Lyr Add: Norah / Noah / Let Your Hammer Ring

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Norah / Let Your Hammer Ring
From: Joe Offer
Date: 16 Jan 17 - 03:35 AM

Thread #97895   Message #1931935
Posted By: Q (Frank Staplin)
09-Jan-07 - 09:39 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Add: Mistah Rabbit Patting rhyme
Subject: Lyr Add: WHO BUILT THE ARK?

Some folklorists consider the Brudder Rabbit-Mistah Rabbutt rhymes and games as successors to the Brer Rabbit stories and rhymes of the 19th c. African-Americans, but there seems to be a fair amount of overlap; more Brer Rabbit stories have been collected in the years since Joel Chandler Harris made his important collections in central Georgia. Have patting games always been a part of it along with the stories?
The following patting game rhyme is of the type which may be expanded by adding more questions and answers.

Lyr. Add: WHO BUILT THE ARK?

Chorus:
Uh! whoo built de ahk?
Brudder Norah, Norah.
Uh! who built de ahk?
Brudder Norah built de ahk.

1.
"Say, Mistah Rabbutt,
W'at makes yoe head so ball?"
"Glory be toe Gaud,
Iah bin er buttin' thoo de wall."
Cho. En, uh! whoo etc.
2.
"Say Mistah Rabbutt,
W'at makes yoe eyes so big?"
"Glory be toe Gaud,
I bin er wearin' fals' wig."
Cho. Sez, uh! whoo etc.
3.
"Say, Mistah Rabbutt,
W'at makes yoe nose so flat?"
"Er Glory be toe Gaud,
I'se bin cot in er trap."
Cho. En, etc.
4.
"Say, Mistah Rabbutt,
W'at makes yoe teeth so sharp?"
"Er Glory be toe Gaud,
I've bin cuttin' caun top."
Cho. Sez, etc.
5.
"Say, Mistah Rabbutt,
W'at makes yoe sides so thin?"
"Er Glory be toe Gaud,
Deze bin er skeetin' thoo de win'."
Cho. En, etc.
6.
"Say, Mistah Rabbutt,
W'at makes yoe legs so long?"
"Glory be toe Gaud,
Deze bin hung hon 'rong."
Cho. Sez, etc.
7.
Say, Mistah Rabbutt,
W'at makes yoe nails so long?"
"Glory be toe Gaud,
Deze bin diggin' hup caun."
Cho. En, etc.
8.
"Say, Mistah Rabbutt,
W't makes you cote so brown?"
"Glory be toe Gaud,
Hits humble toe de groun'."
Cho. Sez, etc.
9.
"Say, Mistah Rabbutt,
W'at makes yoe tail so w'ite?"
Glory be toe Gaud,
I keeries hit outer site."
Cho. En, etc.

"The air is accompanied with patting and shuffling of the hands and feet and a swaying motion of the body of those "wrapping him or her up" (as they term it) that can best be compared with the swaying motion of the head of a caged bear. Every few moments one of the *"wrappers" will jump upwards of a foot, and cry "Ah, Lawd!" or "Wrap hit hup, wrap hit hup!" or "Cum toe hit, boys! cum toe hit!" And they will keep this up until you wonder that both the "wrappers" and the dancers do not collapse from exhaustion."
*any connection to present-day term 'rappers'?
The rhyme "known by Virginia, Washington (D. C.) and Maryland Negroes.

From "Negro Songs and Folk-Lore," Mary Walker Finley Speers, Jour. American Folk-Lore, 1910, vol. 23, no. 90, pp. 435-436.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: OLD NORAH (NOAH)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 07 Feb 06 - 01:12 AM

I wonder if the biblical Norah-Noah is not meant in that work song, but a convict named Norah-Noah.

Lyr. Add: Old Norah* (Noah)

Here's old Norah,*
Stick him in the bosom;
Stick him in the bosom;
Stick him in the bosom;
Here's old Norah, stick him in the bosom,
And let old Norah go.

Here's old Norah's daughter,
Stick her in the bosom; (3x)
Here's old Norah's daughter, stick her in the bosom,
And let old Norah go.

Here's a long giraffe,
Stick him in the bosom; (3x)
etc.

Here's a humped-back camel,
Stick him, etc.

Here's a great big elephant,
Stick him, etc.

Here's a little monkey,
stick him, etc.

Here's a big kangaroo,
Stick him in the bosom;
Stick him in the bosom;
Stick him in the bosom;
The flood is all over,
Let old Norah go.

* Spelled Norah in Jour. American Folk-Lore, vol. xxiii, p. 435. Spelled Noah in the title but spelled Norah in the verses, Jour. Amer. Folklore, vol. xxvi, Religious Songs and parodies of Religious Songs, part IV, no. 33.
Collected from Mississippi Negroes, MS. of F. R. Rubel, 1909. From E. C. Perrow, 1913, "Songs and Rhymes from the South," Jour. American Folklore, vol. 26, Part IV, pp. 123-173. Courtesy John Mehlberg, www.immortalia.com.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: NORAH (hammer song)
From: Barry Finn
Date: 07 Feb 06 - 12:22 AM

From "Negro Prison Camp Work Songs" recorded 2/51 by Toshi & Pete Seeger, John Lomax, Chester Bower & Fred Hellerman at Ramsey & Retrieve State Farms, Texas. Originals at the Folklore Archives, Library of Congress.

Let Your Hammer Ring (only a part of the recording)

Oh, don't ya hear my hammer ringing
CH: Let your hammer ring

Oh, don't ya hear my hammer ringing
CH:Let your hammer ring

Chorus repeats after every line

I'm ringing in the bottom
I'm ringing for the captain
I'm ringing for the sargeant
I'm gonna tell you 'bout my hammer
Well, 'bout a-killing me
I says the captain's gone to Huston
He's coming back by the Ramsay
He's gonna bring my partner
We're gonna walk to th live oak
We're gonna walk to the gopherwoodWell, Norah, Norah
Oh, don't ya remember what I tolk ya
About a rainbow sign, sir
I/m gonna run & get some water
Oh, before your next time, sir
Well, ol Norah got his hammer (Norah, their spelling, not mine)
Well, went marching in the bottom
And you can hear Norah's hammer
Well, you can hear Norah's hammer
Wel, you can hear many ringing
Well, all over the land, sir

This crosscutting (axe) song is also recorded on CD "Negro Work Songs & Calls" collected 1934 by John & Allen Lomax, Library of Congress, Archive of Folk Culture, available on Rounder. On the CD Wake Up Dead Man- Black Convict Worksongs From the Texas Prisons also on Rounder Collected by Bruce Jackson at Ellis State Farm, Texas 8/1965 (also see Jackson's book "Wake Up Dead Man for more). Again collected by the Lomaxes on the CD "Big Brazos" part of the Deep River Of Song collection, Texas Prison Recordings, 1933& 1934. again on Rounder. Lomax saw fit to record his song twice be 2 different groups . ! from Lightning Washington & group at Darrington State Farm & the 2nd from Augustus "Track Hourse" Haggerty & group State Penitentiary, Huntsville, Texas.   

Barry

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: NORAH (hammer song)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 09:26 PM

'Norah', for Noah, is still occasionally heard in rural eastern Georgia, even among some whites. Sadly, the old dialects are dying, but a few pockets remain. Some word usages are proudly preserved. One I found common at the time of WW2 was that both cavalry and calvary were pronounced calvary.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: NORAH (hammer song)
From: Azizi
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 08:39 PM

Sorry for the cross post, Q.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: NORAH (hammer song)
From: Azizi
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 08:38 PM

I've read that "Norah" was the pronunciation for "Noah" used by many enslaved African Americans.

That name has nothing to do with the female name that has the same spelling and pronunciation.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: NORAH (hammer song)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 08:36 PM

No, I meant Norah; see comments in threads 88593 and 57161:
88593: Open up the window
57161: O de Lord Told Nory

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Who Built the Ark?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 08:30 PM

Lyr. Add: Who Built the Ark?

Who built the ark? Noah built the ark;
Some say Noah was a foolish man,
But I says he's a wise man,
For he built his ark on hard ole ground,
He built his ark of gopher wood.
All beasts' kind went in his ark,
Noah came riding by,
And they poked a scorning finger at him,
Ole Noah tell the ark to move, move, move.

Ms. of W. E. Lassiter, Auburn, AL, 1915-1916. No. 42, pp. 99-100.
Newman I. White, 1928, American Negro Folk Songs; reprint 1965, Folklore Associates. Inc.

Lyr. Add: No-eh built de ark,
Yes, he di-id,
No-eh, built de ark,
Yes, he di-id,
No-eh built de ark,
Yes he di-id,
Ole man No-eh built de ark.

N. I. White, heard in Statesville, NC, c. 1907; and in Durham about 1912. Also popular with white people at the same time. No. 42, p. 100, same reference as above.
Also a version heard in the Bahamas (Edwards, 1895, p. 27).

Several early recordings; see The Traditional Ballads Index. www.csufresno.edu/folklore/BalladSearch.html

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: NORAH (hammer song)
From: Mr Happy
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 08:18 PM

don't you mean Noah?

Subject: Lyr Add: NORAH (hammer song)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 06 Feb 06 - 08:07 PM

Lyr. Add: NORAH

Norah was a hundred and twenty years buildin' de ark of God,
And ev'ry time his hammer ring, Norah cried,"Amen!"

Chorus:
Well, who build de ark?
Norah build it.
Who build de ark?
Norah build it.
Who build de ark?
Norah build it,
Cut his timber down.

First thing dat Norah done,
Cut his timber down.
Second thing dat Norah done,
Hewed it all around.

Chorus (second time, added line)
Well, who build de ark?
Norah build it.
Hammer keep a-ringin',said, "Norah build it!"
Well, who build de ark?
Norah build it.
Who build de ark?
Norah build it.
Who build de ark?
Norah build it.
Cut his timber down.
(and continued)

Dorothy Scarborough, 1925, "On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs, pp. 222-223, with music. Reprinted 1963, Folklore Associates, Inc.