That Is Even So
[AIR- When I Can Read My Title Clear]

1
When first I heard the people tell
Of finding gold in veins,
I bade my friends a long farewell,
And started o'er the plains.

And started o'er the plains,
And started o'er the plains-
I bade my friends a long farewell,
And started o'er the plains.

2
I joined a train and travelled on,
And all seemed satisfied,
Until our grub was nearly gone,
And I got alkalied.

And I got alkalied-
And I got alkalied-
Until our grub was nearly gone,
And I got alkalied.

3
My bowels soon began to yearn,
My legs began to ache;
My only show was to return,
Or winter at Salt Lake.

Or winter at Salt Lake,
Or winter at Salt lake,
My only show was to return,
Or winter at Salt Lake.

4
The Mormons knew that Uncle Sam
Had troops upon the route,
And Brigham prayed the Holy Lamb
Would help to clean them out.

Would help to clean them out,
Would help to clean them out,
And Brigham prayed the Holy Lamb
Would help to clean them out.

5
The distance then, one thousand miles,
Me in the face did stare,
For Brigham swore no d----d Gentiles
Again should winter there.

Again should winter there,
Again should winter there-
And Brigham swore no d----d Gentiles
Again should winter there.

6
I reached the mines with "nary red,"
Was treated rather cold;
I found no lumps, but found instead
I'd been completely sold.

I'd been completely sold,
I'd been completely sold-
I found no lumps, but found instead
I'd been completely sold.

7
I hope and pray that every man,
If mineral lands are sold,
Will drop his shovel, pick and pan,
And leave the land of gold.

And leave the land of gold,
And leave the land of gold,
Will drop his shovel, pick and pan
And leave the land of gold.

Put's Golden Songster, pp. 53-55
Tune and lyrics in Dwyer & Lingenfelter, The Songs of the Gold Rush, p. 47-48. Music: When I Can Read My Title Clear, or The Blessings of a Clear Title, in D. H. Mansfield, The American Vocalist (Boston, 1849).
      ________________________________

IN former years, eels were a staple commodity of food among the people of Derryfield, New Hampshire. A Down-East poet thus immortalizes the fact:

Our fathers treasured the slimy prize,
They loved the eels as their very eyes,
And of one 'tis said, with slander rife,
For a string of eels he sold his wife.

From the eels they formed their food in chief,
And eels were called the Derryfield beef,
And the marks of eels were so plain to trace,
That the children looked like eels in the face;
And before they walked it is well confirmed,
That the children never crept, but squirmed.

Such a mighty power did the squirmer wield
O'er the goodly men of old Derryfield-
It was often said that their only care,
And their only wish, and their only prayer,
For the present world, and the world to come,
Was a string of eels and a jug of rum.

---

Click to play (Cyberhymnal)

[Tune notes by Artful Codger]
"When I can read my title clear" is a text by Isaac Watts written by 1709 and often bearing the legend "The Hope of Heaven." J.C. Lowry set it to a tune labeled "Pisgah" in the 2nd edition of the shape-note collection The Kentucky Harmony, compiled by Ananais Davisson, published in 1817. It's usually credited to Lowry, though some contend it was originally an English or Scottish tune; I haven't encountered any specific basis for this conjecture.

The Kentucky Harmony (supplement, 1825): Pisgah (When I can read my title clear) [PDF]
Cyberhymnal: When I Can Read My Title Clear
Mudcat thread: Shaped Note Singing (info from Azizi)
YouTube: Andy Griffith: When I Can Read My Title Clear

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