THE GRAND ROUND-UP (Cowboy's Sweet By and By)
Versions and variations; Related songs.

Lyr. Add: LAST ROUND-UP (James)
W. S. James, 1893, "Cowboy Life in Texas"

When I think of the last great round-up
On the eve of Eternity's dawn,
I think of the host of cowboys
Who have been with us here and have gone.
And I wonder if any will greet me
On the sands of the evergreen shore;
With a hearty "God bless you, old fellow,"
That I've met with so often before.

I think of the big-hearted fellows
Who will divide with you blanket and bread,
With a piece of stray beef well roasted,
And charge for it never a "red."
I often look upward and wonder,
If the green fields will seem half so fair;
If any the wrong trail have taken
And fail to "be in" over there.

For the trail that leads down to perdition
Is paved all the way with good deeds;
But in the great round-up of ages,
Dear boys, this won't answer your needs.
But the way to green pastures, though narrow,
Leads straight to the home in the sky;
And Jesus will give you the passports
To the land of the sweet by and by.

For the Savior has taken the contract
To deliver all those who believe,
At the headquarters ranch of His Father,
In the great range where none can deceive.
The Inspector will stand at the gate-way,
And the herd, one by one, must go by;
The round-up by the angels of judgment
Must pass 'neath His all-searching eye.

No maverick or slick will be tallied
In the great Book of Life in His home,
For He knows all the brands and the earmarks
That down through the ages have come.
But along with the strays and the sleepers
The tailings must turn from the gate;
No road brand to gain them admission,
But the awful sad cry "Too late."

For the trail that leads down to perdition
Is paved all the way with good deeds;
But in the great round-up of ages,
Dear boys, this won't answer your needs.
But the way to green pastures, though narrow,
Leads straight to the home in the sky;
And Jesus will give you the passports
To the land of the sweet by and by.

In his 1921 volume, Thorp quotes the song, "THE GREAT ROUND-UP," as heard from Sally White, of Toyah, Texas, in 1909 (almost a ghost town; near Pecos, TX).
Instead of repeating the third verse at the end as James did, she sang:

Yet I trust in the last great round-up,
When the rider shall cut the big herd,
That the cowboys shall be represented
In the earmark and brand of the Lord;
To be shipped to the bright mystic regions
Over there in the green pastures to lie,
And led by the crystal clear waters,
In that home of the sweet by and by.

Versions go by various names; "The Cowboy's Dream," "The Cowboy's Vision," etc.; authorship questionable (attributed to J. W. Benham , Arizona Graphic, 1 p. 8, Nov. 4, 1889) or to others (J. Frank Dobie's father heard it as "COWBOY'S SWEET BY AND BY" in the 1880s, he quit trail-driving in the 1880s). In any case, several poets had a hand in the song. Fife and Fife comment "Origin, authorship, and dissemination of "THE GRAND ROUND-UP" are an intricate web of claim and counterclaim....." "We may be dealing here with two songs, although their mood, melody, and content are intertwined."
A version in the DT, "The Cowboy's Dream," incorrectly attributed to D. J. (Kid) O'Malley (he claimed he published 4-5 rough verses in the Stock Growers Journal (1884-1908), as "Sweet By and By Revised" in the mid-1880s.   O'Malley credited another puncher, Tam Phelps (Fife and Fife, p. 74), with the idea for the verses.
Both "Red River Valley" and "My Bonnie" were used as tunes. I have not checked the Stock Growers Journal for O'Malley's claim; it is cited neither in White nor Fife and Fife.

According to the website Cowboy Poetry, O'Malley's verses are:

SWEET BY AND BY REVISED

Tonight as I lay on the prairie
Looking up at the stars in the sky
I wonder if ever a cowboy
Will go to that sweet by and by.

For the trail to that bright mystic region
Is both dim and narrow, so they say
While the broad one that leads to perdition
Is posted and blazed all the way.

Now I wonder whose fault that so many
Will be lost at the great final day
When they might have been rich and had plenty
If they had known of the dim narrow way.

I hear there will be a grand round-up,
When the cowboys, like others, will stand
To be cut by the riders of judgment
Who are posted and know every brand.

Then perhaps there may be a stray cowboy,
Unbranded, unclaimed by none nigh,
To be mavericked by the riders of judgment,
And shipped to the sweet by- and- by.

http://parentseyes.arizona.edu/cowboysongs/sweetbyandbyrevised.htm


Will Croft Barnes said he first heard "Cowboy's Sweet By and By" in 1886-1887; with revisions he used the song in his story, "The Stampede on the Turkey Track Range," The Cosmopolitan,, 1895. He said that he added the "Roll On" chorus (John I. White, Ch. 6, Will Barnes and "The Cowboy's Sweet By and By," pp. 62-72) but didn't use it in the story.

The usual tune is "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean." Lines in verses that suggest the hymn, "In the Sweet By and By," (See DT, mis-spelled Bye); 1868, appear in some versions.

Lyr. Add: THE COWBOY'S SWEET BY AND BY
(Verses from Will Croft Barnes, 1895)
Tune- My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean

Last night as I lay on the prairie
And gazed at the stars in the sky
I wondered if ever a cowboy
Would drift to that sweet by and by.

The trail to that bright, mystic region
Is narrow and dim so they say,
But the one that leads down to perdition
Is staked and blazed all the way.

They say there'll be a great round-up,
Where cowboys, like dogies, will stand,
To be cut by those riders from Heaven,
Who are posted and know every brand.

I wonder was there ever a cowboy
Prepared for that great judgment day,
Who could say to the boss of the riders,
I am ready to be driven away.

They say He will never forsake you,
That he notes every action and look,
But for safety you'd better get branded,
And have your name in His great tally-book.

For they tell of another great owner
Who is nigh overstocked, so they say,
But who always makes room for the sinner
Who strays from that bright, narrow way.

First heard by Barnes in 1886-1887 in Arizona, verses picked up and re-written.
Published in Cosmopolitan Magazine, August 1895; "The Stampede on the Turkey Track Range.".

Barnes wrote a chorus, which was not used in the story:

Roll on, roll on, roll on, little dogies, roll on.
Roll on, roll on, roll on little dogies, roll on.

Some stray verses, various sources, from composites in Fife and Fife.

I wonder if at the last day some cow-boy
Un-branded and un-claimed should stand
To be mavericked by the Riders of Judgment
Who are posted and know every brand.

I wonder if ever a cowboy
Stood ready for that Judgment Day
And could say to the Boss of the Riders,
"I'm ready, come drive me away."

On that final day of judgment
When the range boss cuts out the strays
Will he leave any hard shooting gunmen
To go to that straight narrow way.

Oh, they say that the Boss is a-coming
To rope and to brand and to earmark
And will take all the cuts back to judgment
To be registered in His great tally book.

Sharlot Hall (1908) wrote a version using essentially the first four verses of Barnes and adding five more; under the heading "The Cowboy's Sweet By and By."

5
For they, like the cows that are locoed,
Stampede at the sight of a hand
Are dragged with a rope to the round-up
Or get marked with some crooked man's brand.
6
I know there's many a stray cowboy
Who'll be lost at that great final sale,
When he might have gone in to green pasture
If he'd heard of that bright mystic trail.
7
And I'm scared that I'll be a stray yearling-
A maverick, unbranded on high,
Who'll be cut by the riders of judgment
And shipped to the sweet by and by.
8
For they tell of another big owner
Who's ne'er over-stocked, so they say
But who always makes room for the sinner
Who drifts from the straight narrow way.
9
And they say he will never forget you
That he knows every action and look;
So for safety you'd better get branded-
Have your name in his big Talley Book.

(One must take care not to be "siwashed" at the great judgment; cowboy term for "blackballed.")

Lyr. Add: GRAND ROUND-UP (Thorp 1908)
N. Howard Thorp, 1908

I hear there's to be a grand round-up
Where cow-boys with others must stand
To be cut out by the riders of judgment
Who are posted and know all the brands.

The trail to that great mystic region
Is narrow and dim so they say
While the one that leads down to perdition
Is posted and blazed all the way.

Whose fault is it then that so many
Go astray on this wild range and fall
Who might have been rich and had plenty
Had they known of the dim narrow trail.

I wonder if at the last day some cow-boy
Un-branded and un-claimed should stand
Would he be mavericked by those riders of judgment
Who are posted and know all the brands?

My wish for all cow-boys is this
That we may meet at that grand final sale
Be cut out by the riders of judgment
And shoved up the dim narrow trail

(Repeat last two lines of each stanza.)
Air- Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean

P. 19; Songs of the Cowboys, 1908, N. Howard Thorp, News Print Shop, Estancia, New Mexico.

Lyr. Add: THE COWBOY'S VISION
Mrs. M. N. Perkins, in letter to J. Frank Dobie, 1930

Last night as I lay on the prairie,
Looking up to the stars in the sky,
I wonder if ever a cowboy
Would get to that Sweet bye and bye.
2
Oh yes there will be a great roundup
Where cowboys like cattle will stand
To be "cut" by the Rider of Judgment,
Who is posted and knows every brand.

Refrain
Bring back, bring back,
Oh bring back my cowboy to me.
Bring back, bring back,
Oh bring back my cowboy to me.

3
The canyons and gorges are many
And "dogies" go often astray
But the pale horsed rider will gather
Everyone to that great judgment day.
4
In the day of that great final judgment,
When we all come around the white throne,
How happy will be every cowboy,
To whom the Lord sayeth "Well done."
5
How sad, as we come to that roundup
If our hearts do not have the right brand,
For no "maverick" or "stray" in the judgment
Will ever be able to stand.
6
Then my brother, let's come to the branding
Our owner is calling today
If he touches and blesses and owns you
You'll be glad in that great judgment day.
(Version from Fife and Fife, 1966)

Lyr. Add: HOME CORRAL
Hendren 46; Coll. Stella M. Hendron.

Sometimes when on night guard I'm riding
And the stars are a gleam in the sky
Like millions of wee little candles
That glimmer and sparkle on high.

I wonder if up there among them
Are streets that are shining with gold
And if it's as pretty a country
As all the *Sky Pilots have told.

And sometimes I wonder and wonder
If over that lone great divide
I'll meet with my pals who have journeyed
Across to that dim other side.

If ever the great starry ranges
Someday in the future I too
Shall ride on a heavenly broncho
When earth's final roundup is thru.

They tell us no storms nor blizzards
Blow over the moon scattered range
That is always and always like summer
A land where there's never a change.

At night when I lay in my blanket
And the stars would cast over me a spell
I seem to look on the glories
That lie in that Great Home Corral.

*Sky Pilot- preacher.
P. 78 , Fife and Fife, 1966, Songs of the Cowboys.

Lyr. Add: WHEN IT'S ROUNDUP TIME IN HEAVEN
Jimmie Davis, 1938

Oh they tell me of a place and they tell me of a day
Where the saints shall be gathered to stay
They shall come from the east, they shall come from the west
When we gather on that roundup day.

When it's roundup time in heaven
And our troubles on earth are o'er
All the friends that death has severed
Shall gather on that golden shore.

'Twill be sweet when we meet at Jesus' feet
With no heartaches, no pains, no sigh
When they comb heaven's plains will they find your name
At the great roundup in the sky.

Dear loved ones have I and perhaps have you
Who have recently gone on that way
But the time now is short for them and for me
Till we gather on that roundup day.

www.classic-country-song-lyrics.com

BASIC REFERENCES

"Songs of the Cowboys," 1966, N. Howard (Jack) Thorp; Variants, Commentary, Notes and Lexicon, by Austin E. and Alta S. Fife. Clarkson N. Potter Inc., Publisher. New York.
(J. Frank Dobie, 1927, "Ballads and Songs of the Frontier Folk," PTFLS VI)
(James, W. S., 1893, "Cowboy Life in Texas, or 27 Years a Maverick.")
(N. Howard Thorp, 1908, Songs of the Cowboys (facsimile).

N. Howard Thorp, 1908, Songs of the Cowboys; News Print Shop, Estancia, New Mexico.

N. Howard Thorp, 1921, Songs of the Cowboys, Houghton Mifflin, new edition 1984, foreward by Guy Logsden; University of Nebraska Press.

Gardner, Mark L., 2005, Jack Thorp's Songs of the Cowboys, with CD including "Grand Round-up" sung by M. L. Gardner and Rex Rideout; Museum of New Mexico Press. (Selected songs only).

Hall, Sharlot, 1908, "Songs of the Old Cattle Trails," Out West, March 1908. (Excerpts in White, John I.)

White, John I., 1975, Git Along, Little Dogies, Songs and Songmakers of the American West; University of Illinois Press.