Tramping Chant

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, the firefly is brilliant, but he hasn't any mind; He wanders through creation With his headlight on behind. Then cast your bread upon the water, And you'll see just what returns, Another time -- oh well, no matter; He who travels sometimes learns."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Shoemaker-MountainMinstrelsyOfPennsylvania)
KEYWORDS: bug nonballad
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Shoemaker-MountainMinstrelsyOfPennsylvania, p. 115, "Tramping Chant" (1 short text) (p. 98 in the 1919 edition)
Roud #14088
NOTES [75 words]: This sounds to me like a camp song, but it's too early for that.
The first stanza occurs in "The Herald and Presbyter" of January 12, 1916 (available on Google Books), p. 26, but with a different second verse:
Now the measuring worm is different,
When he goes out for pelf,
He measures to the limit,
And then he humps himself.
There is no attribution for this version ether.
Google has a few other citations, but none that explained the originl - RBW
Last updated in version 6.5
File: Shoe115A

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