“In the old days I remember a feature of our circus was Nettie Collins’s lilt ‘Dance me on Your Knee.’ The band played the flowing melody, and she bowed and waved as she sang on a little platform in the ring. It made a great hit for several seasons. Here’s how its lines went, and many an old-time circus goer will call them to mind:
When I was a little girl and full of childish joys
I used to play with all the girls, but oftener with the boys;
And with them climb the apple trees, and races, too, we’d run,
I’ll tell you, oh, ’twas then, my boys, we had such jolly fun;
But now those days are past and gone, no more them I will see,
If I could only call them back, how happy I would be.
You may dance me, darling, dance me,
You may dance me on your knee.
If there’s such a man among you