Do 'Round My Lindy

DESCRIPTION: "Do 'round my Lindy, do 'round my Jane, Gonna run away with a pretty little girl....." "My Lindy, she's handsome..., Broke my new suspenders down and sat down on my ..." "Wish I was an alligator... Open up my mouth... and scoot little Lindy in."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1982 (Rosenbaum-FolkVisionsAndVoices); recorded by Fiddlin' John Carson c. 1925
KEYWORDS: courting animal
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Rosenbaum-FolkVisionsAndVoices, p. 212, "Do 'Round My Lindy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #16278
RECORDINGS:
Fiddlin' John Carson, "Do Round My Lindy" (Okeh 45032, 1925?)
NOTES [146 words]: Rosenbaum-FolkVisionsAndVoices, p. 212, notes that the second verse of this, as recorded, does not rhyme. The verse runs
My Lindy, she's handsome, my Lindy she's stout,
Broke my new suspenders down and sat down on my ??
Fiddlin' John Carson recorded the last word as "hat." Rosenbaum's informant Ray Knight sang "hand." Mark Wilson suggested "lap" (and emended "stout" in the first line to "fat"). My first guess was that there was a tradition that gave the last line as "mouth," with sexual implications, and that the various performers bowdlerized it. Ed Cray agrees with the suggestion of bowdlerization, but suggests that the word is "spout," and I personally think this almost certainly correct. I should note, however, that when I asked the Ballad-L list about this, Jonathan Lighter expressed reservations, while John Patrick suggested rhyming "Kerflat" with "lap." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.6
File: Rose212

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