BORAX BILL
(Curley Fletcher ?)

Old Borax Bill was a tough old pill,
An old case-hardened sinner
Who went his ways in the early days
An oldtime long-line skinner

He knew more schemes for the jerk-line teams
No skinner could stay with him
He cussed by rote and he swore by note
To music, rhyme and rhythm

He drove more span than any man
So far off was his leaders
They was out of sight and it took till night
To get back to his weaners

And now folks laugh at his epitaph
'Here lies a tough old sinner,
Who broke all rules for handlin' mules
Old Borax Bill the skinner'

He gave mules hell but he fed 'em well
He knew just what to give 'em
He'd haul more load on a sandy road
Than any man a-livin'

Old Bill was rough but he knew his stuff
When a lazy mule went kickin'
On desert stones he left his bones
And the buzzards had good pickin's

His voice would ring as the mules would swing
Up the hill road shapin'
And when that band bent to the sand
Their bellies would be scrapin'

But buried deep in the bygone times
The long-line days are wingin'
And the cadent note of leaders' chimes
No more we'll hear a-ringin'

Now you all have heard of a Borax Smith
The twenty mule team wonder
Who played his game and he came to fame
With borax as his plunder

Now when it comes to long-line teams
And deserts full of borax
Of all the borax Smith had seen
Bill blew more through his thorax

For Borax Bill knew every hill
Where borax lay a-hidin'
And they say that every moonlight night
His ghost goes borax ridin'

It may be hot beneath the spot
Where Borax Bill is layin'
But it's ten to one that son of a gun
A borax harp is playin'

Now such is fate, one evenin' late
Old Bill he took some booze on
He lost his mind and he got behind
A mule with brand new shoes on

With all his might and a careful sight
That beast played rat-tat-tat on
That part of Bill's anatomy
That never more he sat on

They found Bill dead right on the spot
All folded up in glory
And that was the end of Borax Bill
And so thus ends the story

Now folks may laugh at his epitaph
Of Borax Bill the skinner
But he lived and died, as was his pride
A rough and tough old sinner

Source: Slim Critchlow 'Cowboy Songs: The Crooked Trail to Holbrook' Arhoolie CD 479

This is my transcription of a little gem from the singing of Slim Critchlow. Slim noted that it is a 'hand written' song, possibly by Curley Fletcher, and the only song he knew, or had ever heard, about the long-line mule teams in the California borax freighting business. Slim also commented that 'hand written' songs 'were for the most part made up by working cowboys who, by the way, would be much more likely to sing "Lorena" or "Silver Threads" than "The Dying Cowboy" if singing was required'.

I would appreciate it if anyone who knows the song well, or has a printed version, would correct any mishearings in my transcription. The Critchlow CD is a lovely, lovely album that I commend to anyone who has any interest at all in cowboy songs.

--Stewie.