My mother was from Missouri , and she used to sing a lullaby to the tune of what i have now learned is called The Missouri Waltz. And its still Mo’s state song.
But here are the words i remember:
“Way down in Missouri where i heard this melody
When i was a little baby on my mammy’s knee,
The Sandman’s a-comin’ , the darkies are hummin’
So sweet and low…”
Okay, obvs they had to get rid of the “darkies”, , because although we are never to be permitted to forget about slavery, we are also never to be permitted to refer to it. Not my issue right now: I”m wondering about the Sandman.
I understood he was a folk figure or legend like Santa, the Tooth Fairy, etc., and his job was to sprinkle magic sand in children’s eyes so they would go to sleep.
Has anybody else ever heard of the Sandman? does anybody know whether he was originally mentioned in The Missouri Waltz.? Or did my mother just insert that line herself?
ST UnWoked & UnVaxxed! 
Yes, I have heard of the Sandman, and in fact, I cannot remember ever not knowing about him, although I have no idea how or when I came to know of him. I have always known about the Sandman, and I assume that others of my age in my area of Western Mass probably knew of him just as I did, but I don’t know that for sure.
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Thanks. When I search “sandman” I don’t find any reference to the folk figure.
I picture him in a white lines suit, a low slouch hat, with a burlap sack (containing the soporific sand) over his shoulder…
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I found this, which gives a little bit of information about the Sandman:
https://monster.fandom.com/wiki/Sandman
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Here are the lyrics, according to Google:
Lyrics
Hush a bye my baby slumber time is coming soon
Rest your head on mommie’s breast while daddy hums a tune
Are the old folks were humming the banjos were strumming
And the soft breezes sigh as in days long gone by
Way down in Missouri where I heard this melody
When I was a little fellow on my mommie’s knee
The old folks were humming the banjos were strumming so sweet and low
Hush a bye my baby go to sleep on daddy’s knee
Journey back to Dixie Land in dreams again with me
Oh, it seems like your daddy was there once again
And the old folks were strumming that same old refrain
Way down in Missouri when I heard this lullaby
While the stars were blinking and the moon was shining high
Are the old folks were humming the banjos were strumming so sweet and low
The Sandman appears nowhere in this rendition. 😦 It seems very possible that your Mom slipped him in, but I like her version better! 🙂
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Yes but these lyrics are sanitized: “mommy” instead of “mammy”, f’rinstance…and no”darkies” . But you’re probably right; he wouldn’t seem to fit anywhere in here.
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Oh wait stop the presses: lookIn’ up The Missouri Waltz (as written in 1914) on Wikipedia, the sandman IS in there! He’s callin’ while shadows are fallin’!
Welp—I hope he visits me tonight—hafta get up crack o’ dawn tomorrow.
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Awesome 🙂 Sorry that I threw you off the right track!
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Hyp, how ’bout this lullaby from my early childhood? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX45pYvxDiA
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“Has anybody else ever heard of the Sandman?”
He was like the tooth fairy but made children fall asleep.
“does anybody know whether he was originally mentioned in The Missouri Waltz.?”
No Earthly idea
“Or did my mother just insert that line herself?”
ibid
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The Roman poet Ovid must have been quite the dandy back in the day. His poetry is beyond randy.
https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Morpheus
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