A lot of songs have the meter of "Old Joe Clark-Liza Jane." One of these is known as the "The Gal From The South," which usually includes the line"Old massa had a yaller gal,
It includes this verse:
He brung her from the south," etc.,Old massa had a banjo,
"My Liza Jane" has these lines:
Its strings were made of twine;
The only tune that I could play
Was "I wish that gal was mine."Saturday night and Sunday too, pretty gals on my mind;
Not what you want, but offered for comparison. From Newman L. White, American Negro Folk Songs. The chorus you offer is common to several versions of Old Joe Clark (in Lomax, etc.) but not with verses suggesting slavery or playing the banjo.
Monday mornin' just 'fore day, white folks got me gwine,
White folks got me gwine, white folks got me gwine.When I go to my gal's house and she is at home,
I lays myself back in de big arm cheer and picks on de old banjo,
And picks on de old banjo, and picks on de old banjo.As I went down the new cut road, she went down de lane.
Was de last time I saw my true love, so go 'long, Liza Jane.
Go long, Liza Jane, go long Liza Jane.In Randolph, Ozark Folksongs, is the verse:
I had a banjo made of gourd,
No verses in Randolph suggest slavery; this one, also from Randolph, suggests prison:
The strings was made of twine,
But the only tune that I could play
Was I wish that gal was mine.Old Joe Clark is dead and gone, I hope he's a'doin' well,
No other verses with this fragment collected in 1930.
He made me wear the ball and chain,
An' it made my ankles swell.