Annotation:Jack Limberlegs
X:1 T:Old Jack Limber Legs T:Jack Limberlegs N:From the playing of Arthur Cush Holston (1878-c. 1964. Alachua County, north N:Florida), at the Florida Folk Festival, c. 1960. Cush would sometimes add beats, N:or take a pause before singing the verse. M:C| L:1/8 N:AEae tuning (fiddle), drone strings liberally D:https://www.slippery-hill.com/recording/old-jack-limber-legs Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz K:A AB|c2 ec A2A2|B2G2 A4|ABcd e2e2|fedd e2fg| a2a2e2c2|d2f2 e3e-|fedd fed2|BG[G2B2] A4|| P:Variation A4|[M:5/4]AAcd e2 A2 [c2e2]|[M:C|]B2G2 A2A2|A2 cd e2e=g|fedd e2 ee| fgaa e2c2|d2f2 e2 e=g|fedd ed c2|[M:3/2]BGB2 [A6A6]|| [A2A2]|[M:C|](cd)[A2e2]A2 [c2e2]|B2G2 A2A2|A2 cd e2e=g|fedd e2 fg| a2aa edcc|d2[df]e e2 f=g|fefd fed2|BG[G2B2] A4||
JACK LIMBERLEGS. AKA - "Old Jack Limber Legs." American; Reel and song (2/4 or cut time). G Mixolydian (Reiner & Anick): A Mixolydian. GDgd or AEae tuning (fiddle). One part. An American nonsense-type song, a take-off on the limberjack, a wooden doll with hinged limbs which 'dances' when place on a wooden strip that is then sprung. The tune was performed at the Florida Folk Festival in the early 1960's by fiddler Arthur Cush Holston (1878-c. 1964) of Alachua County, rural north Florida near the border with Georgia. Holston would play a verse, then sing a verse:
I went to the market sell some eggs,
There I spied Jack Limberlegs.
Twas limber legs and limber toes,
Two black eyes and a teapot nose.
Old Nan Tucker son-in-law
Biggest fool I ever saw.
He wore his shirt outside his coat,
Buttoned his britches up 'round his throat.
My gran-mammy lookin' like she been sheared,
'N gran-pappy he had a great ling beard.
He looked like his face was carved in stone,
He looked like a goat but he had no horn.
You talk about your honey but you ought to see mine,
She's humpbacked, bowlegged, crippled and blind,
She ain't so good lookin' but she dresses mighty fine,
Maybe some day she'll be divine.
I went to the market sell some eggs,
There I spied Jack Limberlegs.
'Twas limber legs and liber toes,
Two black eyes and a teapot nose. ....[Reiner & Ancik]
