re left, left, left my wife etc.

[Judith Marie]

Hi, I'm a new member and thrilled to find you.. I found out about your
organization when I was searching for the exact words to the old marching
ditty: "Left, left, left my wife, etc."

And Google came up with an exchange of mail in your organization (dated
from sometime last year) reciting a transcription somewhat different from
the one I remember which is:

Left, left, left my wife and 49 kids an old gray mare and a peanut stand.
Did I do right, right, right from the country where I come from, hayfoot,
strawfoot, shift by jingle (you make a little jump from right foot to left
foot at this point and start the ditty over) left, left "

This is from Akron, Ohio, in the 1940s. Are any of you familiar with this
version? And what do hayfoot and strawfoot mean anyway?
Judith Hamilton

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