Dog Shark

DESCRIPTION: "Daddy eat dog shark Ma Lingay." "Take them one by one Ma Lingay. Take them two by two. Take them three by three Ma Lingay. Take them four by four."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940 (Elder-FolkSongAndFolkLifeInCharlotteville)
KEYWORDS: fishing food
FOUND IN: West Indies(Tobago)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Elder-FolkSongAndFolkLifeInCharlotteville, p. 62, "Dog Shark" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES [59 words]: This seems to me to be a counting game song, not far different from Jamaican "Go Down Emmanuel Road." Elder says nothing about this song, or about counting game songs in Tobago, so this is just my guess.
If these dog shark are anything like the Coney Island dogfish of the 1940's they are small and harmless, and more a nuisance than a prized catch. - BS
Last updated in version 4.0
File: ElCh062A

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