Sorry if I wasn't clear in the previous entry... Growing up in the hills of Eastern Kentucky I heard many "dittys" or home-grown poems / lyrics that I have never heard elsewhere and which have probably disappeared even from there. One I remember is "Grandpa's Billygoat" and, while unimportant by current poetic standards, I think it should, nontheless, be preserved somewhere.

GRANDPA'S BILLYGOAT

Pa, he had a big mean billygoat.
Ma, she washed most every day.
Hung her clothes out on the line
An' that mean ol' billygoat come that way.

Jerked down a big red flannel shirt.
Ya ought to have heard them buttons crack.
But Pa'll get even with that mean ol' goat.
He'll tie him across the railroad track!

So he tied him across the railroad track
An' the train was a-comin' at a powerful race,
But the goat belched up that old red shirt
And flagged the train back down the ways.

Pa said, "Son, get rid o' that billygoat.
Ma's gonna nag an' I'll get no sleep.
Get you a ticket on the C&O railroad.
Go find a fool that'll buy him cheap.

So I went to the station and bought me a ticket
And I went right in and I set right down,
Stuck that ticket in the brim o' my hat.
Then the wind come along, blew it out on the ground.

Conductor come by, said "Gimme your ticket!"
Had to pay again or get left on the track.
But I finally got even with the damned ol' goat;
Bought a round-trip ticket but I ain't a-comin' back!

(Anonymous)

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 18-Nov-02.