The James T. Callow Folklore Archive

Mr. Dunderback

There was an old man from Germany
His name was Dunderback
He opened up a butcher-shop
To sell sauerkraut and fat.
One day this Mr. Dunderback
Invented a machine
For grinding all the cats and dogs
To sausage meat so fine.

Chorus: O-oh, Mr. Dunderback, ain't you awful mean?
Ain't you awful sorry you invented that machine?
For the long-tailed rats and the pussycats
No longer can be seen,
They've all been ground to sausgage-meat
In Dunderback's machine.

One day a little boy came, a-walking in the shop,
He ordered him a head of cheese,
And walked around the room,
And while he was a'waitin',
He whistled a merry tune,
And all the cats and the long-tailed rats,
Came skippin' around the room.

Chorus

One day something the matter was,
The machine, it wouldn't go.
So, Dunderback, He climbed inside
To see what made it so.
Now, Mrs. Dunderback had been walking in her sleep,
She gave the machine an awful crank,
And Dunderback was meat!

Chorus

Data entry tech comment:

Informant and collector share the same surname.

Where learned: Gradeschool

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