American Negro Folklore (1968)

[Wilson Gray]

Thank you. I was confused by the term, "old minstrel song." When I was
a pre-adolescent, ODT was one of my most favoritest songs, in the
version sung by Burl (sp? In my day, this was quite a popular name
among black males, with many spelling variations, such as "Berl,
"Beryl," "Burrell," etc.) Ives, so I've always thought of it as a
folksong and yes, even back in those pre-TV days, I knew that Ives was
white.

FWIW, I'm reminded that I read somewhere that "Antoine" is currently
the most common name among black professional football players and that
it's spelled over 27 different ways.

-Wilson

On Feb 13, 2005, at 2:55 PM, Mark A. Mandel wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Mark A. Mandel" <mamandel at LDC.UPENN.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: American Negro Folklore (1968)
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> Wilson inquires:
>>>>>
>> Old Dan Tucker was a fine old man,
>> Washed his face in a fryin' pan,
>> Combed his hair with a wagon wheel,
>> Died with the toothache in his heel.
>>
>>           ---Old Minstrel Song, "Old Dan Tucker"
>>
>> JL
>
> Is this the same song that has the verse (or chorus?):
>
> Get out of the way of old Dan Tucker
> Too late to get his supper
> Supper's over and dinner's cookin'
> Old Dan Tucker just standin' there lookin'
>
> Wilson, just wondering
> <<<<
>
> Yup. (Though I learned it with "breakfast" instead of "dinner".)
>
> "Get out (of) the way..." is the chorus. It has a different tune. I
> don't
> remember any other verses than the one given here.
>
> I've also seen it with the chorus ending:
>
> "Supper's over and the dishes washed,
> Nothing left but a piece of squash."
>
> mark by hand
>