Old Dan Tucker

Old Dan Tucker came to town

Riding on a billy goat, leading a hound

The hound gave a yelp, the goat gave a jump

And threw old Dan a straddle of a stump

Get out of the way for Old Dan Tucker

He's too late to get his supper

Supper's over, breakfast cooking

Old Dan...

Missy-La, Massy-La is a delightful passing game originating in St. Lucia.   It was collected by Alan Lomax, J.D. Elder, and Bess Lomax Hawes in the book "Brown Girl in the Ring - An Anthology of Song Games from the Eastern Caribbean."   J.D Elder explains in this volum...

It's hard to believe we are already entering our second year of homeschooling!  Believe it or not, one of my favorite subjects to teach is French.   While I spent two summers in France and took french classes in high school and college, I am still a work in progress....

Twenty years ago, I visited the monastic community of Taizé.  It was a rich experience, one I will not soon forget.  So…what is Taizé?

Taizé is an ecumenical, monastic order that is comprised of over 100 brothers from Catholic and Protestant backgrounds from over 3...

We recently read the tall tale of "John Henry" in a book of American Tall Tales by Adrien Stoutenberg.  John Henry, like many other tall tales, has many different accounts.   Not all tall tales however, have an equal amount of folksongs that carry on the outrageous sto...

Are you ever overwhelmed by how many songs there are to choose from?  As I add to "Little Songster" I often have the same feelings.   I have hundreds of songs that I would love to put on this site and am also paralyzed by all the options.  So I need your help!  Here ar...

The whistling gypsy came over the hill,

Down through the valley so shady,

He whistled and he sang till the the green wood rang

And he won the heart of a lady.

Refrain:    

Ah dee doo, ah dee do die day, ah dee doo, ah dee day-dee

He whistled and he sang till the greenwo...

My brother did a-tell me that you go mango walk,

You go mango walk, you go mango walk,

My brother did a-tell me that you go mango walk 

And steal all the number 'leven.

Now tell me, Joe, do tell me for true,

Do tell me for true, do tell me,

That you don't go to no mango walk

...

 Oh the love I have for the dear folksong, "The Crabfish"!  Seventeen years ago I wrote a Master's thesis about the different ways folksongs encounter textual variation.   I analyzed many different versions of "The Crabfish" because it had demonstrated over 400 years...

Carrion crow, sitting on an oak,

with a ling dong dilly dol kiro me.

He called for a tailor to cut him a coat,

with a ling dong dilly dol kiro me.

Refrain: 

Hi falero gil fin a garo,

Hi falero gil fina a gay.

Up jumped Johnny a-ringing of his bell,

With a ling dong dilly dol k...