"Follow the Drinking Gourd" was a standard during the folk music "boom" of the 1950s and 60s. I remember singing it in my Grade Two music class (1969-1970), and of course I found it puzzling. What is a gourd, and how do I drink from it? And if it is a ladle, like the one hanging above the stove, how do I follow it?

Like many folk songs, particularly those that came out of the southern United States, "Follow the Drink Gourd" is encoded, or in this instance, a map for escaping slaves. The "Gourd" is the Big Dipper (which contains the North Star), and if you travel towards it, staying close to the "riverbank," you will meet "Peg Leg" (a conductor for the Underground Railroad), and he will guide you to "freedom" (Canada).

FOLLOW THE DRINKING GOURD
(traditional)

When the sun comes back,
And the first Quail calls,
Follow the drinking gourd,
For the old man is waiting
For to carry you to freedom
If you follow the drinking gourd.

Chorus:
Follow the drinking gourd,
Follow the drinking gourd,
For the old man is waiting
For to carry you to freedom
If you follow the drinking gourd.

The riverbank will make a very good road,
The dead trees show you the way.
Left foot, peg foot traveling on,
Following the drinking gourd.

The river ends between two hills,
Follow the drinking gourd,
There's another river on the other side,
Follow the drinking gourd.

When the great big river meets the little river,
Follow the drinking gourd.
For the old man is waiting
For to carry you to freedom
If you follow the drinking gourd.