Song of All Nations

DESCRIPTION: "I'll sing you a song of all nations." An Irishman's made of "his shamrock so green and a jug of poteen." Similar lines for Scotchman, Englishman, Frenchman, Jew, ..., old men, old ladies, ..., mammys and daddys.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Creighton-FolksongsFromSouthernNewBrunswick)
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-FolksongsFromSouthernNewBrunswick 80, "Song of All Nations" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST CrSNB180 (Partial)
Roud #2766
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "What's Little Babies Made Of?" (concept)
NOTES [109 words]: The first part of this has rather the feeling of the educations songs one finds in Randolph and other sources ("States and Capitals," "The Presidents in Rhyme," things like that). But it doesn't really contain information, so this origin seems unlikely.
The second half, in which the song stops talking about various nationalities and turns to types of people (old men, old ladies, etc.) is similar in concept to "What Are Little Boys Made Of" and "What's Little Babies Made Of," but the actual "ingredients" are different enough that I think they qualify as separate songs. There may be a common inspiration somewhere in the distant past, to be sure. - RBW
File: CrSNB180

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