Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: GUEST,D. Kingsley Hahn
Date: 27 Mar 23 - 03:27 PM

The old radio program "Red Ryder" used a striking orchestral version of the tune to introduce each program. Somewhat ironic, for a children's "cowboy" show, to utilize a "lament" for an otherwise upbeat show.

And I noticed only a couple passing references to the similar tune, "Going To Leave Old Texas Now":

"I'm going to leave old Texas now
They have no use for the long-horn cow
They've plowed and fenced my cattle range
And the people there are all so strange."

A deviation from a burial request; but still a mournful farewell.

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: Lighter
Date: 27 Mar 23 - 11:58 AM

Just to nail down the presumed original, this is from the U.S. "Catalog of Copyright Entries 1927," p. 3:

"Oh! bury me out on the prairie; words and music by Travis Hale and Dean Fitzer, arr. by Rube Bennett; pf. and ukulele acc. © Feb. 17, 1927...Villa Moret, inc., San Francisco."

Subject: Lyr Add: I’VE GOT NO USE FOR WOMEN (Gene Autry)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 27 Mar 23 - 09:13 AM

Back on 13-Aug-08, Q_(Frank_Staplin) raised a question about a version of this song supposedly written by Gene Autry. He posted lyrics that he got from a website but I can’t find his source, and I suspect the attribution to Gene Autry is mistaken.


I’VE GOT NO USE FOR WOMEN
As sung by Gene Autry in the film “Under Fiesta Stars,” 1941. (You can see the scene at YouTube.)
Written by Sol Meyer (as credited at IMDb.com).

I’ve got no use for some women; a true one may seldom be found.
They’ll use a man for his money; when it’s gone, they’ll turn him down.
Their hearts are alike at the bottom, selfish and grasping for all.
They’ll stay by a man while he’s winnin’ and laugh in his face at his fall.

When a woman declares that she loves you, she may have her fingers crossed,
And if you believe what she tells you, you’ll wake up and find you’ve lost.
When a man starts to courtin’ a woman, he very seldom will win.
When he’s chasin’, he’s safe till he gets her; when he’s caught, the trouble begins.

I like my horse better’n that woman; a horse is a friend I can trust.
As long as I give him a feedbag, he don’t mind the sand or the dust.
A horse will remember your kindness; he’ll carry a hundred-pound pack.
A woman will cry like a dogie, but a horse will never talk back.

- - -
Various recordings titled I[’VE] GOT NO USE FOR [THE] WOMEN (“I’ve got” is sometimes rendered as “I got”, and “the” is sometimes omitted) have been made by The Tune Wranglers (1936), Burl Ives (“More Folksongs,” 1950), Ed McCurdy (“Songs of a Bold Balladeer,”1958), Mac Wiseman (single, 1959), Marty Robbins (“More Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs,” 1960), Peter La Farge (“Songs of the Cowboys,” 1963), Homer & Jethro (“Go West,” 1963),, and The Norman Luboff Choir (“Songs of the Trail,” 1966)!

There is a song called BURY ME OUT ON THE PRAIRIE that has as its first line: “Now, I’ve got no use for the women,” written by Nick Manoloff, 1934.

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: GUEST,RMilliosn
Date: 04 Nov 19 - 03:00 AM

I did mean Frank Goodwyn, sorry for any confusion

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: leeneia
Date: 04 Oct 19 - 12:36 PM

The Sons of the Pioneers sing three verses from the song posted by Guest, Rose in 2011.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZm21jPRfxg

Until I heard that, I had never heard anything of that song beyond the first line.

Someone once said that punch lines of long-forgotten jokes still echo throughout our language. So do the first lines of long-forgotten sentimental songs.

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 03 Oct 19 - 08:28 PM

I think you mean Frank Goodwyn ?? https://www.loc.gov/item/afc9999005.11468/

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: GUEST,RMillions
Date: 03 Oct 19 - 07:59 PM

My favourite version of Bury me not on the lone prairie is one by Frank Goodman from 1939

Here's a link to it if you'd like to take a listen:
https://www.loc.gov/item/lomaxbib000089/

Unfortunately, it is an incomplete version, as the recording cuts off mid verse

if anyone is able to find the full version please share your findings

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: RTim
Date: 06 May 17 - 04:35 PM

Here is the song as recorded by the great Bruce Molsky with a wondeful video of a patch of the Lone Prairie..............

Tim Radford

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5vJnGhUCxM

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 06 May 17 - 03:35 PM

I have several songs/versions based on 'Bury me out'. There are at least 3 different tunes being used. Mostly they should be called parodies and mostly forces songs from WWII North Africa and the English trawling communities.

What I would call the original tune is in a copy of the Hill-Billy Album No 1. no date but presumably 30s. One WWII parody actually uses a variant of this tune but all the rest have been set to 'Red River Valley' a better-known song this side of the pond. I only have one version of the trawling parody with a tune and it has been set to The Gresford Disaster tune in Lancashire. Any further info on British parody tunes used would be helpful.

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: Mrrzy
Date: 05 Feb 17 - 01:52 PM

My version (either Ed McCurdy or Cisco Houston, I think McCurdy) of No Use goes
...faithful and upright and true
But he turned to a hard-shootin' gunman
On account of a girl named Lou
He fell in with evil companions
The kind that are better off dead
When a gambler insulted her picture
He filled him full of lead.

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 05 Feb 17 - 12:25 PM

I should add:
The other thread is titled WWII Lyric required 'Bury me out in Benghazi'

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 05 Feb 17 - 12:23 PM

Jim,
According to earlier postings this song was written by Gene Autry and recorded by Travis G Hale in 1927. The history of the various songs being discussed here is being covered very well but there seems to be a whole raft of tunes being used which could do to be covered by someone with the appropriate skills.

I'm particularly interested in the 'I've got no use for the women' song and its tune which I have in a songbook 'Francis and Day's Hill-billy Album No. 1 where it's titled 'Bury me out on the Prairie.' The album has no date and the song is not attributed to anyone.

My interest is in what happened to the song when it reached this side of the pond in the 30s. There is another thread on this and I'll be posting my queries/info there.

Subject: Lyr Add: BURY ME OUT ON THE PRAIRIE (B Kincaid)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 22 Sep 16 - 01:36 AM

BURY ME OUT ON THE PRAIRIE
As recorded by Bradley Kincaid, 1930.

1. Well, I've got no use for the women.
A true one may never be found.
They'll use a man for his money.
When it's gone, they'll turn him down.
They're all alike at the bottom,
Selfish and grasping for all.
They'll stick by a man while he's winnin',
And laugh in his face at his fall.

2. My pal was a straight young puncher,
Honest and upright and square,
But he turned to a gunman and gambler,
And a woman sent him there.
Quicker and surer were his gunplay,
Till his heart and his body lay dead.
When a vaquero insulted her picture,
He filled him full of lead.

3. All night long they trailed him,
Through mesquite and chaparral,
And I couldn't but think of the woman
As I saw him pitch and fall.
If she'd been the pal that she should've,
He might have been raisin' a son,
Instead of out there on the prairie,
To fall by the ranger's gun.

4. Death's slow sting did not trouble.
His chances for life were too slim,
But where they were puttin' his body
Was all that worried him.
He lifted his head on his elbow.
The blood from his wounds flowed red.
He looked at his pals grouped about him,
And whispered to them and said:

5. "Oh, bury me out on the prairie,
Where the coyotes may howl o'er my grave.
Bury me out on the prairie,
And some of my bones please save.
Wrap me up in the blankets,
And bury me deep 'neath the ground.
Cover me over with boulders
Of granite huge and round."

6. So they buried him out on the prairie,
And the coyotes still howl o'er his grave,
But his soul is now a-restin',
From the unkind cut she gave;
And many a similar puncher,
As he rides by that pile of stone,
Recalls some similar woman
And envies his moldering bones.

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: GUEST,Rose
Date: 29 Jul 11 - 06:11 PM

My favorite version can be found in the Wolf Folklore Collection; the words are fairly similar, but the second verse is different from any I've seen. There's a recording of it sung there, as well.

"Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie."
These words came sad and mournfully
From the pallid lips of a youth who lay
On his dying cot at the close of day.

The cowboys gathered around his bed
To hear what their dying cowboy said.
"Oh, grant--oh, grant--this boon for me:
Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie.

"By my father's side let my bones be laid,
On the lone hillside in the maple's shade,
Where my friends may come and . . . me.
Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie.

"It matters not, so I've been told,
Where the body lies when the heart grows cold.
But grant--oh, grant--this dying . . . ,
Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie.

"Don't listen to enticing words
From men who own large groves and herds.
Oh, comrades brave, take warning, pray;
Don't leave your home for the lone prairie.

"Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie,
Where the wild coyotes will howl o'er me,
Where the rattlesnakes hiss and the wind sports free.
Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie.

"Oh, bury me not," and his voice failed there.
They paid no heed to his dying prayer.
In a narrow grave just six by three,
They laid him there on the lone prairie.

http://web.lyon.edu/wolfcollection/songs/ashbury1247.html

Subject: Lyr Add: OH, BURY ME NOT ON THE LONE PRAIRIE
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 18 Sep 10 - 09:09 PM

The 1901 version listed in the Traditional Ballad Index is close to but a little different from others posted above.

OH, BURY ME NOT ON THE LONE PRAIRIE
A Song of Texas Cowboys.

"Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie."
These words came low and mournfully
From the pallid lips of a youth who lay
On his dying couch at the break of day;
Who had wasted in time till o'er his brow
Death's shades were closely gathering now.
He thought of home and the loved ones nigh,
As the cowboys gathered to see him die.
2
"Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie,
Where the wild cy-ote will howl o'er me,
In a narrow grave just six by three,-
Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie.
I always hoped to be laid when I died
In the old churchyard by the green hillside.
By the bones of my father, oh there let me be,-
Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie."
3
"I wish to lie where a mother dear,
And sister's tears can be mingled there,
Where my friends could come and weep o'er me,-
Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie."
It matters not, so we oft him told,
Where the body lies when the heart grows cold:
"But grant, oh grant this boon unto me,-
Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie."
4
"Oh, bury me not"- and his voice failed there,
But they gave no heed to his dying prayer;
In a narrow grave just six by three
They buried him there on the lone prairie.
Where the dewdrops close and the butterfly rests,
Where the wild rose blooms on the prairie crest,
Where the cy-ote howls and the wind blows free,
They buried him there on the lone prairie.

Uvalde, Texas. Mrs. Annie Laurie Ellis.
With brief musical score.
"All the notes should be slurred more or less to give the wailing effect."

Jour. American Folk-lore, 1901, vol. 14, no. 54, p. 186.
"Folk-Music, "Oh, Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie."

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: Joe Offer
Date: 18 Sep 10 - 06:01 PM

Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry on this song:

Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie [Laws B2]

DESCRIPTION: A cowboy is dying. He asks to be taken home and buried in his family home. His request is ignored; he is buried in a small and isolated prairie grave
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: +1901 (JAFL14)
KEYWORDS: cowboy death burial
FOUND IN: US(Ap,NW,Ro,So,SE) Canada(Newf,West)
REFERENCES (21 citations):
Laws B2, "The Dying Cowboy (Oh Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie)" (sample text in NAB, pp. 81-82)
Larkin, pp. 37-39, "The Lone Prairie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Belden, pp. 387-392, "The Lone Prairie" (5 texts)
Randolph 184, "Oh Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
BrownII 262, "The Lone Prairie" (2 texts)
Hudson 93, pp. 222-223, "O Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 436, "The Lone Prairie" (1 text)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 92-93, "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 153-154, "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, p. 20, "Oh, Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 117, "The Dying Cowboy" (3 texts, 1 tune)
SharpAp 169, "The Lonesome Prairie" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Lomax-FSUSA 60, "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 78, pp. 171-173, "O Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" (1 text)
JHCox 54, "The Lone Prairie" (2 texts)
JHCoxIIB, #9, p. 143, "The Lone Prairie" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 164-165, "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 110, "Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie" (1 text)
Saffel-CowboyP, pp. 201-203, "The Dying Cowboy" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 396-398, "Oh, Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie"
DT 370, LONEPRAR*
Roud #631
RECORDINGS:
Arkansas Woodchopper [pseud. for Luther Ossenbrink], "The Dying Cowboy" (Columbia 15463-D, 1929; rec. 1928)
Jules [Verne] Allen, "The Dying Cowboy" (Victor 23834, 1933; on BackSaddle)
Bentley Ball, "The Dying Cowboy" (Columbia A3085, 1920)
Bill Childers, "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" (OKeh 45203, 1928)
Vernon Dalhart, "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" (Columbia 969-D, 1927) (Romeo 431/Perfect 12361, 1927) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5315, n.d. but prob. 1927)
Phil & Frank Luther, "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" (Melotone M-12143, 1931)
Asa Martin, "The Dying Cowboy" (Banner 32426/Melotone M12497 [both as Martin & Roberts]/Royal [Canada] 91402, 1932)
Sloan Matthews, "The Dying Cowboy" (AFS, 1940s; on LC28)
Pickard Family, "Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie" (Columbia 15141-D, 1927)
Holland Puckett, "The Dying Cowboy" (Silvertone 25065, 1927; Supertone 9253, 1929)
Herbert Sills, "O Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" (on Saskatch01)
Carl T. Sprague, "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" (Victor 20122, 1926; Montgomery Ward M-4099, 1933; on MakeMe)
Vel Veteran [pseud. for either Arthur Fields, Vernon Dalhart, or Irving Kaufman] "O Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" (Grey Gull 4239, 1928)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Ocean Burial"
cf. "Going to Leave Old Texas (Old Texas, Texas Song, The Cowman's Lament)" (tune)
cf. "I've Got No Use for the Women" (lyrics)
Notes: Probably adapted from "The Ocean Burial," attributed to Rev. Edwin H. Chapin (1839). For the complex question of the tune, see the notes on that piece.
The 1922 edition of Thorp (quoted also by Belden) claims that the adaption to "The Lone Prairie" is by H. Clemons and written in 1872. I know of no supporting data. - RBW
File: LB02

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Subject: Lyr Add: OH, BURY ME NOT ON THE LONE PRAIRIE
From: Joe Offer
Date: 18 Sep 10 - 05:54 PM

This is a very disappointing version; but since I'm trying to ensure we have all the songs from Carl Sandburg's 1927 American Songbag, (page 20), here's Sandburg's version:


OH, BURY ME NOT ON THE LONE PRAIRIE

1 Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie,
Where the wild kiyotes will howl o'er me;
Where the rattlesnakes hiss and the wind blows free,
Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie.

They heeded not his dying prayer,
They buried bun there on the lone paririe,
In a little box just six by three,
His bones now rot on the lone prairie.

Sandburg's notes: This arrangement is from a song known to boys of the Crossroads Club at the University of Oregon. After a recital and reception there one evening three years ago, we held a song and story session lasting till five o'clock in the morning. Nearly all nations and the seven seas were represented. A contingent from the Black Hills of South Dakota sang this version of The Cowboy' Lament. They put their arms on each other's shoulders, stood in a circle, and cried the lines almost as a ritual from lonesome flat lands, the arms on each other's shoulders signifying that no matter how tough life might be they could meet it if they stood together. They pronounced "wind" with a long "i" as in "find" or "blind," and said the cowhands always sang it in that classical manner.

Subject: Lyr Add: SONG OF THE DYING COW-BOY
From: GUEST,Lighter
Date: 11 Mar 09 - 12:32 PM

The earliest publication of the cowboy song may be that in the Montpelier "Vermont Watchman" (June 1, 1887), p. 7, where it is said to have been known in Texas in the spring of 1880 as "The Song of the Dying Cow-boy":

SONG OF THE DYING COW-BOY

"Oh! bury me not on the lone prairie!"
These words came slow and mournfully
From the pallid lips of a youth who lay
On his dying couch at the close of day.

His cheeks grew pale and his pulse beat slow,
As the clouds of death o'er him rolled;
He talked of home and the loved ones there,
As the cow-boys gathered to see him die.

"Oh! bury me not on the lone prairie,
Where the wild coyotes will howl over me,
For I always wished to be buried, when I died,
In the little church-yard on the green hillside.

"It matters not, so I've been told,
Where the body lies when the heart grows cold,
But when I am gone weep not for me;
Oh! bury me not on the lone prairie.

"Oh! bury me not" --and the words failed there;
But we heeded not his dying prayer.
In a narrow grave, just six by three,
We buried him there on the lone prairie.

There the wind blows cold on a dark old trail,
There the moonbeams sparkled on a prairie grave.
'Tis the well-known tramp of a poor cow-boy
Who stayed far away on an old cow-trail.

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Mar 09 - 10:50 AM

I hope you'll cite Mudcat in your paper if that's why you're online doing this research!

You will need to list directly each online source you quote, and use their durable links, but a note in the footnotes somewhere saying that you were put on the path to the origins of this song at Mudcat.org would be appropriate.

SRS

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: GUEST,moosish
Date: 10 Mar 09 - 11:37 PM

I was curious about the origins of this song, since it was sung by a character in a chapter of the classic book "My Antonia." The book was written in 1918 by Willa Cather. It takes place in the Midwest, so the mention you referenced about having heard it originally sung in Nebraska approx. 1850 makes sense. Thanks for your info!

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 01:38 PM

OK, that link gets the photocopy of the book by Sumner Ellis. Use the arrows at right to turn the pages. Click on 'print' to get pdf. The long link is needed to get the typescript copy made from the book (typing errors included)and the index.

In the book itself, 'School Days', with the story of the poem and full text of the poem, starts at p. 25 (the poem on pp. 33-34.
A list of his poems starts on p. 305.

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 01:31 PM

Nice setup, that book. Thanks!

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 01:21 PM

Sorry, I made a mistake, left out h, in copying the link ws to the old biography, 1882, by Sumner Ellis- not the "Rural" reference.
I guess I'll have to get my antique brain to comprehend cut and paste or whatever. The complete link, which didn't seem necessary but could be-
http://www.archive.org/stream/lifeofedwinhchap00elli/lifeofedwinhchap00elli djvu.txt
Try the short one again-
Chapin

Or can be found by googling the full name Edwin H. Chapin.

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 12:57 PM

Q, that link doesn't work. I can't tell where the archive was taking you back to.

To get a PDF of that page at the Rural Repository link, I think you would have to download the entire book PDF then select that particular page to save as an isolated file. If anyone is wondering how. Then dump the rest (though you should also keep a file of the cover page to have all of the particulars). I couldn't get it to open directly from the web site in Acrobat.

SRS

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: Lighter
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 11:30 AM

The word "Selected" in the _SLM_ printing certainly seems to imply abridgment, but the earlier 1830 printing, unearthed by Masato, looks to be identical except for some punctuation and two or three words.

The line of asterisks in the 1839 text therefore must represent a fade-out, or the passage of time, between the sailor's last speech and his actual burial.

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 12:50 AM

It was clear in the journal that I quoted from that that version wasn't complete. It had the asterisk and the note below that it was just "selections."

I suspect the Southern Literary Messenger operated something like the Reader's Digest in presenting popular works but in expurgated versions. Again, the row of asterisks before the final few lines of the poem would indicate that parts are missing. I'm glad masato found the earlier version.

We've made a lot of progress with this song, even if it isn't where Joe Offer was heading recently when he opened a DTthread to look into the "Dying Cowboy" history. :)

SRS

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: Lighter
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 12:42 AM

If he wrote those verses when he was only 16, I suppose we should forgive him.

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 11:00 PM

Chapin (1814-1880) wrote the poem when he was still a student at the Bennington Seminary, with the title "Bury Me Not in the Deep, Deep Sea."
He was still in his teens.
The poem is quoted in full in his biography in the section "Schooldays."
"Life of Edwin H. Chapin, D. D.," 1882, Sumner Ellis, D. D., Copyright Universalist Publishing House; John Wilson & Son.

http://www.archive.org/stream/lifeofedwinchap00elli

Mention is made of publication in the Southern Literary Messenger and its copying in other periodicals, but no publication dates are given.
His biographer characterizes him as an orator, poet, wit, mimic, ventriloquist, a singer of songs, and a story teller.

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 10:07 PM

"E. H. C." of course is Edwin H. Chapin. According to this website, he wrote the song in 1830, but I haven't found an actual printing of that date. The "Southern Literary Messenger" printing seems to be copy.

The American Folk Song Tradition

That article has a very good list of references at the end.

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: Lighter
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 09:44 PM

Outstanding, Masato! I don't believe anyone had noted that earlier appearance before.

Subject: Lyr Add: BURY ME NOT IN THE DEEP, DEEP SEA
From: masato sakurai
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 09:30 PM

"The Ocean Buried" had appeared in The Rural Repository, vol. XI [new series], no.13 (Nov. 29, 1834, p. 104), with some minor differences. The title is "Bury me not in the deep, deep Sea," and the author "E.H.C."

BURY ME NOT IN THE DEEP, DEEP SEA

'Bury me not in the deep, deep sea'--
The words came faint and mournfully
Form the pallid lips of a youth, who lay
On the cabin-couch, where day by day
He had wasted and pined, 'till o'er his brow
The death-shade had slowly passed, and now
When the land and his fond-loved home were nigh,
They had gathered around him to see him die.

'Bury me not in the deep deep sea,
Where the billowy shroud will roll over me,
Where no light can break through the dark cold wave,
And no sunbeam linger above my grave.
It boots not, I know I have oft been told,
Where the body shall lie, when the heart is cold,
Yet grant ye, oh! grant ye, this boon to me--
Bury me not in the deep, deep sea!

'For in fancy I've listened to well known words,
The free wild wind, and the song of birds;
I have thought of home, of cot and bower,
And of scenes that I loved in childhood's hour.
I have ever hoped to be laid, when I died,
In the church-yard there, on the green-hill side;
By the bones of my fathers my grave should be,
Bury me not in the deep, deep sea!

'Let my death-slumber be where a mother's prayer
And sisters' tears can be blended there,
Oh! 'twill be sweet, ere the heart's throb is o'er,
To know, when its fountain shall gush no more,
That those it so fondly has yearned for, will come
To plant the first wild-flower of Spring on my tomb;
Let me lie where the loved ones can weep over me,
Bury me not in the deep, deep sea!

'And there is another, her tears would be shed
For him who lay far in an ocean-bed;
In hours that it pains me to think of now,
She has twined these locks and kissed this brow.
In the hair that she wreathed shall the sea-snake hiss?
The brow she pressed shall the cold wave kiss?
For the sake of that bright-one who waits for me,
Bury me not in the deep, deep sea!

'She hath been in my dreams'--His voice failed there--
They gave no heed to his dying prayer,
They have lowered him slow o'er the vessel's side,
And above him hath closed the solemn tide,
Where do dip her wing, the wild-fowl rests,
Where the blue waves dance, with their foaming crests,
Where the billows bound and the winds sport free,
They have buried him there in the deep, deep sea!

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: Lighter
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 09:00 PM

That's from the Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 25, 1913, p. 278: "Some Aspects of Folk-Song," by Phillips Barry, an important American folksong scholar.

Barry also gives the text (and tune) of Chapin's "The Ocean Burial" [sic] for comparison.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE LONE PRAIRIE
From: Lighter
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 08:53 PM

THE LONE PRAIRIE

1. Oh, a trapper lay at the point of death,
And, short his bank account, short his breath,
And as he lay, this prayer breathed he, "
Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie!"

2. "Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie,
Where the wild coyote can howl o'er me,
Where the rattlesnakes hiss and the winds blow free,
Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie!"

3. But they heeded not his dying prayer,
On the lone prairie, they buried him there,
Where the rattlesnakes sing, and the wind blows free,
They buried him there on the lone prairie!

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 06:59 PM

I grew from small boy to young man on a ranch near a small town in which a rodeo was THE singular social event of the year. In the 1940's and early 1950's, I heard a lot of cowboy songs - some of them even clean, though I committed few to memory then. My friends and I rode horses, "played cowboys" and saw a lot of cowboy movies. Many of our childhood heroes were from that genre.

If you look back at a typical western movie, particularly those made from the 1930's through the early '50's, you will see many cowboys, outlaws, townspeople and others portrayed by actors in their forties and fifties - and older. They wore very stylized outfits, many made by "Nudie," the old Hollywood tailor to the western stars.

In the real west, older people were fairly scarce. Women were scarcer. Most cowboys were likely well under 25; many were in their teens. Many outlaws were the same. Young, wild, full of piss and vinegar - and, often, bad alcohol - they were frequently lonely and melancholy, being far from family and on their own. They smelled like horse sweat and harness leather and were usually covered with dust.

They saw a good deal of premature death and likely brooded on it. Many of the songs reflect that uncomfortable truth. Theirs was a hazardous and lonely line of work. While cowboy poets speak of the grand spaces, freedom and starry skies, the reality was often bad food, long stretches of grinding boredom and physical discomforts most of us can't imagine, relieved only by moments of sheer terror.
Of such stuff are these songs made.

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 02:00 PM

Compare the 1839 poem by Chapin with "The Ocean Burial" published in 1850 by Oliver Ditson (and in the DT). It is called a "new and improved edition."
The sheet music cites George N. Allen as composer of the music, but does not name the author of the lyrics. Sheet music at Levy.

In 1857, Ditson published sheet music in guitar arrangement by "Converse."
H. De Marsan published "The Ocean Burial" as a song sheet, but without attribution.
Both the above in American Memory.

The Traditional Ballad Index correctly cites Chapin 1839 as author (Southern Literary Messenger), but mistakenly says the "entire thing" is credited to Allen in the 1850 sheet music. Allen is credited with the music in the Ditson sheet music, but he is not cited as author of the poem; no author is cited.

Subject: RE: DTStudy: The Dying Cowboy
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 12:38 PM

Slaps forehead

In my own note the from the book it says the three poems were published in one popular journal. Since I found the first poem, this would also be where the other two appeared. Who can say what and when the first one was, but if you find any hint of who wrote the others, or when, I'll go back in and track them down. That is, if anyone else is interested in following this faint trail into the literary underbrush. . .

The prospect of reading 20+ years worth of mid-1800 American literary journals is a little daunting, even for this English MA! :)

SRS

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: maple_leaf_boy
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 12:28 PM

The first version that I learned was written in F Lydian in
Common Time. I re-wrote the music in G Ionian in waltz-time.
Does anyone else think that it sounds good as a slow waltz song?

Subject: RE: DTStudy: The Dying Cowboy
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 12:24 PM

If there were three poems that came out in that 20 year period that our previous scholar knows of, that all had the same general context of death at sea, they might be still varied enough in content to have spawned these different songs, but still along the same lines as what I introduced above.

This is sort of the "lost wax" approach to tracking down a song--the suggestion that there is an as-of-now unidentified poem that was hanging around in the period from 1839 - 1859 that might have gone through this process. It's a long shot, but it might give someone a direction to follow.

SRS

Subject: RE: DTStudy: The Dying Cowboy
From: Richie
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 10:07 AM

Stilly,

The Chapin poem is a great find. Of course it's a different song. It's still difficult to find the basis of these older songs. Good work.

Richie

Subject: Lyr Add: THE OCEAN-BURIED (Edwin Hubbell Chapin)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 08:38 AM

I next went into the university library databases and found the Chapin poem in Southern Literary Messenger from September, 1839. In this day and age so much has been digitized.

Edwin Hubbell Chapin, "The Ocean Buried" Southern Literary Messenger 5, no 9 (September 1839):615-16.


THE OCEAN-BURIED*
(Edwin Hubbell Chapin)

"Bury me not in the deep, deep sea!"
The words came faint and mournfully,
Form the pallid lips of a youth, who lay
On the cabin couch, where, day by day,
He had wasted and pined, til o'er his brow
The death shade had slowly passed--and now,
When the land and his fond-loved home were nigh,
They gathered around him to see him die.

"Bury me not in the deep deep sea,
Where the billowy shroud will roll over me--
Where no light can break through the dark cold wave,
And no sunbeam rest sweetly upon my grave.
'It boots not' I know I have oft been told
'Where the body shall lie when the heart is cold'--
Yet grant ye, oh! grant ye this boon to me,
Bury me not in the deep, deep sea!

"For in fancy I've listened to well known words--
The free, wild wind, and the song of birds--
I have thought of home, of cot and bower,
And of scenes that I loved in childhood's hour.
I have ever hoped to be laid, when I died,
In the church-yard there on the green hill side--
By the bones of my fathers my grave should be--
Bury me not in the deep, deep sea!

"Let my death slumber be where a mother's prayer
And a sister's tears can be blended there.
Oh! 'twill be sweet, ere the heart's throb is o'er,
To know when its fountain shall gush no more,
That those it so fondly has yearned for will come
To plant the first wild-flowers of spring on my tomb.
Let me lie where the loved-ones can weep over me--
Bury me not in the deep, deep sea.

"And there is another--her tears would be shed
For him who lay far in an ocean-bed.
In hours that it pains me to think of now,
She hath twined these locks and kissed this brow--
In the hair she hath wreathed shall the sea-snake hiss?
The brow she hath pressed shall the cold wave kiss?--
For the sake of that bright one who waits for me,
Bury me not in the deep, deep sea.

"She hath been in my dreams." His voice failed there.
They gave no heed to his dying prayer.
*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *
They have lowered him slow o'er the vessel's side--
Above him hath closed the solemn tide.
Where do dip her wing the wild fowl rests--
Where the blue waves dance with their foamy crests--
Where the billows bound and the winds sport free--
They have buried him there in the deep, deep sea.

*selected

Subject: RE: DTStudy: The Dying Cowboy
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 08:27 AM

Two thoughts after I closed down the computer last night.

There are some poetical spellings in those songs/poems, especially the 1839 one, so I'll double check this against the printout later, to be sure I got it all (I had to type these in, no cut and paste available for either).

Second, the book I referenced did say that there were at least three poems with this maritime burial theme, and the one I shared here was the only one extant at the time the book I referenced was published (1981). Considering how Chapin's poem was used so thoroughly for "Lone Prairie," the chances might be very good that it was one of those others that got the same treatment for the "Dying Ranger/Soldier" variations. A look through Google Books and JSTOR and other sites with old books and periodicals could take a while, but you might find one or two of those others. I would suggest using keywords from the song variants to see if you can track down the poems.

SRS

Subject: Lyr Add: O BURY ME NOT ON THE LONE PRAIRIE
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 01:44 AM

What I find so far is a book of Dad's called He Was Singin' This Song by Jim Bob Tinsley, with forewards by Gene Autry and S. Omar Barker. "A collection of forty-eight traditional songs of the American cowboy, with words, music, pictures, and stories." University Presses of Florida, Orlando. 1981.

In the index, the citation for "The Dying Cowboy" directs you to go look up "O Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" (80-82). There were lots of variations, according to this article, and one image example included in this article is the cover art of the sheet music that came out in 1907, "Words and Music by William Jossey."

I won't transcribe two full pages of text here, but the discussion of this song is on pages 80 - 82. Here are the first few interesting tidbits (I'll scan and save these as a PDF to email if anyone wants one. PM me and I'll send it.) I don't know which song came first, but clearly, the Lone Prairie song makes liberal use of the earlier poem. I'd hazard a guess that the story in Joe's song makes reference to the earlier maritime poem discussed in this article.

Perhaps the best-known of all cowboy songs is not a cowboy original. "O Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie," expressing the last wishes of a dying cowboy, is an adaptation of a poem about a burial at sea. In the mid-1800s, in a period of less than twenty years, a national magazine printed three poems with the "bury me not" theme, all involving marine burials.

The only one of them to endure was written by Edwin Hubbell Chapin, a Universalist clergyman in Boston. Chapin studied law at Tufts University for a time, but he adopted Universalism and was ordained to the ministry in 1838. A year later, his poem, "The Ocean-Buried," appeared in the Southern Literary Messenger¹. In spite of the youth's dying pleas not to be buried in the deep deep sea, his friends were unable to honor his last request. Cowboy lyrics, which retained many passages word for word, were later developed from Chapin's poem.

¹ E.H. Chapin, "The Ocean Buried" Southern Literary Messenger 5, no 9 (September 1839):615-16.


Here is the song as it was published in the book:

O BURY ME NOT ON THE LONE PRAIRIE

"O bury me not on the lone prairie,"
These words came low and mournfully.
From the pallid lips of a youth who lay
On his dying bed at the close of day.

He had wasted and pined till o'er his brow
Death's shades were slowly gathering now.
He thought of home and loved ones nigh,
As the cowboys gathered to see him die.

"O bury me not on the lone prairie,
Where the coyotes howl and the wind blows free.
In a narrow grave just six by three--
O bury me not on the lone prairie."

It matters not, I've oft been told,
Where the body lies when the heart grows cold.
Yes grant, o grant, this wish to me,
O bury me not on the lone prairie."

I've always wished to be laid when I died
In a little churchyard on the green hillside.
By my father's grave there let me be,
O bury me not on the lone prairie."

"I wish to lie where a mother's prayer
And a sister's tear will mingle there.
Where friend can come and weep o'er me.
O bury me not on the lone prairie."

"For there's another whose tears will shed
For the one who lies in a prairie bed.
It breaks my heart to think of her now,
She has curled these locks; she has kissed this brow."

"O bury me not. . . " And his voice failed there.
But they took no heed to his dying prayer.
In a narrow grave, just six by three,
They buried him there on the lone prairie.

And the cowboys now as they roam the plain,
For they marked the spot where his bones were lain,
Fling a handful of roses o'er his grave
With a prayer to God, his soul to save.

Subject: Lyr Add: BURY ME NOT ON THE LONE PRAIRIE (Randolph
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 14 Aug 08 - 04:17 PM

This seems to be an old version. "... father learned the song in Camden Co., MO, about 1880."

OH BURY ME NOT ON THE LONE PRAIRIE

1
Oh bury me not on the lone prairie,
These words came slow an' mournfully
From the pallid lips of a youth who lay
On his cold damp bed at the close of day.
2
He had wasted and pined till o'er his brow,
Death's shades was slowly gatherin' now,
He thought of his home an' his loved ones nigh
As the cowboys gathered to see him die.
3
Again he listened to the well-known words,
To the wind's soft sigh an' the song of birds,
He thought of his home an' his native bowers
Where he loved to roam in his childhood hours.
4
I've ever wished that when I died
My grave might be on the old hillside,
Let there the place of my last rest be,
Oh bury me not on the lone prairie.
5
O'er my slumbers deep a mother's prayers,
An' a sister's tears will be mingled there,
Oh it's hard to know that the heart throb's o'er
And that its fountain will gush no more.
6
In my dream I saw- but his voice failed there,
An' they gave no heed to his dyin' prayer,
In a shallow grave just six by three
They buried him there on the lone prairie.
7
May the light-winged butterfly pause to rest
O'er him who sleeps on the prairie's crest,
May the Texas rose in the breezes wave,
O'er him who sleeps in a prairie grave.
8
An' the cowboys now, as they roam the plain,
For they marked the spot where his bones was lain,
Fling a handful of roses o'er his grave
With a prayer to him who his soul did save.

"Miss. Myrtle Lain, ...MO, ...1929. Miss Lain's father learned the song in Camden County, MO, about 1880."
Vance Randolph, Ozark Folksongs, vol. 2, pp. 186-187, with brief score.
I wonder if this came originally from a periodical.

The tune is not the same as "Ocean Burial." "Trail to Mexico" is closer.
Looking through songbooks, singers have put their own signatures on the tune, as well as lyrics, so there are many slight variants. We may never know where the 'standard' comes from.

A possible source of authorship is mentioned in Randolph; "Mr. Ed Stephens, Jane, MO, tells me that the song was "made up" by Venice and Sam Gentry, who herded cattle for Alf Dry near Pilot Grove, Texas, in the '70's."

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Aug 08 - 11:18 PM

Don't know how I missed this so many years ago! What a fantastic thread. Now, I have to go listen to my dad's tape to see if I can remember his version.

Thanks, too, for the mention of the Nightingales. I am listening to samples of their CDs at CDBaby. Great stuff!!

Subject: Lyr. Add: O BURY ME DOWN BY THE RIVER'S SIDE
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 Aug 08 - 09:43 PM

Lyr. Add: O BURY ME DOWN BY THE RIVER'S SIDE
Nathan Barker, 1855
1
O bury me down by the river's side,
Where the gentle wavelets murm'ring glide,
Where the blue-eyed violets sweetly spring,
And the birds in the willows my requiem sing.
'Twill not be lonely there I know,
Where the peaceful waters gently flow,
And the wild flow'rs bloom and the grass will wave
O'er the lovely spot, where you'll make my grave,
O'er the lovely spot, where you'll make my grave.
2
Yes, lay me there when my voice is still,
When my throbbing heart is cold and still;
'Tis a quiet spot and I love it well,
When my end has come, Oh, there let me dwell.
I could not sleep in the churchyard old,
It is lonely there and the earth is cold--
Then chide me not if I long to rest
In the sunny spot I have loved the best,
In the sunny spot I have loved the best.
3
'Tis near my home, I could not bear
To be far away from loved ones there,
For a thousand bonds are around my heart,
They are stronger than death and they cannot start.
'Tis a little way- ye will shortly come,
I fear not now I am almost home--
But tell me now that my grave shall be
In the quiet spot, 'neath the willow tree,
In the quiet spot, 'neath the willow tree.

Nathan Parker, Parker Family. Oliver Ditson, Boston, 1855.
Sheet music at American Memory. The music is similar to that of "The Dying Cowboy," or "O Bury Me Not On the Lone Prairie."

The Parker song was printed some five years after "Ocean Burial" by E. H. Chapin (1839) was set to music and published by Oliver Ditson in 1850. According to the Traditional Ballad Index, the 1850 sheet music tune is not the same as used in "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" (Dying Cowboy), and it maintains that the music must be listed as "by unknown."

"Ocean Burial" is in the DT, credited to George N. Allen whose name is on the 1850 sheet music, but E. H. Chapin should be credited with the lyrics. See post by rich r, up above a ways, for details.

"Ocean Burial" was distributed on at least one song sheet, printed by H. De Masran, NY, no date (mid-19th c.), no author cited. Copy at American Memory.

Subject: Lyr Add: I'VE GOT NO USE FOR THE WOMEN (G Autry)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 Aug 08 - 04:26 PM

"I've Got No Use For the Women" was recorded by Travis B. Hale in 1927, Crowder Bros. 1938, Tune Wranglers 1937. (Traditional Ballad Index).
Fife and Fife, 1969, "Cowboy and Western Songs," use a text from the collection of Stella Hendron, Idaho; they comment that there is little variation to the many texts that they have collected. ("No Use for the Women," no. 65, pp. 177-178 with music and chords.

Autry may have used the title "I've Got No Use For Women." The following lyrics are from the site of Kristin Hall. They are not the same as those I posted from the Myra Hull Collection, Kansas State Historical Society. They seem to be somewhat garbled and need checking against the Autrey recording. I have 'guessed' in some seemingly obvious corrections. I don't like posting inaccurate lyrics, but a few of the lines are distinctive.

The song, of course, is derived from "The Dying Cowboy," or "Bury Me Not ....,"
and as DaveO says, is from a different viewpoint.

Lyr. Add: I'VE GOT NO USE FOR WOMEN
"Words and Music Gene Autry"

I have got no use for the women, a true one may never be found.
They'll stick a man for his money and when it's gone, they turn him down.
They're all alike at the bottom, selfish and g(r)asping for all.
They'll stand by a man while he's winning and laugh in his face when he falls.
2
My pal was a straight, young cowpuncher, honest and upright and square.
But he turned to a gambler and gunman and a woman sent him there.
He fell with his (in with) evil companion(s), the kind that's better off dead,
When a gambler insulted her picture, he hauled off and filled him with lead.
3
All through the long night they trailed him through mesquite and thick chaparral.
And I couldn't help crusing that woman as I saw him pitch, stagger and fall.
If she'd been the pal that she should have, he might have been raising a son.
Instead of out there on the prairie to die by a cruel Ranger's gun.
4
Death's slow sting did not trouble, his chances for life were too slim.
But where they were putting his body was all that worried him.
He lifted his head on his elbow, the blood from his wound flowed bright red.
He gazed at his pals grouped around him and whispered to them and said:
5
"O bury me out on the prairie, where the coyotes may howl over my grave.
Bury me out on the prairie and some of my bones please save.
Wrap me up in my blanket and bury me deep in the ground.
Cover me over with boulders of granite, gray and round."
6
So we buried him out on the prairie where the coyotes can howl o'er his grave.
And his soul is now a-resting from the unkind act (cut) she gave. Any one, (And many) another young puncher as he rides past that pile of stones
Recalls from the sinful woman and think of his moanful bones.
(Recalls that sinful woman and thinks of his moldering bones).

O bury me out on the prairie,
Where the coyotes will howl o'er my grave.

http://kristinhall.org/songbook/USFolk/IveGotNoUseForWomen.html

I could not find data on the Autry recording.

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: Louie Roy
Date: 13 Aug 08 - 04:07 PM

Dave I'll not argue about whose right or whose wrong but there is two different songs that we are discussing here.To start with Peter T thread requesting info on Bury me (not) on the lone prairie is entirely a different song than Bury me (out)on the lone prairie and Gene Autry did indeed record this tune in 1935 and he also wrote the words and music

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 13 Aug 08 - 01:04 PM

Louie Roy, if I understand your post correctly, I have to disagree with you. "I've Got No Use for the Women" takes almost the opposite tack from "Bury Me Not on the Prairie".

In contrast to "Bury me not", "I've Got No Use for the Women says, in part:

Bury me out on the prairie
Where the coyotes can howl o'er my grave
Bury me out on the prairie
But from them my bones please save . . .

The central thought of "I've Got No Use" is not about the undesirability of a prairie burial but about the perfidy of "a gal named Lou" who made him fall in with evil companions, leading to his death.

The song can be found in the DT, HERE

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: Louie Roy
Date: 13 Aug 08 - 12:22 PM

The words to this song that I learned in 1935 or 1936 are the same words that Q posted 9/27/04 and was written and recorded by Gene Autry in 1935 and he called it (I've got no use for the women) and at one time I had this recording on an old 78 by Gene Autry.Many artists have made recording of this song since such as Robbins Ives Cash.

Subject: RE: Origins: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 13 Aug 08 - 11:14 AM

Back in 2000 Metchosin said:


It's a different song Easy Rider. "The Cowboy's Lament" or "The Streets of Larado" was based on the The Unfortunate Rake and still retains the odd request for a cowboy requesting a military burial.

The military burial presumably is a carryover from (or at the very least, related to) "The Young Trooper Cut Down in his Prime", which is also clearly about the young trooper dying of syphilis.   The same story line, and essentially the same tune as "Streets of Laredo".

Dave Oesterreich