Wonderful Crocodile, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer, shipwrecked at (La Perouse), encounters the crocodile. He describes its immensity: Five hundred miles long, etc. Blown into its mouth, he lives well on the other things lost inside. At last the beast dies; the singer spends six months escaping
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(4288))
KEYWORDS: animal talltale monster sailor
FOUND IN: Australia Ireland US(MW,NE) Britain(England(South,Lond),Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Mar,Newf,Ont)
REFERENCES (19 citations):
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "CROCODILE, THE"
Meredith/Anderson-FolkSongsOfAustralia, pp. 134-135, "The Wonderful Crocodile" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Scott-AuthenticAustralianBushBallads, pp. 10-11, "The Wonderful Crocodile" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fahey-PintPotAndBilly, pp. 18-19, "The Crocodile" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Mills/Blume-CanadasStoryInSong, pp. 157-159, "The Crocodile" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering-BalladsAndSongsOfSouthernMichigan 196, "The Wonderful Crocodile" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lane/Gosbee-SongsOfShipsAndSailors, p. 17, "The Crocodile" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig/Duncan8 1700, "The Crocodile" (1 text)
Greig-FolkSongInBuchan-FolkSongOfTheNorthEast #14, p. 1, "The Crocodile" (1 text)
Henry/Huntingdon/Herrmann-SamHenrysSongsOfThePeople H231a, p. 28, "The Crocodile" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Kennedy-FolksongsOfBritainAndIreland 292, "The Crocodile" (1 text, 1 tune)
Broadwood/Maitland-EnglishCountySongs, pp. 184-185, "The Crocodile" (1 text, 1 tune)
Purslow-MarrowBones, p. 20, "The Crocodile" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders/Brown-VermontFolkSongsAndBallads, pp. 168-170, "The Rummy Crocodile" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior-TraditionalSongsOfNovaScotia, pp. 230-232, "Crocodile Song" (1 text, probably this, 1 tune)
Creighton-SongsAndBalladsFromNovaScotia 60, "Crocodile Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pottie/Ellis-FolksongsOfTheMaritimes, pp. 142-143, "Crocodile Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax/Lomax-AmericanBalladsAndFolkSongs, pp. 498-500, "The Wonderful Crocodile" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, WONDCROC
Roud #886
RECORDINGS:
Mike Molloy, "Crocodile Song" (on MUNFLA/Leach)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(4288), "The Wonderful Crocodile," J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also 2806 c.16*(150), Harding B 11(1317), Harding B 11(1141), Harding B 11(4289), Harding B 11(4290), Firth c.12(412), "[The] Wonderful Crocodile
NLScotland, RB.m.143(134), "The Crocodile," Poet's Box (unknown), c.1890
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Derby Ram" (theme)
cf. "The Grey Goose" (theme)
SAME TUNE:
End for End Jack (per broadside NLScotland RB.m.143(134))
A Tough Yarn ("Ladies and gents' if you will listen a little while to me") (Wolf-AmericanSongSheets p. 158)
NOTES [101 words]: The similarity to "The Derby Ram" should be obvious. It is also noteworthy that most versions show very little variation; one must suspect a broadside ancestor somewhere.
Folklore sometimes claimed the flesh of the crocodile as an aphrodisiac (don't ask me why). I don't seem much connection between that idea and this song, but perhaps it suggested that the crocodile was "wonderful" and, well, big....
On the other hand, Meredith/Scott-AuthenticAustralianBushBallads mentions a British naval vessel of the 1830s, H. M. S. Crocodile, and wonder if this might "be a veiled reference to the press-gang." - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: MA134

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