ON THE TRAIL OF NEGRO FOLK-SONGS

A Collection Of Negro Traditional & Folk Songs with Sheet Music Lyrics & Commentaries - online book

	148	NEGRO FOLK-SONGS
	OLE COW
	"Ole cow, ole cow, Where is your calf?" " 'Way down yonder in de meadow. De buzzards an' de flies A-pickin' out its eyes. De po' li'l thing cried, Mammy I'9 Mrs. Charles Carroll, of New Orleans, gave me a variant of this, which from the rhyme would appear to be the original version. 'Way down yonder In de meadow There's a po' little lambie. The bees and the butterflies Peckin' out its eyes. Po' li'l thing cried, Mammy! This she heard her grandmother sing, as she learned it from the Negroes on her Louisiana plantation. A variant of this was sung by Tom, the colored butler at Curls Neck Farm, Virginia. Jeannette Freeman, who later gave me the words and air, says that this is also sung in South Carolina in the same form, as reported to her by various college girls from that state. Baa-Baa, Black Sheep "Baa-baa, black sheep, Where you lef yo' mammy? " " 'Way down yonder in de co'nfiel'. Gnats and flies A-pickin' out its eyes — And de po' li'l sheep a-holler, Mammy! "