Stories and songs about bears

Subject: Stories and songs about bears
From: Mo the caller
Date: 15 Jun 19 - 06:24 AM

After a conversation with Flora see other thread I went in search of the Congleton bear
"Congleton Bear, Congleton Bear
They sold the Church Bible to buy a new bear"

It seems that the true story was more complicated. In 1600 The town bear was a source of income at the town wakes, but when it died they borrowed (and repaid) the fund for replacing the town bible to buy a new one.
Strange to think of a time when town bears were more common than books.
Congleton still has a bear , it sponsors a rescued Moon bear

Subject: RE: Stiries and songs about bears
From: Mo the caller
Date: 15 Jun 19 - 06:25 AM

Could some-one please correct the thread title

Subject: RE: Stiries and songs about bears
From: Mo the caller
Date: 15 Jun 19 - 06:52 AM

The bears that started me off were the 4 bears in Nantwich who were partly responsible for the severity of the fire which burnt most of the town in 1583. The bears were set free - which didn't help the fire-fighting efforts one bit!

There is also a Bear pub in Knutsford, with a thatched bear on the roof

Subject: RE: Stiries and songs about bears
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 15 Jun 19 - 01:32 PM

^^^^ 06:24 ... "see other thread"

= thread.cfm?threadid=165708&messages=47


____________________________________________________
Mo, when making a blue clicky for a Mudcat page you need to
delete the 'https://mudcat.org/'
, then click Create Link
:)

Subject: RE: Stiries and songs about bears
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 15 Jun 19 - 01:38 PM

I gave sloth bears a mention in this song "We Go Together"

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Jun 19 - 02:04 PM

Then, of course, there's Art Thieme's Pokegama Bear. Wish I could find an online recording.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: GUEST,Dave Hunt
Date: 15 Jun 19 - 03:23 PM

Loppington, Shropshire. In the road outside the Dicken Arms is England's only surviving Bear Ring to which bears were tied for bear baiting

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: GUEST,Dave Hunt
Date: 15 Jun 19 - 03:25 PM

A song I have used a lot is 'Waltzing with Bears' got it from my friends Bayou Seco when they were staying with us.

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 15 Jun 19 - 04:57 PM

Does The Teddy Bears' Picnic count?

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: JHW
Date: 15 Jun 19 - 05:05 PM

In the good old days of the Colpitts FC, Durham City, Chas (I think) used to sing Walzing with Bears.
He sang the chorus as 1-2-3, 1-2-3, Waltzing with Bears rather than perhaps the original Wa Wa Wa, Wa Wa Wa,. Always well received.

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: Susan of DT
Date: 15 Jun 19 - 09:20 PM

Funny, it looks like my favorite bear song is not in the DT.
call and response, like Sipping Cider thru a Straw

the other day, the other day
I saw a bear, I saw a bear
up in the woods, up in the woods
away out there, a way out there
The other day I saw a bear, up in the woods a way out there

(similar structure)
He looked at me
I looked at him
He sized up me
I sized up him

He said to me, why don't you run, I see you ain't got any gun

And so I ran, away from there, and right behind me was that bear

And then I saw, ahead of me, a great big tree, oh lordy me

The nearest branch, was ten feet up, I'd have to jump and trust to luck

and so I jumped into the air and I missed that branch away up there

Now don't you fret, now don't you frown, cause I caught that branch, on the way back down

That's all there is, there ain't no more, unless I meet, that bear once more.

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: Jack Campin
Date: 16 Jun 19 - 02:47 AM

There are a lot of "bear dance" tunes from around Europe. Some are for bears to dance to but most are for people imitating bears, often dressed appropriately. Look up the Romanian "ursareasca" for one.

I've seen a real bear dancing once. No music, just a whip. I can't imagine why anyone would want that spectacle as entertainment.

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: r.padgett
Date: 16 Jun 19 - 03:06 AM

Yea as Dave Hunt says dancing with bears is very popular with UK singers


Ray

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: Mr Red
Date: 16 Jun 19 - 03:17 AM

Davy Crocket - killed him a Barr when he wus only 3

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: Mo the caller
Date: 16 Jun 19 - 07:35 AM

Then of course there's the rhyme
Algy met a bear
The bear met Algy
The bear was bulgy
The bulge was Algy

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 16 Jun 19 - 07:59 AM

Simon Smith and his amazing dancing bear
We're going on a bear hunt

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Jun 19 - 08:02 AM

The bluegrass tune Slewfoot. I love the lines:

We chased down the gully, run him into a well
And shoot him in the bottom just to listen to him yell

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: keberoxu
Date: 16 Jun 19 - 01:30 PM

Don't forget The Preacher and the Bear:

O! Lord, Lord,
if you can't help me,
for goodness' sakes,
don't cha help that bear …

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 16 Jun 19 - 02:44 PM

For the blast-off went banging and buzzing and fizzing
And up from the moon the rocket went whizzing.
Away went the moonbeast, he whizzed through the night
As the rocket that carried him fizzed out of sight.

But somewhere he landed, of that there's no doubt;
For people are constantly pointing him out.
And night after night, as at stars they stare,
Astronomers notice him there - the Great Bear.

From The Moonrocket by Wilma Horsbrugh

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: rich-joy
Date: 16 Jun 19 - 05:42 PM

"Bill and the Bear" - by Aussie trio, CLOUDSTREET - apparently based on a true story!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnWcE0ukutU

R-J

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: topical tom
Date: 16 Jun 19 - 10:24 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OCYIK95KXE<

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: rich-joy
Date: 17 Jun 19 - 12:43 AM

Topical Tom's video is unavailable to me Down Under, but here is a Bear of a different coat :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ObOggb5kn8

John Mayall's song of Canned Heat's singer, Bob "The Bear" Hite -

(complete with Mick Taylor, Stephen Thompson, Peter Green et al!)

Enjoy!

R-J

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: GUEST,LynnH
Date: 17 Jun 19 - 03:29 AM

The OP jogged my memory into action. I vaguely recalled a song about the Congleton Bear, but not from John Tams/Muckram Wakes/The Druids. So I dug out some old cassettes (they even played!) and yes, live at The Druids Folkclub, Derby, ca. 1974, Pete & Chris Coe and song#6 in their first set ....Congleton Bear!
I'll have to see if I can decode the text from this 45 year old cassette! If anybody bumps into Pete Coe ask him about his version of the story. He'll probably be flabbergasted that anybody remembers it!

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: topical tom
Date: 19 Jun 19 - 05:32 PM

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 19 Jun 19 - 06:38 PM

Topical tom - a bare post on a bear thread?!

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: Stewie
Date: 19 Jun 19 - 07:59 PM

Here's a classic from his lordship:

God's own drunk

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: topical tom
Date: 20 Jun 19 - 02:13 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66P3Mtse4kY




   A whimsucal version of contact wuth bears.

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: open mike
Date: 23 Jun 19 - 02:02 AM

topical tom 16 june 10:24 you tube video unavailable

Subject: Lyr Add: THE BEAR SONG (Laurie Lewis)
From: open mike
Date: 23 Jun 19 - 02:05 AM

The Bear Song, Laurie Lewis
(inspired by Joachim Miller’s Bear Tales book)

Well far away in the North Country there lives a fiddler fair
The townsfolk call him Moon Mad John, the brother to the bear.

Well Moon Mad John has a tale to tell, to all who set awhile
The children listen eagerly, while the grownups only smile.

"It was in the winter of '25, I was checkin' my traps one day,
When a storm come howlin' from the north and I did lose my way.

I soon was cold and hungry, and the darkness did come down,
I knew my death was closin' in, and the wolves were howlin' round.

I wandered round within a daze and I fell down on the ground.
I don't know how long I lay there when I was wakened by a sound.

All through the trees I peered, may lightnin' strike if I'm a liar,
I saw big shadows movin' slow, and the flickerin' of the fire.

Oh the bears were all a-gathered there, dancin' and playin' fiddles
And the finest fiddler I ever did see was the big bear in the middle.

They took me in and they sat me down and the fire did thaw my feet
They gave me food and wine to drink and soon I fell asleep.

And when I awoke next morning, the day was clear and bright.
The snow lay trampled all about but there was not a bear in sight.

So three days south I travelled till I came to my own front door.
I threw all my guns and my traps away, and I never did hunt no more.

And now you've heard my story, and the proof is in the tune
That the bears did play when they saved my life, under the winter moon.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE MAD FIDDLER OF THE NORTH COUNTRY
From: open mike
Date: 23 Jun 19 - 02:06 AM

Another song found on mudcat


THE MAD FIDDLER OF THE NORTH COUNTRY
(Christopher Shaw)

Oh, come with me to the north country, where the Devil and the cold winds wail,
Where the drink is strong and the nights are long, and I'll tell an Adirondack tale.

It was on a cold and moonlit night, Dan Barrow tracked that bear,
And his good hound howled, and the bear he growled, and their fighting filled the air.

Then the bear stood on his hind legs, and with one almighty blow,
He knocked the hound down to the ground, and it died there in the snow.

Then the bruin turned to Barrow, with blood fever in his eyes,
And the whole north woods resounded with the fury of his cries.

But Barrow held his ground there, and he jerked his .44;
But the pistol would not fire, it was frozen to the core.

As the bear advanced upon him, he fell backwards in the snow,
But before the beast could reach him, it stopped dead in the moon's bright glow.

Somewhere in the pine woods, a fiddle tune split the night,
And the fiddle's wail made the bear turn tail, and flee into the night.

Barrow climbed back to his feet, and he peered into the night,
As a man stepped from the shadows, and into the moon's bright light.

But as the moon's light fell upon him, not a weapon did it show,
Just a man there in a mackinaw, with a fiddle and a bow.

Barrow called out to the man, as to what his name might be:
"Nick Goodoe," cried the stranger, "the mad fiddler of the north country."

Five winters they had come and gone since first the two men met,
And in a public house in Saranac, Nick Goodoe's luck was spent.

For a half-crazed, drunken logger, with a temper and a 12-inch knife,
Decided to skin the fiddler for entertainment there that night.

The logger said, "friends, gather round, and watch this fiddler die!"
As Barrow shoved his .44 right between his eyes.

Sweat came to the logger's forehead, and the knife fell from his hand,
And as the fiddler walked out of the door, they heard these words from Dan:

"Now, there ain't one man among you, with the courage or the gall,
To go out and walk these wild north woods, with just a fiddle and a mackinaw."

(repeat first verse)

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: GUEST,Kenny
Date: 23 Jun 19 - 04:31 AM

https://youtu.be/bwG5AqZih8I

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: John C. Bunnell
Date: 24 Jun 19 - 01:21 PM

Possibly worth a mention: "Julianne" from the New Christy Minstrels' repertoire, which becomes topical right at the end:

...what they never found was Juli;
And they never found,
They never found
The hungry bear!

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 28 Jun 19 - 10:03 PM

Here are some whose lyrics have already been posted at Mudcat:

(The Dance of) The Grizzly Bear
Bear
Biff, the Friendly Purple Bear
Cumberland Mountain Bear Chase
Dancing Bear
Eaten by Bears
Elmer and the Bear
Grizzly Bear
Grizzly Bear
Larry the Polar Bear
Mister Bear
My Uncle Terwilliger Waltzes with Bears
Oh Boy Do I Love Bears
Polar Bear and Crocodile
Smokey the Bear
Sometimes That Bear Bites You
Teddy Bear
Teddy Bears’ Picnic
Teddy Bears’ Rave-Up
The Bear Song
The Big Brown Bear
The Death of the Bear
The Grizzly Bear Song
The Preacher and the Bear
The Teddy Bear’s Head
The Three Bears
Waltzing with Bears

Subject: Lyr Add: BE MY LITTLE TEDDY BEAR (Bryan/Hoffman)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 29 Jun 19 - 06:22 PM

Lyrics below are transcribed by me from the sheet music at Indiana University.

You can hear a recording of this song by Ada Jones and Billy Murray at the Internet Archive.


WILL YOU BE MY TEDDY BEAR^[1]
BE MY LITTLE TEDDY BEAR^[2]
Words by Vincent Bryan, music by Max Hoffman, ©1907.
“Written for and sung exclusively by Anna Held in ‘The Parisian Model’--Management of F. Ziegfeld, Jr.”

1. I’m so happy I don’t know what to do.
I’ve a sweetheart and I’m sure he is true,
And though I tease him, we never fight.
He’s always with me day and night.
When I rub against his pretty bear skin,
It’s like velvet as I cuddle to him;
Then I declare, my Teddy bear,
All my love with you I'll share.

CHORUS: Come along with me; be my Teddy B.
Teddy, let me take you.
I am so blue! Come to me, do.
Teddy, it’s true, I’m longing for you.
Come and play with me; be my Teddy B.
I’ll promise not to break you.
I just want to tease you,
Hug you tight and squeeze you.
Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! I love you so!
Be my little Teddy bear.

2. Don’t you wish that you were my Teddy B?
Think of all the fun that you’d have with me!
I’ve never yet loved a man, it’s true,
But you could show me what to do.
Just imagine what a picnic for you!
We could be so happy, only we two.
Do not refuse; think what you’ll lose.
You’re the Teddy bear I choose.

-----
[1] Title as given on the sheet music cover.
[2] Title as given on the first page of the sheet music and on the linked recording.

Subject: Lyr Add: ME AND MY TEDDY BEAR (Rosemary Clooney)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 30 Jun 19 - 12:28 AM

You can hear this recording at the Internet Archive.


ME AND MY TEDDY BEAR
Words by Jack Winters; music by J. Fred Coots; ©1950.
As recorded by Rosemary Clooney, 1950

In the house right next to mine, a little boy lives there.
At Christmas time dear Santa Claus brought him a Teddy bear.
He loves his little Teddy bear; he’s with it all day long,
And the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard is to hear him sing this song:

Me and my Teddy bear
Have no worries, have no care.
Me and my Teddy bear
Just play and play all day.
I love my Teddy bear.
He has one eye and has no hair,
But I love my Teddy bear.
We play and play all day.
Ev’ry night he’s with me when I climb up the stairs,
And by my bed he listens until I say my prayers.
Oh, me and my Teddy bear
Have no worries, have no care.
Me and my Teddy bear
Just play and play all day.

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 30 Jun 19 - 12:37 AM

Elvis did Teddy Bear , of course, oh let me be...

Pete Quinn used to play a ragtime guitar piece called Grizzly Bear Rag - I don't know if there were words.

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 30 Jun 19 - 12:57 AM

Wasn't there a song in Singing Together about a dancing bear.
very un PC!

Subject: Lyr Add: TEDDY BEAR BLUES (James H. Jackson)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 30 Jun 19 - 02:04 PM

My transcription from the sheet music at Indiana University:


TEDDY BEAR (BLUES)
Words and music by James H. Jackson, ©1922.

Way down in Alabam there is a colored man.
He plays a wicked piano in a style so grand.
He’ll make you toddle your shoes and all your troubles you’ll lose.
He’ll make you dance; he’ll make you prance; he plays the Teddy bear blues.

There’s nothing like it when it comes to snappy rhythm.
You take a step and then you’ll find you’re always with ‘em.
You’ll never stop a-dancin’ to that raggy meter,
And all the time you’ll hum the Teddy bear blues.

I’ve got the Teddy bear blues and I’m not ready to lose
That soothin’ rhythm that gets me and I cannot refuse.
I’m walking round to the strain; I’ve got it haunting my brain.
Oh, mister, please—oh, mister, please—oh, won’t you play it again?

You’ll want to hear him so don’t be late.
They’ll all be coming to congregate.
Swing your partner round and you hesitate,
Then you [BREAK]

Listen to the music, then take a step.
You start in dancing with lots of pep.
When you hear that man with a great big rep,
You’ll get the Teddy bear blues.

-----
The Internet Archive has several recordings of instrumental arrangements:
Emil Coleman & His Montmartre Orchestra, 1922
Finzel's Arcadia Orchestra of Detroit, 1922.
Imperial Dance Orchestra, 1922.
The Virginians, 1922.

I haven’t found any recorded versions of the lyrics.

This seems unrelated to the Blind Lemon Jefferson song (and some other songs) by the same title.

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: Mo the caller
Date: 30 Jun 19 - 04:19 PM

Yes, I think I remember Me & my Teddy Bear from 1950 - very popular.

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: GUEST,LynnH
Date: 01 Jul 19 - 04:05 AM

Didn't The Alan Price Set have a song about Simon Smith and his Amazing Dancing Bear?

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: John C. Bunnell
Date: 02 Jul 19 - 07:07 PM

"Simon Smith" did get a mention some distance upstream, though the version I know comes by way of the Muppet Show, performed by Scooter and Fozzie.

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: GUEST,Bearbigerous
Date: 04 Jul 19 - 07:06 PM

A few rags:

"Grizzly Bear Rag" (1910) by George Botsford, words by Irving Berlin
rag: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sytjYXv2tHA
song excerpt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK-EpDCvOuY
full song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdfJT7NreSc
sheet music PDF

"Polar Bear Rag" (1910) by George P. Howard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r45zzLHDK3Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHmfZpW0xTo

Another "Polar Bear Rag"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BclS-NDDM94"

Also:

"That Society Bear" (song, 1912) by Irving Berlin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiNCbnswP0A
sheet music PDF

"Fuzzy Wuzzy" (song, 1944)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwmBuPBrJ1Q

Let's not forget the panda; for instance, "The Panda" by Hall and Tait, and "There Once Was a Panda", both of which you can find with a Mudcat search.

You can find a wealth of poems about bears (or anything else) at allpoetry.com.

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: rich-joy
Date: 04 Jul 19 - 09:45 PM

re the excerpt from "Doin the Grizzly Bear" linked above by Bearbigerous, I recall that wonderful British duo, COSMOTHEKA, having this in their Rep - anyone have a link to the whole song??!!
R-J

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: GUEST,sarah shahzad
Date: 10 Feb 20 - 11:35 PM

well dancing with bears is really very popular thanks for sharing Goodbye Poems

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: meself
Date: 10 Feb 20 - 11:59 PM

What - no mention of Gladly, the Cross-Eyed Bear??

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 11 Feb 20 - 02:56 AM

American children's song

"Daddy shot a bear, daddy shot a bear,
He shot it through the keyhole
An didn't touch a hair"

From Richard M Dawson's 'Blood-stoppers and Bear-walkers' Folk takes of immigrants, Lunberjacks and Indians.

An Unhappy Bear Hunt •
We get a lot of lower Michigan fellows up here to hunt. A year ago four men came up and rented a camp not far from here. They set out the first morning all bright and cheerful in their nice red jackets and red caps, carrying shiny new guns. By ten o’clock every one of them was back in camp, all hot and tired and dis¬gruntled because no one had seen even a porcupine.
One of the fellows said, “The rest of you stay here and cook up that ham we brought. I’ll go out for one more try.”
He hadn’t gotten very far out from camp along an old logging trail when he ran onto a large bear. He lifted his gun to shoot, but the bear leaped toward him so quickly that the man got nervous and dropped his gun. Then he started back on a run to¬wards the camp, with the bear behind him. He got as far as the camp door, where he fell on the door-sill, having strength left only to grab the door open. The bear behind him ran with such speed he jumped over the man, scraping his mackinaw with his claws as he went. The terrified hunter quickly shut the door and fastened the outer latch, leaving the bear and his three compan¬ions inside. “Skin this one!” he yelled to his friends, Im going off after another one!”
He got back to Palmer where he told the folks what had hap¬pened. After three days some of the men got up enough nerve to go out and see what had happened, and took along a few con¬servation officers. When they opened the door a crack and peered in, they saw the bear sleeping happily under a woolen blanket in a bunk in the corner. On the floor could be seen nothing but a pair of shoelaces and two underpants buttons.
A sign “Do Not Disturb” was hung on the door, and the next spring the bear was given a medal for heroism. I think it may be this same bear that can be seen on so many of the conservation department posters.

Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 11 Feb 20 - 03:53 AM

Would you like to be a bear,
With a nice warm coat to wear?
He takes it off without a care,
And goes to bed at night quite bare.

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: Joe_F
Date: 11 Feb 20 - 05:50 PM

Those of us who were once children probably know:

The bear went over the mountain (3x)
To see what he could see (3x)
The other side of the mountain (3x)
Was all that he could see (3x)
The other side of the mountain
Was all that he could see.

TTTO "For he's a jolly good fellow"/"Malbrouck s'en va-t-en guerre"

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: GUEST,Sol
Date: 11 Feb 20 - 08:08 PM

Probably not accepotable these days however,here's one from 1960.
Running Bear

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: Rob 'Mad Jock' Wright
Date: 12 Feb 20 - 09:56 AM

A man walks into a .....bear!

Oops thought it was a bar??

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: Ged Fox
Date: 13 Feb 20 - 11:29 AM

Langt i auster i krákalund
dar er sá fager ein bý,
alle dei dýr i verda er
dei sankast daruti.
Bjönnen han er yppaste kar uti skógin.

Far in the east in Croakerland
There is the fairest of towns;
All of the animals in the wood
Stomp stomp stomp up and down;
The big brown bear is the handsomest chap in the forest.

So begins the Ravna-bryllaup uti Krákalund, the Raven's Wedding. I've used the first verse as a lullaby for all my grandchildren, but what happened to the bear at the wedding I have no idea. Perhaps the answer is in verse 31 -

Bjönnen vart han rusande
kukka han i si brók:
sume dei hava ded late pá seg
dei grua, dei fær inki nok.
Laukin er ded yppaste gras i skógin.

Subject: RE: Stories and songs about bears
From: Mo the caller
Date: 13 Feb 20 - 11:45 AM

Strange that this thread has resurfaced just now.
I.m in the middle of reading Shardik
But don't tell me how it ends (not well I suspect)