A classic among traditional mountain folk songs of the southern Appalachians. Text for this song varies considerably as does the refrain lines. It appears in most all the many collections & books written on the music of the southern mountains. Variants of the song was collected by the great folksong collectors like Cecil Sharp, Frank Brown, Bascomb Lunsford and other folklorists in the early 1900s across North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia & Missouri. Commonly it is classed as dance music or with play-party songs, or may be just a singing song unaccompanied by music. Some folks tend to think the variation in the refrain lines is due to the individual singers attempt to imitate the banjo sound.
Chickens a crowin' in the Sourwood Mountains
Hi-ho doodle-um a-day
So many pretty girls you can't count em
Hi-ho diddle-um a-day
Say old man I want your daughter
Hi-ho doodle-um a-day
Bake some bread carry in the water
Hi-ho diddle-um a-day
Big dog bark, little dog bite you
Hi-ho doodle-um a-day
Big girl courts, little ones spite you
Hi-ho diddle-um a-day
My true love lives up the hollow
Hi-ho doodle-um a-day
She won't come and I won't follow
Hi-ho diddle-um a-day
My true love lives up on the river
Hi-ho doodle-um a-day
A few more miles and I'll be with her
Hi-ho diddle-um a-day
Ducks in the mill pond, geese in the clover
Hi-ho doodle-um a-day
Tell them pretty girls, I'am comin over
Hi-ho diddle-all day
Sally Anne
Folk songs such as Sally Anne, sang and played here in the mountains of Western North Carolina for many generations. Traditional folk song lyrics accompanied with banjo and fiddle music made up most of the rural entertainment here in this section of the southern Appalachian mountains before the days of radio & tv. This is a favorite old-time frolic/dance song, the words I learned from my family. Listen to a banjo version.
The next big meeting, gonna join the band
Going to the wedding 0' Sally Anne
Shake that little foot, Sally Anne
Great big wedding up, Sally Anne
Going to the wedding 0' Sally Anne
Great big wedding up, Sally Anne
Bread in a poke, pig in the pan
Off to the wedding 0' Sally Anne
Shake that sweet thing, Sally Anne
Great big wedding up, Sally Anne
Repeat Chorus
The next big meeting, gonna join the band
Going to the wedding 0' Sally Anne
Shake that little foot, Sally Anne
Great big wedding up, Sally Anne
Going to the wedding 0' Sally Anne
Great big wedding up, Sally Anne
Bread in a poke, pig in the pan
Off to the wedding 0' Sally Anne
Shake that sweet thing, Sally Anne
Great big wedding up, Sally Anne
Repeat Chorus
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