"Polly Wolly Doodle" was an American

minstrel A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. The term originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist enter ...

song that became a popular

children's song A children's song may be a nursery rhyme set to music, a song that children invent and share among themselves or a modern creation intended for entertainment, use in the home or education. Although children's songs have been recorded and studie ...

. It was sung by Dan Emmett's

Virginia Minstrels The Virginia Minstrels or Virginia Serenaders was a group of 19th-century American entertainers who helped invent the entertainment form known as the minstrel show. Led by Dan Emmett, the original lineup consisted of Emmett, Billy Whitlock, ...

, who premiered the song at New York's

Bowery Amphitheatre The Bowery Amphitheatre was a building in the Bowery neighborhood of New York City. It was located at 37 and 39 Bowery, across the street from the Bowery Theatre. Under a number of different names and managers, the structure served as a circus, ...

in February 1843, and is often credited to Emmett (1815–1904). The melody of the song, as it is usually sung, formed the basis for

Francis Blanche François Jean Blanche, known as "Francis Blanche" (; 20 July 1921 – 6 July 1974) was a French actor, singer, humorist and author. He was a very popular figure on stage, radio and in films, during the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Blanch ...

's 1946 song (recorded by

Lily Fayol Lily Fayol (12 June 1914, Allevard, Isère – 15 May 1999, Saint-Raphaël, Var) was a French singer. The artistic career of Lily Fayol began shortly before World War II. Acquainted with talent manager Johnny Stark she had a series of hits from ...

) " Le Gros Bill",

Boney M. Boney M. is a German reggae, funk and disco music group founded in 1974. It achieved popularity during the disco era in the second half of the 1970s. The band was created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary song ...

's hit "

Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday "Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday" is a 1979 single by German Euro disco band Boney M. as an adaptation of the song, " Polly Wolly Doodle". Despite breaking their row of 7 consecutive German #1 singles, peaking at #4, the single was a big h ...

" in 1979, as well as for

Alexandra Burke Alexandra Imelda Cecelia Ewen Burke (born 25 August 1988) is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She won the fifth series of the talent television show ''The X Factor'' in 2008. Following the show, she was signed to Syco Music and releas ...

's song " Start Without You". The tune is also found in children's music, including the

Sunday school ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...

song "O-B-E-D-I-E-N-C-E", "Radio Lollipop" by the German group die Lollipops, and the ''

Barney & Friends ''Barney & Friends'' is an American children's television series created by Sheryl Leach targeted at children ages two to five. The flagship production of the ''Barney'' franchise, it originally aired on PBS under the PBS Kids brand from Ap ...

'' songs "Alphabet Soup" (using only the tune of the first verse) and "If I Had One Wish" (which uses both verses).

Notable recordings

* 1878: Yale Glee Club * 1917: Harry C. Browne * 1926: Gid Tanner and the

Skillet Lickers The Skillet Lickers were an old-time band from Georgia, United States. When Gid Tanner teamed up with blind guitarist Riley Puckett and signed to Columbia in 1924, they created the label's earliest so-called "hillbilly" recording. Gid Tanne ...

(as "Polly Wolly Doo") * 1939:

Carter Family The Carter Family was an American folk music group that recorded and performed between 1927 and 1956. Regarded as one of the most important music acts of the early 20th century, they had a profound influence on the development of bluegrass, c ...

(as "Polly Wolly Doodle All Day") * 1951:

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...

* 1964:

Burl Ives Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American Folk music, folk singer and actor with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his o ...

* 1979:

(as "

Parodies

In his medley " Schticks of One and Half a Dozen of the Other" (1963),

Allan Sherman Allan Sherman (born Allan Copelon or Allan Gerald Copelon; November 30, 1924 – November 20, 1973) was an American musician, satirist, and television producer who became known as a song parodist in the early 1960s. His first album, '' M ...

sings a song using the "Polly Wolly Doodle" tune, with lyrics describing his attempts to lose weight ("Oh, I diet all day and I diet all night / It's enough to drive me bats..

The song "On the Picket Line," used this tune. It was sung by Trade union, labor union members and organizers to encourage participation in strikes and picket line actions,Rebel Song Book, Eighty-seven Socialist and Labor Songs for Voice and Piano, Rand School Press, New York, NY, 1935, p. 18 cited on http://www.protestsonglyrics.net/Labor_Union_Songs/On-the-Picket-Line.phtml and was included in the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...

's ''

Little Red Songbook image:wobbly boy.jpg, 180px, The ''Little Red Songbook''The ''Little Red Songbook'' is a collection of songs related to the international trade union the Industrial Workers of the World first published in 1909. Its self-declared purpose is to "fa ...

''.

References

External links

* Music video by

Vernon Dalhart Marion Try Slaughter (April 6, 1883 – September 14, 1948), better known by his stage name Vernon Dalhart, was an American country music singer and songwriter. His recording of the classic ballad " Wreck of the Old 97" was the first country son ...

(1928) {{Authority control American folk songs Blackface minstrel songs 1843 songs American children's songs Traditional children's songs Songs about Louisiana Shirley Temple songs Bing Crosby songs Alvin and the Chipmunks songs