This song is generally known as The Blue-tailed Fly and most people in England would be able to sing at least part of it.  However, it belongs to the past when sensibilities about racist language did not apply.  It seems to date from the early 1800s and came across to England with the blackface minstrels.  Most collectors in England would not bother to note it and this is the only version to have been ‘collected’ in England.

Notes by Gwilym Davies 10 April 2016