"Hand Me Down My Walking Cane" is a song written by African-American James A. Bland in 1880.[1] It has acquired the status of a folk song, and is cataloged as Roud Folk Song Index No. 11,733.[2]
Though often (since the 1990's) credited to James A. Bland, the song may actually be of folk origin, or at least put together by Bland based on the singing of laborers on the campus of Howard University. There is a known plantation spiritual, "Hand me down my silver trumpet, Gabriel, all my sins been washed away," which itself may have derived from another spiritual, "All my sins done taken away." Also, the sea shanty "The Hog Eye Man," 1849-1850, (shanties were often adaptations of plantation songs) contains the words, "Go fetch me down my riding cane."[3] It is often impossible to determine what melodies were in use for known 19th century lyrics, and there is no indication that these fairly similar lyrics had melodies at all related to "Hand Me Down My Walking Cane."
The song has been recorded many times, in a variety of styles including country, cajun, jazz, mountain, bluegrass, rock and roll, and acoustic and electric blues. Recordings by artists having Wikipedia articles include: