"Gumbo Chaff", also spelled "Gombo Chaff", is an American

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...

, first performed in the early 1830s. It was part of the repertoire of early blackface performers, including Thomas D. Rice and

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. The title character was one of the earliest blackface characters in the United States. He was based largely on the tall-tale

riverboat A riverboat is a watercraft designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury un ...

smen and

frontiersmen A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a Border, boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that ...

characters that were popular in fiction during the

Jacksonian Era Jacksonian democracy was a 19th-century political philosophy in the United States that expanded suffrage to most white men over the age of 21, and restructured a number of federal institutions. Originating with the seventh U.S. president, A ...

. "Gumbo Chaff" merged these frontier elements with stereotypes of black slaves, creating a new character who lives "On de

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

bluff in de state of

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

" and who "jump into iskiff / And . . . down de river driff, / And . . . cotch as many cat fish as ever nigger liff."Nathan 173. Due to this song's popularity, the black riverboatsman (usually named "Gumbo Chaff") became a popular character in minstrelsy for a time. Blackface singers would often perform "Gumbo Chaff" with a mock

flatboat A flatboat (or broadhorn) was a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with square ends used to transport freight and passengers on inland waterways in the United States. The flatboat could be any size, but essentially it was a large, sturdy tub with a ...

on stage. The song's melody seems to be at least partially based on an older

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

song called "

Bow Wow Wow Bow Wow Wow are an English new wave band, created by manager Malcolm McLaren in 1980. McLaren recruited members of Adam and the Ants to form the band behind 13-year-old Annabella Lwin on vocals. They released their debut EP '' Your Cassette ...

". " De Wild Goose-Nation", a blackface song written by Dan Emmett in 1844, adapted the tune to "Gumbo Chaff", possibly with

parodic A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

intent.

Notes

References

*Gura, Philip F. (1999). ''America's Instrument: The Banjo in the Nineteenth-century''. The University of North Carolina Press. *Hutton, Lawrence (1891). ''Curiosities of the American Stage''. New York: Harber & Brothers. *Mahar, William J. (1999). ''Behind the Burnt Cork Mask: Early Blackface Minstrelsy and Antebellum American Popular Culture''. University of Illinois Press. * {{cite book , first=Hans , last=Nathan , year=1962 , title=Dan Emmett and the Rise of Early Negro Minstrelsy , url=https://archive.org/details/danemmettriseofe0000nath , url-access=registration , location=Norman, Oklahoma , publisher=University of Oklahoma Press Blackface minstrel characters Blackface minstrel songs 1830s songs Songwriter unknown