Settin' on a Rail

DESCRIPTION: "As I went out by the light of the moon... Thar I spies a fat raccoon A-settin' on a rail." The singer pulls the coon off a rail and fights with it. In at least one version, the singer is a slave who helps his master on toward death
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough); sheet music for a piece entitled "Settin' on a Rail" was published by G. Willig Jr. of Baltimore some time in the nineteenth century, accordingto Dichter/Shapiro, p. 53.
KEYWORDS: animal fight slave
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-OnTheTrailOfNegroFolkSongs, pp. 177-179, "Settin' on a Rail" (2 texts, 1 tune)
ST ScNF177B (Partial)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Davy Crockett" (lyrics)
NOTES [41 words]: This shares a first line with a few versions of "Davy Crockett," which also involves a bare-hands fight with a coon -- but the overall form and feel is different enough that I think they're separate song which has cross-fertilized a little. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.6
File: ScNF177B

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