"Bang Bang Lulu" Songs: Examples Of Verses Of Lulu Throwing Sonny Jim/Tiny Tim In The Water To See If He Could Swim

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision - April 25, 2025

This pancocojams post present several examples of a specific verse from bawdy ("dirty"; 'vulgar") song entitled "Lulu" ("Bang Bang Lulu"; "My Gal Lula" etc).  The verses that are showcased in this post are about Lula's baby named "Sunny Jim" ("Sonny Jim",  "Tiny Tim" (or similar name) being thrown in water "to see if he could swim".

Although the woman in the the bawdy songs is usually named "Lulu" or "Lula", in some of those songs, the woman is named "Rosie". 

Information about "Lulu" songs is included in this post along with information about "Miss Lucy Had A Baby" (also known as "The Lady With The Alligator Purse" or other titles.

"Miss Lucy Had A Baby" and "Miss Susie Had A Steamboat" are two children's recreational rhymes that were heavily influenced by the bawdy "Lulu" songs. In those two recreational rhymes, the woman may be named "Susie" or "Mary" or have some other common two syllable English language female name. 

The content of this post is presented for folkloric purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. 

****

GENERAL OVERVIEW OF "LULU" SONGS
Excerpt #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bang_Bang_Lulu
"Bang Bang Lulu" is a traditional American song with many variations. It derives from older songs most commonly known as "Bang Bang Rosie" in Ireland, "Bang Away Lulu" in Appalachia,[1] and "My Lula Gal" in the West.[2][6] The form "Bang Bang Lulu" became widespread in the United States from its use as a cadence during the World Wars. The song uses the tune of "Goodnight, Ladies". The modern version was produced by Marty Munsch in late 1995 and was penned by The Traumaschool Dropouts a punk rock outfit from Albany NY who gained international acclaim for its release.

Traditional song

All versions concern a woman and her various lovers. The early forms were sometimes very directly crude, violent, or infanticidal.[7] Published versions probably drastically understate the song's popularity,[1] particularly since the first mentions allude to 78[8] or 900[9] additional verses unfit for printing. Robert Gordon, the first head of the Library of Congress's Archive of American Folk Song, included his variants of Lulu among the "Inferno" section which was excluded from the library's general collection for its "bawdy and scatological subject matter".[10]

One verse appeared in Owen Wister's 1902 novel on p. 96 The Virginian:[8]

If you go to monkey with my Looloo girl,
I'll tell you what I'll do:
I'll carve out your heart with my razor, AND
I'll shoot you with my pistol, too—

Nine appeared in Carl Sandburg's 1927 American Songbag among its "Railroad and Work Gangs" songs, including Wister's and:[9]

[...]

Roy Acuff and his Crazy Tennesseans recorded "When Lulu's Gone" under the pseudonym of the Bang Boys in 1936.[13] Another version—"Lulu"—was recorded by Oscar Brand on his 1958 Old Time Bawdy Sea Shanties. Verses from this song also developed into "Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms", recorded by Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs and many others after them.[2]."

Military cadences

Most military cadences suggested explicit rhymes but skipped back to the chorus rather than complete them"...
-snip-
The portion of "Miss Lucy Had A Baby" rhymes that refers to a mother throwing her baby in a body of water "to see if he could swim" could be interpreted as infanticide (Lulu being described as being a  whore who was trying to get rid of an unwanted baby. AND / OR The word and the end of one line and at the beginning of the next line provide opportunities for children to say something risque and taboo with "plausible deniability" and therefore with little or no consequences..

However, it's also probable that most younger children chanting "Miss Lucy Had A Baby" or "Miss Susie Had A Steamboat" recreational rhymes that developed from the Lulu songs, understood/understand the real implication of these rhymes or understand what those ending or beginning words really mean. 

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2023/11/chronological-documentation-of-lulu.html for the closely related pancocojams post entitled "Chronological Documentation Of "Lulu" ("Bang Bang Lulu") Bawdy Songs In Books & Records (1902 to 2002)".

Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/10/similarities-differences-between-bang.html for the 2013 pancocojams post entitled "Similarities & Differences Between "Bang Bang Lulu" & "Miss Lucy Had A Steamboat".

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Excerpt #2
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=84511
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bang Bang Rosie
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 01 Mar 07 - 05:07 PM

..."Guy Logsden records about a dozen verses, in The Whorehouse Bells Were Ringing: and other songs cowboys sing, for "My Lulu Gal." Alternate titles noted include "Lula," "My Lulu," "Bang Away, My Lulu," Bang, Bang Lulu," "She Is a Lulu," "and many more."

Collection notes indicate the first printed reference to "Lulu" in cowboy song is from 1902, when Owen Wister has the hero in The Virginian sing one verse. The verse used is commonly known, but Wister stated "that the other 78 verses were unprintable."

Logsdon also relates that "Lulu/Lula" was immensely popular with the military personnel of many nations during the WWI era, and that Anthony Hopkins in Songs From the Front and Rear (1979) and C.W. "Bill" Getz in The Wild Blue Yonder (1986) include "the uncensored Lula known and loved by servicemen."...

****
Excerpt #3
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=84511
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bang Bang Rosie
From: Lighter
Date: 01 Mar 07 - 05:23 PM

"Edward A. Dolph reported that unprintable "Lulu" was the favorite American marching song in WW I after "Hinky Dinky Parley Voo."

Gordon's Inferno collection tends to support this."
-snip-
Read information about Gordon's Inferno collection in  Example #1 of the "Partial Examples Of Lulu Songs" section this pancocojams post.

****
Excerpt #4
From http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080410082538AA8QrHv "What is your favorite Cadence?

-Doc Hudson answered in 2007
..."Then there were the many dozens of verses of Bang Bang Lulu, some of which are even repeatable in mixed company, but not many of them. We once got in trouble marching along to some of the racier verses"...
-snip-
"Racy" [racier"] means mildly sexually suggestive. That adjective has nothing to do with the noun "race".

****
"LULU" SONGS CONNECTION TO THE CHILDREN'S RECREATIONAL RHYME "MISS LUCY HAD A BABY"
Excerpt #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3ABang_Bang_Lulu
"Schoolyard version]
"It seems very, very likely that some version of this ["Lulu"] song morphed into "Miss Lucy had a baby" and (/from there) "Miss Susie had a steamboat" "
-snip-
"morphed into" = "developed into"

Update April 4, 25, 2025
Here are two examples of "Miss Lucy" ("Miss Lucy Had A Baby") recreational rhyme that the contributors categorized as a hand clapping rhyme

Example #1
from https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~sprite/jmp.html#lbaby Clapping Rhymes and Jumprope Jingles (April 1997)

"Miss Lucy had a baby,
His name was Tiny Tim,
She put him in the water,
To see if he could swim.

He drank up all the water,
He ate up all the soap,
He tried to eat the bathtub
but it wouldn't go down his throat.

Miss Lucy called the doctor,
The doctor called the nurse,
The nurse called the lady
with the alligator purse.

In walked the doctor,
In walked the nurse,
In walked the lady
with the alligator purse.

Measles said the doctor,
Mumps said the nurse,
Nothing said the lady
with the alligator purse.

Out walked the doctor,
Out walked the nurse,
Out walked the lady
with the alligator purse.   /   with Tiny Tim in her purse."
-snip-
"CMU"= Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Here's the introduction to this page:
"What's this, and what is it doing on the Web?

I was talking to my sister Casey, who is eleven this October (1994), about what girls in elementary school do during recess. (We asked my brother what boys do, because they never played the girls' games. He declined to comment.) One popular pastime has always been jumping rope, often while the two kids turning the rope chant a rhyme. I could never jump rope without tripping almost immediately, which revelation was a source of vast amusement to my little sister. Another pastime, open even to the comparatively clumsy, involved chanting or singing a rhyme while clapping hands with another kid (or three). I discovered that kids at the school I went to (in St. Louis, Missouri, USA) use the same songs as ten years ago, with one or two additions probably attributable to children who originally lived elsewhere. I got to wondering how widespread this particular phenomenon is, and figured the most interesting way to find out would be to put it on the web"...
-snip-
An example of the cumulative life events rhyme "When Miss Lucy Was A Baby" (She went like this) is also given on that page as chanted by the contributor's sister Casey.   

****
Example #2
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmL8uTlWSgY "Miss Lucy" published by Sarah Luther,

Apr 9, 2020

"This is the video for the clapping game Miss Lucy! Try this out with a partner!

Lyrics:

Miss Lucy had a baby, she named him Tiny Tim.
She put him in the bathtub to see if he could swim.

He drank up all the water, he ate up all the soap.
He tried to eat the bathtub but it wouldn't go down his throat.

He floated down the river, he floated down the lake.
And now Miss Lucy's baby has got a tummy ache

Miss Lucy called the doctor, Miss Lucy called the nurse.
Miss Lucy called the lady with the alligator purse.

Measles said the doctor, measles said the nurse.
Chicken pox said the lady with the alligator purse.

Penicillin said the doctor, penicillin said the nurse.
Pizza said the lady with the alligator purse.

Out went the doctor, Out went the nurse.
Out went the lady with the alligator purse.

-snip-
*Sarah Luther appears to be a White woman. Her manner of speaking suggests she is from the United States.

This version of "Miss Lucy" is much closer to the beginning verse about Sonny Jim/Tiny Tim in the "Bang Bang Lulu" songs than example #1 given above or other versions of "Miss Lucy" recreational rhymes that I can recall coming across. I don't recall finding the verse about the baby being thrown in the lake and a stomach ache in other examples of the "Miss Lucy" recreational rhyme that I've come across.

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITORS NOTES ABOUT THE "MISS LUCY HAD A BABY"  RHYMES 
Based on my direct collection of "Miss Lucy Had A Baby" rhymes in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (in the 1990s and early 2000s) and based on my indirect collection of examples of this rhyme on YouTube (from around 2007 to date), it appears to me that the tune for these rhymes is very consistent. It also appears to me that the words for the beginning portion of "Miss Lucy Had A Baby" are usually quite fixed (meaning the words are the same in all of the versions). Almost all of the "Miss Lucy Had A Baby" rhymes that I've come across begin with a verse about Miss Lucy throwing her baby (or her brother, a turtle, of her boyfriend) in the bathtub or some other body of water to see if he could swim. (Notice that the baby is always referred to as "he" and not "she"). 

However, many examples of "Miss Lucy Had A Baby" rhymes show considerable divergence (are often quite different) after the line about three people [the doctor, the nurse, and the lady with the alligator purse) coming "in" [coming to provide health care to the baby who is sick.] These rhymes continue with lots of different ways and reasons why those three people go "out" [leave Miss Lucy and her baby (or her brother, boyfriend, turtle)]. 

The coming in and going out words were "originally" direction commands for a person who was jumping in the middle of a rope that was being turned by two "enders" (two people holding either end of the rope and rhythmically turning it.)
 
Since around the late 1960s in the United States, the usual performance activity that accompanies chanting children's recreational rhymes (playground rhymes) changed from jump rope to performing hand clapping routines (usually with a partner)  As a result of this change, it's likely that a lot of people don't recognize the in and out commands in "Miss Lucy Had A Baby" and in some other recreational rhymes as commands for players to jump in and later jump out of the twirling rope/s.

In the example of "Miss Lucy Had A Baby" that is given directly below, the commenter notes that she isn't including those jump rope commands in her example because the chanters did a hand clap routine rather than jumped rope: 

From  https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=90418
Subject: RE: Folklore: Lady's alligator purse? Her own thread
From: GUEST,girl
Date: 21 Apr 06 - 04:57 PM

"I sang this growing up and I was looking for the words, but none of these fit exactly what I remember singing.

I think the closest went this way...

Miss lucy had a baby
his name was tiny tim
she put him in the bath tub
to see if he could swim
he drank up all the water
he ate up all the soap
he tried to eat the bathtub but it wouldn't go down his throat

Miss lucy called the doctor
the doctor called the nurse
the nurse called the lady with the alligator purse

Mumps! said the doctor
Measles! said the nurse
Nothing! said the lady with the alligator purse

Shots! said the doctor
Medicine! said the nurse
Pizza! said the lady with the alligator purse

Miss lucy punched the doctor
Miss lucy kicked the nurse
Miss lucy payed the lady with the alligator purse.

(we didn't sing the in and "out" verses, but that was probably because we used it as a clapping game and not a jump rope game."...

****
PARTIAL EXAMPLES OF LULU SONGS

1.
from https://www.horntip.com/html/books_&_MSS/1910s/1917-1933_gordon_inferno_collection_(MSS)/index.htm#3144-lulu 

 "My Lulu had a baby
She called him Sunny Jim
She put him in the sh&t*-pot
To see if he could swim."...
-snip-
*This word is fully spelled out in this rhyme.

Additional verses are found on that page.

Here's information from that page about the Robert W. Gordon Inferno collection:

" 'Gordon 'Inferno' (1917-33)
The Robert W. Gordon "Inferno" Collection

in the Archive of Folk Song, Library of Congress

The 'Inferno' collection consists of original correspondence and typescript copies of letters (~200 pages) that either Gordon or someone else separated out -- because of their bawdy and scatological subject matter -- from the materials he received and compiled as first head of the folklife department at the Library of Congress. Prefaced to the 'Inferno' collection is a 14 page index which lists informant, date, location and title of the texts."

****
2.

From http://kristinhall.org/songbook/SeaAndPub/BangBangLulu.html Bang Bang Lulu: Words & Music: Traditional Drinking Song
"What do people do with children's songs when they grow up and tie one on with like-minded pals?  They morph them into drinking songs.  The basic tune is the same as "Miss Lucy".  Since this is a traditional song, there are as many verses as there are drunken voices to sing them.  My favorite versions are the ones that allude to the "naughty words", but never have to actually say them. That's the one I learned at camp and I like the clever wordplay.  Here is the chorus and a slew of verses.  Have fun with them or make up your own.

Bang, bang, Lulu; Lulu, bang, bang.
[alt: "Bang, bang, Lulu; Lulu's gone away"]  (“alt”=an alternative version)
Bang, bang, Lulu; Lulu, bang, bang.
[alt: "Bang, bang, Lulu; Lulu's gone away"]
Who's gonna bang bang Lulu, now that Lulu's gone away?

[…]

Lulu had a baby, named him Jungle Jim.
Put him in the basin, to see if he could swim.
He swam down to the bottom, came back to the top.
Lulu got excited, pulled him out by his..

CHORUS:

Cocktail, ginger ale, five cents a glass.

If you don't like it, you can throw it up your...
Ask me no more questions, I'll tell you no more lies.
Ask me that again, and I'll spit right into your"...

****
3.

https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=84511
Subject: Lyr Add: Bang Bang
From: Sorcha
Date: 09 Sep 05 - 01:30 PM

"------(chorus)--------

bang, bang rosie,
rosie bangs all day,
who will bang for rosie,
if rosie goes away

[…]

rosie had a brother,
his name was tiny tim,
she threw him in the river,
to see if he could swim.
he swam down the river,
he swam down the falls,
rosie got excited,
and she grabbed him by the bang, bang rosie....

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=15316 "

**
4.

https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=84511
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bang Bang Rosie 
From: Peace
Date: 09 Sep 05 - 06:28 PM

"Lulu (Rosie) had a baby
His name was Sonny Jim
She put him in the bathtub
To see if he could swim;
Sank to the bottom
Swam to the top
Rosie got excited and
Grabbed him by the
Cocktail, ginger ale,
Five cents a glass
If you don't like it
Shove it up your
Ask me no questions
Tell me no lies
If you ever get hit
With a bucket of sh&t*
Be sure to close your eyes."
-snip-
*This word is fully spelled out in this example. 

**
5.

https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=90418
Subject: RE: Folklore: Lady's aligator purse? Her own thread
From: Joybell
Date: 09 Apr 06 - 07:04 PM

..".My husband (American born and raised) points out that this is very much like the bawdy song often called "Gang-bang Lulu" (sorry to lower the tone of this thread)

Gang-bang Lulu has a verse that goes:

Lulu had a baby his name was Tiny Tim
She flushed him down the toilet
To see if he could swim.

Oh! Gang-bang Lulu! bangin' around all day
Who we gonna bang on
When Lulu goes away?

The tune is the one used for many Hobo/bawdy songs and it fits "Miss Lucy had a Baby" very well too.

This takes us away from the aligater purse a bit. Cheers, Joy"
-snip-
Joybell is from Australia.

****
6.

https://michellegalway.wordpress.com/2011/10/07/bang-bang-rosie-lyrics-very-funny/
...."Rosie Had a Boyfriend His Name Was Tiny Tim,
She Threw Him In The River To see If He Could Swim,
Well he Swam O’er The Rapids And he Swam O’er The Falls,
Rosie Got Excited And She Grabbed Him By The ……
Bang, Bang Rosie, Rosie Bangs All Day,
Whose Gonna Bang For Rosie When Rosie Goes Away,"...

****

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Visitor comments are welcome

Information About & Examples Of The 19th Century Minstrel Song "Miss Lucy Long", The Source Of "Miss Lucy" In The Rhyme "Miss Lucy Had A Baby"

Mark Weems, Oct. 8, 2013

Old Joe Sweeny's big hit of 1842 and one of the most popular of all Minstrel Stage numbers.

snip-
This version of "Miss Lucy Long" doesn't include "the n word". Read #1 in the Mudcat Discussion Thread excerpt below for most of the lyrics that are sung (In this song the line is "She can dance the Juba" instead of "She can dance Cachucha".-snip-
Notice that Mark Weems is playing a gourd banjo. This is like the banjo that originated in West Africa and were reproduced from memories by enslaved Africans in the Caribbean, the United States, and South America.  

****
Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases a YouTube video of the minstrel song "Miss Lucy Long" and presents information and comments about that song. Lyrics from some versions of "Miss Lucy Long" are also included in this post.

The content of this post is presented for folkloric and educational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the Mark Weems for his video of that song.
-snip-
WARNING - The song "Miss Lucy Long" includes the derogatory referent that is commonly now known as "the n word". Consequently, articles and comments about that song also usually include "the n word".

Pancocojams blog uses amended spelling for "the n word". That spelling is indicated by a dash within that word and and asterisk immediately after that word.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/10/miss-lucy-had-baby-text-examples-videos.html for Part III of a three part pancocojams series on the playground rhyme which is called "Miss Lucy Had A Baby" and other similar titles. That post showcases various text examples of "Miss Lucy Had A Baby". That post also showcases two videos of this rhyme. Comments about the early source of these rhymes and the possible dates for the origin of these rhymes are also included in this post.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/10/wikepedias-article-about-miss-lucy-had.htmlfor Part I of this series. In that post I critique the Wikipedia article about "Miss Lucy Had A Baby".

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/10/who-was-lady-in-alligator-purse.html for Part II of this series. In Part II I present five theories about the role played by the lady with the alligator purse in "Miss Lucy Had A Baby" rhymes. Comments from two Mudcat Cafe discussion threads about this rhyme are reposted to present these theories.

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ONLINE EXCERPTS ABOUT THE SONG "MISS LUCY LONG" 

Excerpt #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Lucy_Long
" "Miss Lucy Long", also known as "Lucy Long" as well as by other variants, is an American song that was popularized in the blackface minstrel show.

After its introduction to the stage by the Virginia Minstrels in 1843, "Miss Lucy Long" was adopted by rival troupes. George Christy's cross-dressed interpretation standardized the portrayal of the title character and made the song a hit in the United States. "Miss Lucy Long" became the standard closing number for the minstrel show, where it was regularly expanded into a comic skit complete with dialogue.

Versions were printed in more songsters and performed in more minstrel shows than any other popular song in the antebellum period.

In blackface minstrelsy, the name Lucy came to signify any sexually promiscuous woman.

History

The first published edition of "Miss Lucy Long" is uncredited in an 1842 songster called Old American Songs. Billy Whitlock of the Virginia Minstrels later claimed the song in his autobiography: "I composed ... 'Miss Lucy Long' (the words by T. G. Booth) in 1838."[1]

Despite predating the minstrel show, "Miss Lucy Long" gained its fame there.[2] The song was the first wench role in minstrelsy. The Virginia Minstrels performed it as their closing number from their earliest performances. Dan Gardner introduced what would become the standard Lucy Long costume, skirts and pantalettes.[3] George Christy's interpretation for the Christy Minstrels became the standard for other troupes to follow.[4] The New York Clipper ignored Gardner completely and wrote "George [Christy] was the first to do the wench business; he was the original Lucy Long."[5]

By 1845, the song had become the standard minstrel show closing number,[6] and it remained so through the antebellum period.[7] Programs regularly ended with the note that "The concert will conclude with the Boston Favorite Extravaganza of LUCY LONG."[8] The name Lucy came to signify a woman who was "sexy, somewhat grotesque, and of suspect virtue" in minstrelsy. Similar songs appeared, including "Lucy Neal".[9] In the late 1920s, a dance called the Sally Long became popular; the name may derive from the minstrel song.[10]

Musicologist Robert B. Winans found versions of "Miss Lucy Long" in 34% of minstrel show programs he examined from the 1843–52 period and in 55% from 1843 to 1847, more than any other song.[11] Mahar's research found that "Miss Lucy Long" is the second most frequent song in popular songsters from this period, behind only "Mary Blane".[12] The song enjoyed a resurgence in popularity from 1855 to 1860, when minstrelsy entered a nostalgic phase under some companies.[13]

Lyrics

Many different "Miss Lucy Long" texts are known.[12] They all feature a male singer who describes his desire for the title character. In the style of many folk song narratives, most versions begin with the singer's introduction:[14]

[...]

For nineteenth-century audiences, the comedy of "Lucy Long" came from several different quarters. Eric Lott argues that race is paramount. The lyrics are in an exaggerated form of Black Vernacular English, and the degrading and racist depictions of Lucy—often described as having "huge feet" or "corncob teeth"—make the male singer the butt of the joke for desiring someone whom white audiences would find so unattractive.[17] However, in many variants, Lucy is desirable—tall, with good teeth and "winning eyes".[18] Musicologist William J. Mahar thus argues that, while the song does address race, its misogyny is in fact more important. "Miss Lucy Long" is a "'public expressions of male resentment toward a spouse or lover who will not be subservient, a woman's indecision, and the real or imagined constraints placed on male behaviors by law, custom, and religion."[19] The song reaffirms a man's supposed right to sexual freedom[20] and satirizes courtship and marriage.[21] Still, the fact that the minstrel on stage would desire someone the audience knew to be another man was a source of comic dramatic irony.[20]

[…]

Structure and performance

"Miss Lucy Long" is a comic banjo tune,[9] and there is little melodic variation between published versions.[12] Nevertheless, the tune is well-suited to embellishment and improvisation. The verses and refrain use almost identical music, which enabled troupes to vary the verse/chorus structure and to add play-like segments.[9] A repeated couplet binds the piece together and gives it a musical center around which these embellishments can occur.[27]

The lyrics of the comic banjo tune, are written in exaggerated African American Vernacular English and tell of the courtship or marriage of the male singer and the title character. "Miss Lucy Long" satirizes black concepts of beauty and courtship and American views of marriage in general. The song is misogynistic; the male character dominates Lucy and continues his sexually promiscuous lifestyle despite his relationship with her.

Minstrels usually performed the song as part of a sketch in which one minstrel cross dressed to play Lucy Long. The blackface players danced[9] and sang with regular interruptions of comic dialogue. The part of Lucy was probably not a speaking role and relied entirely on pantomime.[21]”…

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Excerpt #2 - SELECTED COMMENT FROM MUDCAT DISCUSSION THREAD
[Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.]

https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=119975

1. 
Subject: Lyr Add: Miss Lucy Long (minstrel)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 06 Apr 09 - 04:43 PM

MISS LUCY LONG

No composer cited, 1842

1

Oh I jist come out afore you,
To sing a little song
I plays it on de banjo
And dey calls it Lucy Long.

Cho.

Oh! take your time Miss Lucy
Take your time Miss Lucy Long
Oh! take your time Miss Lucy,
Take your time Miss Lucy Long.

2

Miss Lucy she is handsome
And Miss Lucy she is tall,
To see her dance Cachucha
Is death to Ni-gers* all.

3

Oh Miss Lucy's teeth is grinning
Just like an ear ob corn,
And her eyes dey look so winning!
Oh would I'd ne'er been born.

4

I axed her for to marry
Myself de toder day,
She said she'd rather tarry
So I let her habe her way.

5

If she makes a scolding wife
As sure as she was born,
I'd tote her down to Georgia
And trade her off for Corn.

George Willig, Philadelphia, 1842.

Sheet music at The Detroit Public Library, the E. Azalia Hackley Collection, 19th and 20th Century Sheet Music of Negro Themes.

http://www.thehackley.org/gsdl/cgi-bin/library?p=about&c=dplhacsm

**** 
2.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Miss Lucy Long (minstrel)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 06 Apr 09 - 05:17 PM

This minstrel song is mentioned in chanteys and was revised in presentations by several minstrel groups. It has persisted in folk use, and was collected in the John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip (collected in Texas, recording at American Memory).

Lucy Long is included in the Fiddlers Companion.

**** 
3. 

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Miss Lucy Long (minstrel)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 05:11 PM

I have surveyed all the versions I could find on the Internet. Here is a summary:

…Additional verses found in a broadsheet at Library of Congress:

I took Miss Lucy walking, I did not mind expense,
I bought her dat ere parasol, it cost me eighteen pence.

Miss Lucy, when she trabbels, she always leaves de mark
Ob her footsteps in de gravel, you can see dem in de dark.

The world was made in six days, an' 'twas built up very strong,
But I guess it took de sebenth, to finish Lucy Long.

Lucy cuts de widgeon ping, and dances fancy reels,
Fust time I eber seen her, I cotch'd her skinnin' eels.

An additional verse found somewhere else: (I lost the citation!)

My mamma's got de tisic and my daddy got de gout.
Good morning, Mister Phisick. Does your mother know you're out?”…

****
4. 

Subject: Lyr. Add: Take Your Time Miss Lucy (1842)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 10 Apr 09 - 11:13 PM

Lyr. Add: TAKE YOUR TIME MISS LUCY
Words by A. Allan, Melody by George Loder, 1842

1

When young my heart was bent, sir,
Upon a nice young beau,
So to my ma I went, sir,
And she reprov'd me so.
"Indeed, my dear, you're joking,
You're still too young you know,
So take your time Miss Lucy,
Miss Lucy, Lucy, oh!
So take your time Miss Lucy,
Miss Lucy. Lucy oh!"

2

But not content with that, sir,
To father I did go;
But he my head did pat, sir,
And plumply answer'd, "No!
There's time enough for Lovers,
So don't impatient grow,
Just take your time Miss Lucy,
Miss Lucy, Lucy, oh!
Just take your time Miss Lucy,
Miss Lucy, Lucy, oh!"

3

And now I'm sent to you, sir,
I thought I had a beau-
Like them you snub me too, sir,
And tell me "'tis no go;"
The burthen will be ever,
"Till I an old maid grow."
"Oh! take your time, Miss Lucy," &c.

A comic ballad as sung ... at Mitchell's Olympic Theatre by Miss Taylor...

Atwill, NY, 1842

Published in 1842, the same date as the minstrel song, "Miss Lucy Long."

This could be the origin of the Lucy Long minstrel tunes, some verses of sea chanteys, etc. The 'take your time' chorus is used in the Willig 1842 printing of "Miss Lucy Long." It also explains why the "Miss Lucy Long" printing by Willig is not credited to a composer.

 http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/levy-cgi/display.cgi?id=050.085.000;pages=4;range=0-3

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ADDENDUM
The bawdy (dirty/vulgar song "Bang Bang Lulu" (and other "Lulu" songs) are another key source of "Miss Lucy Had A Baby" and "Miss Lucy Had A Steamboat" children's recreational rhymes.

In addition to the names "Lulu" and "Lucy" being very similar, "Lulu" songs and "Miss Lucy Had A Baby" share the same verse in which a baby (or in some later versions) a brother or a turtle named "Sonny Jim" (and later "Tiny Tim") almost drowns because he (or it) can't swim.

While earlier versions of "Lulu" songs didn't hid their sexually explicit references, later versions used innuendos or went right to the "Bang Bang Lulu" chorus or another verse that begins with a similar word just like the format in "Miss Lucy Had A Steamboat" recreational rhymes that developed from those songs. 

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/04/my-lula-gal-and-bang-bang-lulu.html for the pancocojams post entitled " "My Lula Gal" And "Bang Bang Lulu" - Information With A Few Relatively Dirty Verses Of These Songs". 

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Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome. 

Mighty Sparrow - "Bang Bang Lulu" (Calypso sound file, lyrics, & comments)

Marle de bakker, Jul 22, 2010

Golden Oldie

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This post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on Old Time music sources for the large family of "Miss Susie Had A Steamboat" and Miss Lucy Had A Baby" children's playground rhymes.

This pancocojams post showcases a sound file of Mighty Sparrow singing a version of the dirty song "Bang Bang Lulu".

Information about Mighty Sparrow is included in this post along with the lyrics for this song and comments about this song.

Thanks to Mighty Sparrow for his musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this sound file on YouTube.
-snip-
WARNING: "Bang Bang Lulu" is considered to be crude ("dirty") as the end word for its verses suggests explicit language or references.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/04/my-lula-gal-and-bang-bang-lulu.html for the closely related pancocojams post entitled "My Lula Gal" And "Bang Bang Lulu" - Information With Some Clean And Some Sanitized Examples)"

****
INFORMATION ABOUT MIGHTY SPARROW
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mighty_Sparrow
"Slinger Francisco[1] ...(born July 9, 1935), better known as Mighty Sparrow, is a Trinidadian calypso vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist. Known as the "Calypso King of the World", he is one of the best-known and most successful calypsonians. He has won Trinidad's Carnival Road March competition eight times, Calypso King/Monarch eight times, and has twice won the Calypso King of Kings title.

Career

Slinger Francisco was born in the fishing village of Grand Roy, Grenada, West Indies on July 9, 1935. He moved to Trinidad as a one-year-old with his mother,[1] his father having relocated there in 1937.[2][3] He grew up in Port of Spain.[citation needed] He began singing as a small child, but his love of calypso was discouraged while at Newtown Boys Catholic School, where he sang in the choir.[2][3] At the age of 14 he joined a steel band comprising neighbourhood boys, and performed with the band at Carnival.[2]

He received his performing name "Little Sparrow" during his early career,[1] as a result of his energetic stage performances:

"Your calypso name is given to you by your peers, based on your style. In the old days they tried to emulate British royalty. There was Lord Kitchener, Lord Nelson, Duke. When I started singing, the bands were still using acoustic instruments and the singers would stand flat footed, making a point or accusing someone in the crowd with the pointing of a finger, but mostly they stood motionless. When I sing, I get excited and move around, much like James Brown, and this was new to them. The older singers said "Why don't you just sing instead of moving around like a little sparrow?" It was said as a joke, but the name stuck.[4]"
— Mighty Sparrow

After a couple of years he changed his stage name to "Mighty Sparrow".[2][5] "...

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LYRICS FOR MIGHTY SPARROW'S VERSION OF "BANG BANG LULU"

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

(I wanna hear you sing!)

Bang, bang, Lulu,
(One more time!)
Lulu's gone away
(C'mon now!)
Who is gonna bang bang
Now Lulu's gone away

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

Lulu had a boyfriend,
His name was Diamond d___,
Some girls love his diamond,
But Lulu loved his...

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

(I want to hear you sing...)

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang Lulu,
Now Lulu's gone away

Lulu had two boy-friends,
One was very rich,
One was the son of a banker,
The other was a son-of-a ...

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

(Sock it to them!)

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

Lulu had a boy-friend,
His name was Tommy Tucker,
He took her to his appartment
And then Tucker tried to...

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

(One more time!)

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

Lulu has a bicycle,
The seat was made of glass,
And every time she'd ride it
It broke off and went up her...

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

(I want to hear you sing it!)

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

Lulu had some money
From a dirty old man named Hutch
He said if you're a baby
I'll bite you in the...

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

(I want to hear it!)

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

[Repeat ad lib. with scat and fade]


Source: https://www.justsomelyrics.com/2011675/mighty-sparrow-bang-bang-lulu-lyrics.html

These lyrics are given as they were found on that website.

****
SELECTED COMMENTS FROM DISCUSSION THREADS OF TWO YOUTUBE SOUND FILES FOR MIGHTY SPARROW'S "BANG BANG LULU" 

Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.

Discussion Thread #1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ97Ybfg0Io&ab_channel=Marledebakker
(This discussion thread is for the sound file that is embedded in this post.)

1. edc1951, 2012
"Oh the snickering that went on when we who understood the raciness were with those too young to get it.  and the looks of innocence when a group would break into a chorus of this only to be met with "looks" from our elders..."I'm not saying any bad words..." "

**
Reply
2. Ava Watson, 2019
"edc1951 OMG. I use to hear this song when I was growing up at family parties, but NEVER remembered those lyrics, lol!!! The song crossed my mind and now at 58 I’m realizing what was being said.  If you look at the history of the dong it’s an American dong that has been adapted in many countries. 😳"
-snip-
The word “dong” in this comment is probably a typo for “song”

**
3. boonestead, 2014
"holy crap  we used to sing this when we were kids  didn't know it was an actual song

LOVE IT  funny where you tube may lead you to"

**
4. Rich Townsend, 2015
"This was one of several songs we sang in the Marines while we were marching through the boondocks in the early 60's.  Thanks for the memories!"

**
5. Angela M, 2016
"Got my calypso version from an album my parents owned, brought in from the Grand Bahamas, by Prince Charles and his Royal Cats.  Probably done back in the late '50s. . .  I was floored when I first heard it, thinking, my PARENTS owned this?!?!  LOL!"

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Discussion Thread #2 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwSuZ56nxIM&ab_channel=EdwardSpencer Mighty Sparrow - Bang Bang Lulu, published by Edward Spencer, Sep 7, 2012

Arranged by Mighty Sparrow

1. Westley P. Crawford, 2014
"This brings back so many great memories of growing up in the Bronx in the 70s. My parents would play this and all of us would dance and laugh...two of the greatest feelings in the world at the same time! THANK YOU MOMMY AND DADDY..I LOVE YOU."

**
2. Shania Sampson, 2015
"so many innuendos!"

**
3. Larry Watson, 2017
"im 61yrs from N.Y.I remembered this song caause i knew i never supose to listen to it as akid. l love it."

****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome. 

"My Lula Gal" And "Bang Bang Lulu" - Information With A Few Relatively Dirty Verses Of These Songs

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision - August 17, 2023

This pancocojams post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on Old Time music sources for the large family of "Miss Susie Had A Steamboat" and Miss Lucy Had A Baby" children's playground rhymes.

This pancocojams post presents information about and examples of the Old Time song/ rhymes entitled "My Lula Gal". This pancocojams post also presents information about and a few relatively dirty versions of the "Bang Bang Lulu" rhymes and songs. 

The content of this post is presented for folkloric and cultural purposes. 

Thanks to the unknown composers of these rhymes and songs and thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/10/similarities-differences-between-bang.html for a 2013 pancocojams post entitled "Similarities & Differences Between "Bang Bang Lulu" & "Miss Lucy Had A Steamboat".

Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/04/mighty-sparrow-bang-bang-lulu-calypso.html for the pancocojams post entitled "Mighty Sparrow - "Bang Bang Lulu" (Calypso sound file, lyrics, & comments)."

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WARNING- This post includes lyrics that aren't suitable for children.

****
INFORMATION ABOUT & EXAMPLES OF "MY LULA GAL " AND "BANG BANG LULU"  SONGS AND CHANTS 

Excerpt #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bang_Bang_Lulu
" "Bang Bang Lulu" is a traditional American song with many variations. It derives from older songs most commonly known as "Bang Bang Rosie" in Ireland, "Bang Away Lulu" in Appalachia,[1] and "My Lula Gal" in the West.[2][6] The form "Bang Bang Lulu" became widespread in the United States from its use as a cadence during the World Wars. The song uses the tune of "Goodnight, Ladies".

Traditional song

All versions concern a woman and her various lovers. The early forms were sometimes very directly crude, violent, or infanticidal.[7] Published versions probably drastically understate the song's popularity,[1] particularly since the first mentions allude to 78[8] or 900[9] additional verses unfit for printing. Robert Gordon, the first head of the Library of Congress's Archive of American Folk Song, included his variants of Lulu among the "Inferno" section which was excluded from the library's general collection for its "bawdy and scatological subject matter".[10]

One verse appeared in Owen Wister's 1902 novel on p. 96 The Virginian:[8]
"If you go to monkey with my Looloo girl,
I'll tell you what I'll do:
I'll carve out your heart with my razor, AND
I'll shoot you with my pistol, too—

Nine appeared in Carl Sandburg's 1927 American Songbag among its "Railroad and Work Gangs" songs, including Wister's and:[9]

My Lulu hugged and kissed me,
She wrung my hand and cried,
She said I was the sweetest thing
That ever lived or died.[11]

My Lulu's tall and slender,
My Lulu gal's tall and slim;
But the only thing that satisfies her
Is a good big drink of gin.

My Lulu gal's a daisy,
She wears a big white hat;
I bet your life when I'm in town
The dudes all hit the flat.

I ain't goin' to work on the railroad,
I ain't goin' to lie in jail,
But I'm goin' down to Cheyenne town
To live with my Lulu gal.

My Lulu, she's an angel,
Only she aint got no wings.
I guess I'll get her a wedding ring,
When the grass gets green next spring.

My Lulu, she's a dandy,
She stands and drinks like a man,
She calls for gin and brandy,
And she doesn't give a damn.

Engineer blowed the whistle,
Fireman rang the bell,
Lulu, in a pink kimona
Says, "Baby, oh fare you well."

I seen my Lulu in the springtime,
I seen her in the fall;
She wrote me a letter in the winter time,
Says, "Good-bye, honey," that's all.

Sandburg credited many of the verses he knew as derived from the 17th-century Scotch song "Way Up on Clinch Mountain",[12] now usually known as "Rye Whiskey".

Roy Acuff and his Crazy Tennesseans recorded "When Lulu's Gone" under the pseudonym of the Bang Boys in 1936.[13] Another version—"Lulu"—was recorded by Oscar Brand on his 1958 Old Time Bawdy Sea Shanties. Verses from this song also developed into "Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms", recorded by Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs and many others after them.[2]

Military cadences

Most military cadences suggested explicit rhymes but skipped back to the chorus rather than complete them ...

****
Excerpt #2
From https://secondhandsongs.com/work/59534/all

Written by

Traditional

Publication date

1902

Language

English

Comments

The first printed reference of this licentious ditty comes from the novel "The Virginian", by Owen Wister, where the main character sings one verse (the other 78 verses, said Wister, were "unprintable"). Very popular among cowboys in the XIX century, and then among U.S. soldiers during WWI.

Alternative titles: "When Lulu's Gone", "Bang Away, My Lulu", "She Is a Lulu" and many others. Sometimes "Lulu" becomes "Rosie", "Suzie", "Lula" and so on."

****
Excerpt #3
From  http://kristinhall.org/songbook/SeaAndPub/BangBangLulu.html
Bang Bang Lulu: Words & Music: Traditional Drinking Song
"What do people do with children's songs when they grow up and tie one on with like-minded pals?  They morph them into drinking songs.  The basic tune is the same as "Miss Lucy".  Since this is a traditional song, there are as many verses as there are drunken voices to sing them.  My favorite versions are the ones that allude to the "naughty words", but never have to actually say them.  That's the one I learned at camp and I like the clever wordplay.  Here is the chorus and a slew of verses.  Have fun with them or make up your own. 

 

CHORUS:

D                             A7

Bang, bang, Lulu; Lulu, bang, bang.

[alt: "Bang, bang, Lulu; Lulu's gone away"]

D                     G              D      A7    D

Who's gonna bang bang Lulu, now that Lulu's gone away?

[alt:  Who's gonna bang bang, now  Lulu's gone away?}

 

D                                        A7

Lulu had a boyfriend who drove a garbage truck.

D               G               D      A7

Never collected garbage, 'cause all he did was...

 

CHORUS:

 

She had another boyfriend, his name was Tommy Tucker.

He took her to the garden, to see if he could...

 

CHORUS:

 

Lulu had a baby, named him Jungle Jim.

Put him in the basin, to see if he could swim.

He swam down to the bottom, came back to the top.

Lulu got excited, pulled him out by his...

 

CHORUS:

 

Cocktail, ginger ale, five cents a glass.

If you don't like it, you can throw it up your...

Ask me no more questions, I'll tell you no more lies.

Ask me that again, and I'll spit right into your...

 

CHORUS:

 
Ikey and Spikey, laying in the ditch

Ikey called Spikey, a dirty son of a...

 

CHORUS:

 

Bring down the children, let them play with rocks.

When they get a little older, they'll learn to play with...

 

CHORUS:

[...]

 

CHORUS:

 

High upon the mountain, sitting on the grass

Her skirt was so short, it showed you all her...

 

CHORUS:

 

[...]

 

CHORUS:

Now, Lulu has two boyfriends, they both are very rich.

One, the son of a banker, the other a son of a...

 

CHORUS:

 

Now, Lulu had a baby, it came as quite a shock.

She couldn't name it "Lulu", because it had a..."

 
****

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Reeltime Travelers - "Shout Lula" (example, lyrics, and comments)

winecountryfilms1, Published on May 10, 2013

The Reeltime travelers perform "Shout Lula" at The Hogcaller's Reunion on September 26th., 2004 at Fetzer's barn in Covelo, CA.

Roy Andrade on banjo, Heidi Lambert-Andrade on fiddle, Martha Scanlan on guitar, Thomas Sneed on mandolin and Travis Stuart on bass

****

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on Old Time music sources for the large family of "Miss Susie Had A Steamboat" and Miss Lucy Had A Baby" children's playground rhymes.

This post showcase a video of the Old Time Music song "Shout Lula" and presents  information, lyrics, and comments about that song. This post also presents information about the meaning of the word "shout" in this context of these Old Time Music songs. 

The Addendum to this post presents some information about the music genre that is known as "Old Time Music". 

The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the unknown composers of this song and thanks to Reeltime Travelers for their rendition of this song. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
A version of this pancocojams post was originally published in 2013. That post has since been deleted.

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LYRICS: SHOUT LULA
(as sung by the Reeltime Travelers)

Call [lead singer] Shout to sing
Response: Shout Shout
[sing this pattern 4x]

Call: I got a bottle of corn
Response: Shout Shout
[sing this pattern 4x]

I got a pain in my wrist
Shout Shout
[sing this pattern two times]

I got a pain in my head
Shout shout
[sing this pattern two times]

I got a pain in my back
Shout Shout
[sing this pattern two times]

I got slipper shoes
Shout Shout
[sing this pattern two times]

I’m gonna shake it baby
Shout Shout

[Sing this pattern two times]

Aunt Jane’s corn bread
Sweet sweet sweet
Take some leave some
Sweet sweet sweet
Take some leave some
Sweet sweet sweet

[Lead singer sings these entire words.
Responders sing “Take some leave some/sweet sweet sweet”

Instrumental -.054-2:04

Lead singer: Oh little Lula
Oh child
Oh little Lula
Oh child
Oh little Lula
Oh child

Shout little Lula
Shout little babe
Said I’m gonna buy you a little red dress

[Instrumental]

Lead: Oh little Lula
Oh child
Oh little Lula
Oh child

Lead: Shout little Lula
Shout Shout
Tell me what you shoutin ‘bout

[Instrumental]

Lead: Oh little Lula
Oh child
Oh little Lula
Oh child

Lead: Shout little Lula
Shout your best
I’m gonna buy you a red dress

[Instrumental]

Lead: Oh little Lula
Oh child
Oh little Lula
Oh child

Lead: Shout little Lula
Shout and sing
I’m gonna buy you a diamond ring.

[Instrumental]
-snip-
This transcription is by Azizi Powell from the video. Additions and corrections are welcome.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "SHOUT LULA"
From http://bluegrassmessengers.com/shout-lula--version-3-lomax.aspx
..."Shout Lula/ Hook and Line

Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Virginia, Southeast

ARTIST: Source: Duncan Emrich 'American Folk Poetry: An Anthology' Little, Brown and Co p 64. Recorded by Alan and Elizabeth Lomax from the singing, with banjo accompaniment, by Pete Steele at Hamilton, Ohio, 1938. Library of Congress record LP21.

CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes; DATE: 1844

HOOK AND LINE SONGS: The title for the large family of songs that have originated from the “Old Dad” minstrel song in 1844 including "Shout Lula," "Shout Lou," "Shout Old Lulu," "Hook and Line," “The Shad,” "Banjo Sam," "Mr. Catfish," "Shout Lulu," "Jackfish" "Seven and A Half," "Just From Tennessee," "Shout Oh Lulu," “Fish on a Hook,” and “Buck Creek Gals.”

The “hook and line” songs can be split into two basic categories; the “hook and line” (Fish that catfish by its snout/ Turn that catfish wrong side out) songs that talk about fishing and the “Shout Lula” (Shout, Lulu, shout, Lulu, shout, shout/ What in the world you shoutin’ ‘bout?) songs. “Shout Lula” is a fast banjo version from the Appalachian region.

HOOK AND LINE: The title first appears as a recording by the Dykes Magic City Trio in 1927. George Roark recorded “Hook and Line” in 1928 in Bristol, TN on Vi uniss, while the Hatton Brothers did a version with square dance calls in Richmond Ind., 1933. Here’s an excerpt from the Dykes Magic City Trio version:

Gimme the hook and gimme the line
Gimme that girl they call Caroline
Shout, Lula, shout, shout
What in the world are you shoutin' about. 

[...]
SHOUT LULA: Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; east Tenn., southwestern Va., north Georgia, north Carolina, Ohio. G Major. GDAD. AABB. Art Rosenbaum (1989) says "this song is much more current in the tradition than its absence from printed collections would suggest." A banjo piece and dance tune, it was the repertoires of Dock Boggs and John Dykes (of the Dykes Magic City Trio) under the title "Hook and Line." One of the earliest recordings is Samantha Bumgarner’s as “Shout Lou” in 1924 on Co 146-D.
Rufus Crisp, Woody Wachtel, Roscoe Holcomb, Pete Steele, Ralph Stanley, and Fiddlin' Cowan Powers 1877-1952 (Russell County, southwest Va.) played it as well as Uncle John Patterson (Carroll County, Ga.), a sometimes Skillet Lickers hanger-on who learned to pick the tune on the banjo "on his mother's {champion banjoist Bessie Patterson} lap when he was three years old" (Rosenbaum). Here’s a short excerpt from “Shout Lula:”
Shout Lula shout, shout, what in the world you shoutin' bout,
(Banjo fill)
Shout Lula shout, shout Grandma's done run out.
(Banjo fill) 
Since "Shout Lula" seems to related to blues and work "hollers" perhaps the "Lula" originally refers to Lula, Mississippi or the Lula women from that town. Here's an excerpt of the lyrics to "Dry Well Blues" by Charlie Patton:
Lord, the Lula womens, Lord, puttin' Lula young mens down
Lula men, oh, puttin' Lula men down
Lord, you outta been there, Lord, the womens all leavin' town
Brown "222 Lulu" gives this information: A medley, as are so many of the traditional songs of the Southern mountains. Since our text was published in 1909 Henry has reported a briefer version from Avery county (JAFL xlv 167-8, FSSH 436-7). Perrow (JAFL xxvi 127) prints a song from Kentucky containing our first stanza with "Dad's old lip" for "my old ad" and suggests that our "ad" should be "dad" — the granddaddy of
all fish.
"Lulu.' Reported in JAFL xxii (1909) 248 by Louise Rand Bascom from the mountain country of North Carolina, without more definite location. Miss Bascom notes that the last two lines are "like the popular song which used to be sung everywhere,
Johnnie get your hair cut,
Johnnie get your hair cut,
Johnnie get your hair cut
Just like mine."

Louise Rand Bascom 1909 lyrics:

Love you fur a nickle,
Love you fur a dime.
Lulu get your Haircut,
Just like mine."....

****
Here's a comment about the Grayson/Whittier recording of "Shout Lula" from https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.music.country.old-time/ATTT1UtigL8 "rec.music.country.old-time › Ralph Stanley and Old-Time Music"
posted by Oldtime1 (Joe Wilson) 5/29/97
"Little Lula/Lulu/Lulie"
"Paul asked if there are two Lulu songs. Yes. The "Bang Away Lulu" lyric he quoted is not at all like "Shout Lulu.

When I interviewed G. B. Grayson's oldest daughter, Lilly Grayson Sturdivant, in 1972 near Rising Sun, MD (with Ken Irwin and Marian Leighton), she told about his compositions. She said he did not write "Shout Lulu" and that she thought it was "an old song." If it was old when Grayson recorded it in the late 1920s, it may be from minstrelsy. It certainly has the feel and rhythm of a minstrel song:
"Takes a nickle, takes a dime, To see Little Luly, cut a shine." Has anyone checked minstrel texts?"
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/10/grayson-and-whitter-shout-lula-example.html for another example of "Shout Lula".

****
WHAT "SHOUT" MAY MEAN IN THE SONG "SHOUT LULA"
Here's an explanation about the word "shout" from
Subject: RE: Lyr. Req: Hook and Line
From:kytrad*
Date: 23 Nov 02 - 05:15 PM

This may be relevant...Bessie Jones and I used to share stages together, from early sixties into seventies, and we used to do play-party games- she'd sing hers and I'd sing one from our family that matched it. She had many "shout" songs, and always explained that the word, "shout" in a game or song meant, "dance." Younger members of her family and community would sometimes be with her, and as she sang they'd sing with her, clap hands and dance or "shout."
-snip-
* "kytrad" is the screen name for White American folk music singer, songwriter, and Appalachian dulcimer player Jean Ritchie (ngwriter, and Appalachian dulcimer player. Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Ritchie for more information about Jean Ritchie.

Bessie Jones (February 8, 1902 - July 17, 1984) was an African American singer who is best known for forming & performing as soloist for the Georgia Sea Isle Singers, a group whose repertoire consists of Black old time secular & religious songs. Along with Bess Lomax Hawes, Bessie Jones co-authored a collection of Georgia Sea Isle children's recreational songs & rhymes entitled Step It Down. Click http://www.allmusic.com/artist/bessie-jones-mn0000051492/biography for more information about Bessie Jones.

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ADDENDUM: INFORMATION ABOUT OLD TIME MUSIC
Excerpt #1: From http://www.folkways.si.edu/classic-old-time-music-from-folkways/american-folk/album/smithsonian: "Old-time music features playing styles that pre-date bluegrass, emerging from the string band tradition stretching back to the early years of United States history. Both African-American and Anglo-American ingredients are at its core, the banjo having African origins, the fiddle European."

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Excerpt #2
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old-time_music
"With its origins in traditional music of Europe and Africa, old-time music represents perhaps the oldest form of North American traditional music other than Native American music, and thus the term "old-time" is an appropriate one. As a label, however, it dates back only to 1923."

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ADDENDUM: 
PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE ABOUT THE COMPOSER/S OF THIS SONG 
Like other Old Time tunes & songs, "Shout Lula" was known in Black American & non-Black American communities.

This song almost certainly originated among African Americans, given the call & response pattern of some examples of "Shout Lula", its two line rhyming pattern, the inclusion of certain Black vernacular terms, and inclusion of floating verses that are found in other African American originating old time songs.

That said,there was a lot of cross pollination (folk processing) from Black and from White populations who both performed, sung, and danced to "Shout Lula" and other Old Time Music songs.

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