One for the Blackbird

DESCRIPTION: Folk wisdom: "One for the blackbird, Two for the crow, Three for the cutworm, An' the rest for to grow." Or, "...cutworm, And four to grow."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1923
KEYWORDS: harvest bird nonballad
FOUND IN: US(MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph 275, "The Crow Song" (with only the "E" fragment belonging here)
Killion/Waller-ATreasuryOfGeorgiaFolklore, p. 184, "One for the Hoe" (1 text)
MidwestFolklore, W. L. McAtee, "Some Folklore of Grant County, Indiana, in the Nineties," Volume 1, Number 4 (WInter 1951), p. 259, "(One for the blackbird)" (1 text)
Roud #21651
NOTES [61 words]: Killion/Waller-ATreasuryOfGeorgiaFolklore explain this by saying, "Five grains of corn should be planted to each hill": they have one each for the hoe, crow, and cutworm, and two remaining to grow. MidwestFolklore offers a similar explanation, describing it as a riddle about growth. Nonetheless it is clearly the same rhyme, if used in different circumstances. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: R275E

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