Are any of the itunes version by Michelle Shocked? It looks as if she has a CD out there of old fashioned music (titled Arkansas Traveller), including this tune. I can't, however, preview any of them.

What on earth is this for? Is the Hippie German School studying American Minstral music?

No, it's not for hippie German school. We like to sing folk songs and the like with the kiddos of an evening and we have a favorite song book called Gonna Sing My Head Off!. I've always thought it would be great to gather various artists renditions of as many of the songs in the book as I can find. We owned a lot already and I've bought some more from iTunes, but there are a few elusive tunes and it's bugging me.

the michelle shocked version does not have lyrics.

We have that book too! I love the songs but the music directions are like no other sheet music I've seen. Instead of pianissimo or forte, it says energetically, soothingly, spunky, cute, nimble, as if you're seasick, saucy, fearlessly. I took piano lessons a few years ago and brought in the book to learn one song and my piano teacher laughed so hard, I had to hold her on the bench.

1993 Not For Kids Only (Jerry Garcia and David Grisman) has the words and music.

But you know the words are not sung.

Dieses ‘Lied’ ist das einzige Stück in meiner Sammlung, das kein Lied im eigentlichen Sinn ist: Es ist ein Dialog - eine traditionelle alte amerikanische Komödienform - mit Musik. Die Musik ist für verschiedene andere Liedversionen benutzt worden, alle mit unterschiedlichen Versen, aber dies ist erst im 20.-Jahrhundert entstanden.
Woher die Musik kommt oder wem sie zuzuordnen ist, kann nicht gesagt werden. Die Musik könnte folkloristischen Ursprungs sein; stilistisch ist sie vielen anonymen Stücken der ‘Southern mountains’ ähnlich.