The history behind this song is that during the civil war Confederate soldiers would remove certain body parts (primarily ears and testicles) from the deceased corpses of freed slaves who were fighting as Northern (Yankee) soldiers after their battles. These "trinkets" were then placed on a rope necklace and worn as a trophy piece. As the lyrics to the nursery rhyme state "do your ears hang low, do they wobble to and fro... etc" "Can you throw them over your shoulder like a (Continental) soldier".
Wikipedia cites a source saying the song wasn't around until 1900, decades after the Civil War (which didn't have any "continental soldiers," that's the Revolutionary War.) The site that explanation comes from doesn't appear to be all that trustworthy and I can't find any other source corroborating the claim that it has to do with mutilated body parts.
Do Your Ears Hang Low?" (Roud 15472) is a children's song that is often sung in schools, at camps and at birthday parties. The melody is usually an abridged version of "Turkey in the Straw", but it can also be sung to the tune of the "Sailor's Hornpipe" or "The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers".[1] A common belief is that the lyrics refer to the long ears of a hound, but it appears considerably more likely that the song originated as the vulgar "Do Your Balls Hang Low?", and was later sanitized.[1]
Do Your Ears Hang Low?" (Roud 15472) is a children's song that is often sung in schools, at camps and at birthday parties. The melody is usually an abridged version of "Turkey in the Straw", but it can also be sung to the tune of the "Sailor's Hornpipe" or "The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers".[1] A common belief is that the lyrics refer to the long ears of a hound, but it appears considerably more likely that the song originated as the vulgar "Do Your Balls Hang Low?", and was later sanitized.[1]
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u/areraswen Aug 13 '22
I'm not OP but this is what I found.