"and we know every inch of the way / from albany to buffalo / low bridge, everybody down"

[larryhammer]

TBD is in a phase of demanding we sing to her frequently, and I've taken to ransacking leafing through our folk song collections for something, anything, that I remember from my childhood. "The Grandfather Clock" was a nice rediscovery, as was "Erie Canal."* Aside from the problem of not having the True, Correct Version of "Froggy Went a-Courting,"** there is a significant omission from all of them -- none seem to have this favorite:

White coral bells upon a slender stalk,
Lilies-of-the-valley deck my garden walk.
Oh, don't you wish that you could hear them ring?
That will happen only when the fairies sing.

Does anyone else know this round? Or other, similar bits of loveliness?


* Original title: "Low Bridge, Everybody Down." Huh. Also, originally three verses instead of two.

** The one from an old Pete Seeger LP with the chorus "Here's to Cheshire, here's to cheese / here's to the pears and the apple trees / and here's to the lovely strawberries / ding-dang-dong went the wedding bells."

---L.

Subject quote from "Low Bridge, Everybody Down," Thomas S. Allen.

Comments

[kate_nepveu]

Well, if we were taught it in MA it entirely failed to stick, and I think I'd probably remember it.

Yes, I made a point of not singing them anything I didn't agree with the lyrics to, which rules out, e.g,. "You Are My Sunshine."

[larryhammer]

Yeah, that. I'm still trying to come up with an alternate line for the ants when they come marching seven by seven.

---L.