Origins: My Wife Died on a Saturday Night/Plank Rd

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Wife Died on a Saturday Night
From: GUEST,Andrew Mawdsley
Date: 30 Aug 10 - 08:55 PM

What a great archive of this rare music. Thanks for keeping such valued, cultural gems alive!

Subject: Lyr Add: I WISH I WAS SINGLE AGAIN
From: Tannywheeler
Date: 08 Oct 04 - 11:21 AM

Weavers used to do a dead-wife variant.

I WISH I WAS SINGLE AGAIN

"When I was single,
Oh then, oh then.
When I was single, oh then;
When I was single my pockets did jingle,
And I wisht I was single again.
Chorus: Don't never get married.
         Don't take you a wife.
         It's hard times and troubles
         The rest of your life.
I married me a wife,
Oh then, oh then.
I married me a wife, oh then.
I married me a wife -- she's the plague of my life,
And I wisht I was single again.

         (chorus)

We had 7 children
Oh then, oh then.
We had 7 children, oh then.
We had 7 children; it sure was bewild'rin',
And I wisht I was single again.

          (cho)

My wife she died,
Oh then, oh then.
My wife she died, oh then.
My wife she died, and I laughed 'til I cried,
To think I was single again.

          (cho)

I married me another,
Oh then, oh then.
I married me another, oh then.
I married me another, she's the devil's grandmother,
And I wisht I was single again.

          (cho)

Young men, take a warning
From this, from this.
Young men, take a warning from this.
Be good to the 1st, or the 2nd is worst
And you'll wisht you was single again.
   
         (final cho)

Don't believe everything you hear. The Bible says "...he who finds a wife finds a good thing."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Wife Died on A Sat. Night
From: John in Brisbane
Date: 08 Oct 04 - 10:26 AM

Need the tune for Old Plank Road still?

Regards, John

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Wife Died on A Sat. Night
From: Richie
Date: 27 Dec 02 - 07:36 AM

The version I posted on Dec. 22 10:06 AM from Old Colony Times is the same version (edited) of the original mintrel lyrics posted by Masato on Dec. 22, 9:06 AM; The lyrics are by A. Fiot, 1844 and are the first published minstrel lyrics of "My Wife Died..."

-Richie

Subject: Lyr Add: A MONDAY WAS MY COURTING DAY
From: masato sakurai
Date: 23 Dec 02 - 11:59 PM

From: Sharp, English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, vol. II (p. 277; with tune):

A MONDAY WAS MY COURTING DAY
Sung by Mrs. Ellen Webb
at Burnsville, N.C., Oct., 1918

Last Saturday night my wife taken sick,
A-Sunday she was buried,
A-Monday was my courting day,
A-Tuesday I got married.

So look a lookey there,
So look a lookey there,
So look all over yander.
O don't you see the old grey goose
A-smiling at the gander.

~Masato

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Wife Died on A Sat. Night
From: Richie
Date: 23 Dec 02 - 11:31 PM

Thanks for all the help, any other versions?

Richie

Subject: RE: Lyr. Req: My Wife Died on A Sat. Night
From: Stewie
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 08:56 PM

The details of Dr Bates' recording are as follows:

Dr Humphrey Bate & His Possum Hunters 'My Wife Died Saturday Night' was recorded in Atlanta, Georgia, on 27 December 1928 and issued as Br 271. It has been reissued on CD: Various Artists 'Nashville: The Early String Bands Vol One' County CO-CD-3521.

The Crook Brothers had recorded it a couple of months earlier [October 1928] in Nashville, but it wasn't released until February 1928 as Victor 40020. I have not seen a reissue of this.

--Stewie.

Subject: Lyr Add: AUNT DINAH DRUNK
From: masato sakurai
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 08:50 PM

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.

Subject: RE: Lyr. Req: My Wife Died on A Sat. Night
From: Stewie
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 07:23 PM

Richie

Uncle Dave's song is already in the DT, minus the spoken bits, under the title 'Old Plank Road'. To my ears, your transcription is the more accurate. The only place that I hear something different from your transcription is where Uncle Dave sings the minstrel 'gwine' rather than 'going to' in the 'scaffold' verse, but many would change that deliberately.

'Way Down the Old Plank Road' is available on CD on Uncle Dave Macon 'Go Long Mule' County CO-CD-3505.

--Stewie.

Subject: Lyr Add: WAY DOWN THE OLD PLANK ROAD
From: Richie
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 07:11 PM

Here's a song collected by African-American Thomas Talley, from A Fiddler's Companion:

WAY DOWN THE OLD PLANK ROAD. AKA and see "Old Plank Road." Old-Time, Song. African-American collector Thomas Talley (born c. 1870) printed a tune called "Aunt Dinah Drunk" in his 1922 work Negro Folk Rhymes, which includes a chorus which shows up in the Macon song "Way Down the Old Plank Road."
***
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.
***
County 521, "Uncle Dave Macon: Original Recordings, 1925-1935." Vocalion 15321 (78 RPM), Uncle Dave Macon (1926).

-Richie

Subject: Lyr Add:OLD GREY GOOSE
From: Richie
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 10:13 AM

Here are three folk versions with notes from "Far in the Montains" by Mike Yeats:

Lyr. Add: OLD GREY GOOSE: Sung by Dan Tate at his home in Fancy Gap, Carroll County, VA.

Johnny Gordon lost his cow,
And where do you reckon he found her?
He found her up that rocky branch,
With a hundred buzzards round her.

Chorus: Look here, look there,
Look away over yander.
Don't you see that old grey goose,
A-smiling at that gander.

Johnny Gordon lost his wife,
And where do you reckon he found her?
He found her up that rocky branch,
With a hundred men around her.

Notes: The Old Grey Goose was a minstrel song, possibly written in 1844 by A Fiot. It was published that year in Philadelphia, with the note that it was 'sung by Aken, the celebrated banjoist'. Four years later, the song was in the repertoire of the well-known Christie Minstrels. A set collected by Norman Cazden appears in his book Folk Songs of the Catskills - vol.1. p.554.(1982).

In 1971 Roy Palmer noted the following two related verses from Mrs Cecilia Costello of Birmingham:

Saturday night I lost my wife
And Sunday morning I found her.
Behind the pump, a-scratchin' her rump
With all the men around 'er.

She jumped over the chimney pot
I jumped over the timber.
She cried out 'er back was broke
And I cried out, 'My finger'.

... and Bob Patten noted this verse from Harry Adams at Ile Abbots, Somerset, in 1978:

Saturday night I lost my wife
And where do you think I found her?
Up in the moon, playing a tune,
With all the girls around her.

This latter verse was also used as a mnemonic for a version of The Kingsbury Jig, a variant of The Oyster Girl (see Sharp MS, M59).

Mike Yeats notes about Dan Tate: Dan Tate was born in 1896 and must at one time have known a phenomenal number of songs and banjo tunes. Though frail and almost totally blind, his welcome to a complete stranger was as warm and genuine as could be. After recording many of his songs in 1979 and 1980 I called to see him again in 1983. "Did I sing you Lily Monroe?" he asked when I walked through his doorway. "It must be about England, 'cause they send for a 'London' doctor to heal up his wounds." He also recounted how one recent snowfall had almost ended his life. "I thought I was a gonner, Mike. I woke up and it was quiet, real quiet; and cold, real cold. The stove had gone out and I had no wood inside. I tried to open the door but it just wouldn't open. The house had just about disappeared in the snow. Well...I wrapped some blankets around me and sat in the chair, expecting to die. And do you know? It wasn't long before I heard my friends coming to dig me out!" Strength of character, tenacity and sensitivity are words that I'd use to describe Dan and his neighbors.

Dan had been recorded for the Library of Congress by Professor Fletcher Collins, of Elon College, NC. Library records date these recording to 1941, although Dan was adamant that they had been made in 1938. I had heard one or two of Dan's recordings prior to meeting him and found that he still just loved to sing. One morning he began to talk about 'the war'. I thought that he was talking about the Great War, until he began to describe the American Civil War Battle of Shiloh. As a young man he had known people who had fought in the Civil War.

-Richie

Subject: Lyr Add: THE OLD GREY GOOSE
From: Richie
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 10:06 AM

Masato: Here's an example of "Old Gray Goose" where Miss Dinah is "fat" and has a "great big hole right in her stocking."

THE OLD GREY GOOSE: from Old Colony Times Website

Monday was my wedding day, Tuesday I was married,
We'nsday night my wife took sick, Sat'day she was buried.

CHORUS: Oh! looky har. Oh! looky what? Look right other yander.
Don't you see de Ole Grey Goose smiling at de gander?

We'nsday night my wife took sick, despair ob death cum o'er her.
Some did cry, but I did laff to see dat death go from her.

I ask Miss Dinah Rose one day in de ole cart to ride.
She war, by gosh, so bery fat I couldn't sit beside.

When she was gittin' out de cart Miss Dinah loose her shoe
And den I spied a great big hole right in her stocking through.

Says to her: "You Dinah Gal, only looky dar.
Dem heels are sticking out too far to you I declar."

Says she to me, "Now listen, Jo, what are you about?
Dere's science in dem dar heels and I want 'em to stick out."

-Richie

Subject: Lyr Add: OLD GREY GOOSE AND GANDER
From: masato sakurai
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 09:58 AM

OLD GREY GOOSE AND GANDER
(The Negro Forget-Me-Not Songster. Philadelphia: Turner and Fisher, 1844, 57; quoted in William J. Mahar, Behind the Burnt Cork Mask: Early Blackface Minstrelsy and Antebellum American Popular Culture, U of Illinois Pr., pp. 324-325)

Verse 1
When I was a single man
I lived in peace and pleasure,
But now I am a married man,
I'm troubled out of measure.

Chorus
Den look here, look dare,
And look over yonder,
Don't you see the ole grey goose,
A smiling at de gander.

Verse 2
Every night when I go home,
She scolds or its a wonder,
And den she takes dat pewter mug,
And beats my head asunder.

Chorus

Verse 3
My old wife was taken sick,
De pain ob death came on her,
Some did cry, but I did laugh,
To see de breff go from her.

Chorus

Verse 4
Saturday night my old wife died,
Sunday she war buried,
Monday was my courting day,
On Tuesday I got married.

Chorus

Verse 5
My old wife has gone abroad,
Some evil spirit guide her,
I know she has not gone to church,
For de debil can't abide her.

Note (by Mahar, p. 408): Under the tilte "Grey Goose and Gander" or "Gray Goose and Gander," this song appears in NFM1, NFM2, CNS1, WSS1, NSO1, BHW1, JJO1, and CNS2. Nathan (Emmett, 461-62) shows a sheet music edition (Philadelphia: A. Fiot, 1844) with additional verses dealing with a "bery fat" Miss Dinah Rose. Only the first and second verses Nathan reprints are similar to the version quoted here. The others refer to the Miss Dinah of that song as "fat" and as having a "great big hole right in her stocking" and make the usual reference to the exposed heels of the blackface characters. This version was probably connected with a dance.

~Masato

Subject: Lyr Add: GRAY GOOSE AND GANDER
From: Richie
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 09:58 AM

GRAY GOOSE AND GANDER: J. Andrews, No. 38 Chatham Street, N. Y. [no date given, ca. 1840-1860] American Songs and Ballads, Series 1, Volume 1

When I war a single feller,
I lived in peace and pleasure,
But now I am a married man,
I'm troubled out of measure.

CHORUS: Den look here, den look dare,
And look ober yander,
Don't you see dat old gray goose,
A smiling at de gander.

Ebery night when I go home,
She scolds or its a wonder,
And den she takes dat pewter mug
And beats my head asunder.

My old wife was taken sick,
De pain ob death came on her,
Some did cry, but I did laugh,
To see de breff go from her,

Saturday night my old wife died,
Sunday she was buried,
Monday was my courting day,
On Tuesday I got married.

My old wife has gone abroad,
Some evil spirit guide her,
I know she has not gone to church,
For de debil can't abide her.

I heard a rumblin' in de sky,
It imitated thunder,
If my old wife ain't back again,
It really is a wonder.

Sister Sally dream't a dream,
Dream't she went a gunning,
Dream't she eat a mushroom,
As big as any punkin.

Sister Sal she climbs right well,
Can't climb as she uster,
Dare she sets a pitching corn,
At our old bob tail rooster.

Notes: Version of Old Gray Goose/My Wife Died from American Memory.

-Richie

Subject: RE: Lyr. Req: My Wife Died on A Sat. Night
From: masato sakurai
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 09:16 AM

Correcton: (verse 3) the pain of death. [Cannot gain access to American Memory at present.]

Another edition from Levy [link to the cover is broken]:

Title: The Ole Grey Goose. A Most Popular Banjo Song. Arranged for the Piano.
Composer, Lyricist, Arranger: na
Publication: Philadelphia: A. Fiot, 196 Chesnut St., 1844.
Form of Composition: strophic with chorus
Instrumentation: piano and voice
First Line: Monday was my wedding day, Tuesday I was married
First Line of Chorus: Oh! looky har, Oh! looky whar, Look right ober yander
Performer: Sung By Aken, The Celebrated Banjoist.
Subject: African Americans
Subject: Caricatures
Subject: Weddings
Subject: Marriage
Subject: Death
Subject: Courtship & love
Subject: Carts & wagons
Subject: Obesity
Subject: Storytelling
Subject: Ethnic stereotypes
Subject: Dialects
Call No.: Box: 020 Item: 114

~Masato

Subject: Lyr Add: WAY DOWN THE OLD PLANK ROAD (Dave Macon)
From: Richie
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 08:21 AM

Here's Uncle Dave Macon's version. If Stewie could proof it would be helpful.

WAY DOWN THE OLD PLANK ROAD
(Uncle Dave Macon)

[spoken] Hot dog, buddy let's go

Rather be in Richmond, midst all the hail and rain,
Than for to be in Georgia boys, wearing that ball and chain.

Chorus: Won't get drunk no more, won't get drunk no more,
Won't get drunk no more, way down on the old plank road.

I went down to Mobile for to get on the gravel train,
Very next thing heard of me, had on a ball and chain.

Chorus

Doney, oh dear Doney, what makes you treat me so?
Caused me to wear the bail and chain, now my ankle's sore.

Chorus

[spoken] Glory halelujah there!

Knoxville is a pretty place, Memphis is a beauty,
Want to see them pretty girls, hop to Chattanoogie.

Chorus

[spoken] Glory halelujah there! Fare thee well I'm gone!

I'm going to build me a scaffold on some mountain high,
So I can see my Dora girl, she goes riding by.

Chorus

My wife died Friday night, Saturday she was buried,
Sunday was my courting day, Monday I got married.

Chorus

[spoken] Gee horse there!

Eighteen pounds of meat a week, whiskey here to sell,
How can a young man stay at home, pretty girls look so well.

Chorus

[spoken] Fare thee well!

Notes: Uncle Dave Macon, "Way Down the Old Plank Road" (Vocalion 5097, 1926; on AAFM3, RoughWays1).

Does anyone know where the word "Dony" originates which is used as a slang for "girl" or "honey"? It's appears in lots of blues songs.

-Richie

---

Thread #31041   Message #852376
Posted By: Stewie
22-Dec-02 - 09:14 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Add: songs by Uncle Dave Macon
Subject: Lyr Add: WAY DOWN THE OLD PLANK ROAD

Richie posted his transcription for 'Way Down The Old Plank Road'. I believe it is more accurate than the transcription already in the DT and linked to earlier in this thread. See Richie's 'My Wife Died On A Sat. Night' thread for associated songs: CLICK HERE


WAY DOWN THE OLD PLANK ROAD

[Spoken] Hot dog, buddy let's go

Rather be in Richmond, midst all the hail and rain,
Than for to be in Georgia boys, wearing that ball and chain.

Chorus:
Won't get drunk no more, won't get drunk no more,
Won't get drunk no more, way down the old plank road.

I went down to Mobile for to get on the gravel train,
Very next thing heard of me, had on a ball and chain.

Chorus

Doney, oh dear Doney, what makes you treat me so?
Caused me to wear the bail and chain, now my ankle's sore.

Chorus

[spoken] Glory halelujah there!

Knoxville is a pretty place, Memphis is a beauty,
Want to see them pretty girls, hop to Chattanoogie.

Chorus

[Spoken] Glory halelujah there! Fare thee well I'm gone!

I'm gwine to build me a scaffold on some mountain high,
So I can see my Dora girl, she goes riding by.

Chorus

My wife died Friday night, Saturday she was buried,
Sunday was my courting day, Monday I got married.

Chorus

[Spoken] Gee horse there!

Eighteen pounds of meat a week, whiskey here to sell,
How can a young man stay at home, pretty girls look so well.

Chorus

[spoken] Fare thee well!

Source: Uncle Dave Macon (with Sam McGee) 'Way Down The Old Plank Road' recorded on 14 April 1926 in NYC and issued as Vocalion 15321 in June 1926 and as Vocalion 5097 in February 1927. Reissued on Uncle Dave Macon 'Go Long Mule' County CO-CD-3505.

--Stewie.

Subject: Lyr Add: MY WIFE DIED ON A SATURDAY NIGHT
From: Richie
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 08:09 AM

Thanks Masato, we're off to a good start!

MY WIFE DIED ON A SATURDAY NIGHT- By Dr. Humphrey Bate And The Possum Hunters (Transcribed by Richie)

(Harmonica Intro)

My wife died on Saturday night, and Sunday she was buried,
Monday was my courtin' day and Tuesday I was married.

(Harmonica Break)

Round and round, up and down, every day I wander,
Round and round, up and down, lookin' for my honey.

(Harmonica Break)

My wife died on Saturday night, and Sunday she was buried,
Monday was my courtin' day and Tuesday I was married.

(Harmonica Break)

Notes: Dr. Humphrey Bate, a bona-fide physician with a medical degree from Vanderbilt, recorded this song with his band The Possum Hunters. Bate sang and played harmonica and some guitar, and his was one of the most popular bands in the Nashville area for many years. They were the first string band to air on Nashville radio and the first to tour from the Grand Ole Opry. The good Dr. led the Possum Hunters until his death in the 1940's, and the band continued in various forms until the 1960's. The harmonica was not an uncommon instrument in early American string bands.

Subject: RE: Lyr. Req: My Wife Died on A Sat. Night
From: Richie
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 07:52 AM

Here's the lyrics to the version in the DT for comparison:

Lookit Yonder

I heard a rumbling in the skies,
It imitated thunder,
If my good wife gets back again,
'Twill surely be a wonder.

cho: Now, lookit here, and lookit there,
    And look 'way over yonder,
    And can't you see the old gray goose
    A-smiling at the gander?

On Saturday night my good wife died,
On Sunday she was buried,
But Monday was my courtin' day,
And Tuesday I got married.

My sister Sal, she had a dream,
She dreamt she went a-gunnin',
She dreamt she ate a johnny-cake
As big as any punkin'.

The other night I had a dream:
Barefoot, I went a-courtin';
I stubbed my toe on a flinty stone,
And the sparks flew up South Mountain.

Notes: From Folk Songs of the Catskills, Cazden Haufrecht and Studer

-Richie

Subject: Lyr Add: DE OLE GREY GOOSE
From: masato sakurai
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 01:02 AM

This (from American Memory) is apparently related:

DE OLE GREY GOOSE by Chas. Reps.
New York: C. G. Christman, 1844.

DE OLE GREY GOOSE
As sung by P. Morris.

1
When I was a single man I lived in peace and pleasure
But now I am a married man I've troubles without measure,
O! look here, O! look whar
O! look way over yonder,
Dont you see de ole grey goose a smiling at de gander.

2
Every night that I go home, she scolds and rails like thunder,
And then she takes a pewter mug, and beats my head asunder,
O! look here! O! ...

3
My old wife was taking sick, the pain od death came ober her,
While she did cry but I did laugh, to see the breaf go from her.
O! look here! O! ...

4
Monday was my courtin day, on Tuesday I got married,
Wednesday my old wife she died, on Sunday she got burried [sic].
O! look here! O! ...

5
Sister Sall she dreamt a dream, she dreamt she was a jumpin,
She dreamt she eat a Musharoom, as big as any Pumpkin.
O! look here! O! ...

6
Sister Sukey climb a tree, Uncle Jake to boast her,
And there she sat a flinging stones, at our old bobtailed rooster.
O! look here! O! ...

Subject: RE: Lyr. Req: My Wife Died on A Sat. Night
From: masato sakurai
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 12:32 AM

Last Saturday night me wife she died,
And Sunday she was buried;
Monday I went courtin',
And Tuesday I was married.

(From: Mary O. Eddy, Ballads and Songs from Ohio, J.J. Augustin, 1939, p. 319; one of the "Fragments of Irish Songs"; without tune)

Subject: RE: Lyr. Req: My Wife Died on A Sat. Night
From: masato sakurai
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 12:16 AM

Isn't this (from Levy) related?

Title: Songs of the Virginia Serenaders. De Ole Grey Goose.
Composer, Lyricist, Arranger: Arranged for the Piano Forte by J.W. Turner. Written and composed by J.P. Carter.
J. P. Carter Publication: Boston: Keith's Music Publishing House, 67 & 69 Court St., 1844.
Form of Composition: strophic with chorus
Instrumentation: piano and voice
First Line: I am a nigger hard to beat, Hot from de North Carlina
First Line of Chorus: Oh! look ober yonder, Dont you see de ole grey goose
Performer: As sung by the Virginia Serenaders
Engraver, Lithographer, Artist: Thayer & Co's Lith.
Plate Number: 239-2
Subject: Portraits
Subject: Musicians
Subject: Violins
Subject: Banjos
Subject: Percussion instruments
Subject: African Americans
Subject: Caricatures
Subject: Courtship & love
Subject: Dancing
Subject: Crying
Subject: Ethnic stereotypes
Subject: Dialects

~Masato

Subject: RE: Lyr. Req: My Wife Died on A Sat. Night
From: Richie
Date: 21 Dec 02 - 11:13 PM

Here's some info from Ballad Index:

Old Gray Goose (I), The (Lookit Yonder)

DESCRIPTION: Concerning a man's dead wife, whose return he fears: "On Saturday night my good wife died, On Sunday she was buried, But Monday was my courting day, And Tuesday I got married. Now, lookit here, and lookit there, and look way over yonder..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939
KEYWORDS: wife husband death marriage humorous floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
FSCatskills 147, "Lookit Yonder" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eddy 153 (last of several "fragments of Irish songs" - 1 text, which could be this or "My Wife Died on Saturday Night")
DT, LOOKYOND*
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "I Had a Wife"
cf. "John Styles and Susan Cutter" (tune)
cf. "Way Down the Old Plank Road" (words)
cf. "My Wife Died on Saturday Night" (floating verse)
File: FSC147

---

Way Down the Old Plank Road

DESCRIPTION: Floating verses, some mentioning jail, stitched together with the usual Uncle Dave Macon logic. Chorus: "Won't get drunk no mo' (x3), Way down the old plank road."
AUTHOR: Uncle Dave Macon
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (recording, Uncle Dave Macon)
KEYWORDS: prison drink humorous nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 94, "Way Down The Old Plank Road" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 202, "Way Down the Old Plank Road" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, OLPLNKRD
RECORDINGS:
Uncle Dave Macon, "Way Down the Old Plank Road" (Vocalion 5097, 1926; on AAFM3, RoughWays1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Fare You Well, My Own True Love (The Storms Are on the Ocean, The False True Lover, The True Lover's Farewell, Red Rosy Bush, Turtle Dove)" (words)
cf. "The Old Gray Goose (I) (Lookit Yonder)" (words)
cf. "My Wife Died on Saturday Night" (floating verse)
File: ADR94

---

John Styles and Susan Cutter

DESCRIPTION: John and Susan are popping corn. At last "said she, 'John Styles, it's three o'clock, I'm dying of digestion; Instead of always popping that old corn, Why don't you pop the question?'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1982
KEYWORDS: humorous food courting
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
FSCatskills 155, "John Styles and Susan Cutter" (1 text+additional composed verses; tune referenced)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Old Gray Goose (Lookit Yonder)" (tune)
Notes: Cazden et al note that this piece is sung to the tune of "The Old Gray Goose (Lookit Yonder)," and was sung continuously with it; the two might form one ballad. - RBW
File: FSC155

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Subject: Lyr. Req: My Wife Died on A Sat. Night
From: Richie
Date: 21 Dec 02 - 11:11 PM

Looking for lyrics and info about the "My Wife Died Saturday Night" family of tunes:

Down the Old Plank Road
Way Down the Old Plank Road
The Old Gray Goose (not "Aunt Rhody")
Lookit Yonder (Other than version in the DT)
John Styles and Susan Cutter
I Had a Wife
Johnny Don't Get Drunk

Thanks,

Richie