GUM TREE CANOE (THE
TOMBIGBEE RIVER)
On
the Tombigbee river so bright I was born,
In
a hut made of husks of the tall yaller corn,
It
was there that I first met my Julia so true
And
I row'd her about in my Gum Tree Canoe
chorus: Sing row away, row o'er the
waters so blue,
Like a feather we'll float,
in
my Gum Tree Canoe - 2X
All
day in the fields of soft cotton I'd hoe,
And
think of my Julia and sing as I go,
I’d
catch her a bird with a wing of true blue,
And
at night row her ‘round in my Gum Tree Canoe.
Sing
row away…
With
my hand on the banjo and a toe on the oar,
I
would sing her a song to the river's soft roar,
While
the bright stars shone down on my Julia so true,
They
danced in her eyes in my Gum Tree Canoe.
Sing
row away…
One
day the old river bore us so far away,
That
we couldn't come back, so we thought we'd just stay,
And
we spied a tall ship with a flag of true blue
And
she took us in tow in the Gum Tree Canoe.
Sing
row away…
Note: It was
published in Boston (as much of the first-period minstrel music
was) in
1847, only 4 years after Dan Emmett and the boys got the whole thing
rolling.
(Cover text is as follows): PLANTATION MELODIES, The words by S.S.
STEELE, Esq.
as sung by A.F. WINNEMORE and his band of VIRGINIA SERENADERS. Arranged
for the
Piano Forte by A. F. WINNEMORE.
1. The Gum Tree Canoe
2. Kate of Carolina (Note: other songs were sold with same
cover)
3. Dinah Doe
4. Away to the Sugar Cane
Field
5. Farewell to Georgia
6. De Eel Catcher's Glee
BOSTON, Published by Geo. F. Reed, 17 Tremont Row.
Entered
according (blurred) copyright in the year 1847 by Geo. P. Reed in the
Clerk's
Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. (inside): THE GUM TREE
CANOE
Written by S.S. Steele, Sung by A.F.Winnemore
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