Lyr Add: Walk Along John

Subject: Lyr Add: WALK ALONG JOHN
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 22 Jun 03 - 09:55 PM

Lyr. Add: WALK ALONG JOHN
J. P. Carter or J. Sanford

All de way from ole Carlina
For to see my ole Aunt Dinah,
Says I ole lady how's de goose,
De Jaybird jump on de Martin's roost.

Cho.
Walk along John, de fifer's son,
Ain't you glad your day's work's done.

Went behind her house on my knees,
I tink I hear de gobbler sneeze
De gobbler jump on de pumpkin vine,
De goose chaw backer, de duck drink wine.

Milk in de dairy nine days old,
De rats and skippers gettin' mighty bold,
Long tail rat in a pail of souse,
Just come down from white man's house.

Ginny nigger raised a hog,
He made his canoe of de log,
He put his canoe in the water,
Go your death I see your dauter.

I hadn't seen her haf a day
Till my distresses I did pay,
Shy at fust but soon got larkin',
De Ginny gals am deth on sparkin'.

Massa sent me out a singin,
Dat was de fust ob my beginin,
I shake de dubble simosquivers
And bust de banjo all to slivers.

Published 1844, J. W. Turner Pub. Boston, composed by J. Sanford, arranged for piano by J. W. Turner.
From Levy Collection, sheet music.

Some time ago a number of old minstrel-slave-dance songs were discussed in several threads in Mudcat, with regard to fiddle music, and started by richie. The verse about "milk nine days old" is a floater, and appeared in a couple of these songs.
Ole Bull mentioned this Virginia Serenaders' song in thread 4899, but it doesn't seem to have been posted to Mudcat.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: WALK ALONG JOHN
From: masato sakurai
Date: 23 Jun 03 - 06:35 AM

Two variants are in Hans Nathan, Dan Emmett and the Rise of Early Negro Minstrelsy (University of Oklahoma Press, 1962, 1977, pp. 450-53).

               OH, COME ALONG JOHN
(Rice's Correct Method. The tune appeared first as "Walk Along John" (Boston, C.H. Keith, 1843))

1. Way down in old Carlina
    Went to see my old aunt Dinah,
    Says I, old lady how's de goose,
    When de gander jumped from de old hen roost,
    Come along John,
    Come along John,
    Come along John, de fifer's son,
    Ain't you mighty glad dat your day's work done.

2. Milk in de dairy nine days old,
    Rats and de mice are gettin' mighty bold,
    Long tailed rat in de pail of souse
    Dat's just come down from de white folks house.
    Come along John ....

3. An alligator cum from Tuscaloo
    For to fight de Kangaroo,
    Dey fought till day dey swallowed each odder down,
    Den wid dere tails dey took anudder round.
    Come along John ....

            WALK ALONG, JOHN
(Emmit's Celebratd Negro Melodies (London, D'Almaine & Co., n.d. [c. 1844]))

1. Johnny come from Chickasaw,
    De dardes fool I ebber saw;
    He put his shirt outside his coat,
    An tied his breeches roun his throat.
    So walk along John!
    Walk along John!
    Walk aong John! high for de Sun,
    Aint you mighty glad your day's work done.

2. Johnny went to Tenessee [sic],
    He grin de possum up a tree;
    He grin an fotch his body down,
    An leff de tail for anudder roun.
    So walk along ....

3. Behind de hen cook on my knees,
    I tink I hear old Johnny sneeze;
    Goose chew tobackur duck drink wine,
    De brack snake sleep wid de punkin vine.
    So walk along ....

4. Johnny's cheese was nine years old,
    De skippers gittin mighty bold;
    A long tail rat in a bucket of souse,
    Jist come from de white folks house.
    Walk along ....

5. Johnny's rooster had a fit,
    De niggs all thot he'd die of it;
    De fedders flew out his tail flew in,
    Den he jump up an crowed agin.
    Walk along ....

6. Walk 'long Johnny he got drunk,
    He fell in de fire an kick de chunk;
    De charcoal got inside his shoe,
    Lawd bress y'e how de ashes flew.
    Walk along ....

7. Johnny lay on de rail road track,
    He tied de engine on his back;
    He pair'd his corn wid a rail road wheel,
    It gib 'im de tooth ache in de heel.
    Walk along ....

8. Way down south on beaver creek,
    Old Johnny grew about ten feet;
    He went to bed, but 'twas no use,
    His leg hung ot for de chicken roose.
    Walk along ....

Another song sheet edition is at American Memory (Click here):

      WALK ALONG JOHN.
Paul, Printer, 18, Great St. Andrew Street, 7 Dials.

Johnny Run-a-long was a bery lazy man,
He always run away from work whenever that he can,
A nigger run after him and caught him by the collar,
No good to shake him because he would'nt hollow.

Walk along John, walk along John
Walk along john the piper's son,
Aint you mighty glad your day's work's done.

O dis ole nigger he grew pale.
And he floated down de riber wid his ole coat tail,
He said to me widout my desire,
De water-butt has busted and set de house on fire.

Dis ole nigger he said he woud'nt steal,
But I caught him one night in my corn field,
I ask him for my corn & he swore I was a liar,
He struck a congreve and set the field on fire.

Oh dis ole nigger he went to de riber
And dat was the last ob dis poor nigger,
He might have been saved I'm told no doubt,
For he was to lazy to pull himself out.

"Shock Along, John" (corn-song) in Allen et al.'s Slave Songs of the United States (p. 68), and a later play-party song "Walk Along, John" in B.A. Botkin, The American Play-Party Song (pp. 342-3) [also in Ruth Crawford Seeger, American Folk Songs for Children (pp. 134-5)] seem to be related.

~Masato

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: WALK ALONG JOHN
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 23 Jun 03 - 01:43 PM

Too bad only the "burden" (chorus) was remembered from "Shock Along, John." Just repetition of "Shock Along John" and no other lyrics.

Dena J. Epstein, in "Sinful Tunes and Spirituals, p. 207ff., discusses the opposition among religious Negroes to secular songs. "When Helen W. Ludlow of Hampton Institute attempted to persuade a former slave to sing corn songs for her, she was told, "Nuffin's good dat ain't religious, madam. Nobody sings dem corn-shuckin' songs after dey's done got religion." The teachings of the white ministers and evangelists were mostly responsible for this attitude, and as a result, many slavery era secular songs were lost and we are left with the falseimpression of a great preponderance of religious or "spiritual" songs.

From the half dozen corn songs preserved by early observers, they apparently consisted mostly of one line statements followed by a chorused response.

From the 1830s onward, there was a strong interchange between minstrel compositions and Negro folk rhymes. It is difficult to establish which source was the originator of many of the rhymes preserved by Talley and others. Shock Along John and Walk Along John may be related but we will never know because the slave song has been lost.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: WALK ALONG JOHN
From: Charley Noble
Date: 23 Jun 03 - 08:11 PM

You folks do dig up interesting stuff.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: WALK ALONG JOHN
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Jun 03 - 08:38 PM

!!!

~S~