Gremlin in the river.

The story:

I was hanging out at a friend's house and chatting amongst her, my mom, and her mom. Our moms were teaching us a folk song they learned in school. There was word I never heard before in verse 2(grampling). My friend's mom says it means sinking into water and drowning. I heard the song before with similar lyrics but the song she taught me was more jazzy. Both lyrics make sense if there is a water dwelling elf that likes drowning boaters. I like the jazz version better than the country western version on my C.D.