Who Did Swallow Jonah?

DESCRIPTION: "Who did (x4), Who did swallow Jo-Jo-Jonah?... Who did swallow Jonah down?" "Whale did... swallow Jonah whole." "Noah in the arky... bailed." "Daniel... in the lion's den." "David... killed Goliath."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1899 (Barton-OldPlantationHymns); 1893 (Dett/Fenner/Rathbun/Cleveland-ReligiousFolkSongsOfTheNegro-HamptonInstitute) (see notes)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious humorous
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Barton-OldPlantationHymns, p. 40, "Peter on the Sea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dett/Fenner/Rathbun/Cleveland-ReligiousFolkSongsOfTheNegro-HamptonInstitute, pp. 68-69, "Peter on the Sea" (1 text, 1 tune; pp. 88-89 in the 1901 edition) [for 1893 edition, see notes]
Henry-SongsSungInTheSouthernAppalachians, p. 196, "Jonah and the Whale" (1 text)
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore3 346, "Jonah and the Whale" (6 texts and/or fragments, but only the "D" and "E" texts and the "F" fragment are this piece; "A" and "B" are "Jonah and the Whale (Living Humble)" and "C" is "Hide Away")
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore5 346 "Jonah and the Whale" (3 tunes plus text excerpts, of which "f" is this piece)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 386, "Who Did Swallow Jonah" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
Fisk University Jubilee Quartette, "Peter on the Sea" (Edison Amberol 978, 1912)
Mustard and Gravy, "The Whale Did, I Know He Did" (Bluebird B-7905, 1938)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Daniel in the Den of Lions" (on NLCR16)
North Carolina Cooper Boys, "Daniel in the Den of Lions" (OKeh 45174, 1927; on CrowTold02)
Utica Institute Jubilee Singers, "Peter on the Sea" (Victor 21925, 1929)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Hide Away (Jonah and the Whale)" (subject) and references there
cf. "Fisherman Peter" ("Peter on the sea" theme)
cf. "We Are Almost Down to the Shore" ("Peter on the sea" theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Daniel in the Den of Lions
The Whale Did, I Know He Did
NOTES [235 words]: This may actually be two songs; I have a recording by the Brandy Snifters claiming to derive their piece from two 78s, "Daniel in the Den of Lions" by the North Carolina Cooper Boys and "The Whale Did, I Know He Did" by Mustard and Gravy. The verses of this collated version, however, are almost all found in the Folksinger's Wordbook text, though with differences in order. Pending more examples, I'm treating the piece as a unity.
The story of the fish (*not* a whale!) which swallowed Jonah is related in Jonah 2 (for more about this, see the notes to "God's Radiophone"). The Hebrews in the fiery furnace ("Shadrack, Meshak, Abindigo" -- all misspelled, be it noted) are a reference to Daniel 3. The story of Noah and the Ark (actually two stories collated) is in Genesis 6-8. David and Goliath (again, two stories collated) occupy 1 Samuel 17. - RBW
Listening to "Daniel in the Den of Lions," it's clearly the same song as, "Who Did Swallow Jonah?" - PJS
But that still leaves the mystery of "The Whale Did, I Know He Did." - RBW
I'd guess that "The Whale Did" is essentially the same song, with the title changed. - PJS
The index to the 1893 edition [of Dett/Fenner/Rathbun/Cleveland-ReligiousFolkSongsOfTheNegro-HamptonInstitute] has "Peter on the Sea" on page 88 (Thomas P. Fenner and Frederic G. Rathbun, Cabin and Plantation Songs (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1893)). I have not seen page 88. - BS
Last updated in version 5.1
File: FSWB386B

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