The Frog and the Mouse
The Frog and the Mouse: Keemo-Kimo Format
One of the most widespread and long-lived songs in the English-speaking world, this song's history is generally well-documented, starting with a likely reference to it in Wedderburn's Complaynte of Scotland of 1549 right up to the present day. It has probably been rewritten in more different formats than any other song, so that at least half-a-dozen markedly different formats and tunes have been extant since the early nineteenth century, albeit all related and telling roughly the same story of Froggie coming to court Miss Mouse, and in most versions the disasters at the wedding. When we add in the political parodies and other uses of the various formats and tunes it all adds up to a fascinating evolutionary tale. Such a rich and varied history would easily fill a rather large book, and that just from a literary point of view; another large book could be produced from a study of the tunes utilised.
This article looks at the evolution of just one of these formats, which would appear to have its roots in a seventeenth century camp followers song, although the Froggie song related to it has no extant versions older than mid-eighteenth century. The camp followers song from The Bodleian Library and available to subscribers to the Eighteenth Century Collection Online (ECCO) was given the speculative date c1705 by the Bodleian based on other datable pieces printed by John Thornton of London. However, other evidence, including the text itself, points to an earlier date for the song of around the middle of the seventeenth century.
THE CAMP GARLAND. Containing Three Excellent New Songs.
1. The Oxford Milkmaid's Entertainment at Camp at Bullinton-Green.
To the Tune of Gameorum
A Milk maid going out of late,
With a Rigdum for a little Game;
To see the Camp it was her Fate,
With a Rigdum for a little Game.
Gameorum wildum gorum, game wildum game,
Can you net a Flumerum, a Rigdum Bolleram,
Rigdum for a little Game.
She liv'd near Oxford famous City,
With a, &c.
A Low-Church Whore the more's the pity,
With a, &c.
This Maid she went to Burlington,
But she a Maid did not return.
For she the Camp did long to see,
Where she lost her Virginity.
The Officers first had a mind,
To Lydia, and to her were kind.
They milkt the Maid, and she milkt them,
So pray do not the Maid condemn.
For if a Tit lies in your way,
Let's see what Maid to Tit says nay.
Besides the stroaking's all in all,
To which the best of Maids will fall.
When the Officers having milkt enough,
Then tir'd with their Home-spun stuff.
They let her loose to Milk again,
And she fell in with all their Men.
She milkt the Regiment till quite dry,
And still for more milk she did cry.
Their Tits for her were all too few,
Ten Regiments will scarcely do.
A jolly Girl she was they say,
Four Regiments Tits thrice more she'd try.
It was her Glory next to try,
Before she'd milk again she'd dye.
For Cows she swore were Fools to Bulls,
She lik'd their Regimental Tools.
The Officers she made all Tame,
For all they fight through Smoak and Flame.
But yet free Quarters she did give,
And glad the Fellows were to live.
She scorn'd to take their Lives away,
But Mercy she did show, I say.
For I'm resolv'd to milk again,
But not with Cows, but all with Men.
No Soldiers are like them I kiss,
Oh! milking is with them a Bliss.
They show'd her how they did Encamp,
Their Colours straightway she did Cramp.
She Length and Breadth took of each Tent,
And each like Fool she quickly sent.
Of Soldiers Pay and Soldiers Fare,
She had compleat a Who Ball's share.
Of Sullebub she had enough,
And something may come of the Curd.
Tis like to be a Round-head Brat,
But Oxford pray you look to that.
For let it be whose Child it will,
The Child I say is L(ow) C(hurch) still.
LONDON: Printed by John Thornton.
(ESTC citation T197597)
Bullington/Burlington Green, known today as Bullingdon Green, lies to the east of the Oxford Eastern Bypass and in the seventeenth century it was the site of a well-known important army camp. Indeed Charles I in 1644 watched his troops training there, and the reference in the penultimate verse to the 'Round-head Brat' at least confirms the writer was probably a royalist, and surely places the the song in the Civil War period.
There is further evidence to suggest the song, or at least the chorus and tune were well-known from c1700 to 1734 as another garland at the Bodleian Library, ESTC T 196997, The Frighted West-Country Man's Garland has as its second song of three The Ladies Lamentation for the downfall of the hoop-petticoats and the designated tune is Rigdum for a Little Game. This garland was printed by J. Walter at The Golden-Ball in Pye Corner, and again the date is c1705.
In the 1730s four volumes of graffiti from taverns and similar places were published by J. Roberts in Warwick Lane, London, titled The Merry-Thought; or, The Glass-Window and Bog-House Miscellany, the collector's pseudonym being Hurlo Thrumbo. Volume 3 has on its title page a slight variation on the rigdum chorus, so it would appear that the printed song had by then attained some oral currency.
Gameyorum, Wildum, Gorum,
Gameyorum a Gamey,
Flumarum a Flumarum,
A Rigdum Bollarum,
A Rigdum, for a little Gamey.
Https://archive.org/details/themerrythoughto20535gut
It is worth noting that this version of the chorus with its two-syllable 'Gamey' much better fits the later Froggie tune.
Regarding the seemingly nonsense words in the chorus of our ballad, the first thought is that if they are indeed real words they are probably camp-followers' cant. Another possible point of interest is that no less than six words in the chorus end in 'um'. Could it be that this was in the seventeenth century a characteristic of camp followers' cant? 'Game' at that time had pretty much the same meaning as in 'on the game' in twentieth century parlance, i.e., referring to prostitution. 'Rigdum' one suspects is one of the many extensions to 'rig' meaning playing tricks, or even a synonym for 'game', as in the folksong 'Up to the rigs of London town'. The OED Online gives one meaning for the noun 'rig' as 'a wanton or loose woman' (1575-1929) and as a verb, 'to behave in an immodest or wanton manner' (1570-1815). There are numerous nineteenth century broadside ballads that tell of the rigs of various fairs and in these and others similar the meaning is 'tricks' or more generally fun and games. The Rigs of the Times tells of various tricks or cheats carried out by a long list of unscrupulous traders. Rigdum Funnidos was a plain-spoken character in Henry Carey's 1734 play Chrononhotonthologos.
'Flumerum' is a little less obvious, possibly an adaptation of 'flummery' meaning flattery, but 'flummery' was also a sweet dish made with milk, flour and eggs, etc., (1623-1827). There is also the possibility of puzzlement as in the word 'flummox'. As for 'bollerum' this may be related to 'ballum rancum' a dance at which harlots and all of the company dance naked (c1660). In the chorus of The Oxford Milkmaid version we have the intriguing line 'Can you net a flumerum, a Rigdum Bolleram?' which at least presents the possibility that the milkmaid is a 'flumerum' and also a Rigdum Bolleram' as the cant expression for a milkmaid was 'Who Ball' (Whoa, Ball! See stanza 23), Ball being a common nickname for a cow at that time (later also applied to horses).
The word 'Rigdum' continued to be a popular part of choruses in the eighteenth century in seemingly unrelated songs. Vic Gammon alerted me to a song about 'Honest Harry' which exists in various versions available in ECCO: Song 172 in Calliope: or the Musical Miscellany, 1788, with music, and another version sung by Mrs. Wilson in the comic opera, Sherwood Forest. Here is the first stanza and chorus of the 2 stanzas from Calliope.
My name's honest Harry, O,
Mary I will marry, O;
In spite of Nell or Isabel,
I'll follow my own vagary, O;
With my rigdum, jigdum, airy, O,
I love little Mary, O,
In spite of Nell or Isabel,
I'll follow my own vagary, O.
Although probably not intended here, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries 'jig' was the sexual act.
Choruses with 'um' endings continued well into the nineteenth century if not later. The Irish Pedlar at page 432 in the first volume of the Universal Songster has the nonsense chorus 'goosetrum foodle, niggety, tragedy, rum. Diderum doodle, niggety, figgety, fum.
The Frog and the Mouse
Precisely when the format and chorus were adopted by the Froggie song we do not yet know. Only a few versions of this format from the eighteenth century are extant, the earliest reference being from Notes and Queries, 1876, which quotes a version of the chorus from a music book of c1750:
With a rigdum bonum duo coino,
Coi minero giltee caro,
Coi minero coino,
Stim stam pammediddle lara bona ringcan,
Ringcan bonum duo coino. (ODNR, p181)
But this can hardly be the original adaptation as one of the later versions retains the 'rigdum' in the last line of the chorus instead of 'ringcan'.
Perhaps closer to the original adaptation is song 2 in The Buck's Delight, sold at the Printing office, Little Russell-Court, Drury Lane, London (British Library 11621 e 2, item 20). The volume of garlands it is to be found in was bound together in 1830.
The Frog's Courtship to Mistress Mouse
There was a frog liv'd in a well,
With a rigdum bonemin a kino,
And there was a mouse liv'd in a mill,
With a rigdum bonemin a kino.
Kimacaro kilta caro,
Kimacaro kino,
Strimstan pan a diddle lara bona rincam,
Rigdum bonemin a kino.
A frog he would a wooing ride,
With a, &c.
With sword and buckler by his side,
With a, &c.
Mistress mouse I am come to woo,
Will you have me, aye or no.
I can to you no answer make,
Till with my uncle I do speak.
Then Mr Rat he came home,
Who have been here since I have been gone.
There has been here a gentleman,
Shall I have him if I can.
He had a gold chain and laced cloaths,
With a floundel mouth and snotty nose.
And we will have a joint of meat,
And we will all set down to eat.
And when the supper did begin,
The cat and kittens came jumping in.
The cat she catch'd the rat by the crown,
The little kittens pull'd the little mice down.
Sir Frog he crept along the wall,
I think the devil is in you all.
Then he went swimming in the brook,
And there he met a hungry duck.
This duck was joyful him to see,
Because he was very hungry.
This duck laid hold of him in her bill,
Saying now I shall have my belly full.
So here is an end of these lovers three,
The frog, the mouse, and her uncle Rattee.
The following version was reproduced in Leslie Shepard's The Broadside Ballad at page 174, from his own collection. It is a music sheet from the late eighteenth century published in Dublin. Unfortunately he gives no further information and the full sheet was not reproduced, lacking stanzas 5, 6, 10 and 11. His collection was auctioned off after he died and where this sheet ended up we currently do not know. Although we can have an estimate as to what the missing stanzas were, using the above version which is quite close, it would be more helpful to have access to the original. The tune is very close to those of this format collected later from oral tradition.
The Frog and Mouse
There was a Frog liv'd in a Well,
With a rigdum bonna duo Coinno,
And a merry Mouse liv'd in a Mill,
With a rigdum bonna duo Coinno.
Koy min ero giltee caro,
Koy min ero coinno,
Strim stram pamma diddle lara bonna ring kang,
Ring kang bonna duo Coinno.
The Frog he would a Wooing ride,
With a, &c.
With a Sword and Buckler by his Side,
With a, &c.
And when he came to Mouse's Hall,
There he did most loudly bawl.
Mistress Mouse are you within?
Yes, Mr Frog pray do come in.
(2 stanzas not reproduced, obviously introducing Uncle Rat.)
Sir I am come to Woo your Neice (sic),
Yes, and welcome to this Place.
Just as they had fill'd their Beek (sic),
In comes Mistress Puss and her Chick.
Puss seizd Uncle Rat by the Crown,
Chick pull'd Mouse up and down.
(At least 2 more stanzas not reproduced.)
Although the format has been retained from the earlier piece, and with it probably the tune, the only word that survives in the new chorus is 'rigdum' and even that is beginning to change, as a result of oral tradition presumably. Do any of the new words have any meaning? Perhaps. We have possible musical/rhythm terms in 'strim stram' and 'pammadiddle', the strumming of a stringed instrument and a phrase in drumming, or perhaps even slang words for guitar and drum. All sorts of far-fetched interpretations could be postulated, but I will restrain myself.
The chorus survives pretty well intact into the nineteenth century. In Notes and Queries For August 17th, 1850, p188, is given a verse and chorus from the correspondent 'A' who when a boy heard an old aunt repeatedly sing.
A frog he would a-wooing ride,
With a rigdum bullydimy kymy;
With sword and buckler by his side,
With a rigdum bullydimy kymy.
Kymyary kelta cary, kymyary kymy,
Strimstram paradiddle larrabona ringting,
Rigdum bullydimy kymy.
Though none of the eighteenth century versions here are precisely dated there is an American version of 1795 published in The Skylark: or, Gentleman and Ladies' Complete Songster, being a collection of the most Modern and Celebrated American, English and Scotch Songs. Worcester, from the press of Isaiah Thomas, Jnr., sold at his Bookstore and by the Booksellers in Boston. Page 107.
The Frog and Mouse.
A satire on Italian Plays.
There was a frog liv'd in a well,
With a rigdam bulle mette kimo,
And mistress mouse, she kept the Mill,
With a rigdam bulle mette kimo,
Kimo kairo delto kairo, kimo kairo kimo
Strim stram pomme diddle larre bone, rigdam,
Rigdam bulle mette kimo.
The frog would oft a hunting ride,
With a, &c.
With sword and pistol by his side.
With a, &c.
He came unto the Mouse's hall;
And there he did both rap and call.
'Pray mistress mouse, are you within?'
Oh yes, kind sir, I sit and spin.
The Frog stept in, and drew a chair,
And sat him down close by his dear.
Then he took her 'pon his knee;
'Pray, my dear, can you love me?
'Indeed, kind Sir, you flatter me:
'How can I but fancy thee!'
Just as they began to chat,
In come honest uncle rat.
The Frog arose and took his hat,
And plac'd a chair; then down they sat.
'Well, uncle rat, says mistress Mouse,
'How do ye all at uncle's house?'
'The Rat replies, all well, my dear,
'Pray Mr. Frog, how came you here.
'My love, dear Sir, for your fair niece,
'Was all that brought me to this place.'
'Why Mr. Frog, you honour me!
'I shall consent, if you agree.'
The Mouse with modest blushes said,
'If you consent, Sir, all's agreed.'
Old uncle rat then rode to town,
And bought his niece a wedding gown.
And household stuff, in highest taste,
And then returned home in haste.
The Frog was dress'd in a pea green;
The Mouse in silk, look'd like a Queen.
The bride and bridegroom thus were dress'd,
And nuptial ceremonies past.
The wedding feast was then prepar'd,
And all things ready on the board.
But now alas! Oh sad to tell!
A cruel fate the three befell!
For just as they sat down to eat,
In comes Miss Pussy with her Kit.
Puss took the Rat, the Kit the Mouse,
And then in triumph left the house.
The Frog he swam across the lake,
And there was swallow'd by a snake.
So here's the tragic end of three,
The Rat, the Frog and Mouse, you see.
(Online https://wellcomecollection.org/works/upcyfue6 )
Here then is a much extended version, meant to be read not sung one presumes. The basic story is the same and the beginning and end have detail close to the British versions, but there is much superfluous material in between. This version has had very little influence on oral versions on either side of the Atlantic, but curiously the 'buying of the wedding dress' stanza occurs in a Scottish oral version, as well as five American ones. By 1800 songs were flying back and forth across the Atlantic, both in print and in oral tradition. Very likely this stanza was introduced at some point before this long version appeared. The reference to 'satire on Italian plays' is of interest. The advent of comic opera in England c1730 was a direct response to the preponderance of Italian opera and satirised that heavily. One presumes the same response occurred in America soon after, when the comic operas were all the rage.
By the late eighteenth century the format, chorus and tune were being appropriated, as many popular tunes were then, for musicals such as Panglosi's musical comedy The Baron of 1781. The following song from it The Old English Baron was printed on a broadside by Fowler of Salisbury (ESTC T10891) and this actually designates the tune The Frog and Mouse. Following is the first of four stanzas.
The Old English Baron
Tune: The Frog and Mouse
In days of yore, as I've been told,
With a hum drum woundy length of line-o,
There liv'd a baron, bluff and bold,
With a strim-stram, very little coin-o;
Means I grant ye, rather scanty, but great store of line-o;
Strim-stram, pamma-diddle, lara bona, ring tang;
Ring tang, very little coin-o.
The refrain and part of the chorus alter in the other three stanzas but the last two lines still form a consistent chorus. Notice in this parody the word 'coin' is actually given meaning whereas in the Froggie refrains the word doesn't appear to have any meaning.
Further proof of the popularity of the format is evidenced by the use of it by John O'Keefe in his song Amo Amas, I loved a Lass of the same year, from The Agreeable Surprise, which has the chorus:
Rorum, corum, sunt divorum! Harum, scarum Divo!
Tag rag, merry derry, periwig and hatband,
Hic hac, horum Genetivo!
In 1790 The Modern Syren, a songbook printed in Newcastle by S. Hodgson (ESTC T300935), has at page 181 a medley of stanzas from popular songs (utilising also the even-more-popular tune Derry Down) including the first stanza of Froggie introduced in the following way:
Then Ezekiel rose next, a very great smoker,
And in lighting his pipe, burnt his mouth with the poker;
Being proud of his music, and charm'd with his voice,
And fond of the sublime, this song was his choice. Derry down (down, down derry down)
There was a frog liv'd in a well,
With a rigdum boni cimi,
Rigdum boni, boni rigdum, rigdum boni cimi;
There was a frog liv'd in a well,
With a rigdum boni cimi.
Some manipulation of the refrains had taken place but the wording was close enough to other versions.
Although no doubt becoming widespread in oral tradition on both sides of the pond after 1800, the format seems to disappear from popular publications for a while in Britain. Perhaps the appearance of Liston's new format for Froggie (the 'Heigh ho says Rowley' ecotype), popularised by him and others in the early years of the century, replaced the older format. The 3-volume Universal Songster for 1825-1826 has a great number of songs that utilise existing tunes and formats and the only appearances of the 'rigdum' format come in the shape of three parodies of O'Keefe's Amo Amas (see above), whereas there are many parodies of the 'Heigh ho says Rowley' format.
No doubt heavily influenced by oral tradition the 'rigdum' format resurfaced with a bang in 1854 when it was used for a highly popular Minstrel song Keemo Kimo described as 'George Christy and Wood's celebrated banjo song' published in New York, arranged by A. Sedgwick and sung by P.H. Keenan. It has four stanzas, only the third of which relates vaguely to Froggie. The other stanzas are the usual Minstrel nonsense. (see appendix for full version.) Here is that stanza with chorus.
Dar was a frog lived in a pool,
Sing song Kitty can't you ki' me oh!
Sure he was de biggest fool,
Sing song Kitty can't you ki' me oh!
For he could dance and he could sing,
Sing song Kitty can't you ki' me oh!
And make de woods around him ring,
Sing song Kitty can't you ki' me oh!
Keemo ki' mo! Dar' oh whar? Wid my hi, my ho,
And in comes Sally singing,
Some times penny winkle, Ringtum, nip cat,
Sing song Kitty can't you ki' me oh!
Whilst the tune had marked differences there are obvious similarities with the earlier pieces. The format was also tweaked in that the stanzas had been doubled and an extra phrase in the chorus added. This version was published in Britain within a year and not only taken up by the British Minstrel troupes, but Sam Cowell included it in his repertoire in almost the same version.
Other versions soon appeared and by 1860 a version 'composed and arranged by Charles White and sung nightly by Old Dan Emmett at White's Melodeon at 53 Bowery, New York', was published. This has three stanzas in common with the George Christy set (See appendix) with a fresh stanza, and here the Froggie stanza appears first:
Kitty Kimo
Dar was a frog lived in a spring,
Sing song, Polly, won't you ki me oh.
He had such a cold dat he could not sing,
Sing song, Polly, won't you ki me oh.
I pull'd him out and frow'd him on de ground,
Sing song, Polly, won't you ki me oh.
Old frog, he bounced and run around,
Sing song, Poly, won't you ki me oh.
Camo, kimo, daro, war, my high, my ho,
My rumati-pumdiddle,
Scot bag, pidly-winckem, linck 'em, nip cat,
Sing song, Polly, won't you ki me oh.
In England yet another version, Kemo Kimo, was published (and no doubt others) with no reference to Froggie and indeed it had nothing but the format and chorus in common with the others. (See appendix)
Further developments of the format appear to be quite scarce, possibly due to the enormous success of the Minstrel versions, but in 1993 a reader of the Evergreen magazine sent in the following fragment which his parents used to sing sixty years previously.
My old man is ninety-nine,
Look sharp, Sally, with the kidney-o,
Wrapped his head in a ball of twine,
Look sharp, Sally, with the kidney-o,
And then----
In came Sally with her eye in a sling,
Doing this and doing that,
Juby this and Juby that,
Eat a pound of kidney fat,
Walking all around the table,
With a mousetrap and cheese plate,
My heel and my toe,
Look sharp, Sally, with the kidney-o.
The repeated refrain line puts it firmly in our remit here, but the whole appears to be part of a medley of bits from various Minstrel songs. The 'Juby' lines come from an early (c1848) Minstrel song called Juba, again by George Christy of Christy and Woods Minstrels:
Juba dis, Juba dat,
Round de kittle ob possum fat.
Rigdum 'Froggie' in oral tradition.
In Britain the song survived to be collected largely in fragmentary form with only a couple of stanzas and the chorus, barring a five-stanza version in the Grieg-Duncan Collection. In America, where more versions were found, widely dispersed, a similar pattern existed in that most versions consisted of a single stanza and chorus. Whilst a few of the stanzas from the Thomas broadside survived, as one might expect with such a song several new stanzas had appeared and some of these had been collected in more than one state. Longer versions were found in Kentucky, North Carolina, Missouri and Arizona. (See appendix for a selective list of oral versions).
Of the British oral versions extant I strongly recommend the Peter Kennedy recording of Adolphus Le Ruez of Jersey (see appendix). My first introduction to the song was in the 60s when a collated version based on Le Ruez's version was sung by Jim Eldon at my local folk club. Here is the Le Ruez text.
There was a mouse lived in a mill,
With a ringdum bullidum a coy-me,
A merry frog lived in a well,
With a ringdum bullidum a coy-me,
Coymin-ero, kil kil caro, coymin-ero coy-me,
Plim slim slam-a-diddle, ala-bull-a-ringting,
A ringdum bullidum a coy-me.
This little frog he caught a snail,
With a, &c.
And rode between his horns and tail,
With a, &c.
This little frog he went down the hill,
With a, &c.
And there he met a little white duck
Which swallowed him up with a flup, buck, buck!
With a, &c.
It is a great pity that, although we have some useful studies of the Frog and Mouse family of songs, no-one has yet produced a full Bronsonian-type study of all the ecotypes. I hope to continue at some point to do a comparative study of the texts, but I lack the necessary skills to compare the different tune types. Only a few folksongs come anywhere near the fascinating evolution and divergence of the different ecotypes in the family, and the other songs they have inspired. For this reason a comprehensive study of all the ecotypes is long overdue.
Appendix
Keemo Kimo
In South Car'lina de darkies go,
Sing song Kitty can't you ki' me oh!
Dats whar de white folks plant de tow,
Sing song Kitty can't you ki' me oh!
Cover de ground all over wid smoke,
Sing song Kitty can't you ki' me oh!
And up de darkies heads dey poke,
Sing song Kitty can't you ki' me oh!
Keemo Ki'mo! Dar! Oh whar?
Wid my hi, my ho, and in come Sally singing
Some times penny winkle, lingtum, nipcat,
Sing song Kitty can't you ki' me oh!
Milk in de dairy nine days old,
Frogs and de skeeters getting mighty bold,
Dey try for to sleep but it ain't no use,
Dere legs hang out for de chickens to roost.
Dar was a frog lived in a pool,
And sure he was de biggest fool,
But he could dance and he could sing,
And make de woods around him sing.
De wedder's warm and so am I,
I'm sure you'd lub me if you'd try,
Your jet black face I lub to see,
Then put on your tucker and be off wid me.
Lester Levy Sheet Music Collection at John Hopkins University.
Http://jhir.library.jhu.edu/handle/1774.2/4761
Kitty Kimo
Dar was a frog lived in a spring,
Sing song, Polly, won't you ki me, oh.
He had such a cold dat he could not sing,
Sing song, Polly, won't you ki me, oh.
I pull'd him out and frow'd him on de ground,
Sing song, Polly, won't you ki me, oh.
Old frog, he bounced and run around,
Sing song, Polly, won't you ki me, oh.
Camo, kimo, daro, war, my high, my ho,
My rumsti-pumdiddle, Scot bag, pidly-winckem, linck 'em, nip cat,
Sing song, Polly, won't you ki me, oh.
Milk in de dairy, nine days old,
Rats and skippers are getting bold,
A long tailed rat in a bucket of souse,
Just come down from de white folks house.
In South Carolina the n------s grow,
If de white man only plant his toe,
Water the ground with 'bacca smoke,
And up de n------'s head will poke.
Way down South—in Cedar street,
Dar's where de n—----s grow ten feet,
Dey go to bed, but 'taint no use,
Dar feet hang out for a chicken's roost.
American Memory Collection at Princeton https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/9954495593506421
Kemo Kimo!
Down in Skytown lived a maid,
Sing song, Polly won't you try me, oh?
Churning butter was her trade,
Sing song, Polly won't you try me, oh?
She loved a feller whose name was Will,
Sing song, Polly won't you try me, oh?
His dad he used to own the mill,
Sing song, Polly won't you try me, oh?
Kemo kimo where? Oh, there! My high, my low,
Then in came Sally singing,
Sometimes medley, winkum, lingtum, nipcat,
Sing song, Polly won't you try me, oh?
She wanted Will for worse or better,
She'd have married but dad would not let her,
And so she went and got a knife,
She broke her head and lost her life.
Then Josh he felt his dander rise,
So he went and swallowed pison,
The village folk laughed in their sleeve,
For Jordan's a hard road to travel I believe.
Bebbington of Manchester broadside. Image at VWML online, Frank Kidson Manuscript Collection (FK/17/59/3)
Select List of Published Oral Versions of 'Rigdum' Chorus Ecotype of The Frog and the Mouse. (There are probably many other examples to be had but without seeing the actual text it is not possible to say which ecotype it is.) One stanza and chorus unless otherwise stated.
British Examples:
Birmingham Reference Library: R. A. Gatty Collection, 1907, Book 2, p.31.
British Library Sound Archive: Steve Gardham Collection: https://sounds.bl.uk/World-and-traditional-music/Steve-Gardham-Collection/025M-C1009X0008XX-1600V0
________________Peter Kennedy Collection: https://sounds.bl.uk/World-and-traditional-music/Peter-Kennedy-Collection/025M-C0604X0739XX-0001V0 3 stanzas.
Gundry, Inglis, Canow Kernow (Cornwall, The Federation of Old Cornwall Societies, 1966, p47, 2 stanzas.
Notes and Queries, August 17th, 1850, p188: https://archive.org/details/sim_notes-and-queries_1850-08-17_2_42/page/188/mode/2up
O'Shaughnessy, Patrick, Yellowbelly Ballads, Part 1, p.31, 2 stanzas, from the Liston ecotype.
Shuldham-Shaw, Patrick, Emily B. Lyle and Katherine Campbell, The Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection, Vol. 8, pp.205-206, version B, 5 stanzas, versions D & E.
Williams, Alfred, Collection: https://www.vwml.org/search?q=little%20frog&is=1 ,2 stanzas.
North American Examples:
Belden, H. M., Ballads and Songs Collected by the Missouri Folk-Lore Society (Columbia, University of Missouri Press, 1973) p.495, version 1A, 6 stanzas; p496, version 1B.
Creighton, Helen, Maritime Folk Songs (Toronto, Breakwater, 1979) p152.
______________ and Doreen Senior, Traditional Songs from Nova Scotia (Toronto, The Ryerson Press, 1950) p.254, one Liston ecotype stanza.
Eddy, Mary O., Ballads and Songs from Ohio (New York, J. J. Augustin, 1939) p.143, version B (version A is Keemo Kimo).
Morris, Alton C., Folksongs of Florida (Gainesville, University of Florida Press, 1990) p.411, version D.
Owens, William A., Texas Folk Songs (Denton, University of North Texas Press, 2000) p.138, version B, 8 stanzas.
Peters, Harry B., Folk Songs out of Wisconsin (Madison, The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1977) P.272, 6 stanzas.
Sharp, Cecil J., English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, Vol. 2 (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2nd edn., 1952) p.312, versions A, 7 stanzas; C, 12 stanzas; p.320, version A, 4 stanzas, hybridised with Kemo Kimo.
Shoemaker, Henry W., Mountain Minstrelsy of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Newman F. McGirr, 1931) p.268, 4 stanzas from the Liston ecotype.
Sturgis, Edith B., Songs from the Hills of Vermont (New York and Boston, G. Schirmer, 1919) p.18, 6 stanzas.
White, Newman Ivey, The Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore, Vol. 5 (Durham, N.C., Duke University Press, 1962) p.85, versions A, B, B1, BB, DD, the last with 4 stanzas.
Wolf, John Quincy, Jr., The John Quincy Wolf Folklore Collection, 1952-1970, Lyon College, Arkansas. Https://www.lyon.edu/john-quincy-wolf-collection p.42, 3 stanzas; p.43; p.46, 8 stanzas; p.47, 14 stanzas; p.48; p.49, chorus only.
Wyman, Loraine, and Howard Brockway, Lonesome Tunes (Folk Songs from the Kentucky Mountains (New York, The H. W. Gray Company, 1916) p.25, 15 stanzas.
Select Bibliography.
Dungbeetle - 4.12.22