The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #54404   Message #843966
Posted By: GUEST,Q
09-Dec-02 - 01:56 PM
Thread Name: Steamboat coonjine songs
Subject: RE: Steamboat coonjine songs
Dummy steamboat or Dummy train? Difficult to tell which was first. This one from Newman L. White, American Negro Folk Songs, quoted from Tiersot.

Some folks say that a dummy can't run,
But I done tell you what a dummy done done.
It left at-a Memphis at-a half-past ten
Arrived at Natchez at de settin' of de sun!
Wan't she movin', chil'?
Well, I reckon so!
Git up de good Lawd home.

Il y a des gens qui disent qu'un "mannequin" ne peut pas courir,
Mais mois je vous dis ce qu'un "mannequin" a fait, a fait:
Il a quitté Memphis, à dix heures et demie,
Est arrivé à Natchez au coucher du soleil!
Est-qu'il ne courant pas, enfant?
Certes, je l'affirmais!
Amenez le bon Seigneur à la maison.

Tiersot, J., 1911(?), La musique chez les peuples indigines de l'Amérique du Nord, Paris, Fischbacher; New Yory, Breitkopf et Haertel, 231 pp.

Dummy verses also often mixed with verses of "When the good Lawd sets you free!"