Annotation:Poor Old Robinson Crusoe
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POOR OLD ROBINSON CRUSOE. AKA and see "Poor Old Soldier," "Old Soldier (1) (The)," "Rogue's March (1) (The)." American, Dance and Song Tune (6/8 time). E Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. Once a song air but the melody is now better-known as "The Rogue's March," which has, since 1750, been the regulation drumming-out tune for offenders from the British army. It was imported to the Americas for the same use. "Poor Old Robinson Crusoe" has also seen substantial use as a children's song and nursery rhyme.
Poor old Robinson Crusoe was lost,
On an island they say, O,
He stole him a coat from an old billy-goat,
I don't see how he could do so.
Source for notated version:
Printed sources: Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; p. 79 (Ford also prints different words for a song called "Robinson Crusoe," to a different jig tune). Winner (New American School for the Banjo), 1883; p. 36.
Recorded sources: