Follow the Drinking Gourd song

[Jonathan Lighter]

I wonder how old and widespread is the folklore motif of a song specially composed to impart coded information. (The Thompson Index isn't handy at the moment.)

In the late '50s TV series "The Adventures of Robin Hood," Alan-a-Dale the minstrel was a minor character, but ISTR that he traveled the countryside singing coded songs to alert the beleaguered poor of Robin Hood's intentions.  And then there was the seemingly innocent Beatles song announcing when played backwards that "Paul Is Dead!" followed by any number of later recordings with even scarier messages which could only be understood by the teens who "knew the code" (i.e., to play the record backwards, or to bring out the background noises).

It would be interesting to know, first of all,  if this really is a longstanding folk or literary motif and, if folk, if it has any exemplars in African-American - or European - oral tradition besides "Foller the Drinkin' Gou'd."

The celebrity that the song has gained since its initial publication proves the power of the operative notion, as well as the appeal of the idea of supposedly "ignorant" slaves freely communicating detailed secret info under the noses of  the obtuse, unsuspecting massas, who, one imagines, might even be tapping their toes absent-mindedly to the engaging melodies! What a scene for a postbellum drama!

JL


"James A. Landau" <JJJRLandau at AOL.COM> wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: "James A. Landau"
Subject: Re: Follow the Drinking Gourd song
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In a message dated Sun, 10 Oct 2004 13:14:55 -0400, Joel Bresler
asks:

> I am researching the song, "Follow the Drinking Gourd", and hope someone on
> the list might be able to assist with a part of my work. The lyrics of this
> song ostensibly were created by the Underground Railroad, and are said to
> contain a coded escape route from the south for fleeing slaves. It is
> variously known as "Follow the Drinking Gourd" (the drinking gourd being
> the Big Dipper) "The Drinking Gourd", "The Drinking Gourd Song", "Foller de
> Drinking Gou'd", etc. The song supposedly dates from the Civil War or
> earlier, possibly as a camp song, "Follow (Foller) the Risen Lord." In an
> arrangement by the Weavers (with notably different lyrics and music) it was
> a staple of the civil rights and folk song revival movements of the
> 1950s/1960s.
>
> Here's the issue. So far, I have been unable to find any traditional
> recordings or mentions of the song -- it does not appear in the standard
> sources for black songs of that era. I've heard speculation that the song
> was actually made up by its supposed discoverer, Texas folklorist H.B.
> Parks. And that is where you may be able to help.
>
> Perhaps there is something to be gleaned from the text of the song, as he
> reported it in 1928, from "an old Negro at College Station, Texas". As I
> say, any analysis will be clouded by the fact that the lyrics were
> supposedly made up by members of the Underground Railroad in pre-Civil War
> days and it was "collected" 50 to 60 years later.
>
> FOLLOW THE DRINKING GOURD
>
> When the sun come back,
> When the firs' quail call, Foller the drinkin' gou'd.
>
> Chorus: Foller the drinkin' gou'd,
> Foller the drinkin' gou'd;
> For the ole man say,
> 'Foller the drinkin' gou'd.'
>
> The riva's bank am a very good road,
> The dead trees show the way,
> Lef' foot, peg foot goin' on,
> Foller the drinkin' gou'd.
>
> Chorus
>
> The riva ends a-tween two hills,
> Foller the drinkin' gou'd;
> 'Nuther riva on the other side
> Follers the drinkin' gou'd.
>
> Chorus
>
> Wha the little riva
> Meet the grea' big un,
> The ole man waits--
> Foller the drinkin' gou'd.

If the song does contain "a coded escape route from the south for fleeing
slaves", then it must have been sung among slaves in a very limited geographical
area, as moving a few miles east or west would make the coded references
meaningless. This perhaps explains why no one other than H. B. Parks ever heard
the song---being restricted to a single stream valley, it simply never had wide
distribution.

The lyrics quoted above are no help. They imply a relatively small "riva",
which could be something as small as a creek, which flows between two hills and
then empties into another relatively small sttream, which in turn empties
into a relatively large "grea' big riva". Even considering that the
Underground Railroad rarely reached more than a hundred miles into slave territory,
there must be hundreds of stream valleys that fit the above description.

If the lyrics are directions, they are hardly "coded" but are quite clear.
But they are also quite incomplete. How does the runaway slave recognize the
"ole man"? Is he white or black? (Probably white. A black man who remains
stationary at a river crossing is soon going to attract the attention of the
Patrol.) Most likely the "ole man" lives in a house that is a station on the
Underground Railroad. (There is one such just down the street from where I
live, complete with a hidden room for hiding slaves.) The song must therefore
mention that the "ole man" can be found in a house. But unless there is only a
single house at the stream mouth, the runaways need explicit instructions as to
which house to go to, and these instructions are not in the lyrics you quote.

Conclusion: either "Drinking Gourd" is NOT a set of instructions, or else a
considerable amount of the original lyrics have been lost.

- James A. Landau



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