A calypso work song, "Pay Me My Money Down" originated among the Negro stevedores working in the Georgia Sea Islands. It was collected by Lydia Parrish and published in her 1942 book, Slave Songs of the Georgia Sea Islands. It is included in the Roud Folk Song Index as #21449. Also known as "Pay Me" or "Pay Me, You Owe Me", it was performed by The Weavers during their influential 1955 Carnegie Hall concerts. It was further popularized by The Kingston Trio on tour starting in 1957. Capitalizing on the Weavers' folk success with the song, Robert Nemiroff and Burt D'Lugoff appropriated the melody unchanged for their pop song "Cindy, Oh Cindy", originally recorded in 1956 by Vince Martin and The Tarriers. More recently it has been recorded by The Hardtackers. I learned it first from The Kingston Trio.