Here is the version pirated by the cowboy singer, Powder River Jack Lee, taken from his 1938 book called "Cowboy Songs."


TYING A KNOT IN THE DEVIL'S TAIL

"Words and Music by Powder River Jack Lee
on Victor Record 23527."

Says Buster Gigs to Sagebrush Sam,
As he throwed his long legs down,
"I'm gettin' tired of cowography*,
And I reckon I'll jog to town."
They started out on a right smart lope,
For it warn't no sight of a ride,
And "them" wuz the days when a good cowpunch
Could "ile up" his inside.

At the old "Kaintucky" bar they stopped,
Near the end of Whiskey Row,
And they wound up tight some time that night
Some forty drinks below.
The house turned 'round and "set them up,"
Startin' in the other way;
Honest to goodness, tell the truth,
The boys got stewed that day.

They both lit out for the Siree Peaks
A "packin'" up a darn good load,
And who should they meet but the Devil himself
Jest a "prancin'" down the road.
"Confound yuh ornery cowboy skunks,
Yuh better had hunt yer holes,
For I am the Devil from the hell's rim-rocks
Come to gather up yore souls."

"The Devil be dammed," says Buster Gigs,
"We boys both know we're tight,
But before yuh corral any cowboys souls
Yuh'll shore hev a bee-utiful fight."
So he throwed his rope and he throwed 'er straight
Till she spun down good and true,
And he looped the Devil by his "pinted" horns
And tuk his dallies, too.

Old Sagebrush sam was a lariat-man,
With his gut-line coiled up neat
He throwed 'er out and layed him down
While the sizzlin' iron grew hot;
They trimmed his horns with a dehorn saw
And branded him a lot.

They tied ten knots in the old boy's tail
And they left him there for a joke,
With a bellerin' cough, as they loped right off
Necked up to a black-jack oak.
If you ever go a-ridin' in the Siree Peaks
And yuh hear one awful wail,
Yuh'll know it's the Devil as he yowls and prowls,
With the knots in his tail.

With sheet music, ("not to fast, tune uke A D F# B"),
with the words (in caps), meant for an introductory verse.

A-WAY UP HIGH IN THE SIREE PEAKS
WHERE THE YELLOW JACK PINES GROW TALL
OLD BUSTER GIGS AND SAGEBRUSH SAM
HAD A ROUNDUP WAT LAST FALL

ANY OLD CALF WHO FLOPPED LONG EARS
AND DIDN'T BUSH UP BY DAY
GOT HIS LONG EARS CHISELED AND HIS OLD HIDE SISSLED
IN A MOST ARTISTIC WAY.

* cow pyrography is meant.
From "Cowboy Songs," copyrighted 1938 by Powder River Jack Lee. Printed by The McKee Printing Company, Butte, Montana, pp. 12-13