The song started in the last century as a southern folk song and was adapted into a popular song in the vaudeville of the early 1920s. It has circulated since then as a favorite camp song, with lots and lots of funny verses. We adapted a couple of verses for the classroom and wrote a couple of new ones, giving your students four verses to sing.
When listening to the recording, be sure to point out the orchestration for the Dixieland section, mostly improvised, and the intro, adapted from The William Tell Overture. (from Music K-8, Vol. 9, No. 4)