Lyr Req: Catfish Floatin' Down the River

Subject: Lyr Req: Catfish Floatin' Down the River
From: Joe Offer
Date: 31 Jan 18 - 01:08 AM

A nice person named Robin emailed and saked for lyrics and background information on this song, which is apparently a camp song.

Catfish floatin' down the river;
Fellow with a hook and line.
Catfish looked at the fellow
And sa-a-aid - you won't catch me this time.?
The very next day that fellow...

And so it goes...



Can anybody help?

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Catfish Floatin' Down the River
From: Joe Offer
Date: 31 Jan 18 - 01:30 AM

We have a number of catfish songs in the Hook and Line thread. I suppose Robin's song is derived from this one:

Catfish swimming down the river,
Nigger threw out his line.
Catfish said to the nigger,
"Aha, you didn't ketch me that time"

I gather from the thread that the song comes from the 1850s, when standards for polite speech were different.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Catfish Floatin' Down the River
From: GUEST,Kib
Date: 23 Jul 20 - 02:31 PM

Well the feller he says to the catfish
if I don't catch you this time
I'll stay right here
for another year,
with the same damn hook and line.

That's how I learned it from my father.
Kib

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Catfish Floatin' Down the River
From: cnd
Date: 23 Jul 20 - 05:19 PM

This song has variously been identified as "The Catfish," "The Jackfish," or "Banjo Sam."

Parts of the song have also found their way into Turkey In the Straw. I'll post some transcribed snippets in separate comments.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Catfish Floatin' Down the River
From: cnd
Date: 23 Jul 20 - 05:56 PM

Summary from Riley Shepard's Master Book of American Folk Song, p. 296:

CATFISH, THE aka BANJO SAM & THE JACKFISH - Animal song, 1st. [line]

Catfish, catfish, goin' up stream... OR:
Catfish runnin' down de stream... OR:
Catfish swimming down the river... OR:
That old Jackfish swimming up the stream

See: Frank C. Brown Collection vol. 3, p. 220 (which I'll link below)
Dorothy Scarborough, On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs, 1925, p. 199
Cecil Sharp, English Folk Songs of the Southern Appalachians (see also: here)
Susannah Wetmore and Marshall Bartholomew, Mountain Songs of North Carolina (quoted in Frank C. Brown collection)
Newman I. White, American Negro Folk-Songs, pp. 203, 246

Also see Fresno State's page

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Catfish Floatin' Down the River
From: cnd
Date: 23 Jul 20 - 05:57 PM

Excerpt from "Turkey In the Straw" from Master Book of American Folk Song, p. 4305

I met Mister Catfish comin' down the stream,
Says Mister Catfish, "What does you mean?"
I caught Mister Catfish by the snout,
And I turned Mister Catfish inside out!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Catfish Floatin' Down the River
From: cnd
Date: 23 Jul 20 - 06:03 PM

Quick amendment to my post at 05:56 PM, the Wetmore text is not actually in the Brown collection.

From the Frank C. Brown collection, linked above:

'Banjo Sam.' Obtained from Obadiah Johnson of Crossnore, Avery county (NC), probably in 1940.

1. Catfish, catfish, goin' up the stream,
Catfish, catfish, where you been?
I grabbed that catfish by the snout,
I pulled that catfish wrong side out.
Yo-ho! Banjo Sam.

2. As I was goin' thro' the field
A blacksnake bit me on the heel.
I grabbed me a stick and I done my best,
And I ran my head in a hornet's nest.
Yo-ho! Banjo Sam.

3. And I was goin' down the road,
I met a terrapin and a toad.
The terrapin he began to sing,
The toad he cut the pigeon wing.
Yo-ho! Banjo Sam.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Catfish Floatin' Down the River
From: cnd
Date: 23 Jul 20 - 06:05 PM

Other loose stanzas from the Brown collection:

I saw that catfish going up the stream,
I asked that catfish what did he mean;
I caught that catfish by the snout,
I jerked that catfish wrong side out.

Catfish, catfish, swimming up the stream,
Ask that catfish what he means;
Ketch that catfish by his snout,
Turn that catfish inside out.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Catfish Floatin' Down the River
From: cnd
Date: 23 Jul 20 - 06:07 PM

From the work of Dorothy Scarborough:

Catfish runnin' down de stream,
Yes, my Lawd, I'll meet you.
Run so hard he could n't be seen,
Yes, my Lawd, I'll meet you.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Catfish Floatin' Down the River
From: cnd
Date: 23 Jul 20 - 06:08 PM

The Jackfish version from Cecil Sharp:

That old Jackfish swimming up the stream,
I asked that Jackfish what did he mean.
Just baited a hook to catch a shad,
The first thing he bit was my old Dad.

Chorus:
Sing fal de rol de ee-do, ee-do I-do
Fal de rol de ee-do, ee-do-I.
Fal de rol de ee-do, ee-do I-do,
Fal de rol de ee-do, ee-do-I.

Fishpole broke and I got mad
And down to the bottom went old Dad.
I grabbed that Jackfish by the snout,
And turned that Jackfish wrong side out.