I BOUGHT A CAT
(I BOUGHT ME A ROOSTER; BARNYARD SONG)
Sung by: Mrs. W.B. Apple
Recorded in Huff, AR 1/1/61

 Click here to listen to the original recording
(Mrs. Apple: “This is January the first, 1962, and I’m Mrs. W.B. Apple at Huff. And the songs that I’m planning to sing are songs that I learned when I was a child, back in the hills of Arkansas. The first one I’ll sing is, ‘I Bought a Cat’.”)

Bought me a cat,
And the cat pleased me.
Fed my cat in yonder oak tree.
Cat went fiddle-eye-fay.

Bought me a hen,
My hen pleased me.
Fed my hen in yonder oak tree.
Hen went shimmy-shack, shimmy-shack, shimmy-shack,
Cat went fiddle-eye-fay.

Bought me a duck,
My duck pleased me.
Fed my duck in yonder oak tree.
Duck went quack, quack, quack,
Hen went shimmy-shack, shimmy-shack, shimmy-shack,
Cat went fiddle-eye-fay.

Bought me a cow,
My cow pleased me.
Fed my cow in yonder oak tree.
Cow went moo, moo, moo,
Sheep went baa, baa, baa,
Duck went quack, quack, quack,
Hen went shimmy-shack, shimmy-shack, shimmy-shack,
Cat went fiddle-eye-fay.

(Mrs. Apple: “’Cause he had natural time, and everyone else should have natural time, and we just . . . we learned to sing with his playing. He played the old fiddle tunes. I have one; if I can get it where I can do it with this cold I think I’ll try it after while. Now, this one . . .”
Dr. Wolf: “He was a fiddler, was he?”
Mrs. Apple: “Oh, yes, he was a fiddler, and if I may say so, he was a good one.”
Dr. Wolf: “That’s the reason you keep your time.”
Mrs. Apple: “Oh, yes, yes. We had to on account of you can’t . . . )

Also found in Randolph, Vol. III, #352, “I Bought Me a Rooster”; Brown, Vol. III, #124, “Barnyard Song.”

All Songs Recorded by John Quincy Wolf, Jr., unless otherwise noted

The John Quincy Wolf Folklore Collection
Lyon College, Batesville, Arkansas
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