Work songs, jody call, “waulking” songs, cadence call, sea shanty, call and response,all that kind of music.
Here is the real question.
I often go walking with a group of people. Are there any easy to learn songs that you can think of that would be easy for others to learn in a few minutes and be appropriate for civilized people?
repeat each line…
(no singing, just chanting)
Flea
Flea, fly
Flea fly flo
Vista
Kumala, kumala, kumala vista
Oh no no no no ad vista
Ene mene esta mene oowah oowah a meenie
Dese mene soo la mene oowah oowah a meenie
Beep billy oat n dote n bo bo ba deet n dat n
SHHHHHHHHHH!!!SHHHHHHHHHH!!!SHHHHHHHHHH!!!SHHHHHHHHHH!!!
There was a slightly different version of that one floating around central Maryland in the 70’s, Missy, that I recall.
Did you also know the one that starts: “oh I was born one night one morn…”?
Row, row, row your boat,
gently down the…
On Ilkley Moor Ba’ht t’at is a good one for walking.
Blood Red Roses (I’m sure it’s available at Mudcat, which seems to be hung up right now)
That one from the 50’s or early 60’s – There she was just a walking down the street singing
Dooh wah ditty ditty dum ditty doo
That’s Doo Wah Diddy Diddy by Manfred Mann, 1964.
There she was just a-walkin down the street,
Singin’, (doo-wah diddy-diddy down diddy-doo)
Snappin’ her fingers and shufflin’ her feet,
Singin’, (doo-wah diddy-diddy down diddy-doo)
She looked good, (looked good)
She looked fine, (looked fine)
She looked good, she looked fine
And I nearly lost my mind
Before I knew it she was walkin’ next to me.
Singin’, (doo-wah diddy-diddy down diddy-doo)
Holdin’ my hand just as natural as can be,
Singin’, (doo-wah diddy-diddy down diddy-doo)
We walked on, (we walked on)
To my door, (to my door)
We walked on to my door,
Then we kissed a little more
Wo-o-o-oh, I knew we were falling in love,
Yes I did, and so I told her all the things
That I’d been dreamin’ of
Now were together nearly every single day,
Singin’, (doo-wah diddy-diddy down diddy-doo)
Were so happy and that’s how were gonna stay,
Singin’, (doo-wah diddy-diddy down diddy-doo)
Well I’m hers, (I’m hers)
She’s mine, (she’s mine)
I’m hers, she’s mine,
Wedding bells are gonna chime
Wo-o-o-oh, I knew we were falling in love,
Yes I did, and so I told her all the things
That I’d been dreamin’ of
Now were togther nearly every single day
Singin’, (doo-wah diddy-diddy down diddy-doo)
Were so happy and that’s how were gonna stay
Singin’, (doo-wah diddy-diddy down diddy-doo)
Well I’m hers, (I’m hers)
She’s mine, (she’s mine)
I’m hers, she’s mine,
Wedding bells are gonna chime
Singin’, doo-wah diddy-diddy down diddy-doo
Doo-wah diddy-diddy down diddy-doo
Doo-wah diddy-diddy down diddy-doo
(N.B. Some people sing “dum” instead of “down”. This is acceptable in most bars and half-way houses.)
That’s a good one, and it really lends itself for.. shall we say… ad lib-ing? 
When I wor a lad, we used to sing “The Quartermaster’s Store”. It was a family tradition that we made up our own rhymes - Rats, rats, rats as big as cats, Cheese, cheese with kilts and hairy knees, Meat, meat, enough to sink the fleet… etc.
It was only years later as an adult I learned there was a kosher official version of this song with proper verses. It was a shock, I can tell you.
Here’s the WWI version:
The Quarter Masters Stores
There were rats, rats, big as bloody cats
In the store, in the store
There were rats, rats, big as bloody cats
In the Quartermaster’s stores
My eyes are dim, I cannot see
I have not brought my specs with me
I have not brought my specs with me
There was beer, beer, to bring us all good cheer
In the store, in the store
There was beer, beer, to bring us all good cheer
In the Quartermaster’s store
There was cheese, cheese, rotting, stinking cheese
In the store, in the store
There was cheese, cheese, rotting, stinking cheese
In the Quartermaster’s store
There was bread, bread, heavy as lumps of lead
There was whisky, whisky, the stuff that makes you frisky
There were socks, socks, filthy, smelly socks
There were tents, tents, full of holes and rents
There was rice, rice, full of bugs and lice
There were flies,flies, eating all the pies
In the Quartermaster’s store
A “Scouting” version:
Quartermaster’s Store
There are rats, rats, as big as alley cats
In the stores, in the stores
There are rats, rats, as big as alley cats
In the Quartermaster’s store
My eyes are dim, I can not see
I have not brought my specks with me
I have not brought my specks with me
Mice . . . running through the rice
Snakes . . . as big as garden rakes
Beans . . . as big as submarines
Gravy . . . enough to float the navy
Cakes . . . that give us tummy aches
Eggs . . . with scaly chicken legs
Butter . . . running in the gutter
Lard . . . they sell it by the yard
Bread . . . with great big lumps like lead
Cheese . . . that makes you want to sneeze
Soot . . . they grow it by the foot
Goats . . . eating all the oats
Bees . . . with little knobby knees
Owls . . . shredding paper towels
Apes . . . eating all the grapes
Turtles . . . wearing rubber girdles
Bear . . . with curlers in its hair
Buffalos . . . with hair between their toes
Foxes . . . stuffed in little boxes
Coke . . . enough to make you choke
Pepsi . . . that gives you apoplexy
Roaches . . . sleeping in the coaches
Flies . . . swarming 'round the pies
Fishes . . . washing all the dishes
Moths . . . eating through the cloths
Scouts . . . eating brussel sprouts
Leaders . . . slapping at the skeeters
…and anything else you can think of!
On Ilkley Moor Baht 'at
{To answer many queries … “Baht’at” translates as “Without a Hat”} The Musical Score
Wheear 'as ta bin sin ah saw thee,
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at?!
Wheear 'as ta bin sin ah saw thee?
Wheear 'as ta bin sin ah saw thee?
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at?!
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at?!
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at?!
Tha’s been a cooartin’ Mary Jane
On Ilkla Moor baht ‘at
Tha’s been a cooartin’ Mary Jane
Tha’s been a cooartin’ Mary Jane
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
Tha’s bahn t’catch thi deeath o’cowd
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
Tha’s bahn t’catch thi deeath o’cowd
Tha’s bahn t’catch thi deeath o’cowd
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
Then we shall ha’ to bury thee
On Ilkla Moor baht ‘at vThen we shall ha’ to bury thee
Then we shall ha’ to bury thee
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
Then t’worms 'll cum and eat thee oop
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
Then t’worms 'll cum and eat thee oop
Then t’worms 'll cum and eat thee oop
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
Then ducks 'll cum and eat oop t’worms
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
Then ducks 'll cum and eat oop t’worms
Then ducks 'll cum and eat oop t’worms
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
Then we shall go an’ ate oop ducks
On Ilkla Moor baht ‘at
Then we shall go an’ ate oop ducks
Then we shall go an’ ate oop ducks
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
Then we shall all 'ave etten thee
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
Then we shall all 'ave etten thee
Then we shall all 'ave etten thee
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
[The last verse was added some time later to the original.]
That’s wheer we get us oahn back
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
That’s wheer we get us oahn back
That’s wheer we get us oahn back
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
The Site even has the music… I suppose there must be someone who’s never heard Ilkley Moor…
That would be me (re. Ilkley Moor Baht 'at ). Having seen the music at “The site”, I think I heard it sung on an episode of “All Creatures Great and Small” by some drunken characters.
We used to (Thou Shalt!) sing on long trips songs like Quartermaster’s Store, Green Grow the Rushes Ho, and probably a few more that I would remember if someone named them. “Ho” doesn’t seem to show up in songs very often anymore … 
djm
It was “Green grow the Rushes-O” when I sang it, and when Teddy Roosevelt sang it, and if it isn’t why Americans came to be called “Gringos” then it SHOULD be.
There’s an A capella group called Artisan who sang “While Shepherds watched their flocks by night” to the tune of Ilkley Moor, and it sounded so good I can scarcely remember the original tune now.
Gee, I suppose you’re going to tell me the white ones aren’t called “Snow Ho” then? 
djm
I always thought it was “in the quartermaster’s, quartermaster’s corps.”
I think I was wrong, based on Googled lyrics.
(that’s how my mother always sang it!)