The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #67126   Message #1119765
Posted By: GUEST
19-Feb-04 - 11:13 PM
Thread Name: Origins: Old Chisholm Trail
Subject: Lyr Add: OLD CHISHOLM TRAIL
Brown FCBCNCF V. III, p 248

THE OLD CHISHOLM TRAIL
  1. Come along, boys, and listen to my tale,
    I'll tell you of my troubles on the old Chisholm trail.

    Refrain:
    Come ti yi youpy youpy ya youpy ya,
    Come ti yi youpy youpy ya.

  2. I started up the trail October twenty-third,
    I started up the trail with the 2-U herd.

  3. Oh, a ten dollar hoss and a forty dollar saddle,
    And I'm goin' to punchin' Texas cattle.

  4. I wake up in the morning on the old Chisholm trail,
    Rope in my hand and a cow by the tail.

  5. I'm up in the mornin' afore daylight,
    And afore I sleep the moon shines bright.

    Old Ben Bolt was a blamed good boss
    But he'd go to see the girls on a sore-backed hoss

  6. Old Ben Bolt was a fine old man,
    And you'd know there was whiskey wherever he'd land.

  7. My hoss throwed me off at the creek called Mud;
    My hoss throwed me off 'round the 2-U herd.

  8. Last time he was going 'cross the level,
    A-kicking up his heels and a-running like the devil.

  9. It's cloudy in the west, a-looking like rain,
    And my danmed old slicker's in the wagon again.

  10. Crippled my hoss, I don't know how,
    Ropin' at the horns of a 2-U cow.

  11. We hit Caldwell and we hit her on the fly,
    We bedded down the cattle on the hill close by.

  12. No chaps, no slicker, and it's pouring down rain;
    And I swear, by all, I'll never night-herd again.

  13. Feet in the stirrups and a seat in the saddle,
    I hung and rattled with them long-horned cattle.

  14. Last night I was on guard and the leader broke ranks
    I hit my horse on the shoulders and I spurred him in the flanks.

  15. The wind commenced to blow, and the rain began to fall
    It looked, by grab, like we was goin' to lose 'em all.

  16. I jumped in the saddle and grabbed holt the horn,
    Best blamed cowpuncher ever was born.

  17. I popped my foot in the stirrup and gave a little yell;
    The tail cattle broke and the leaders went to hell.

  18. I don't give a danm if they never do stop,
    I'll ride as long as an eight-day clock.

  19. Foot in the stirrup and hand on the horn,
    I'm the best damned cowboy that ever was born.

  20. I herded and I hollered, and I done very well,
    Till the boss said, 'Boys, just let 'em go to hell.'

  21. There's a stray in the herd and the boss said kill it,
    So I shot him in the rump with the handle of the skillet.

  22. We rounded 'em up, and we put 'em on the cars,
    And that was the last of the old Two-Bars.

  23. Oh, it's bacon and beans most every day;
    I'd as soon be eatin' prairie hay.

  24. I'm on my best horse and I'm going at a run,
    I'm the quickest shooting cowboy that ever pulled a gun.

  25. I went to the boss to draw my roll,
    To come back to Texas, dad-burn my soul.

  26. I went to the boss to draw my roll;
    He had it figgered out I was nine dollars in the hole.

  27. I'll sell my outfit just as soon as I can
    I won't punch cattle for no damned man.

  28. Goin' back to town to draw my money,
    Goin' back home to see my honey.

  29. With my knees in the saddle and my seat in the sky,
    I'll quit punching cows in the sweet by and by.


From The Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore Volume III (Folk Songs), #217

Notes: The cowboy classic, sung probably wherever cattle are driven over the plains to market. See CS 28-37. Randolph (OFS II 174-5) has found it in Arkansas. Neely and Spargo (TSSI 184-5) report a song with the same refrain but a widely different text from Illinois.
'The Old Chisholm Trail.'
From the John Burch Blaylock Collection.