Poor Little Thing Cried Mammy
Kerry, Sheila, Louise or Mirabelle Blech
One of the greatest 78s ever recorded was Vocalion 5165, featuring "Tom
and Jerry" by Uncle Dave Macon and the Fruit Jar Drinkers. In true Uncle
Dave style, there is a teaser of a tune at the beginning, before they
careen into the title cut. That snippet is a great little dance tune
called "The Poor Little Thing Cried Mammy."
My searches have turned up a 78 by the Three Georgia Crackers with that
tune/song on it on Columbia 15653-D, which I've not heard. Frank Mare's
notes state that they were a pseudonym for the Canova family. Anne, Judy
& Zeke Canova also issued that title on Regal 10299. I have not heard
that one either. I was wondering if any newsgroup readers ahve heard
either of the Canova pieces (it _may_ be the same recording on different
labels) and can tell me if it is an instrumental (doubtful) or a song?
If it is a song, can someone transcribe the words and send them to me
and/or post to the group? And finally, can anyone tell if they are the
same pieces? (The Macon and the Canova)
Oh, and (as Columbo might say) one more thing. Does anyone know any
publishing data on such a song title?
Well, two more FINAL questions, I promise. Is anyone aware of another
recording of that piece, or does anyone know of any fiddlers anywhere
who play it? thanks
Color me curious,
Regards
Kerry
--
***** ****** ***** ***** ***** ***** ******
Kerry, Sheila, Mirabelle Rose & Louise Marie Blech
blec...@wolfenet.com + http://www.wolfenet.com/~blechfam
"The Old Tunes Are the Best Tunes." -- Luther Davis
Oldtime1
Kerry, that line is from a common children's rhyme with a melody I recall
from my hillbilly childhood but my stubborn head refuses to divulge it
this morning. I recall "Blackbirds and flies pecked out its eyes and the
poor little thing cried Mammy." Ouch. Such is the children's folklore of
your nation. Was the victim a lamb? Got to be someone out there who
recalls. Perhaps it was a premonition of Dolly; she has only a Mammy.
Other children's rhyme melodies found their way into fiddle tunes. "Sally
Goodin" and "Shoot The Buffalo" (aka "Citico") are examples. Joe Wilson
William A. Kristensen
If Frank Mare says that the "Three Georgia Crackers" are also Anne,Judy
& Zeke Canova, he knows what he's talking about. For one thing he has
"The poor little thing cried mammy" by both artist labels in his
collection. If it's the same cut he could compare one with the other.
By the way, his cut by the Canova listing is on Perf. 12685. I've got a
taping of it. The quality is pretty good, but I've got a bad ear when
it comes to understanding three persons singing at the same time. The
parts where Zeke sang by himself was pretty understandable. I give you
some partial lyrics.
... . . . and the cheese, I laid it on the shelf
And the poor little thing cried mammy.
The rats and the mice, they lived such a life, away down in the valley
Had to go to Baltimore to get me a wife, and the poor little thing cried
mammy
The road was so long, and it ain't so far, away down in the valley
... ... .. will home, and it never will bar?, and the poor little
thing cried mammy.
My foot just slipped and I got a fall, away down in the valley
...... and the poor little thing cried mammy.
(It goes on for quite a few more verses, first they sing about buying a
horse, then swaping it for a cow, then for a calf, then for a mule, then
for a sheep, then for a hen, then for a mole. and then the end.
Sorry I couldn't get it all.
Bill Kristensen
Gail Gillespie
Howdy all,
I seem to recall "the poor little thing cried mammy" as part of a song
called "all the Pretty Little Horses." It was popular in a smarmy version
in the 60's - the "poor little thing" was the little black child left in
the field while his/her mother was tending the white baby elsewhere. Since
Uncle Dave Macon knew the line, I'd check in Thomas W. Talley's NEGRO FOLK
RHYMES for more of the text. Talley was from middle Tennessee. It's hard
to look up anything in the book, but I'll peruse it (an enjoyable pastime
anyway!) and report if I see anything containing this line.
I also recall the Cush Holston (b. Marion Co. Fla., but family probably
from Georgia) had some "floater" lines similar to those given by Bill
Christenson in the Georgia Crackers tune. Cush's tune is called "40 Weight
of Gingerbread" and contains the lines about "rats and mice and going to
(London) Baltimore to get me a wife." No child crying Mammy
however....It's like thre's this big stew of verses and each singer would
just drop in the dipper and pull out whatever came up!
-Gail
Kerry, Sheila,
Louise or Mirabelle Blech (blec...@wolfenet.com) wrote:
: My searches have turned up a 78 by the Three Georgia Crackers with that
Gail Gillespie
Okay, this was easier than I anticipated. Here's what Charles Wolf
says in his notes in the Talley book about
"poor little thing crying mammy?" (p. 201)
# 369 Poor Little Lam Said "Mammy"
Found in "Leading Themes" notebook without music or title, this song is
almost identiccal to "Lullaby" in John W. Work's American Negro Songs and
Spirtuals (250), wich includes music. Since Work and Talley were
colleagues at Fisk there is almost certainly some connecton. The song is
also reported in numerous other collections such as Brown, Scarborough and
Randolph. It seems to have been widespread in both white and black
traditions, there was even an early country recording of it by the Three
Georgia Crackers (Columbia 15653).
Old Molly Glascow, where is your lamb?
I left him down in teh meadow
Birds and flies picking out his eyes,
Poor little lamb said "Mammy."
No. 370
Go to Sleep, Little Baby
Hush a bye and don't you cry
Go to sleep, little baby
When you wake, you shall have
A Coach and six little ponies.
(There's a tune with the above which looks to be similar to the "All the
Pretty Little Horses" tune popular in the 60's - though I bet when the
Talleys sang it to their little daughter it didn't sound a bit like Peter
Paul and Mary! I just heard Joe Thompson sing a simple little ditty that
would be ordinary if just anyone sang it, but when he did it...it would
give you goosebumps on an August day.)
-Gail
Kerry, Sheila, Louise or Mirabelle Blech
(blec...@wolfenet.com) wrote:
: One of the greatest 78s ever recorded was Vocalion 5165, featuring "Tom
: and Jerry" by Uncle Dave Macon and the Fruit Jar Drinkers. In true Uncle
: Dave style, there is a teaser of a tune at the beginning, before they
: careen into the title cut. That snippet is a great little dance tune
: called "The Poor Little Thing Cried Mammy."
: My searches have turned up a 78 by the Three Georgia Crackers with that
kerry.e.blech
Oldtime1 wrote:
>Other children's rhyme melodies found their way into fiddle tunes. "Sally
>Goodin" and "Shoot The Buffalo" (aka "Citico") are examples.
Thanks Joe. Your children's lyrics to "Mammy" do scan to Uncle Dave, Sam
and Kirk, and Mazy's instrumental. Also, Lowe Stokes played the Citaco
melody for us and said that he always knew it as "Down To the Wildwood
To Shoot The Buffalo." I've heard the kid version of that too. Kids are
pretty cool, I can vouch for it. Rattle your brain around a little more
and share those old contents, please.
Later
K.
--
Kerry :: Blec...@WolfeNet.com
::: disclaimer: Any opinions expressed here are mine alone.
"When you get above the clouds, you can do just as you choose."
- The Rector Trio, Asheville, NC 1930
PolkSalad
My sweetheart used to sing this from his childhood down east North
Carolina. His grandfather sang it to him as a child.
BLACK SHEEP, BLACK SHEEP
WHERE IS YOUR LAMB
WAY OVER YONDER IN THE MEADOW
COWS AND PIGS ALL STEPPIN ON HIS TOES
POOR LITTLE THING CRIED MAMMY
GO TO SLEEP GO TO SLEEP
GO TO SLEEP GO TO SLEEP
GO TO SLEEPY LITTLE BABY
WHEN YOU AWAKE A PATTY PATTY CAKE
AND RIDE A SHINEY LITTLE PONY
Julie Belcher
Paul Mitchell
I've recently discovered the whereabouts of the UNC Muslc Dept. library,
which not-surprisingly, has a number of older folk song collections. (I'd
been looking for a book entitled "Steamboatin' Days", a reprinted version
of which I'd found in the Hillsborough lib. They had the original,
donated by Annabel Morris Buchanan).
I took out Folksongs of Alabama, collected by Byron Arnold, Univ. of
Alabama Press, 1950. It's a nice volume, complete with history and
pictures of his informants.
From Bertha Turner of Florence, he collected:
Bones
"I used to rock the baby to sleep with this on e. I heard it as a child."
Baa, baa, black sheep, where's yo' lamb?
Way down yonder i nthe valley.
Bees and butterflies peckin' on it's bones,
And the po' little thing cry'n Mammie,
An the po' little thing cry'n Mammie
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
He also includes a neat verse to a song entitled Drunkard's Song, but
which is better known as "I Saw A Man at the Close of Day", as recorded by
Grayson and Whitter.
In Grayson's version, the drunkard "staggeringly unto the landord says,
just give me one dram more"
here's what happens next:
The host obeyed at his command
And filled the sparkling bowl,
Saying, "Drink while wife annd child do starve
And ruin your own poor soul."
(in this version, the last two lines are repeated).
Paul
==============================================================================
Paul Mitchell email: pmit...@email.unc.edu
Office of Information Technology phone: (919) 962-5259
University of North Carolina
==============================================================================
Joel Shimberg
As I recall, someone (Dolly Greer?) sings a set of kids' songs on the LP,
The Watson Family Tradition. One of the songs includes the refrain, The
poor little thing cried "Mammy!". Could this be unrelated?
Joel
--
(Joel)shim...@poboxes.com
Jim Mullany
From Alan Lomax's _Folksongs Of North America In The English Language_:
Black Sheep
Black, sheep, black sheep,
Where'd you leave your lamb?
Way down in the valley
Bees and the butterflies
A-picking' out his eyes,
Poor little thing cryin' "Mammy"
Black sheep, black sheep,
Where'd you leave your lamb?
Way down in the valley
My mother told me
Before she went away
To take good care of the baby,
But I went out to play
And the baby ran away,
And the poor little thing cryin' "Mammy"
Brief notes include: "Collected by John A. Lomax in North Carolina ... This is one form
of the universal Negro 'mammy' lullaby of the South"
John Wright
Since this is a lullaby I guess we should call it a parents' song rather than
a kids' song. The ferocious lyrics and the gentle, soothing tune make an
interesting combination. Like "Rock A Baby." Maybe lyrics like these are a
way of controlling those murderous feelings that can come over the best of
parents when the kid just WON'T go to sleep. Like "Every time the baby cry /
Stick my finger in the baby's eye."
Kerry, Sheila, Louise or Mirabelle Blech
Thanks to Bill Kristensen, whoo sent me a tape of the Canova 78 and
partial transcription, we have the following. This 78 is obvioult
melodically related to Macon's melody, but only very distantly.
enjoy--kerry
The Poor Little Thing Cried Mammy
As sung by Anne, Judy, and Zeke Canova (Perf. 12685)
As a little boy, I lived by myself; Away down in the valley;
All the bread and the cheese, I laid it on the shelf;
And the Poor Little Thing Cried Mammy.
The rats and the mice, they lived such a life; Away ...
Had to go to Baltimore to get me a wife, And the ...
The road was so long, and it ain’t so far; Away ...
And you fetched your home in a little wheel barrow; And the ...
My foot just slipped and I got a fall; Away ...
I filled my wheel barrow, little wife and all; And the ...
I swapped my wheel barrow, got me a horse; Away ...
And then I rid from cross to cross; And the ...
I swapped my horse and got me a mare; Away ...
And then I rid from fair to fair; And the ...
I swapped my mare and I got me a cow; Away ...
And in that trade I learned just how; And the ...
I swapped my cow and I got me a calf; Away ...
And in that trade I lost just half; And the ...
I swapped my calf and I got me a mule; Away ...
And then I rid like a doggone fool; And the ...
I swapped my mule and I got me a sheep; Away...
And then I rid myself to sleep; And the ...
I swapped my sheep and I got me a hen; Away ..
Oh what a pretty thing I had then; And the ...
I swapped my hen, and I got me a mole; Away down in the valley;
And the doggone thing went straight in its hole;
And the Poor Little Thing Cried Mammy
Joel Shimberg
> Since this is a lullaby I guess we should call it a parents' song rather than
> a kids' song. The ferocious lyrics and the gentle, soothing tune make an
> interesting combination....
I've read a foreword to a song collection (for some reason I think it was
Louise Manny's Folksongs of the Miramichi) where the collector/author says
that she wondered for years why she almost never heard lullabies and then
was at someone's home when they sang their kids to sleep to The Knoxville
Girl (bloodier than which it's hard to imagine) and realized that the lack
of specific lullabyes (is this the better spelling?) was due to the fact
that any song at all would fit the purpose.
Joel
--
(Joel)shim...@poboxes.com
marcilynn...@gmail.com
My daddy used to song this, same exact words. He called it something else.