Annotation:Little Dutch Girl (1)

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LITTLE DUTCH GIRL [1]. AKA and See "Goin' Down the River." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Missouri, Oklahoma. A Major (Thede). AEae (Collins) or Standard tunings (fiddle). AABBCC. Thede suggests, without offering any evidence, that the tune originated in Dutchtown, Missouri, although the title could reference any girl of German extraction. Certainly the title was not uncommon; "I'm a Little Dutch Girl" is the name of an Ozarks play-party piece. There are at least two tunes called "Little Dutch Girl" in the Ozarks region, both connected with the Collins family, and Thede mentions the tune was brought to Oklahoma from southern Missouri. The version, printed by Thede, is from Willie Collins, the father of Earl (who is the source for "Little Dutch Girl (2)"). Thede gives the following lyric, sung to the tune.

Boat begin to rock, her heart began to quiver,
I up with a rock and knocked her in the river.

Little Dutch Girl, if you don't do me better,
I'll build me a boat, float you down the river.

This tune is not the "Little Dutch Girl" usually played by "revival" fiddlers at jam sessions (for which see "Little Dutch Girl (2)").

Source for notated version: W.S. Collins (Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma) [Thede].

Printed sources: Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; p. 85.

Recorded sources:



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