Redhead Woodpecker
This comes from a collection of African-American folk rhymes collected nearly a century ago. It's in a dialect.
Redhead Woodpecker
Redhead Woodpecker
Nursery Rhyme
Nursery Rhyme
(Historical Black American English)
(English)
Redhead woodpecker:
"Chip! Chip! Chee!"
Promise dat he'll marry me.
Whar shall de weddin' supper be?
Down in de lot, in a rotten holler tree.
What will de weddin' supper be?
A liddle green worm an' a bumblebee,
'Way down yonder on de holler tree.
De Redhead woodpecker,
"Chip! Chip! Chee!"
Redhead woodpecker:
"Chip! Chip! Chee!"
Promise that he'll marry me.
Where shall the wedding supper be?
Down in the lot, in a rotten hollow tree.
What will the wedding supper be?
A little green worm and a bumblebee,
'Way down yonder on the hollow tree.
The Redhead woodpecker,
"Chip! Chip! Chee!"
Notes
Holler tree = hollow tree (especially in the Southern US).
From the same source:
Why The Woodpecker's Head is Red:
Bill Dillix say to dat woodpecker bird:
"W'at makes yo' topknot red?"
Says he: "I'se picked in de red-hot sun,
Till it's done burnt my head."
Thanks and Acknowledgements
This rhyme can be found in Negro Folk Rhymes, Wise and Otherwise, with a Study by Thomas W. Talley of Fisk University (1922).
Standard English version by Lisa Yannucci. Image composed by Lisa.
