“Nonsense Saw”
Description
Nonsense rhymes showing how to pronounce "Arkansas": "I love a girl from Arkansaw, Who can saw more wood than her Maw can saw." "I sing a saw Of maid I saw In Arkansaw." "Her maw can saw, Her paw can saw, And she can saw In Arkansaw."
Supplemental text
Nonsense Saw
Partial text(s)
*** A ***
From Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II,
pp. 195-196 (second text).
The rarest girl I ever saw,
I saw down south in Arkansaw,
She could saw wood to beat her Maw,
And faster than her Paw could chaw.
Hurrah, hurrah!
For her I saw,
Who could outsaw
Her Paw and Maw.
See-saw, hee-haw!
I sing a saw
Of maid I saw
In Arkansaw!
(4 additional stanzas)
Notes
Allsopp reports that there were problems in the 1840s with the pronunciation of "Arkansas." Hence this poem (or complex of poems). It's not clear that they were ever sung, but Allsopp reports that they were genuinely popular. - RBW
References
- ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), pp. 195-196, "Nonsense Saw" (2 texts)
- ST FORA195 (Partial)
- BI, FORA195