Subject: ADD: Lumberman's Alphabet
From:
Joe Offer
Date: 28 Apr 04 - 04:03 PM
Here's a slightly different version from a grammar-school textbook, which says:This song had only six verses for a long time. Then some inventive lumberjack added a seventh. ...or could it have been an "inventive textbook editor"? I couldn't find a source citation for this particular song in the textbook; although, to its credit, the book does give attributions for many songs.
-Joe Offer-
Lumberman's Alphabet
1. A is for Ax, and that we all know
And B is for Boy that can use it also
C is for Chopping we first do begin,
And D is for Danger we often fall in.
CHORUS:
So merry, so merry are we,
No mortals on earth are as happy as we.
To me I derry O derry I derry down,
Use shanty boys well and there's nothing goes wrong.
2. E is for Echo that through the woods rang,
And F is for Foreman, the head of our gang;
G is for Grindstone at night we do turn,
And H is for Handle so smoothly worn.
3. I is for Iron which we mark our pine,
And J is for Jovial we're always incline';
K is for Keen Edge our axes we keep,
And L is for Lice that keep us from sleep.
4. M is for Moss which we chink our camp,
And N is for Needle with which we mend our pants;
O is for Owl which hooted at night,
And P is for Pine which we always fall right.
5. Q is for Quickness we put ourselves to,
R is for River we haul the logs to;
S is for Sleds we haul the logs on,
T is for Team that pulls them along.
6. U is for Uses we put ourselves to,
And V is for Valley we haul the logs through;
And W is for Woods we leave in the spring,
And now I have sung all I'm going to sing.
2. E is for Echo that through the woods rang,
And F is for Foreman, the head of our gang;
G is for Grindstone at night we do turn,
And H is for Handle so smoothly worn.
7. X is for Christmas when the yarding's all done,
Y is for Yonder, the set of the sun;
Zed is for Zero, in the cold winter time,
And now I have brought all these letters in rhyme.
source: Music in Our Country, Silver Burdett Fifth-Grade music textbook, 1956
Here's the Traditional Baddlad Index entry on the song: Logger's Alphabet, The DESCRIPTION: A song by which lumbermen remember the alphabet and tell of their "merry" lives: "A is for axes as all of you know / And B is for boys who can use them also.... So merry, so merry, so merry are we / No mortals on earth are as happy as we"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (Rickaby)
KEYWORDS: logger nonballad lumbering wordplay
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW,NE) Canada(Mar,Ont)
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 207-208, "The Lumberman's Alphabet" (1 text, 1 tune, plus a sort of personalized appendix, "The Shantyboy's Song," on p. 209)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 112-113, "Lumberman's Alphabet" (1 text)
FSCatskills 3, "The Woodsman's Alphabet" (1 text, 1 tune)
Rickaby 6, "The Shanty-Man's Alphabet" (1 text plus a fragment, 2 tunes)
Fowke-Lumbering #1 , "The Shantyboy's Alphabet" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 173-175, "The Lumberman's Alphabet" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 168-170, "The Lumberman's Alphabet" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 564-565, "The Lumberman's Alphabet" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck 5, "Alphabet Song" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 335-336, "The Lumberman's Alphabet" (1 text)
DT, LUMBALPH*
Roud #159
RECORDINGS:
Gus Schaffer, "Lumberjack's Alphabet" (on AFS, 1938; on LC56)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Sailor's Alphabet" (subject)
cf. "The Bawdy Alphabet" (subject)
cf. "A Is for Apple Pie" (subject)
cf. "The Average Boy" (subject)
cf. "Alphabet Songs" (subject)
cf. "Building a Slide" (tune, lyrics)
File: Doe207
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