Lyr. Add: THE COW BOYS LAMENT (Thorp 1908)

'Twas once in my saddle I used to be happy
'Twas once in my saddle I used to be gay
But I first took to drinking, then to gambling
A shot from a six-shooter took my life away.

My curse let it rest, rest on the fair one
Who drove me from friends that I loved and from home
Who told me she loved me, just to deceive me
My curse rest upon her, wherever she roam.

Oh she was fair, Oh she was lovely
The belle of the Village the fairest of all
But her heart was as cold as the snow on the mountains
She gave me up for the glitter of gold.

I arrived in Galveston in old Texas
Drinking and gambling I went to give o'er
But, I met with a Greaser and my life he has finished
Home and relations I ne'er shall see more.

Send for my father, Oh send for my mother
Send for the surgeon to look at my wounds
But I fear it is useless I feel I am dying
I'm a young cowboy cut down in my bloom.

Farewell my friends, farewell my relations
My earthly career has cost me sore
The cow-boy ceased talking, they knew he was dying
His trials on earth, forever were o'er.

Chor. Beat your drums lightly, play your fifes merrily
Sing your dearth (Sic) march as you bear me along
Take me to the grave yard, lay the sod o'er me
I'm a young cow-boy and know I've done wrong.

Copied without changes from a facimile copy of "Songs of the Cowboys," N. Howard Thorp, News Print Shop, Estancia, New Mexico. Copyright, 1908, N. Howard Thorp.

The facsimile bears the manuscript inscription "1st Book of Cowboy Songs published in the U. S. Songs marked + are by the author
N. Howard Jack Thorp Alameda, N. M."
The Preface says "To the Ranchmen of the West this little volume is dedicated as a reminder of the trail days and roundups of the past. To the younger generation who know not of the trip from Texas to Dodge and the north, it will tend to keep alive the memory of an industry now past. I have gathered these songs from the cow camps of different states and territories [NM and AZ gained statehood four years later, in 1912]. They embrace most of the songs as sung by the oldtime cow punchers."
There is no mention of authorship or provenance. "I plead ignorance of the authorship of ["most" added in MS] them but presume that most of the composers have, ere now, "Gone up the dim narrow trail." Thorp, however, in MS, claimed authorship of five, including "Little Joe the Wrangler."

This is not the song in the DT pointed to by rich r. There is no note crediting authorship of "The Cow Boys Lament" to Troy Hale.

The facsilile is printed, unpaginated, after p. 257 of Austin E. and Alta S. Fife, "Songs of the Cowboys by N. Howard ("Jack") Thorp," Variants, Commentary Notes and Lexicon by Austin E. and Alta S. Fife, Clarkson N Potter, publisher, 1966. Thorp had nothing to do with the 257 pages of comments, songs and music by the Fifes.
In 1921, "Thorp abandoned the 1908 text for Lomax's longer and smoother synthetic text, which has had much more influence upon the twentieth century singing of the song than it deserves." The Fifes go on to condemn Lomax's "bowdlerization." The 1921 edition is the one in which Troy Hale is mentioned. No one has taken this seriously.

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