Last night we watched a video about Gallipolis, Ohio, a town founded by French people fleeing the revolution. It's story touched me, and it occurred to me that I could use the melody of the old murder ballad "Down by the Banks of the Ohio" for a song about the town. For the song, I pronounced the name Ga-lip-o-LEE. I'm sure it's not pronounced that way today, but it sounds more French.

I'm sure you can find that tune somewhere on the Internet. I sang my song at the Singalong today.
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GALLIPOLIS

We fled France - so long ago
A place of death and fear and woe.
We little knew how far we’d go
Down to the banks of the Ohio.

We called our town Gallipolis
The place of Gauls in the land of the free
A realm of trees and riverflow
Down by the banks of the Ohio.

Our blistered hands built cabins small
How to survive, we learned it all.
To hunt and fish, to weave and sew
Down by the banks of the Ohio.

We sought new folk; our hamlet grew.
From far-off Wales, from Pittsburgh too
Down beside where the waters flow,
Down by the banks of the Ohio.

And o what honor did we see
Great Lafayette in Gallipolis!
The very inn where he did stay
So proud and strong, still stands today.

The opera house still stands, you know,
The park above, and the quay below
Fine pleasure craft, great barges slow
Down by the banks of the Ohio.

A bit of France, I like to think,
The flower baskets glowing pink -
My lady’s touch from long ago,
Down by the banks of the Ohio.

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Here's the video that inspired the lyrics. RVERtv's Russ is a good-natured guy who travels the U.S., visiting small towns, going to the small museums and reading the story boards wherever he goes. If you need relaxation, watch yourself some Russ.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=521SrSOCY6c

As it happened, my husband had read a history book about Gallipolis, and he contributed some ideas for lyrics as well. As Google Maps shows, 235 years later the region still has a lot of forest