" (1 text, 1 tune)
Wyman/Brockway-LonesomeSongs-KentuckyMountains-Vol1, p. 6, "The Barnyard Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Williams-FolkSongsOfTheUpperThames, pp. 284-285, "Here's Luck to All My Cocks and Hens" (1 text) (also Williams-Wiltshire-WSRO Ox 202)
Reeves-TheEverlastingCircle 42, "Farmyard Song" (1 text)
Kennedy-FolksongsOfBritainAndIreland 297, "I Bought Myself a Cock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hamer-GarnersGay, pp. 66-67, "I Had a Little Cock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Palmer-EnglishCountrySongbook, #115, "I Went to Market" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gainer-FolkSongsFromTheWestVirginiaHills, pp. 164-165, "The Barnyard Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roberts-SangBranchSettlers, #100, "The Cat Played Fiddie on My Fee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Thomas-DevilsDitties, pp. 156-157, "The Barnyard" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp-EnglishFolkSongsFromSouthernAppalachians 218, "The Farmyard" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp/Karpeles-EightyEnglishFolkSongs 78, "The Farmyard" (1 text, 1 tune -- a composite version)
Karpeles-TheCrystalSpring 117, "I Had a Little Cock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Richardson/Spaeth-AmericanMountainSongs, p. 77, "Bought a Cow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig/Duncan8 1666, "I Bocht a Hennie" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Greig-FolkSongInBuchan-FolkSongOfTheNorthEast #159, p. 2, "I Haed a Hennie" (1 text)
Lomax-FolkSongsOfNorthAmerica 230, "Fiddle-I-Fee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chase-AmericanFolkTalesAndSongs, pp. 171-174, "Fiddle-i-Fee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Newell-GamesAndSongsOfAmericanChildren, #48, "My Household" (1 short text)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 387, "I Had a Rooster" (1 text)
Messerli-ListenToTheMockingbird, pp. 21-24, "Bought Me a Cat" (1 text)
Montgomerie/Montgomerie-ScottishNurseryRhymes 13, "(I had a wee cock and I loved it well)" (1 text)
NorthCarolinaFolkloreJournal, Dan Patterson, "A Sheaf of North Carolina Folksongs," Vol. IV, No. 1 (Jul 1956), pp. 28, "I Had a Little Rooster" (1 text, 1 tune)
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, p. 392, "I had a rooster (cat) and my rooster pleased me" (notes only -- although they include some quite unusual variants)
SongsOfAllTime, p. 73, "Barnyard Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ROOSTR2 (I HAD A WEE COCK), ROOSTR3 (BOUGHT ME A CAT), ROOSTR4 (I HAD A ROOSTER), ROOSTR5 (LITTLE ROOSTER)
ADDITIONAL: Robert Chambers, The Popular Rhymes of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1870 ("Digitized by Google")), pp. 31-32, "My Cock, Lily-Cock" ("I had a wee cock, and I loved it well, I fed my cock on yonder hill")
Robert Chambers (Edited by Norah and William Montgomerie), Traditional Scottish Nursery Rhymes (1990 selected from Popular Rhymes) #15, pp. 18-19, ("I had a henny")
Roud #544
RECORDINGS:
George Blackman, "I Bought Myself a Cock" (on FSB10)
John Curtis, "Farmyard" (on NFMLeach)
Maud Long, "Fiddle-I-Fee" (AFS; on LC14)
Jamesie McCarthy, "Kerry Cock" (on IRClare01)
Marieo Perkins, "I Love My Rooster" (on JThomas01)
Pete Seeger, "Bought Me a Cat" (on PeteSeeger03, PeteSeegerCD03); "I Had a Rooster" (on PeteSeeger08, PeteSeegerCD02)
Asher Sizemore & Little Jimmie, "My Little Rooster" (Bluebird B-5495, 1934)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Le Marche des Animaux (The Animal Market)" (theme and structure)
File: R352

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