AUNT DINAH DRUNK
[From: Thomas W. Talley's Negro Folk Rhymes, edited by Charles K. Wolfe, U. of Tennessee Pr., 1991, pp. 46-47; sho' & mo' in the original are written with macrons.--M.S.]

Probably an amalgam of diverse minstrel stanzas, this particular version does not appear in standard black collections. The third part, with the refrain, "Way down on de old plank road," appears in the recorded repertoire of Uncle Dave Macon (Vocalion 15321, 1926). Tally's papers contain two versions; the A version below is the one printed in the original edition.

       A

       Ole Aunt Dinah, she got drunk.
       She fell in de fire, an' she kicked up a chunk.
       Dem embers got in Aunt Dinah's shoe,
       An' dat black Nigger sho' got up an' flew.

       I likes Aunt Dinah mighty, mighty well,
       But dere's jes' one thing I hates an' 'spize:
       She drinks mo' whisky dan de bigges' fool,
       Den she up an' tell ten thousand lies.

       Yes, I won't git drunk an' kicky up a chunk.
            I won't git drunk an' kicky up a chunk.
            I won't git drunk an' kicky up a chunk,
            'Way down on de ole Plank Road.
            Oh shoo my Love! My turkle dove.
            Oh shoo my Love! My turkle dove.
            Oh shoo my Love! My turkle dove.
            'Way down on de ole Plank Road.

       B

This variant was sent to Talley by his friend Joe H. Bishop from Belfast, Tennessee, in 1920, and found with the Talley manuscript.

       Old aunt Dinah she got drunk,
       She fell in the fire and kicked up a chunk,
       A red hot coal got in her shoe,
       Lord have mercy, how the ashes flew.

       Old Dinah sick in bed,
       Out the window she poked her head,
       Snowball hit her in the eyeball brim!
       Look here, Mr. Negro, don't do that again.