Childhood poem

[electra225]

When I was coming up, my great grandmother was the local schoolmarm in our one-room schoolhouse. She sang me a little song when I was just a tadpole that has partially stuck in my memory for over 70 years. I remember her putting me on her lap, in her big rocking chair, and singing me this little song. She was not much of a singer, a trait she passed on to most of her offspring. There was more than one verse to the song, as I remember. I finally found the words and music to the "Sunbeam" song Brother Morris taught us in Sunday School. I have been also trying to find the entirety of this poem and song for eons and can't seem to find any reference to it anywhere. Grandma called it the "Lady and the Crocodile" song. I had to memorize and recite a poem for school when I was in third grade. I recited this song, as much as I remembered. I liked the song and I figured since grandma liked it so well, I might get brownie points with her in school. She put a star by my name on the blackboard, the highest honor bestowed on us kids back then. What I remember of the song is this:

She rode away on sunny, sunny day,
On the back of the crocodile.
"You see" said she "He's as tame as he can be,
I'll ride him up the Nile".
Well, the croc winked his eye as she waved us all goodbye,
wearing a happy smile.
But by the end of the ride,
the lady was inside,
and the smile was on the crocodile.....

This is a final or late version of the song. There were other verses before this one. I may not totally remember all this verse. I would love to find the entire poem and the music for it. Grandma would sing the song in German occasionally, so it might be as old as the 1800's. She was a mail-order bride coming to this country in 1898, not speaking a word of English. She always communicated with her parents and siblings in German. Not a lady given to strong language, she would cuss in German.....

[TC Chris]

I've seen that somewhere before. Earlier generations had to make their own music, so many sang and played instruments (not always well, I''m sure, but adequately to the occasion). We have a studio photo of my Alabama grandfather as a boy with his father and brothers in their family brass band. And I remember him sitting on the big front porch in B'ham, singing "Little Brown Church in the Vale" and "K-K-K-Katie." He did in 1955 so I had no chance to get stories from him.

Chris Campbell

[TC Chris]

https://music.apple.com/gb/song/k-k-k-katy/1339668228

CC