That's Where the Crocodiles Chew Your Legs

DESCRIPTION: "That's where the crocodiles chew your legs, And the swans on the river lay hard boiled eggs, Way down, the Swanee River, no more I'll chance to roam, But if my oul' woman had the figure like Maud Allen, There'd be no place like home."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1983 (Peirce-KeepTheKettleBoiling)
KEYWORDS: river injury home bird
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peirce-KeepTheKettleBoiling, p. 58, "(That's where the crocodiles chew your legs)" (1 text)
NOTES [199 words]: Peirce-KeepTheKettleBoiling says that this is to the tune of "Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)." If so, I think some lines have been lost or rearranged.
Maud Allen (1873-1956; real name either Beulah Maude Durrant or Ulah Maud Alma Durrant, according to Wikipedia) was a musician and dancer with quite a career, based on that Wikipedia entry. Her most notable performance -- and clearly the item that gave rise to this song -- was her performance as Salome in the "Dance of the Seven Veils." Even though she was already 33 when she first played the role in 1906, she performed this wearing only jewelry on her upper body. It will be self-evident that this was controversial (as was the whole production). Controversy followed her for years, and eventually she gave up performing and became an ambulance driver and a draftswoman. Believe me, there was a lot more to her career; her Wikipedia article (checked August 17, 2023) was written by someone with only a passing acquaintance with the active voice, but is worth checking if you want to read an astoundingly dramatic life story.
The fact that the song mentions in the way it does would seem to imply a date between 1906 and about 1920. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.6
File: PKKB058D

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