I'm 70 years old, and I'm looking for the following 3 songs my parents
knew or had that I can't find:

1.  In the mid-40s my parents had a 78 rpm record containing a song
with words "roughly" similar to the following:
"When I got back from the Rio Grande, 
like I never have done before;
When I got back from the Rio Grande,
Just a route from that high grass town;
Oh Lordy what they did to me;
It lingers in my memory; 
From early mornin' til the sun went down; 
I got bunkers all around; 
Cut more capers in a circus town; 
Darn that route from the high grass town."

2. In the early-to-mid 40s, my mother sang a lullaby to us, her 7
children, with words "roughly" as follows:
"Wowataysee, little firefly;
Light me with your little candle;
Aire upon my, bed I lay now;
Aire in sleep I, close my eyelids."

3. In the mid-to-late 40's,my mother sang a song with words "roughly" as follows:
"Around the corner, and under a tree;
Sat Sargeant Major, who made love to me;
He kissed me once and, he kissed me twice;
It wasn't just the thing to do, but gosh it was so nice."

I've been looking a long time for these songs with no success.  It
sure would be great if you could help.

Thanks, Bill Rose

Dear bikerbill,

The first song is, as my colleague Pinkfreud-ga informed me, "High
Grass Town" by folk singer Bradley Kincaid (July 13, 1895 - September
23, 1989). Unfortunately, Kincaid's recordings are very rare. But I
found a CD that contains his "High Grass Town", available for $15.00
from Country Sales:
http://www.countysales.com/php-bin/ecomm4/products.php?product_id=2038

If you would like to know more about Bradley Kincaid, please follow these links:

Wikipedia Encyclopedia: Bradley Kincaid
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradley_Kincaid

Nashville Songwriters Foundation: Hall of Fame - Bradley Kincaid
http://www.nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com/fame/kincaid.html

The second song are lines from "The Song of Hiawatha" by Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 ? March 24, 1882). More
precisely, those lines derive from part III of the poem, "Hiawatha's
Childhood". Here are the exact words:

"Wah-wah-taysee, little fire-fly,
Little, flitting, white-fire insect,
Little, dancing, white-fire creature,
Light me with your little candle,
Ere upon my bed I lay me,
Ere in sleep I close my eyelids!"

You can read the entire text of "Hiawatha's Childhood" here, at Classic Reader:
http://www.classicreader.com/read.php/sid./bookid.147/sec.4/

If you would like to learn about the author, please follow this link
to the Wikipedia Encyclopedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Wadsworth_Longfellow


The third song is an old traditional, a recursive song which can be
found in numerous variants. Basically, the lyrics are always:

"Around the corner, and under a tree,
A gallant soldier made love to me.
He kissed me once and then he kissed me twice.
It wasn't exactly the thing to do, but golly it was nice!"

However, instead of "a gallant soldier", many variations exist, like:
- sergeant major
- gallant sailor
- hardhead soldier
- Bengali lady
- Malay lady
- Tamil lady
- Chinese lady

The song is of unknown origin and dates at least from World War I.


I hope that this answers your question!
Best regards,
Scriptor



Sources:

The Mudcat Café: WWII Songs
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=10366&messages=145&page=1&desc=yes

Wikipedia Encyclopedia: Bradley Kincaid
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradley_Kincaid

Nashville Songwriters Foundation: Hall of Fame - Bradley Kincaid
http://www.nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com/fame/kincaid.html

Wikipedia Encyclopedia: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Wadsworth_Longfellow

Classic Reader: The Song of Hiawatha - Hiawatha's Childhood
http://www.classicreader.com/read.php/sid./bookid.147/sec.4/

Search terms used:
"in sleep I, close my eyelids"
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&q=%22in+sleep+I%2C+close+my+eyelids%22&btnG=Google-Suche&meta=
"Around the corner" "under a tree" "kissed me once"
://www.google.de/search?num=20&hl=de&newwindow=1&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=%22Around+the+corner%22+%22under+a+tree%22+%22kissed+me+once%22&btnG=Suche&meta=
"high grass town" kincaid
://www.google.de/search?num=20&hl=de&newwindow=1&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=%22high+grass+town%22+kincaid&btnG=Suche&meta=
"Around the corner and under a tree" "kissed me"
://www.google.de/search?num=20&hl=de&newwindow=1&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=%22Around+the+corner+and+under+a+tree%22+%22kissed+me%22&btnG=Suche&meta=

Thank you very much!