#HoeItDown? #ScratchYourGravel? Theories on those #DixieLandPhrases, from @MudCatCafe (Preservers & Appreciators of Traditional Music (The 'Folks' in "Folk Songs!")) and Me

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'The words of those phrases' (below-hyperlinked to MudCat Cafe's discussion on those- and a few other-phrases) is built on an even-deeper source ... something crucial that firms the foundation upon which our lexicon stands ...
The singer instructs 'the listeners' (probably laboring-slaves, possibly just hard-working farm-hands) to "Hoe It Down" and "Scratch Your Gravel."  
We'll get to 'what those phrases probably mean' in a minute, but first ...
The word “Hoe” (Tool-Name that inspired #Hoecake #Hoedown #Hoes #Hoer) is built on ancient words that mean "to Hew, |Strike" (to |Clear Weeds with the |Tool of the Same Name ... often confused with "Ho," an American vernacular pronunciation of "Whore"). 
"The word “Scratch” (#Scratchy #Scratched #Scratching #ChickenScratch) is built on ancient words that Imitate 'the sound made when someone-or-something (e.g. a 'Chicken') #Scratches something,' which probably led to the word's association with "things that go 'bump' in the night" (the Devil #OldScratch, |Goblins, Wizards, Monsters, |Satyr, Wood Demon, |Imp ... a word used in fear of Dwarfs, Hermaphrodites). 
The word “Gravel” (#Gravelly #GravelCrusher) is built on ancient words that mean "to |Rub, |Grind (Grit)" (|Coarse as a Surface that's Coated with Small-&-|Irregular Stones or -with |Sand).
In Oklahoma, I've been to a few parties we called "hoedowns"---not many of us (at least not in 'the big cities' like Tulsa, Edmond, Norman, Oklahoma City etc.) are actually "throwing down farm-tools to join in" (just like many of us aren't actually "working the dirt with our faces to the ground, letting the sun turn the backs of our necks Red"), but we appreciate the freedom implied by 'the task-master's command "Hoes-Down"' (nerds like me might equate it to "the test-attendant's command 'Pencils-Down').

But I hadn't heard "Scratch your Gravel" before, and I was 'lucky' to find MudCat Cafe (I guess they're not heavy on SEO ... I dunno ...). MudCat's contributors suggest it might mean 'Dancing like a Chicken' (an animal known for pecking at gravel it's walking on), or 'Turning onto a Country-Road' (still used in some versions of Blue Ridge Mountain Blues)--related to a German phrase that means "Scratch the Bend," used when telling someone to turn off immediately--

... or 'Scratch your Gravel' might be a euphemism for "Patting or Rubbing your 'Belly'."

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