Origins: Just what is an 'old brass wagon'??

Subject: Origins: Just what is an 'old brass wagon'??
From: marthabees
Date: 09 Oct 05 - 05:19 PM

I've used the song "The Old Brass Wagon" for years to teach my littlest students the beginnings of American folk dance.

And yesterday it hit me like a ton of bricks:

What IS an old brass wagon??
Why would a wagon be made of BRASS, for gosh sakes?
Why would we be circling around it?

Was there an original event that has been forgotten and yet memorialized in the children's playparty song?

I have all kinds of suppositions and creative theories, but those just won't do.

I can't find anything on this. I'm thinking that someone out there may know something.

I'm mystified. Help?

Martha in Florida

Subject: RE: Origins: Just what is an 'old brass wagon'??
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 09 Oct 05 - 07:37 PM

No real information, but one or two versions call it "The Old Brass Cannon," which makes more sense. Also has been found as "Little Brass Wagon" in the Midwest (Botkin).
No 19th c. versions found.

Subject: RE: Origins: Just what is an 'old brass wagon'??
From: masato sakurai
Date: 09 Oct 05 - 10:10 PM

Vance Randolph notes in his Ozark Folksongs, vol. 3, p. 316:

Blair (JAFL 40, 1927, p. 97) says that the Kentucky montaineers sing "The Old Brass Wagon" to the air of "Liza Jane," adding that "the intricate crossing in the dance resembles the spokes of a wagon wheel, hence the name."

Subject: RE: Origins: Just what is an 'old brass wagon'??
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 10 Oct 05 - 05:21 AM

Children tend to keep in their songs and plays memories of old which are forgotten by the adults. Maybe it is the old sun wagon of many cultures? Example here