The Shady Old Camp
[Air: Ben Bolt]

1
Oh, don't you remember the shady old camp,
That stood by the side of the brook,
Where we lay on the ground after many a tramp,
And the fire-place where we used to cook?
The shady old camp has gone to decay,
And the ham bone has dropped from the pin;
The roof and the door both have rotted away,
And the chimney has all tumbled in.

The roof and the door both have rotted away,
And the chimney has all tumbled in.

2
Oh, don't you remember the cool summer breeze,
So welcome in June and July,
And the table that stood 'neath the shady oak trees,
At the foot of the mountain so high?
The table is standing, as when we were there,
Though not as we often have seen,
For bushes have grown o'er the ground then so bare,
And miners have worked our ravine!

For bushes have grown o'er the ground then so bare,
And miners have worked our ravine!

3
Oh, don't you remember the mountains of snow,
In sight from the camp all the year,
And the valleys so green, where the wild flowers grow,
And where we went hunting the deer?
The cool little brook where we used to drink,
Will always be running the same
As when we were talking of home on the brink,
Or cursing the day that we came.

As when we were talking of home on the brink,
Or cursing the day that we came.

4
Oh, don't you remember the well-beaten trail
That led from the camp to the spring,
And the potpies we made of the squirrel and quail,
And the evenings when we used to sing?
The trail and the spring we shall see them no more,
Though never forget till we die;
The shady old camp, with the ground for a floor,
Forever, we bid thee good-by!

The shady old camp, with the ground for a floor,
Forever, we bid thee good-by!

Put's Golden Songster, pp. 33-34
Tune and lyrics in Dwyer & Lingenfelter, The Songs of the Gold Rush, pp. 102-103.
Dwyer and Lingenfelter credit J. A. Stone and N. Kneass.
Music: "Ben Bolt," Temperance Songster
"Ben Bolt" was published as a poem by Thomas Dunn English, in The New Mirror, 1843. Nelson F. Kneass wrote the music most used in 1848.

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During the recent war in India, a native commander captured a lot of English provisions, and among them several thousand circular canisters of preserved fresh meats and fish. The natives thought these were canisters of missiles (called canister-shot), and they fired them right into the British camp. One of the officers wrote home as follows" "For the last two days we have had showers of provisions fired into our fort, such as cooked lobster, turkey, chicken and other delicacies. Our soldiers are having a feast. The enemy have mistaken our preserved meats for canister-shot, and are using them for ammunition."

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Click to play (pdmusic.org)

[Tune notes by Artful Codger]
For tune notes, see the song "The Sonora Filibuster" in the thread on Put's Original California Songster.

Mudcat thread: The Shady Old Camp

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