Go Mary and Toll the Bell

DESCRIPTION: Chorus: "Go Mary and toll the bell, Come John and call the roll, I thank God." Verses: "Who is that coming dressed in white (red, blue, black), They must be the children of the Israelite (Moses led, coming through), mourners turning back), I thank God."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1901 (Dett/Fenner/Rathbun/Cleveland-ReligiousFolkSongsOfTheNegro-HamptonInstitute)
KEYWORDS: nonballad religious floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Dett/Fenner/Rathbun/Cleveland-ReligiousFolkSongsOfTheNegro-HamptonInstitute, p. 153, "Go, Mary, an' Toll de Bell" (1 text, 1 tune; p. 113 in the 1901 edition)
ADDITIONAL: Howard W. Odum, Religious Folk-Songs of the Southern Negroes, (reprint from American Journal of Religious Psychology and Education, July 1909, Vol.3 pp. 265-365 "Digitized by Internet Archive")), p. 95, ("Go, Mary, an' ring de bell") (1 fragment)
Roud #15231
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Go Tell It on the Mountain (I -- Christmas)" (lyrics, some versions)
File: Dett153

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