Jenny Jenkins

Oh, Will you wear white, oh my dear, oh my dear?

 

Oh, will you wear white, Jenny Jenkins?

 

No, I won’t wear white; the color’s too bright…

Chorus:

I’ll buy me a foldy roldy, tildy toldy,

 

seek a double use a cause a roll to find me.

 

Roll, Jenny Jenkins roll.

 

Brown – It’s all around town (alt: color of the ground)

Black – It’s the color of a sack

Purple – It’s the color of a turtle

Pink – I’d rather drink ink

Yellow – ‘Cause I’d never get a fellow

Green – It’s a shame to be seen

Red – It’s the color of my head

Blue – ‘Cause it just won’t do

Gold – It makes me look bold

Orange – No orange this time, ‘cause the word won’t rhyme

 

Then what will you wear oh my dear, oh my dear?

What will you wear, Jenny Jenkins?

 

Oh, what do you care if I just go bare?

 

* “Jennie Jenkins” (as “Jane” Jenkins) is first found in the United States in the 1823 collection, The Green

Mountain Songster, compiled by a Revolutionary War soldier from Sandgate, Vermont. www.giamusic.com