Barefoot Nellie

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, Nellie had a pair of shoes, She could wear 'em if she choose. Hi, Barefoot Nellie! Ho, Barefoot Nellie!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1971 (NorthCarolinaFolkloreJournal)
KEYWORDS: clothes
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
NorthCarolinaFolkloreJournal, Joseph D. Clarke, "Burke Davis as Folklorist," Vol. XIX, No. 2 (Mar 1971), p. 63, "(Folk Song)" (5 stanzas, probably representing multiple songs, beginning "Mamma pass the corn bread," "Chicken in the bread tray," "Oh, Nellie had a pair of shoes," "Ye living men come view the ground," "Eat the meat, gnaw the bone,"; the second is from "Granny Will Your Dog Bite?"; we file the first as "Mama Pass the Corn Bread" and the third as "Barefoot Nellie"; the last two are too short to file)
NOTES [74 words]: The bluegrass-inclined duo of (Don) Reno and (Red) Smiley recorded a song called "Barefoot Nellie" which includes all of NorthCarolinaFolkloreJournal text, using the Hi! Barefoot Nellie! Ho! Barefoot Nellie" lines as a chorus. It's pretty well-known in bluegrass circles -- but I suspect it is an expansion or rewrite, and so am not filing that song as the same as this fragment. The Reno/Smiley 78 was King 1490, reportedly recorded 1954. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.1
File: NCF192BN

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography