This old song might have been very famous during the late part of the 19th century. Its music appeared in many scores around that time, say for example, in Manuel Walls y Merino' s La Musica Popular de Filipinas its music was presented as El Balitao.
Merino's short description of this balitaw (dance-song) is very interesting, and is here quoted in its entirety as translated to English: "This dance is the most popular in the Philippines. It is
generally played more than it is danced, and its figures come to be a specie of jota, although without the variety and elegance of this. It is usually
played by bands or orchestras, or simply by guitars. This dance is so popular
and the Indios have so much affection to it, that it is often said that as an
indigenous person hears the balitaw, even if his father has died, he begins to
dance it."
During the America era, this song again appeared in the "Philippine Music Horizons" as the "Kettle Song" or the "Inday sa Balitaw" which is a humorous song. Other versions of the song are called "Ang Balitaw" and "Dampa." The later, about a small bamboo hut.
Inday, Inday in the fishtraps
Lame boy with fresh firewood for a splint,
Boiled bananas from a rat hole,
Soaked in vinegar, good for stomachache.
Neneng, Neneng in the fishtraps
Wooden boards put away, ladle hung,
Bent turner, pot upside-down,
Bland sinigang, too little tamarind.
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