Tony ("Casetone 2514") Sings Dance to Your Daddy

He writes:

One of the problems with traditional music (which is also one of the things I love about it) is the number of variations you get on the same narrative, theme or melody. The older or more popular, the more variations you tend to get. This song is a case in point. Although it undoubtedly originated in the Northeast of England with the opening line of Come here, maw little Jacky and the Dance To Thy Daddy as a chorus, it has travelled all over the place from southern England to Ireland and Scotland and, I am told, there is a USA version collected in the early 20th century in Kentucky - I have not heard this version myself, however.

The Ritchie family from Kentucky have a downloadable version at Amazon. I prefer the Seeger family's version. You can find samples of both the Ritchie family and the Seegers (and others) singing this song on the Amazon widget here. I have also put it at the bottom of the blog for the week- just scroll down to the bottom of the page (or find your 'end' button and shoot to the bottom) for some listening fun.