Karo Song

DESCRIPTION: Floating-verse song, with chorus "Oh, hear my true love weeping, Oh, hear my true love sigh, I was gwinging down to Karo town, Down there to live and die." Verses about Old Master's habits, the possum up the 'simmon tree, and courting Miss Sallie
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: courting floatingverses love
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Scarborough-OnTheTrailOfNegroFolkSongs, pp. 170-171, "Karo Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Parrish-SlaveSongsOfTheGeorgiaSeaIslands, p. 119, ("Went to see my Sally") (1 fragment)
Roud #3444
NOTES [68 words]: Roud lumps this with the "Lynchburg Town" family, based on little more that I can see than a line in the chorus. There is hardly a word in the piece that isn't paralleled elsewhere, but the chorus seems relatively unique.
Scarborough thinks the Karo of the title is Cuero ("Cwaro"), Texas, but given the composite nature of the piece, I think the reference -- as in most folk songs -- is to Cairo, Illinois. - RBW
Last updated in version 4.1
File: ScaNF170

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