Songs for cattle

Subject: Songs sung to cattle
From: Emma B
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 05:11 AM

One of those kind of inter continental conversations in mudchat last night rangeing (no pun intended) from the cowboy lullabies for "jittery cows" to the milking songs of The Hebrides.

The Old Chisholm Trail

I'm up in the momin' afore daylight
And afore I sleep the moon shines bright.
No chaps and no slicker, and it's pouring down rain,
And I swear, by God, that I'll never night-herd again.

Oh, it's bacon and beans most every day
I'd as soon be a-eatin' prairie hay.
I went to the boss to draw my roll,
He had it figured out I was nine dollars in the hole.
I'll sell my horse and I'll sell my saddle;
You can go to hell with your longhhorn cattle.

A Bhólagan, a bhó chiuin - Bólagan, gentle cow

'S iomadh buaile, bó gun laogh
Cha déid dhachaigh, bó gun laogh
Théid air chreachaibh, bó gun laogh
Leum i 'n garadh, bó gun laogh

"Many a fold", is the calfless cow
"Won't go home", is the calfless cow
"Goes a-reiving", is the calfless cow
"Leapt the dyke", is the calfless cow

Any others?

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: rich-joy
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 05:15 AM

I seem to recall Frankie Armstrong singing a croon that was from a woman to her cow that had just lost it's calf .....

And then there's her famous version of the "wordless" "Cattle Call" - that's on one of her recordings!

Cheers, R-J

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 05:25 AM

Part 6 3rd& 4th pictures, this shows how it should be done.
G.

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST,PMB
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 05:30 AM

Andy's Gone With Cattle, Aussie poem by Henry Lawson- I don't know who put the tune to this, the one closely related to The Recruited Collier.

Bonnie at Morn mentions them.

Any number of Border reiver songs.

I suppose the cow in an Cailin Deas Cruite na mBo is incidental.

When the Old Dun Cow Caught Fire- not really ABOUT a cow.

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Emma B
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 05:44 AM

Henry Lawson's lovely poem is included in The Penguin Australian Song Book to the tune I think PMB is referring to above, but it's really a song about the folks left behind during a cattle drive.

We were thinking more of the songs sung to cattle; now just what is Charmion singing to "soothe the savage beast" ? :)

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST,Henryp
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 06:38 AM

There's the Night Herding Song by Harry Stephens which was adapted by Woody Guthrie;

: : Lay down, little dogies, lay down.
: : We've both got to sleep on this cold, cold ground.
: : The wind's blowin' colder and the sun's goin' down.
: : So lay yourselves down, little dogies, lay down.

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST,fogie
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 07:07 AM

Sweet baby James
Battlefield Band's song including come Geordie lead the pony for the path is steep and stony and we're three long weeks from the isle of Skye and the beasts are thin and bony -it's about a fair they're going to in Scotland I cant remember the towns name
The elf call
Spotted cow
Rawhide? Ghost Riders in the sky?

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST,fogie
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 07:09 AM

its..... the trysting fair at Falkirk if my memory serves me

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Sugwash
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 07:30 AM

The Goodnight/Loving Trail is my favourite cow-poking song.

Little White Bull is my least favourite bovine ballad.

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Jack Campin
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 07:36 AM

The most amazing ones are the Norwegian "kulnings" - google for them (links from Karin Rehnqvist's site).

In Scots Gaelic, "Druimonn dubh" (often "Drimmendoo" in early sources) which seems to be very ancient (a lament related to some cattle-based religious tradition) and "Colin's Cattle" (which aslo has several different supernatural traditions associated with it, which suggests its real meaning was lost centuries ago).

The tune for "Druimonn dubh" is a bit like "Git along little dogies", which might make the latter the oldest song in European-American folk tradition.

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Emma B
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 07:44 AM

kulning link here

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Emma B
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 07:48 AM

ooops sorry - here too
Listen to Emma Härdelin on this page

Subject: Lyr Add: GIT ALONG LITTLE DOGIES
From: GUEST,Henryp
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 10:20 AM

Git Along, Little Dogies must have cheered the cattle along the Goodnight Trail to Cheyenne.

Your mother she was raised way down in Texas,
Where the jimson weed and sand-burrs grow;
Now we'll fix you up on prickly pear and cholla
Till you're ready for the trail to Idaho.

Whoopee ti yi yo, git along, little dogies,
It's your misfortune, and none of my own.
Whoopee ti yi yo, git along, little dogies,
For you know Wyoming will be your new home.

Oh, you'll be beef for Uncle Sam's injuns,
"It's beef, heap beef," I hear them cry.
Git along, git along, git along-a, little dogies,
You're gonna be beef steers by and by.

Whoopee ti yi yo, git along, little dogies,
It's your misfortune, and none of my own.
Whoopee ti yi yo, git along, little dogies,
For you know Wyoming will be your new home.

From American Ballads and Folk Songs, Lomax. Recorded by Harry Jackson, Cisco Houston, The Weavers and, more recently, Nickel Creek. Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 10:55 AM

When the Work's All Done Next Fall
Stampede!
Little Joe the Wrangler
Hold That Critter Down
Following the Cow Trail

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Jack Campin
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 10:57 AM

Now you remind me of the whole thing, the resemblance I thought I saw has just evaporated...

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: sian, west wales
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 11:26 AM

Oxen were used for ploughing in Wales - particularly Glamorganshire - for years after most other places in Britain had gone over to horsepower. The antiquarian, Cadrawd, wrote in the 1880s that "superstition credited him (the ox) with a kind of occult intelligence, something like that which is attributed to bees." Because of this, farmers believed that you HAD to keep the beasts amused while they worked, and they hired in lads to walk backwards in front of the oxen and to sing to them the whole time they were working. And you couldn't sing just any old rubbish: they had to be verses of wit, wisdom, love and/or riddles. Many of them were written on a poetic measure referred to as a 'triban' because they made three points; i.e.

Tri pheth sy'n hawdd i'w 'nabod:
Dyn, derwen, a'r diwrnod.
Y dydd yn troi, y pren yn gou,
A'r dyn yn ddauwynebog.

(Three things are easy to understand:
(Man, oak tree, and a day.
(The day turns, the wood is solid,
(And the man is two-faced.)

Because it was so important for the oxen to be happy, these boys - knowns as cathreiwyr (sing.: cathreiwr) - were actually auditioned at hiring fairs, and hired based on how many verses and tunes they knew and could perform.

Hundreds of these verses have been collected and a lot of trad songs popular today are actually from this 'body' of poetry and music.

sian

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Jack Campin
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 12:39 PM

This is interesting:

http://zhuhai.expat9.com/article/only-one-cow-song-singer-left

Googling for "cow herding song" gets an amazing YouTube video of the Swedish band Svart Kaffe with a kulning in the middle, and several references to the Japanese "Iwate (or Nambu, or Nanbu) Cow Herding Song", which is often played as a flute showpiece. It seems that Japanese cows like yodelly sounds too, only from male voices. The Japanese genre of cow herding songs is "ushi-oi-uta" or "ushi-kata-bushi".

There must be zillions from India but I'm buggered if I can find them.

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Emma B
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 12:45 PM

Fixed your link Jack now can I sit upright again? :)

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Emma B
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 01:06 PM

Also Amhrán Fosuíchta (Herding song) on World Library Of Folk & Primitive Music, Vol. 2: Ireland recorded by Alan Lomax

sample here

Subject: RE: Songs for "cattlists for change"
From: Severn
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 01:24 PM

Alan and John A. Lomax's "Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads" and Austin E. & Alta S. Fife's "Cowboy And Western Songs" are good collections for that part of the genre.

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Bee
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 01:33 PM

Fairly new: Tired by Fred Eaglesmith...

Which I can't find in my lyrics at the moment, and I'm pretty sure I'm still missing a verse, so if anyone has all the lyrics - plzthx.

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Jack Campin
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 01:59 PM

Another quick google shows there are a lot of Maasai herding songs and tunes.

This could make for an interesting cross-cultural compilation - it'd be good to know how far the characteristics of cow-herding music are determined by human culture and how far by the preferences of cows. A lot of cow tunes seem to be in an extreme arch form, starting and ending low and going briefly as high as the voice or instrument can reach. This isn't generally thought of as one of the more primitive melody types.

Subject: Lyr Add: ROUNDUP LULLABY (Badger Clark)
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 02:25 PM

Somebody sings this song in the film "The Same River Twice" - DVD available from www.samerivertwice.com
I haven't found a recording anywhere else, but these lyrics found on the web at
www.geocities.com/yosemite/trails/5542/CowboyLullaby.html
have the last line of the chorus as I remember it.

Cowboy's Lullaby

Desert silv'ry blue beneath the pale moon light
Coyotes yappin' lazy on the hill
Sleepy winks of lightnin' on the far skyline
Time for milling cattle to be still

So, now the lightnin's far away, the coyote's nothin' skeery
Just singing to his dearie
Hey ho tomorrow's another day
So settle down, ye cattle, 'til the morning.

Nothin' out there on the plains that you folks need,
Nothin' there that seems to take your eye,
Sill you've got to watch them or they'll all stampede
Plungin' down some 'rroyo bank to die...

So, now the lightnin'....

Ross

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: sian, west wales
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 06:51 PM

Jack, there was some discussion of cow-related songs on the Ethnomusicology list some time ago. I mentioned the Welsh oxen songs, and someone else came back with details of boys singing to oxen who turned the water pumps in Egypt. Cross-cultural indeed.

Re: the 'shape' of the tunes, I imagine (and I do mean 'imagine') that the arches accommodate both the needs of the human voice, and the job at hand. The sound for calling to animals across a field (or two, or three) would carry farther in a higher register, and it's easier for the voice to build up to that register in stages. That's the case with some of the Cathreiwyr tunes. Similarly, there's a Welsh milkmaid 'call' that fits that bill.

Another thing that took some explaining to me is that back when ploughing with oxen was the norm, farming was also labour intensive so you could look out across Welsh (British, et al) farms and most fields would have someone doing something in them. Factor in the hilly landscape, and a world with no engine noises. It wasn't unusual for a cathreiwr in one field to start competing with the one on the other slope as to who could sing more verses to a tune.

sian

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Nerd
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 11:24 PM

The original of Harry Stephens's "Night Herding Song" was recorded by John Lomax for the Archive of American Folk-song, which has become the American Folklife Center Archive (I work there these days).

This original recording of the song is also available, on a Rounder CD. [link]

I also love Skip Gorman's version....

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: mg
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 12:06 AM

The young men formerly known as the lost boys of Sudan used to make up songs for their cattle, and even in exile are said to have made up cattle songs..and I know I mentioned this before but when they had the chance to come to America were very interested in Chicago, because they had seen Chicago Bulls T shirts and thought here was a group of people who obviously appreciated their cows too..mg

Subject: Lyr Add: DOWN THE CORDUROY ROAD
From: mg
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 12:11 AM

oh I have a song about oxen that came to me at last Rainycamp on an old logging road there...there is a woman in Centralia WA who I think goes by the name of Bullwhacker Sue??? and I think works and gives exhibits with oxen.

How many times have you climbed that mountain
Down the corduroy road
So many times I just stopped counting
Down the beautiful corduroy road

Heave and trudge heave and trudge
Down the corduroy road
An extra yank when the cart won't budge
Down the beautiful corduroy road

Your master's name does he treat you fair
Down the corduroy road
Her name is Sue she's beyond compare
Down the beautiful corduroy road

Does she ever try to move you faster
She says she'll put me out to pasture

Does she ever have to use the whip
Only when my foot should slip

A teamster's life is never dull
Not when there are logs to pull

We'll always work so have no fears
They'll need us to 200 years

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 03:28 AM

Wasn't 'git along little doges' was a Venetian president- herding song?

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 05:37 AM

Katie Beardie had a coo,
    Black and white about the mou';
    Wasna that a dentie coo?
       Dance, Katie Beardie!

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: cetmst
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 06:54 AM

Winter Cows - John Gorka

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST,John Gray in Oz
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 07:06 AM

"Cows With Guns" does it for me.

JG / FME

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST,LTS pretending to work
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 07:26 AM

And there was me thinking

'I got the moosic in me'

'Moo Danube'

'Moo were made for me'...

I'm obviously not quite with the programme...

LTS

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Bee
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 08:26 AM

I have the Rounder CD with Skip Gorman singing the Night Herding Song. It's hauntingly beautiful.

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Emma B
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 08:50 AM

Hey! it really works!

"Music is just one way to ease bovine stress. According to a study by the University of Leicester in Great Britain, milk production increased by 3 percent a day when slow or classical music, such as Beethoven, was played. After subtracting the extra feed and the cost to power a radio, the return is significant"

err didn't Eddie Grundy do something like this? :)

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST,LTS pretending to work
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 08:56 AM

This isn't news... even Thomas Hardy writing in 1890 acknowledged that singing whilst milking cows had a significant effect on the production of milk.

My granfer would sing 'Nancy of London' to his.

LTS

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Charley Noble
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 09:06 AM

What a great idea for a thread!

I do have a fondness for "Winter Cows" by John Gorka, the image of" white cows lost in the snow" has haunted me for years.

But then there's Tanglefoot with "Radioman," (CAPTURED LIVE) which tells the tale of a young farmer who sets up a massive radio in his dairybarn, and the cows love it. Milk production soars! And the old bull gets off on the sports and ragtime. But then the mice sabotage the radio; it no longer receives Canadian stations, just the stations from the States. The cows adjust but the farmer has his doubts. Hence the title of the song, the appeal for the repairman.

Then there's the old ditty that my brother and I used to sing in the dairybarn, titled "Pass the Other Udder Over to me Other Brother."

Are there any more dairy airs?

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST,LTS pretending to work
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 09:10 AM

There's the London dairy air....

I'll get me coat...


LTS

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Amos
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 10:21 AM

Well, show us your dairy air before you go....


A

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Gulliver
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 11:03 AM

Cow-Cow Boogie and Milk-Cow Boogie had them hoppin' along in the milking parlour.

Don

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Charley Noble
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 11:14 AM

Amos et al-

Two maidens went milking one day,
One day when the breeze was so fair;
It lifted their petticoats, revealing to all
Their pert but petit derrières.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 14 Dec 07 - 07:20 PM

Hmmmm...,

I was working through my friend Dave Johnson's web posting on: "Playing Anglo Concertina in Bush Music Style*" (* Australian rural traditions) and came across this lovely, wordless, tune: Lawrie Cobley's Cattle Lullaby. It had been included as a gentle, "non-ending" tune in his "Cross-Row Tunes" (although I play it all happily on the 'C' row).

It works well on the traditional free-reed instruments found in the Bush in the 19th century, but Lawrie Cobley - from whom Dave de Hugard collected this tune - was a drover, taking cattle across vast empty stages in Australia. Lawrie "lilted" this tune, rather than playing it on an instrument, as he circled the cattle at night. It was necessary to keep the cattle aware of - and familiar with - your presence to avoid starting a "rush" ('stampede') and it was traditional to always make some repetitive noise: singing, playing something like a mouth organ, etcetera.

Anwyway, I reckon this definitely qualifies as a "Song for Cattle" ... and it's a nice, contemplative, piece for the traditional concertina.

Here is the tune rendered in "Alan of Australia's" now "Not Supported By Mudcat" MIDItext program. If you still have this app loaded (and it works in your current OS!), you can directly recreate the "sheet music".

Otherwise, the ABC format version is given at the end - and can be reconstituted into dots in various (on-line) programs.

MIDI file: lawlull.mid

Timebase: 240

TimeSig: 3/4 24 8

Tempo: 120 (500000 microsec/crotchet)

Start

0480 1 55 080 0108 0 55 064 0012 1 57 080 0108 0 57 064 0012 1 60 080 0432 0 60 064 0048 1 60 080 0072 0 60 064 0008 1 62 080 0072 0 62 064 0008 1 60 080 0072 0 60 064 0008 1 57 080 0108 0 57 064 0012 1 55 080 0324 0 55 064 0036 1 60 080 0216 0 60 064 0024 1 62 080 0432 0 62 064 0048 1 60 080 0108 0 60 064 0012 1 62 080 0108 0 62 064 0012 1 64 080 0108 0 64 064 0012 1 67 080 0324 0 67 064 0036 1 67 080 0108 0 67 064 0012 1 64 080 0108 0 64 064 0012 1 62 080 0108 0 62 064 0012 1 60 080 0324 0 60 064 0036 1 60 080 0108 0 60 064 0012 1 62 080 0108 0 62 064 0012 1 64 080 0432 0 64 064 0048 1 64 080 0072 0 64 064 0008 1 65 080 0072 0 65 064 0008 1 64 080 0072 0 64 064 0008 1 62 080 0108 0 62 064 0012 1 60 080 0324 0 60 064 0036 1 57 080 0216 0 57 064 0024 1 57 080 0108 0 57 064 0012 1 55 080 0324 0 55 064 0036 1 55 080 0108 0 55 064 0012 1 57 080 0108 0 57 064 0012 1 60 080 0432 0 60 064 0048 1 60 080 0072 0 60 064 0008 1 62 080 0072 0 62 064 0008 1 60 080 0072 0 60 064 0008 1 57 080 0108 0 57 064 0012 1 55 080 0324 0 55 064 0036 1 60 080 0216 0 60 064 0024 1 62 080 0432 0 62 064 0048 1 60 080 0108 0 60 064 0012 1 62 080 0108 0 62 064 0012 1 64 080 0108 0 64 064 0012 1 67 080 0324 0 67 064 0036 1 67 080 0108 0 67 064 0012 1 64 080 0108 0 64 064 0012 1 62 080 0108 0 62 064 0012 1 60 080 0324 0 60 064 0036 1 60 080 0108 0 60 064 0012 1 62 080 0108 0 62 064 0012 1 64 080 0432 0 64 064 0048 1 64 080 0072 0 64 064 0008 1 65 080 0072 0 65 064 0008 1 64 080 0072 0 64 064 0008 1 62 080 0108 0 62 064 0012 1 60 080 0324 0 60 064 0036 1 57 080 0216 0 57 064 0024 1 57 080 0108 0 57 064 0012 1 55 080 0324 0 55 064 0036 1 60 080 0108 0 60 064 0012 1 62 080 0108 0 62 064 0012 1 64 080 0108 0 64 064 0012 1 67 080 0324 0 67 064 0036 1 67 080 0108 0 67 064 0012 1 69 080 0108 0 69 064 0012 1 67 080 0432 0 67 064 0048 1 67 080 0072 0 67 064 0008 1 64 080 0072 0 64 064 0008 1 60 080 0072 0 60 064 0008 1 72 080 0432 0 72 064 0048 1 72 080 0216 0 72 064 0024 1 69 080 0108 0 69 064 0012 1 67 080 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0012 1 55 080 0324 0 55 064 0036 1 55 080 0108 0 55 064 0012 1 57 080 0108 0 57 064 0012 1 60 080 0432 0 60 064 0048 1 60 080 0072 0 60 064 0008 1 62 080 0072 0 62 064 0008 1 60 080 0072 0 60 064 0008 1 57 080 0108 0 57 064 0012 1 55 080 0324 0 55 064 0036 1 60 080 0216 0 60 064 0024 1 62 080 0432 0 62 064 0048 1 60 080 0108 0 60 064 0012 1 62 080 0108 0 62 064 0012 1 64 080 0108 0 64 064 0012 1 67 080 0324 0 67 064 0036 1 67 080 0108 0 67 064 0012 1 64 080 0108 0 64 064 0012 1 62 080 0108 0 62 064 0012 1 60 080 0324 0 60 064 0036 1 60 080 0108 0 60 064 0012 1 62 080 0108 0 62 064 0012 1 64 080 0432 0 64 064 0048 1 64 080 0072 0 64 064 0008 1 65 080 0072 0 65 064 0008 1 64 080 0072 0 64 064 0008 1 62 080 0108 0 62 064 0012 1 60 080 0324 0 60 064 0036 1 57 080 0216 0 57 064 0024 1 57 080 0108 0 57 064 0012 1 55 080 0324 0 55 064 0036 1 60 080 0108 0 60 064 0012 1 62 080 0108 0 62 064 0012 1 64 080 0108 0 64 064 0012 1 67 080 0324 0 67 064 0036 1 67 080 0108 0 67 064 0012 1 69 080 0108 0 69 064 0012 1 67 080 0432 0 67 064 0048 1 67 080 0072 0 67 064 0008 1 64 080 0072 0 64 064 0008 1 60 080 0072 0 60 064 0008 1 72 080 0432 0 72 064 0048 1 72 080 0216 0 72 064 0024 1 69 080 0108 0 69 064 0012 1 67 080 0324 0 67 064 0036 1 60 080 0108 0 60 064 0012 1 62 080 0108 0 62 064 0012 1 64 080 0108 0 64 064 0012 1 67 080 0324 0 67 064 0036 1 67 080 0108 0 67 064 0012 1 69 080 0108 0 69 064 0012 1 67 080 0216 0 67 064 0024 1 64 080 0216 0 64 064 0024 1 60 080 0216 0 60 064 0024 1 64 080 0108 0 64 064 0012 1 62 080 0324 0 62 064 0036 1 62 080 0108 0 62 064 0012 1 64 080 0108 0 64 064 0012 1 62 080 0432 0 62 064 0048 1 60 080 0108 0 60 064 0012 1 62 080 0108 0 62 064 0012 1 64 080 0108 0 64 064 0012 1 67 080 0324 0 67 064 0036 1 67 080 0108 0 67 064 0012 1 69 080 0108 0 69 064 0012 1 67 080 0432 0 67 064 0048 1 67 080 0072 0 67 064 0008 1 64 080 0072 0 64 064 0008 1 60 080 0072 0 60 064 0008 1 72 080 0432 0 72 064 0048 1 72 080 0216 0 72 064 0024 1 69 080 0108 0 69 064 0012 1 67 080 0324 0 67 064 0036 1 60 080 0108 0 60 064 0012 1 62 080 0108 0 62 064 0012 1 64 080 0108 0 64 064 0012 1 67 080 0324 0 67 064 0036 1 67 080 0108 0 67 064 0012 1 69 080 0108 0 69 064 0012 1 67 080 0216 0 67 064 0024 1 64 080 0216 0 64 064 0024 1 60 080 0216 0 60 064 0024 1 64 080 0108 0 64 064 0012 1 62 080 0324 0 62 064 0036 1 62 080 0072 0 62 064 0008 1 64 080 0072 0 64 064 0008 1 62 080 0072 0 62 064 0008 1 62 080 0432 0 62 064 0048 1 55 080 0108 0 55 064 0012 1 57 080 0108 0 57 064

End

This program is worth the effort of learning it.

To download the March 10 MIDItext 98 software and get instructions on how to use it click here

ABC format:

X:1

T:

M:3/4

Q:1/4=120

K:C

G,5A,|C4C3/4D/2C3/4|A,G,3C2|D4CD|EG3GE|DC3CD|

E4E3/4F/2E3/4|DC3A,2|A,G,3G,A,|C4C3/4D/2C3/4|

A,G,3C2|D4CD|EG3GE|DC3CD|E4E3/4F/2E3/4|DC3A,2|

A,G,3CD|EG3GA|G4G3/4E/2C3/4|c4c2|AG3CD|EG3GA|

G2E2C2|ED3DE|D4CD|EG3GA|G4G3/4E/2C3/4|c4c2|

AG3CD|EG3GA|G2E2C2|ED3D3/4E/2D3/4|D4G,A,|

C4C3/4D/2C3/4|A,G,3C2|D4CD|EG3GE|DC3CD|E4E3/4F/2E3/4|

DC3A,2|A,G,3G,A,|C4C3/4D/2C3/4|A,G,3C2|D4CD|

EG3GE|DC3CD|E4E3/4F/2E3/4|DC3A,2|A,G,3CD|

EG3GA|G4G3/4E/2C3/4|c4c2|AG3CD|EG3GA|G2E2C2|

ED3DE|D4CD|EG3GA|G4G3/4E/2C3/4|c4c2|AG3CD|

EG3GA|G2E2C2|ED3D3/4E/2D3/4|D4G,A,||

Enjoy (but don't scare the cattle!),

Bob

Subject: Tune Add: LAWRIE COBLEY'S CATTLE LULLABY
From: Jack Campin
Date: 14 Dec 07 - 08:26 PM

Most ABC software could make no sense of that version of Lawrie Cobley's tune. You wouldn't want to try creating staff notation from that MIDIText output if you could use what's on the original webpage. I went back to it and wrote it out from scratch to get this, which will play in an ABA form to give you an idea of the repeat structure and will also typeset legibly. (On BarFly at least - haven't tried other programs, the complicated repeat structure here is hard to represent and you may want to change it a little for other software).

  X:1
  T:Lawrie Cobley's Cattle Lullaby
  N:The tune was collected by Dave de Hugard from ex-drover, Lawrie
  N:Cobley who lilted it continuously to cattle at night to keep them
  N:settled. Some drovers used a mouthorgan the same way, moving slowly
  N:around the mob on a quiet night horse and playing a soothing melody. 
  M:3/4
  L:1/8
  Q:1/4=120
  P:ABCB
  % really ABCBCBCB...
  K:C
  [P:A]G,A,\
  [P:B]   |:C4 (3CDC|A,G,3 C2 |   D4  CD    |E G3     G`E  |
            DC3  CD |E4  (3EFE|   DC3 A,2   |A,G,3 [1 G,A,:|\
                                                   [2 C`D ||
  [P:C]     EG3  GA |G4  (3GEC|   c4  c2    |AG3      C`D  |
            EG3  GA |G2 E2 C2 |[1 ED3 DE    |D4       C`D :|\
                               [2 ED3 (3DED||
  

The tune is related to the one used in Scotland for the song "The Galway Shawl".

MIDIText seems not to know what a triplet is.

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 15 Dec 07 - 01:57 AM

G'day Jack,

Thanks for patching that up!

I used Alan's old program because I don't make any use of ABC (it's a pretty poor substitute for real dots ...) and I had reset Dave's version to get it all laid out without the repeats ... and an apparent omission of a final bar.

Since my program happily saves that to a MIDI file ( a thing I do find useful in sharing tunes - especially to ear players), I thought the MIDItext would, at least, give a workable ABC rendition ... but it seems I need something more recent to deal with triplets!

Anyway, at least it comes close to being "A Song for Cattle" - when 'lilted' - and your identification of a possible Scots ancestry makes 'lilting' an appropriate delivery!

Regards,

Bob

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST,Buttercup
Date: 15 Dec 07 - 11:28 AM

Moooooooooooooooo----n River........

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Charley Noble
Date: 15 Dec 07 - 12:33 PM

There's also the tragic ballad about the cow that sank the Japanese fishing trrawler Kaisi Maru: Click at Your Own Risk!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 16 Dec 07 - 12:10 AM

For the cows who like a bit of bovine pornography....

Blue Mooooooooooo n...

Still got me coat on...

LTS

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: topical tom
Date: 16 Dec 07 - 03:07 PM

For a touch of humour, how about a song BY a cow?

                           
                        Here

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: katlaughing
Date: 16 Dec 07 - 04:01 PM

As a granddaughter and daughter of "cow men" I just wanted to say this has been a fun thread to keep track of. Thanks!

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 17 Dec 07 - 02:48 AM

Kat - I'm with you - my forebears (well three of them, the fourth was a shepherd) were farmers and I spent half my formative years on a dairy farm.

Cows are much misunderstood and people are frightened of them for no reason, when all they want is to find out what's going on.

If you stand at the gate of a cow pasture long enough, you'll end up with all the cows coming up and looking at you. You can even make them look like a backing group, if you're daft enough!

Singing Moo wop of course.

LTS

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST,Derek Brinkley
Date: 17 Dec 07 - 09:17 AM

I met a girl at Walden Market
At Walden Market coming home
I said to her 'My pretty fair one
Why so sadly do you roam?'

She said 'I've been to Walden Market
For there they took my spotted cow
And gave her to the cruel butchers
So I have lost my Daisy now'.

I said to her 'My pretty fair one
Then take a walk a mile with me.
I have a calf with a star on his forehead
That little brown calf I'll give to thee'

She said 'I thank you, handsome stranger,
But your brown calf's too young for me.
My Daisy was the finest heifer
That on these meadows you did see'

'Well if my calf it does not suit you
Then take from me my heart instead.
And we will win the Flitch of Bacon
In Dunmow Town when we are wed.'

The young girl's eyes they filled with tears
And not one word to me did say
But all along the green lanes brightly
We walked arm in arm that summer day.

Collected in Suffolk by Neil Langham. Unforgiveably I can't remember the singer's name. He had it from his mother.

Subject: Lyr Add: GETTIN' IN THE COWS (Charlie Maguire)
From: Art Thieme
Date: 17 Dec 07 - 02:07 PM

Here's a song that's available on my CD for Folk Legacy titled: ART THIEME--THAT'S THE TICKET. Charlie Maguire's grand song --- "Gettin' In The Cows" This is an udderly amazing song about dairy life. No bull! ---Sorry! (Heifer joke is better than none, I guess!! ;-)

I start my day in the sun-up dark,
Going down the lane to get the milk-cows up,
I've got a Holstein, a Jersey and a one-eyed steer,
An old brown cow that jumps fences like a deer.

The dew is on the ground and my feet are wet,
Got a light in my hand and a hat on my head,
Going' down to pasture to get my herd,
They are chewin' their cud and looking at the birds.

(Chorus--)
Getting' in the cows, shoo 'em in the barn,
Put 'em in the stanchions--turn the radio on,
Milk 'em all dry -- send 'em out again,
Wait a month on the dairy for the check to come in!!

Well, get up you cows---and I get 'em on the move,
Their udders are a-swingin' like water in balloons,
Take 'em to the barn and they know their place,
With the lead one first---and I close the gate.

(chorus)

I bring the cart around and I give 'em all some feed,
They lick their noses and flap their ears at me,
I put on the machine and it feels so good,
Just to let down the milk like a good cow should.

chorus

Folks say a cow's face is so fine,
But I see their back ends most of the time,
I work all summer to put hay in the mow,
I work all winter just to feed it to the cow.

The milking's all done---I've got the weather report,
Got my day all planned for my job of work,
Back to the pasture goes half of my life,
I'm going in the house and hug my wife.

-----------Chorus

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Art Thieme
Date: 17 Dec 07 - 02:11 PM

Actually that chorus ought to be sung after every TWO verses...

Sorry again!
To ere is human, to forgive, bovine!!

Art

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST,patriot1314
Date: 17 Dec 07 - 02:18 PM

The Rangey Ribs I Bought From Mickey Doo
and....erm.....
Build me up Buttercup!

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 28 Dec 07 - 10:30 PM

Further info re "The Cowboy Lullaby " I posted above. A bit more digging suggests that there are alternative titles - "Desert Blue and Silver" and "The Roundup Song". In its original form it was a poem by Badger Clark - found here -
www.cowboypoetry.com/badger.htm#Lullaby
The song versions seem to stick to the first chorus throughout, and miss out some of the verses - which seems a shame - the more I read it, the better I like it. There's a nice close-harmony version by Theresa Coyle, Laura Partch, & Laurie Patton on a CD called "Desert Silver Blue". It can be heard by clicking "Roundup Lullaby" at
http://cdbaby.com/cd/desertdsilverblues

Ross

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST,Elizabeth
Date: 29 Dec 07 - 09:00 AM

Great- and interesting thread, Emma B!
Would you know any recording of the first song you mentioned?

Sian, are there any literature on the songs for cattle in the Welsh tradiiton? Or do you have any references to works where suchsongs are mentioned?

As far as I know "kulning" ("cattle call"), is mostly used in Swedish. The Norwegian term is "lokk".

In the great book, "The songs of Elizabeth Cronin", discussed in another thread, there is a song called "Raghd-sa ó thuaidh leat, a bhó", a song sung by a milking-woman, wishing the cow safe from any harm.

Elizabeth

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Severn
Date: 29 Dec 07 - 10:02 AM

Elizabeth,


Of the "Chisholm Trail/Old Chisholm Trail" Woody Guthrie has recordings out on the 4-CD set "Some Folk" (Proper Box 115) and on "The Asch Recordings 1-4 on Smithsonian Folkways.

The RCA Vintage LP "Authentic Cowboys And Their Western Folksongs" (LPV 522) has "Haywire" Mac McClintock's version.

Saul Broudy sings one on "Cowboy Songs" (National Geographic Society 07786)

Oscar Brand sings an Off color version on "Bawdy Western Songs" (originally on LP on Audio Fidelity AFLP 1920) and Available on CD reissue from Mr. Brand himseld as is another version by Brand on "Bawdy songs Rides Again".

Tex Ritter's version is on CD on "High Noon" (Living Era CD AJA 5479)

Plenty more out there, as it's one of the most popular and most recorded of all Western songs. You could probably Google scores more.

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: sian, west wales
Date: 02 Jan 08 - 06:19 AM

Elizabeth, all the stuff I have on the subject (oxen songs) is in Welsh I'm afraid. I'll give it some thought; there may be some articles somewhere in English.

sian

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: katlaughing
Date: 02 Jan 08 - 11:06 AM

Ross, we've always called it Desert Silvery Blue. My sisters and I used to sing it. I have posted the lyrics, as we learned them in Western Colorado and Wyoming, a couple of times and they are also in the DT under that title. Here's the ABC and/or link to a MIDI of the TUNE for it.

Also, don't know why I didn't think of this earlier. I can still copy and send out CDs of old cowboy 78s which my brother recorded as noted in THIS THREAD. I may be a bit slow in getting them done as I will have to do them on a weekend, but if anyone is interested, please send me a PM with your addy.

Thanks,

kat

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST,Elizabeth
Date: 02 Jan 08 - 02:11 PM

Thanks Severn.

And thank you Sian. The references you have for Welsh litterature would also be of interest.

Elizabeth

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST,Elizabeth
Date: 13 Aug 08 - 12:26 PM

Sian, could you give me more details on that Welsh milkmaid call?

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 13 Aug 08 - 04:54 PM

I grew up raising beef cattle on our ranch and can't recall any animal I ever encountered that could carry a tune, nor really appreciate the nuances of a good song. I also don't remember ever composing any songs celebrating one of them, though I was fond of a couple of my older animals (NO! Not THAT fond!).

That aside, the thread brings back an old argument from the coffee house days of the 1950's. When Jimmy Rodgers did "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine," which I believe he gleaned from The Weavers, it was said, by the self-appointed guardians of folk purism, to have been based on an old Irish lament for a dead cow. Surely, someone out there knows the truth of this.

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Severn
Date: 14 Aug 08 - 12:51 AM

Yes. I have a recording of it by Ed McCurdy.

See Ocscar Brand in concert and he'll probably tell the tale of hearing it at a party he attended with Pete seeger and Leadbelly way back when and hearing Leadbelly try to forge it into something new rhythmically in the cab on the way home. From that recasting of the tune. the Weavers put new words to it and the rest was history.Brand in the stelling sings both songs. Oscar and Pete and Leadbelly were there at the creation. I've heard him tell the tale a couple of times in concert.

I don't know if Brand recorded the story on one of his own recordings, but I heard it on a tape I found once ad a yard sale of highlights of a benefit concert put on in washington DC by the World Folk Music Assn. who tend to be more nostalgic for the singer-songwriters and the Kingston Trio/Limelighters version of folk than the FSGW.

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: sian, west wales
Date: 14 Aug 08 - 05:44 AM

Elizabeth, it's called Cainc yr Odryddes (Tune of the Milkmaid) and can be found here. It's from a Iolo Morgannwg manuscript, circa 1800. Words mean, "Hai, how how (just a 'call') Brothen (cow's name) to the farmyard, Hai how how Brothen to the farmyard: Hai how how, Little
Brothen, Little Brothen; Hai how how, Hai how how, hai how how, Brothen to the farmyard; Stand, o stand, stand, o stand, stand, o stand! Brothen to the farmyard, Brothen to the farmyard"

(Brilliant stuff, eh?)

Second verse, same as the first, a little bit louder and a little bit replacing next cow's name for 'Brothen', in this case, "Seren" ('Star')

sian

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Artful Codger
Date: 14 Aug 08 - 07:02 AM

What about this song Peter Bellamy used to sing: "Down the Mooer (Through the Heifer)"?

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST,Elizabeth
Date: 14 Aug 08 - 09:31 AM

Thanks a million, Sian!

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Cool Beans
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 09:13 AM

Moove It On Over (Hank Williams)

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Artful Codger
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 04:00 PM

Is "Lowlands, lowlands, low" about cow pastures?

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Genie
Date: 16 Aug 08 - 12:44 PM

Cow Patty (Jim Stafford)

Then there's Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Genie
Date: 16 Aug 08 - 01:02 PM

Isn't there a song called "A Pretty Maid Milking Her Cow"?


A few more udder classics:

Duke Ellington: "Mooed Indigo" (That's what the cow did after she swallowed some blue dye.)
Glen Miller: "I'm In The Moo'd For Love"
Percy French: "Abdullah Bull Bull, Emir"?
Blondie: "Cow Me"
Kate Smith: "When The Moo Comes Over The Mountain"

Then there's that bawdy folk song "The Lobster," with the refrain that ends "Never let your bullocks dangle in the dust!"

And don't forget "The Bull At Kirriemuir" (sp?)

And "After The Bull (Is Over)"

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: RobbieWilson
Date: 16 Aug 08 - 01:19 PM

as ah was walkin doon the road
ah saw a coo....
.....a bull be goad

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: RobbieWilson
Date: 16 Aug 08 - 01:20 PM

daisy, daisy
give me your answer doo



or is that about pigeons

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST,rich raja-aho
Date: 06 Sep 13 - 03:33 PM

if anyone is near newcastle and gateshead, there used to be a lovely bloke on the folk club circuit called rag time kev - wrote a tune called "mad cow jumping" as I recall...

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: mg
Date: 06 Sep 13 - 08:38 PM

Here is one of mine about a dairy maid from Switzerland..tune is Richard Baker.

My name is Frieda Schiller and I am a dairy maid
With eggs and cream and buttermilk ja that is how I'm paid
I take my goods to market and sometimes to the store
When the train comes to Chehalis then I hope to sell some more

The lilac trees are blooming now in pretty little dells
You can tell the cows are coming home by the tinkling of their bells
When twilight falls they're in their stalls happy and content
And I am in my milkhouse where my time is often spent

You'll never see a fever here a fly can not be found
And hired men scoop up the mess before it hits the ground
You ask me why I work so hard and I will tell you this
I do because I ought to and I do because I'm Swiss

When the Skookumchuck is rising and overflows its banks
I take my cows to higher ground and pause there and give thanks
For two strong arms and dairy farms and grass on which they graze
And rivers deep enough to flood and calm and peaceful days

----

Did someone mention wait till the cows come home...

what'll you do if the cow's in the clover

highland widow's lament..once I had twa score o kye..feeding on yon hills sae high

pirate one..lassie ye've a peaceful hame and cattle ye hae ten can ye no live a lawful life and live wi' lawful men

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Eldergirl
Date: 07 Sep 13 - 03:07 AM

Packie Byrne's "Life of a Drover" has verses about keeping the cattle happy as they travel on the road to market. Think there's a thread on this song elsewhere. Can't recall any of lyrics except ' and I've travelled this country all over ' which is probably not much help, sorry, :( e.

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST,gutcher
Date: 07 Sep 13 - 04:10 AM

My outbye grannie called her 2 milking cows home with the call caa-pria, caa-pria, caa-pria. My friend called his milking herd home with the call caa-leddy, caa-leddy, caa-leddy. Leddy may have been lady, as to pria this may be gaelic from the time not so very far back when gaelic was spoken in South West Scotland, I must consult my gaelic speaking friend to see if pria has meaning in that tongue.

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: AnneMC
Date: 07 Sep 13 - 06:07 AM

And this a lovely Scottish ballad about cattle droving:

The Drover Road to Amulree 
(David Wilkie of Celtic Cowboys band)
      
The wind pushed the herd along, on the wings of an ancient song
Through passes and rivers went cattle and men
And in the worst of the weather, they slept on the heather
Headed south on the old way, or mountain through glen

Before they laid down the steel rails and blocked off the cattle trails
The hardships were plenty and the pleasures were few
But he walked the hills so wild and free on the way to Amulree
Then he got what he could when the droving was through

So come along then to the small glen, by the old inn,on the river bend
Out on the roads, where he wanted to be
Highland men off to battle, drovers drivin' their cattle
On the Drover Road to Amulree
                                         
Then he grew older and tired, his life uninspired
And he'd wait for the black herds that never came by
But it would not end in an old chair, all alone or in despair
That was no way for a drover to die

They found him face down on the cold ground,
On the old road that led from town
Days passed till they knew that he'd gone away
Instead of sitting by the old stove, he set off on his last drove
And died in the tracks of a long bye-gone day

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Jun 25 - 03:30 AM

A sort of kulning from a minority in China:

Tongling niu ge

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST,cnd
Date: 24 Jun 25 - 07:29 AM

There's always Stringbean's classic Herding Cattle (In A Cadillac CoupDeVille)

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Jack Campin
Date: 24 Jun 25 - 01:59 PM

The Chinese cattle song post was me with my cookie temporarily lost. I got the link from David Badagnani's spectacularly knowledgeable traditional Chinese music group on FB.

It uses very similar melodic shapes to kulning. Over thousands of years, the songs have been formed by the preferences of cows rather than humans.

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 24 Jun 25 - 11:28 PM

cows like music, too.

Some years back one of our school-age musicians was practicing her clarinet in the morning at a festival & the cows in the next paddock came over to listen!

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 25 Jun 25 - 01:31 AM

highland widow's lament..once i had twa score of kye feeding on the hills so high

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jun 25 - 02:00 PM

Here's one written by my father that importantly involves a cow.

Lyr Add: NOTICE TO MARINERS (John Dwyer)

NOTICE TO MARINERS -- John Dwyer, 1974

Come all you Northwest sailors, who cruise on Puget Sound,
And listen to my story, for well it will astound;
'Tis of a ferry captain, who ventured forth one day,
And of the fate befell him, as he sailed on the bay.

The ferry left Seattle, 'twas on a foggy day,
The captain had no worries, for well he knew the way;
He headed 'cross the water, where finny things abound,
And set his course for Bremerton, across famed Puget Sound.

He left Seattle Harbor, and passed Duwamish Head,
Past Alki on the port side, he westerly did head;
And now 'twas open water, across to Orchard Point,
Through fog as thick as chowder, the ferry's bow did point.

Now all good skippers have a trick, who sail these waters 'round,
And when the fog is thickest, 'tis then they steer by sound;
Full several times a minute, their whistle loud they blow,
And by the echo bouncing, when land is close they know.

The ferry neared Rich Passage. a place of rocks and shoals,
And narrow as an hourglass, as past Point White she goes,
The captain slowed the ferry, and not to run aground,
He blew upon his whistle, and listened for the sound.

Now, a farmer on Point Glover, across the neck from White,
Had tied his cow that foggy morn, upon lush grass to bite;
So several times a minute, the ferry's whistle blew,
And as the captain listened, the echo came back "Moo!"

The captain turned the vessel, still steering by the sound,
And guided by that silly cow, the ferry ran aground;
So all you Northwest sailors, give listen to me now,
And when you cruise on Puget Sound, don't navigate by cow!

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST,Topaz
Date: 26 Jun 25 - 11:44 AM

"On yonder hill there stood a coo, It's no there noo, it must have shifted,"

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: The Sandman
Date: 27 Jun 25 - 02:16 AM

Our Andy’s gone with cattle now –
Our hearts are out of order
With drought he’s gone to battle now
Across the Queensland border

He’s left us in dejection now
Our thoughts with him are roving
It’s dull on this selection now
Since Andy went a-droving

Who now shall wear the cheerful face
In times when things are blackest
And who shall whistle round the place
When Fortune frowns her blackest

Oh, who shall cheek the squatter now
When he comes round us snarling
His tongue is growing hotter now
Since Andy crossed the Darling

The gates are out of order now
In storms the ‘riders’ rattle
For far across the border now
Our Andy’s gone with cattle

Poor Aunty’s looking thin and white
And Uncle’s cross with worry
And poor old Blucher howls all night
Since Andy left Macquarie

Oh may the showers in torrents fall
And all the tanks run over
And may the grass grow green and tall
In pathways of the drover

And may good angels send the rain
On desert stretches sandy
And when the summer comes again
God grant ’twill bring us Andy.

Henry Lawson

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: The Sandman
Date: 27 Jun 25 - 04:55 AM

Come all you old time cowboys and listen to my song
But please do not grow weary I'll not detain you long
It's concerning some wild cowboys who did agree to go
To spend one summer pleasantly of the trail of the buffalo.

I found myself in Griffin in the spring of eighty three
When a well known famous drover come walking up to me
Says "How do you do young fellow? And how would you like to go
And spend one summer pleasantly on the trail of the buffalo?"

I being out of work right then to the drover I did say
"Going out on the buffalo road depends upon your pay
If you pay good wages and transportation to and fro,
I thinks to myself I'll go with you to the hunt of the buffalo."

"Of course I'll pay good wages and transportation too
If you agree to work for me until the season's through
But if you do get homesick and try to run away
You'll starve to death out on the trail and also lose your pay."

With all his flattering talking he signed up quite a train
Some ten or twelve in number strong able bodied men
Out trip it was a pleasant one as we hit the westward road
Until we crossed old Boggy Creek in old New Mexico.

And there our pleasures ended and our troubles all begun
A lightning storm it hit us and it made the buffalo run
We got all full of stickers from the cactus that did grow
And the outlaws watched to pick us off in the hills of Mexico.

Our working season ended and the drover would not pay
"You et and drunk too much and so you're all in debt to me!"
But the cowboys never had heard of such a thing as bankrupt law
So we left that drover's bones to bleach on the plains of buffalo.

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 27 Jun 25 - 12:00 PM

I think that any moosic would do

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 27 Jun 25 - 07:48 PM

My family has been involved with cattle for generations.
Mostly, Herford or Black Angus ... but, more recently some "Simental" with their massive briskcut. Enjoy the "singing in the meadow".

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ficr60AcDws

Sincerely,
Gargkyle

Hundreds of thousands, miles of grass we humans cannot eat ... but cattle do ... plants/animals/humans what a delightful relationship!

Subject: THE MORPETH BULL - Graham Bell ~2023
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 28 Jun 25 - 10:12 AM

THE MORPETH BULL - Graham Bell ~2023

Historically the local breed of Northumberland is the Dairy Shorthorn.
In 2009 the new Sanderson Arcade arcade in Morpeth commissioned the statue of a bull to go at the entrance.
But the sculptor chose an Aberdeen Angus as the model.

This is Graham's humorous take on it.
;) Graham is field officer for the UK Shorthorn Society.

https://youtu.be/bdLdwpKBDJM?t=1m15s
,,, skip back to the start to hear the story.

Subject: BREEDING A BETTER SHORTHORN - Graham Bell -2016
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 28 Jun 25 - 10:14 AM

BREEDING A BETTER SHORTHORN - Graham Bell -2016

Poem on Facebook.
I've not heard him do it as a song yet.
www.facebook.com/100057767825079/videos/1397136613659322/

Subject: THE AI SONG - Graham Bell - 2020
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 28 Jun 25 - 10:16 AM

THE AI SONG - Graham Bell - 2020

Graham Bell [who works for Genus] with a song of his own about artificial insemination (cattle that is) with a George Formby influence.

www.facebook.com/Frodshamfolkclub/videos/2530699403863278/

Subject: THE BALLAD OF THE BLUE GREY BULLOCK - Graham Bell
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 28 Jun 25 - 10:17 AM

THE BALLAD OF THE BLUE GREY BULLOCK - Graham Bell - 2020

at The Bridge Folk Club, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
(Written & performed by Graham)
,,,we can learn a lesson from what happens to Geordie in this grand song from Graham.
www.facebook.com/100057571355171/videos/978573699191787/

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST,paperback
Date: 28 Jun 25 - 11:40 AM

Gargoyle:
He causeth the grasse to grow for the cattell, and herbe for the
seruice of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth:)

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: The Sandman
Date: 28 Jun 25 - 01:04 PM

The Spotted Cow, sung by Harry Cox https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YauMrpadwU0

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: GUEST,paperback
Date: 28 Jun 25 - 01:42 PM

Sandman, that's a good one pard. When the corn is in the garden they stray

Ottis Dewey "Slim" Whitman Jr. sings Doie Hensley "Tex" Owens' Cattle Call

Subject: RE: Songs for cattle
From: The Sandman
Date: 29 Jun 25 - 03:48 PM

Once apon a time there was a little white bull
Very sad because he was a little white bull
Little white bull
All the black bulls called him a coward
Just cos he was white
Only black bulls go to the bull ring
Only black bulls fight
When he asked his mama if the little white bull
Little white bull
Ever had a chance of turning black
His mama said
You silly little bull, you're a pretty little bull
You're my little bull
So please dont ask me why little bull
You just ain't black
But this did not satisfie that little white bull
Little white bull
He was a eception to that little white rule
Little white rule
Everyday alone in the meadows
He'd find this to charge
Till one day he really imagined that his horns were large
Bold as brass right then and then the little white bull
Little white bull
Quickly found the nearest road to town!
And people said
What a funny little bull
What a fluffy little bull
Hes our little bull
He marched along a proud little bull
And hit the town
It was he day of the bull fight
All the town were there
Waiting to see the famous Matador
Trumpet the sound of the fan fair
Tun ta la tun ta!
Out from the throats of the crowd came a mighty Roar!
Into the ring to the shout of a great olay
Olay!
Came the parade all prepared for a mighty pray
Matadors and Picidors and Toridors!
And who do think aswell?
Trotting right behind them came
The little white bull
Little white bull
How they laughed out loud to see
The white bull
Little white bull
Trotting round the giant arena with his head up high
Till the Matador in the center caught his tiny eye
Charging right up to him went the little white bull
Little white bull
Charging twice and charging once again
The Matador cried Turret little bull
He's not a little bull, your a brave little bull
Your gonna be a great little bull
The best in spain!
Then the crowd all shouted turret little bull
Your not a little bull, your a brave little bull
Your gonna be a great little bull
The best is spain!
So if you got a little bull
Thats a white little bull
It's quite possible
That it might be the bull
Thats the best
In
Spain
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Lionel Bart / Tommy Steele / Michael Pratt