Sorry, Barry. Took me so long to post I didn't see yours. Yes, well, with any luck we'll move up to Raleigh (North Carolina) soon enough that the distance to Mystic ain't as far.

Several notes to All. Remember that the TWO songs (Goodbye-type and I Ride-type) are ONE of the best known cowboy songs at all both within and without cowboydom.

Re the Morris version:

Lomax doesn't outright claim it's the oldest, he knows he collected (or was sent) a version in 1911. He just says this claim that Morris' teacher learned it in 1871 (assumedly dating it back some period before that) Pushes the possible origin back further than any other claim. Morris claimed he "owned" the song because of where he got it in 1885 (he claims) and that he added the fiddle arrangement. Lomax says .... well, ok...why not? And lets it go.

Listening this morning, I agree with Lomax's transcription as I posted. I made one error (that I see right off):

    Farewell, fair ladies, I'm a-leaving Cheyenne,
    Farewell, fair ladies, I'm leaving Cheyenne,

is consistantly what Lomax wrote and Morris sang. Whether it's leavin' or leaving is irrelevant.

Barry, this record is still available from L of C. It's a fine record worth regetting. I don't think it's available as LP any more but may be. Certainly on tape and maybe one that's been moved to CD.

The Library of Congress
Motion Picture, Broadcasting
And Recorded Sound Division
Washington, DC 20540-4800
RECORDING SALES: (202) 707-2691

This is the _only_ address you can get ordering info from. The Librarian of Congress's office doesn't know anything about all this and doesn't want to. They will, however, be very polite while they refer you to the wrong place. The Music Division can sometimes find them, but usually they can't.

See http://lcweb.loc.gov/folklife/folkcat.html
Ah! Cowboy is one of the Rounder CDs. Go to them or http://www.loc.gov/folklife/rounder.html

Speaking of good L of C stuff, in looking through my own stuff I listened to the 30-year-old West Texas singer, Sam Hinton. That was recorded for them in 1947. Recently released by Bear family records. Available at Camsco or Amazon.com. Call Camsco & get it. dick@camsco.com or (800) 548-FOLK (3655)

Remember, the I Ride type comes from music hall, not cowboys.

Right. That "she" bothered me but I didn't twig why. Yes, usually "he paces when he can." Morris does give "my feet's in my stirrups." One each so that's ok. Of course there's no other transcription of ex-slave Charley's singing. I suppose Negro dialect could apply. I don't know how far this configuration goes. Some is valid but some is certainly slanderous from minstrel shows & Ethiopian song books.

Charlie, yep. That's the one I sing, too. As a matter of fact, it was the first song I ever heard in a coffee house sung by a "folksinger" with a guitar. People sang along! I was stunned by this approach to music. Permanently changed. Tula's in Cambridge, 1955. Like yesterday. Of course I'd sing Goodbye as well but the tune still eludes me. I'll try again.

"Hoolihan?" Bet a search here would turn up a lot. I'll post a little of what I have, though.

My Cowboy Glossary (the usual source these days) gives it as a form of bulldogging. But that wasn't so well known in 1994. From a note I sent a certain Mr Greenhaus in 1994:

I noted the word, oddly, is never Mondegreened, even though no one knows what it means; I'd give 20 to 30 points to anyone that had the effrontery to lie well enough to even claim they knew what it meant. Then:

According to the Texan, John A. Lomax who recorded this version in 1942 from an elderly actually trail-riding cowboy (you know that cowboying and cattle drives ended when the railroads finally extended far enough that the dangerous & expensive drives were no longer needed - about say, 1890. Later songs are just reminiscent or "drug store") ..

"Hoolihan" is a form of bulldogging where the snout of the calf or steer is seized and pressed, forcing the animal's head to the ground and thus throwing it, rather than twisting its head in the common practice of rodeos today.

Mr Greenhaus replied:
I'll take the points. About a year ago I was at a party that included a college-professor-universal-expert who insisted on pontificating about the supposed meanings of the usual obscure words in folksongs. As far as I could tell, he was right about 30% of the time. Finally, he got into throwing the houlihan, and I had enough.

"The houlihan," I explained to him, was a figure from ancient Celtic myth; a bull with magical powers that Cuchulain had fought. And, of course, the phrase persisted, with the real meaning of throwing the Irish bull. Talk about fakelore...but it shut him up.

And so should I.

(Sorry for telling your story, Dick, but I doubt anyone's still reading.)

Last, and significantly: Allowing this definition, (not Mr Greenhaus') The "hoolihan" dates the song. Bulldoging of any sort became a rodeo event only after 1900.