This is one of very few songs my father ever sang, and I think he sang only the lines Callie posted, no more, no less. But I think he sang "hold" not "keep." And I believe the tune he used was "Ach du lieber Augustine," (or is it "du liebe Augustine"?) though I don't think he knew it was called that.

And judging from the way he laughed when he sang it, it contains a subtle dirty joke. I haven't spent much time around horses, but I THINK the only time a horse raises its tail is when it's about to do something disgusting. And if the sun were high in the sky, you'd have to be standing awfully close to the horse to be shaded by its tail—way too close. Visualizing this is probably what made him laugh. In his youth, he had spent a lot of time "following the plow" in the sun behind a horse or mule, so he would have known.

My father, by the way, grew up in Kentucky. I have no idea when or where he learned the song. Interesting that it is also known in Australia.