| "Shortnin' Bread" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| Written | c. 1890s |
| Published | 1900 |
| Songwriter(s) | James Whitcomb Riley |
"Shortnin' Bread" (also spelled "Shortenin' Bread", "Short'nin' Bread", or "Sho'tnin' Bread") is an American folk song dating back at least to 1900, when James Whitcomb Riley published it as a poem. While there is speculation that Riley may have based his poem on an earlier African-American plantation song,[1] no definitive evidence of such an origin has yet been uncovered. A "collected" version of the song was published by E. C. Perrow in 1915. It is song number 4209 in the Roud Folk Song Index.
Shortening bread refers to a bread made of corn meal and/or flour and lard shortening.