As we grow older certain occurrences of childhood often come to mind. They are wonderful memories of people who made a real difference in our lives and the places where we grew up. It is often a sound or sight or smell that like magic transports us back, even if only briefly to another time and place.

Years ago, my great uncle, John Richards, gave me an old book, “On the Trail of Negro Folk Songs,” published in 1925 by Harvard University Press. It was a study and history of African American folk music. One of the songs discussed in the book was “Froggy Went A-Courtin.”

Whenever I look up something in the book, it brings back memories of that song and of Minerva Sykes, an elderly Black lady who not only worked for my family but was a friend and like family. Her mother had worked for my great-grandmother, Ida Sykes Billups, in the 1880s and 1890s.

Minerva, to my knowledge, had never married and was at our home every Christmas morning. She would always wake up both my brother and me by throwing open the door to our rooms and shouting “Christmas gift!” Once my brother and I had gotten up we would all gather around the Christmas tree. I recall Minerva and all the family then taking turns opening and showing the presents we all had under the tree.

Until I read an old book, I did not know the origin of that Christmas waking. My grandmother had been given the book “Diddie, Dumps and Tot,” by Louise Clark Pyrnelle, for Christmas in 1901. It is the story of three children growing up near Selma, Alabama. It tells of an old tradition to wake up children on Christmas morning by throwing open the door to their room and shouting “Christmas Gift.” It is an interesting book containing stories Mrs. Pyrnelle remembered from her childhood including a slightly different version of Brer Rabbit and the tar baby.

One of my earliest childhood memories is of Minerva singing “Frog Went A-Courtin” to me. She would sit in a chair in the living room, and I would sit on the floor by her feet listening spellbound. I remember her telling me it was just an old song she had always known. When she would have first sung the song to me, it would have been at the old family home on Main Street where her mother probably sang the same song to my grandfather in the early 1890s.

About 25 years ago, my godson Brad Smith was talking to me about songwriting, and I gave him the old book on folksongs. A few years ago, I remembered the old book and thought it might be fun to have a copy again. I found an especially interesting used copy and purchased it. The book had twice been inscribed. The first inscription was “X mas wishes to JR 1925” and the second was “Rod MCKuen 29 Sept 72.” Inside the book singer, songwriter, and poet Rod McKuen had slightly altered the lyrics to a song titled “The Coon Can Game.” He had also changed the song’s name to “Stud Card’’ then crossed that out and simply wrote “Poker.”

However, when I got the book what kept coming to my mind was Minerva singing “Frog Went A-Courting.” The version I remember began:

Frog went a-courtin’ and he did ride
uh hum uh hum
sword and a pistol by his side
uh hum uh hum
Rode on up to Miss Moussie’s door
uh hum uh hum
sword and a pistol by his side
uh hum uh hum
knelt right down upon the floor
uh hum uh hum
He took Miss Moussie on his knee
uh hum uh hum
and said Miss Moussie will you marry me
uh hum uh hum

The song itself has a fascinating history. Though, “Frog Went a-Courtin” was a popular rhyme or children’s song among both Blacks and whites in the South. Its roots go back to Scotland. The first known reference to a version of the rhyme was “The frog came to the myl dur,” which first appeared in Scotland in 1548.

The most interesting tradition comes out of England where there is a reference to the rhyme “a Most Strange Wedding of the Frogge and the Mouse” in 1580.

In the late 1500s, English Queen Elizabeth I was being courted by a Frenchman, Francois, Duke of Anjou. The Duke was widely unpopular in England and his nickname was “the Frog,” thus “Frog went a-courtin,” which was said to be a satire of the Duke. The first account of the rhyme being put to music was in 1611. The rhyme made its way to America in colonial times and has been popular with children ever since.

“Frog Went A-Courting.” has been sung and recorded by artists ranging from Tex Ritter and Elvis Presley to Bruce Springsteen.

Rufus Ward is a Columbus native a local historian. E-mail your questions about local history to Rufus at [email protected].