We always sang it "and a-leadin' old Dan."

Dunno where the 'an' came from (did Lonesome EJ coin it?), but cowboys never worried overmuch about the niceties of their lingo. I guess that old Dan was the pack animal, but he could be a spare- why worry about it?

Most cowboys separate hoolihan (party time) from hooley-ann (kind of roping) but no one seems to know where either term came from. Have the terms always been separate, or did one evolve from the other? Neither Adams nor Gilbert y Chavez say anything about origins of the two terms in their lexicons.
I interpret 'hoolihan' as having a good time, but could it also mean that the cowboy is at loose ends and is going to Montana to see what turns up? (approaching the meaning Ferrara ascribes to it).
Either meaning is OK by me.