Raftsman Jim

DESCRIPTION: "So her pop says, 'Nay,' and he lopes right away, And bobs right back the very next day; And he shuts one eye, And looks very sly, She gives her pop the sweet bye-bye." Chorus: "There ain't no cub as neat as him, Dandy, handy raftsman Jim!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Russell)
KEYWORDS: ship sailor courting father
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Botkin-TreasuryOfAmericanFolklore, p. 840, "Raftsman Jim" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Charles Edward Russell, _A-Rafting on the Mississip'_,, 1928 (republished 2001 by the University of Minnesota Press), pp. 209-211, "Raftsman Jim" (1 text, scattered across several pages, 1 tune)
NOTES [63 words]: Walter Havinghurst, Upper Mississippi: A Wilderness Saga, Farrar & Rinehart, 1937, 1944, titles a chapter on river life "Raftsman Jim," and quotes the chorus of this on p. 252. Russell's chapter of river songs is also titled "Raftsman Jim." Although Russell's seems to be the only full text collected, it appears that Raftsman Jim was fairly well known in river folklore. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BAF840

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