Other Day I Met a Bear, The

DESCRIPTION: Lead-and-response song: "The other day (the other day) I met a bear (I met a bear), Up in the woods Away up there." The bear looks, sees the speaker has no gun, and starts to chase him. The singer jumps, catches a branch, hopes he won't see the bear again
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 2014 (Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs)
KEYWORDS: humorous animal escape campsong
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Pankake/Pankake-PrairieHomeCompanionFolkSongBook, pp. 44-45, "The Other Day I Met a Bear" (1 text, tune referenced)
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, pp. 318-329, 346, 347, 431, 501, "The Other Day I Saw a Bear" (notes, with a sample stanza on p. 320 and two texts on pp. 325-329; the "C" version is "The Preacher and the Bear"; bibliography on pp. 678-680, but it is mostly "The Preacher and the Bear")
DT, IMETBEAR
Roud #37851
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Sucking Cider through a Straw" (tune)
cf. "The Preacher and the Bear" (theme)
NOTES [99 words]: Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, p. 319, suggests that "The Preacher and the Bear" may be the "precursor" of this. I wouldn't be surprised if the author of this had heard the other, but there really isn't much in common between the two except the idea of meeting a bear and ending up fleeing up a tree. It is possible that this might arise from a worthwhile attempt to clean up the racist references of the original. But, as Folk Revival versions show, that could be done without abandoning the humor of the original. This song has different jokes. I don't think there is significant dependence. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.3
File: ACSF318O

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