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Subject: RE: Acres of Clams/Old Settler's Song (various songs) From: Deckman Date: 13 May 11 - 02:43 PM Congrads on the new home ... marriage must be agreeing with you. Ivar was always VERY CLEAR that the song title was : "The Old Settler." And if you knew anything about Ivar Haglund, when he made some "clear" ... it darned well better be "clear" forever! bob. |
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Subject: RE: Acres of Clams/Old Settler's Song (various songs) From: Haruo Date: 13 May 11 - 01:39 PM Bob, I haven't been to a Song Circle for a few months myself; we bought a house out in Skyway over a year ago, and are still busbound. With most of the song circles in the north end or Bellevue, getting to (and especially back from) them can be a challenge, not to say an insurmountable one, but one daunting enough that it reduces the frequency quite a bit. Once we get our garage squared away, it should have a nice meeting space in it and we may be able to start hosting a rival song circle down here, maybe four times a month, once primarily in English, once primarily in Esperanto, once with a maritime/chantey focus, and once more of a hymn-sing. Maybe on Saturday night so it wouldn't directly compete with the Seattle Song Circle. You'd be welcome to come down! But as I say, first we've gotta clear a space in the garage. If you take 126th off Renton Ave, we're the house about 2 blocks down with the 16-language peace pole in the front yard. At a fraction of your age, I have a coffee mug at work that's got my name embroidered on it in acrylic nail polish. Seems to work okay so far for keeping me up-to-date on who I am. But I don't know if it would work at your age. ;-) Are you doing Folklife this year? We may. Tonight Tom Rawson is leading the Chantey Sing at Immanuel Lutheran, fwiw. I work just a few blocks from there, but alas, I work swing shift and will be at my desk while the singing's going on, worse luck. Anyhow, to nip this thread drift in the bud, I can tell you apart from Dorpat without subtitles, and as far as I could tell Paul wasn't doing any of the singing. Here is a picture of the morning congregation at Fremont Baptist with Paul Dorpat amongst us; can you spot him without a caption? The Musical Baptists of Fremont, May 2009 The MOHAI's melding of you are Ivar was wonderful and mostly seamless. Congratulations. I don't think I ever met the man in the flesh (though I may have as a kid, before I knew how important an occasion it was). I did get a letter from him once authorizing me to use his placemats as the source from which to do an Esperanto translation (La Lamenbrankula Bien') of The Song. I'm still not clear on whether it is most authentically bemonikered "The Song of the Old Settler", "The Lay of the Old Settler", or merely "The Old Settler". I generally use "Lay". |
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Subject: RE: Acres of Clams/Old Settler's Song (various songs) From: Deckman Date: 13 May 11 - 08:15 AM Hello Haruo ... I haven't seen you in a while. I guess I need to get myself down to a Seattle song circle again! This "blending" of the voices and images of "The Old Settler" makes the point that, even after at least 125 years, this ballad is as alive and vital as it was when it was written. As a collector and performer of "traditional Ballads, I frequantly sing ballads much older, such as "The Braes of Yarrow, "The Unquiet Grave", etc. Your confusion as to who is singing, Ivar or me, delights me no end. Ivar sat me down in 1962 and "taught" me his version. And after 49 years, I still sing it "his way", in the same key, and our guitars are still in tune! That's just amazing to me ... I wonder if Ivar is laughing in his grave! To help you remember who is who, this might help: Ivar is dead, I'm the handsome guy with the beard. NO, WAIT A MINUTE, I see that Paul also has a beard! Oh well, if you watch the beginning of the film again, you'll see that we each have a name attached to us. And at my age of 174, I think that's a handy idea ... maybe my wife Judy could put my name on my shirts and I could remember just who I am! CHEERS, bob nelson |
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Subject: RE: Acres of Clams/Old Settler's Song (various songs) From: Haruo Date: 13 May 11 - 05:14 AM Joe, it's not at all clear to me how much of the singing on the YouTube is by Deckman; most of the visible singing is by Ivar. I hear Bob echoing some of the lines, and saying things other than the song lyrics while holding a guitar, but the guy in the captain's costume actually playing and singing the song is Ivar. When the singing is just on the soundtrack, not the screen, I can't tell who it is, except at the very end, where it is Bob segueing into Ivar... |
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Subject: RE: Acres of Clams/Old Settler's Song (various songs) From: GUEST,from tokyo Date: 12 May 11 - 04:41 AM Old Settler's Song is a very good song. I saw this film at my house. Thanks. Kiyohide Kunizaki |
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Subject: RE: Acres of Clams/Old Settler's Song (various songs) From: Joe Offer Date: 11 May 11 - 07:17 PM Mudcat's Bob Nelson (Deckman) singing "Old Settler's Song": |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Acres of Clams (Francis Henry) From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 03 Dec 10 - 09:10 PM Two stories mixed up here. Boston Molasses Flood of 1919, an Ivar Johnson involved. Not connected in any way to Ivar Haglund, Seattle, and his seafood restaurant; he put signs underneath the water and pulled other tricks mentioned in the Seattle Times, but none with molasses. Much later events. See previous thread 48089. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Acres of Clams (Francis Henry) From: Deckman Date: 03 Dec 10 - 06:28 PM That's a very famous story, and it actually happened. As soon as the tank car of molasses spilled in front of his restaurant, he first called the Seattle Times news dept., then grabbed a plate and some pancakes and ran out into the mess. Sure enough, the paper sent a photographer and Ivar was (again) front page news. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Acres of Clams (Francis Henry) From: GUEST,ace Date: 03 Dec 10 - 05:18 PM Way back in 1946? my dad told me that when a tank car of surup got busted down on the water front this old fool, IVAR! was out there in hip boots eating pancakes. good story anyhow... |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Acres of Clams From: Haruo Date: 30 Jun 09 - 03:46 AM I learned it as "labored". Never saw the "niggered" version before, and would have refused to sing it if I had... When I was a kid the N word was useful mainly for getting babysitters fired (if they referred to Brazil nuts the wrong way, or used it as a substitute (euphemism?) for "tiger" ;-) in the "catch a whatsit by the toe" context, we could tell our parents and that babysitter would not be back...) Haruo |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Acres of Clams From: Deckman Date: 29 Jun 09 - 07:36 PM Jim Dixon ... Thanks for that posting ... I've not seen it before. Bob Nelson |
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Subject: Lyr Add: THE OLD SETTLER (Hon. Francis Henry) From: Jim Dixon Date: 29 Jun 09 - 06:38 PM From Transactions of the Washington Pioneer Association for the years 1883 to 1889, Inclusive; compiled by Chas. Prosch, Secretary (Seattle: Lowman & Hanford Stationery and Printing Co., 1894): HON. FRANCIS HENRY. Hon. Francis Henry, late Secretary of the Pioneer Association, died in Olympia on the 24th of September, 1893, after an illness of some weeks. He was the first white child born in Galena, Ill., where his birth took place January 17, 1827. His education was obtained at a log schoolhouse, and his early life was spent in mining. At the age of 19 he was commissioned a Lieutenant of volunteers, going to Mexico and serving during the Mexican war. He was breveted Captain before he reached the age of 21. From Mexico he went to the California mines, where he remained until 1856; he then went to Oregon and was admitted to the bar. He soon after married and removed to Mineral Point, engaging in the law and abstract business until 1859, when he was appointed Deputy United States Marshal, residing in Milwaukee (sic) until 1861. In the fall of 1862 he came to Olympia; there he engaged in surveying for two years, and the remainder of his life was devoted to law and abstracting. He had the oldest abstract office in the State. He resided in his late home on Fourth and Plum streets for thirty years. In 1867, though a Democrat, he was elected to the Territorial Legislature from a Republican district, was re-elected in 1868 and again in 1871. In November, 1877, he was elected Probate Judge, serving four terms, eight years. In 1878 he was a delegate to the Territorial Constitutional Convention at Walla Walla, also to that of 1889 in Olympia. He was for two years President of the Council, was three years City Treasurer, was Clerk of the Supreme Court, Secretary of the Washington Pioneer Association and President of the County Bar Association. If anything was lacking to keep his memory fresh in the minds of his numerous friends, it is amply supplied by the popular song of which he was the author, entitled THE OLD SETTLER. 1. I'd wandered all over the country, Prospecting and digging for gold— I'd tunneled, hydraulicked and cradled, And I had been frequently sold. CHORUS: And I had been frequently so-o-old, And I had been frequently sold; I'd tunneled, hydraulicked and cradled, And I had been frequently sold. 2. For one who gets riches by mining, Perceiving that hundreds grow poor, I made up my mind to try farming— The only pursuit that is sure. 3. So rolling my grub in my blankets, I left all my tools on the ground, And started one morning to shank it For a country they called Puget Sound. 4. Arriving flat broke in mid-winter, I found it enveloped in fog, And covered all over with timber, Thick as hair on the back of a dog. 5. As I looked on a prospect so gloomy, The tears trickled over my face, For I thought my travels had brought me To the edge of the jumping-off place. 6. I took up a claim in the forest And sat myself down to hard toil; For two years I chopped and I niggered*, But I never got down to the soil. 7. I tried to get out of the country, But poverty forced me to stay Until I became an old settler, Then nothing could drive me away. 8. And now that I'm used to the climate, I think that if man ever found A spot to live easy and happy, That Eden is on Puget Sound. 9. No longer the slave of ambition, I laugh at the world and its shams, As I think of my pleasant condition Surrounded by acres of clams. [*The version in the DT substitutes "struggled." The original is certainly unacceptable for singing today, and is presented here for historical accuracy only.] |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Acres of Clams From: Stewart Date: 28 Jun 09 - 01:50 PM Mary, Here's David MacAuslan's version of the song. It's the more conventional version of the song, which we usually sing. Note the difference between this and the version Deckman sings in the way Ivar thought it should be sung. Note: "David MacAuslan hailed from Chicago, Illinois and moved to Seattle in the late 1990's, where he quickly established himself in the local folk scene. An avid music aficionado and highly skilled singer and percussionist, he soon became sought after as a side man for many projects." David MacAuslan (July 1, 1959 - April 6, 2006). David was a good friend, singer and musician, and we miss him greatly. Cheers, S. in Seattle |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Acres of Clams From: GUEST,mg Date: 28 Jun 09 - 12:50 PM Stewart, could you possibly put David's version up on your website (may he rest in peace). mg |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Acres of Clams From: Stewart Date: 28 Jun 09 - 12:33 PM And listen to Bob (Deckman) sing the song the way Ivar thought it should be sung. Cheers, S. in Seattle |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Acres of Clams From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 28 Jun 09 - 04:39 AM Deckman - a link to a photo of "Ivar's Book of Ballads" from the Seattle City Government.
An Ivar Book of Ballads from Puget Sound - 1953
Ivar Haugland founded the "Acres of Clams" restaurants in Seattle.
SOUND RECORDINGS OF Ivar Haglund and James Stevens (Don Firth is in there also)
Sincerely, |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Acres of Clams From: Deckman Date: 27 Jun 09 - 03:46 PM I well remember that ramshackled building that was Ivar's first business venture in Seattle, late 40's I'm thinking. It was his "aquarium." Cost a nickel to get in and you entered a smallish room that had about 20 small fishtanks set up. The place smelled like low tide. The tanks contained all the usual salt water fishes we were very familiar with: bullheads, flounders, kelp cod, sea enemas (that's what we called 'em). In the tank labeled "SHARK", he had a two foot dog fish. To ease our pain of feeling ripped off, Ivar would sit on a wooden stool and sing us his goofy songs. I also remember that he and my Dad got along very well. I know this because Dad would dissapear for a time, with Ivar, into the "office." When Dad returned he was quite happy and smelled of whiskey ... and Mom was quite unhappy! Ahhhh .the memories of youth! Bob(deckman)Nelson |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Acres of Clams From: Joe Offer Date: 26 Jun 09 - 07:41 PM Hi, Marc - Yes, Charlie is still doing a few gigs. His Website is http://www.charlieking.org/. -Joe- |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Acres of Clams From: Marc Bernier Date: 26 Jun 09 - 04:38 PM What a pleasant surprise. As a young man I would occasionally accompany my mother to the Soup Kitchen where she was a volunteer. It was there I first met Charlie King who was s a volunteer there as well. I'v sang that song with Charlie many times. I haven't heard it in years, thank you. Is Charlie still out there gigging? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Acres of Clams From: Haruo Date: 06 Nov 04 - 07:21 PM Thanks for the clarification, Noel. Glad to see you found this site, and hope you'll return to sample the Mudcat in the future. Haruo = Leland |
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Subject: RE: Acres of Clams-Prairie Washington From: GUEST,Noel V. Bourasaw Date: 04 Nov 04 - 04:36 PM Lol, I just found this very interesting site and I wanted to amend my email above, just a bit. The Old Settler poem was not based on The Eulogy of Amariah Kalloch III. I constructed that sentence sloppily. What I meant was that when eulogizing Amariah, his friend quoted the entire poem. I remember Ivar so well from when I was a child and my dad would drive the family down to Seattle in the old 1946 Plymouth to sup at Ivar's on the waterfront when it was still in a ramshackle old building. And the naughty treat for adults was to drink clam liquor, spiked by Ivar himself. He enjoyed hearing my dad's tales of being a Pearl Harbor survivor and would sometimes play his banjo or mandolin for us. I remember an interview Ivar gave in his later years, talking of camping in lean-tos in "Hooverville," the homeless camp located on the present site of the stadiums, back during the Depression. "I could have been a f****ng Communist," he roared to the interviewer. There will never be another one like him. I wonder if one of his ancestors sat Ivar on his knee and recited the old Settler to him. Skagit River Journal of History & Folklore Noel V. Bourasaw |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Acres of Clams From: Susanne (skw) Date: 24 Oct 04 - 05:39 PM On the album 'Very F. Tricky' the Australian band Rossavielle use a tune that is definitely NOT Rosin the Beau. Self-penned, I suppose, and very effective. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Acres of Clams From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 23 Oct 04 - 01:45 PM Interesting letter. Old Rosin the Beau, of course, was the tune. Henry published sheet music in 1902. The text first appeared in the Washington Standard, April 11, 1877, as posted above by Stewart of Seattle. |
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Subject: RE: Origins of "Lay of the Old Settler" From: Haruo Date: 23 Oct 04 - 01:40 AM A recent email I received from Noel Bourasaw, editor of the Skagit River Journal ( http://www.stumpranchonline.com/skagitjournal/ ), which I am giving in toto because it bears in several ways on this song and its tune, runs as follows: > As I wade through more than a thousand old emails, > sorting and answering them, I find that two of your > important emails have slipped through the cracks, so > I shall address them here: > > 1/30/2002 "Leland Bryant Ross" lilandbr@scn.org > I'm wondering if anybody's ever set the Jessie Odlin > poem that starts "On the banks of the mighty Skagit" > to music, if so what? My mother spent her childhood > on a farm several miles north of town (2 miles, I > believe, from Prairie), moved to Seattle in 1934 > when her father, Andrew Jacobsen, Sr., died. The > poem has been part of our family's oral (and > written) tradition as long as I can remember, and > probably since they lived there. However, we never > had (to my knowledge) the final stanza. > > The answer is "yes." Judy Johnson, the daughter of > one of my late mother's best friends, set it to > music while in high school here: > > "Judy Johnson" >> Also, FYI, I'm the person who "discovered" that the >> poem about SW by Mrs. WT Odlin ("On the banks of the >> mighty Skagit...") was in the same meter as the song >> "Acres of Clams". I found it when I was in Junior >> High and started singing it as part of my folk >> repertoire. Jerry Sommerseth picked it up and >> started teaching it in elementary school music, and >> I think the kids are still singing it now. That's my >> claim to fame, but nobody remembers it but Jerry and >> me. > > You may want to communicate with her. I'm certain > she would be happy to hear from you. > > Meanwhile, I have two questions for you: > 1) Isn't Acres of Clams set to the old "Rosin the > Bow?" > 2) Are you involved with the Blue Grass Messengers? > > Now, here's something for you to chew on. Did you > know that Acres of Clams is based on the eulogy to > Amariah Kalloch of Prairie, who took the wrong step > onto the sternwheeler Cascade at Seattle in 1889 and > fell in the bay and drowned? That eulogy was called > the "Old Settler." > > Now, re: your genealogy. Did you know the Kallochs > when you were up at Prairie? I don't know how old > you are so don't know if that would be possible. If > you are as old and decrepit as I am, at 60, or > older, I am wondering if you know anything about the > Hathaway family, the Sexton family or the Hoyts? > Have you read the story I have on the site about the > history of the Hoyts? How about the Canavan family > from Prairie? I would like very much to know > anything you have on the Jacobsens and what you > might know about the Timinski family. Also, do you > have or do you know anyone who has photos of the old > town of Prairie? > > Thanks, > Noel I'm wondering about Noel's purported Sedro-Woolley [Prairie is a suburb of SW] connection for "Acres of Clams". The main point of suspicion is the fact that most other accounts I've seen place Judge Henry's composition in the 1870s, in which case it couldn't be based on the eulogy for a chap who died in 1889. Or could it? Hmm... Haruo |
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Subject: Lyr Add: OLD SETTLER'S SONG / ACRES OF CLAMS From: GUEST Date: 01 Nov 02 - 01:53 PM "Old Settler's Song" (or Acres of Clams) is in the DT. With the exception of a word or two, the verses compare with the sheet music published in 1902 (earlier sheets not seen), but the choruses are omitted: OLD SETTLER'S SONG (ACRES OF CLAMS) (Francis D. Henry, 1902) 1. Chorus: And I had been frequently sold, And I had been frequently sold. I'd tunnelled, hydraulicked, and cradled, And I'd been frequently sold. 2. Chorus: The only pursuit that is sure, The only pursuit that is sure, I made up my mind to try farming, The only pursuit that is sure. 3. Chorus: For a country they called Puget Sound, etc. 4. Chorus: Thick as hair on the back of a dog, etc. 5. Chorus: To the edge of the jumping-off place, etc. 6. Chorus: But I never got down to the soil, etc. 7. Chorus: Then nothing could drive me away, etc. 8. Chorus: That Eden is on Puget Sound, etc. 9. Chorus; Surrounded by acres of clams, etc. (A true Puget Sounder can stretch the song out interminably) The author, Francis D. Henry, unfortunately, is not credited in the DT. The considerably revised unattributed version given by Richie changed the first verse, last line to cold from sold. Several verses are left out as well. The original by Henry was sung to "Old Rosin the Beau." Apparently the same tune is used for the version given by Richie. The Traditional Ballad Index does not list the printing, with 1902 sheet music, that is in "Songs of the American West," 1968, Lingenfelter, Dwyer and Cohen, pp. 555-556, Univ. California Press: THE OLD SETTLER (Francis D. Henry, 1902) 1. I'd wandered all over the country, Prospecting and digging for gold. I'd tunneled, hydraulicked and cradled, And I had been frequently sold. CHORUS: And I had been frequently so-o-old, And I had been frequently sold. I'd tunneled, hydraulicked and cradled, And I had been frequently sold. 2. For one who gets riches by mining, Perceiving that hundreds grow poor, I made up my mind to try farming, The only pursuit that is sure. CHORUS: The only pursuit that is su-u-ure, etc. 3. So rolling my grub in my blankets, I left all my tools on the ground, And started one morning to shank it For a country they called Puget Sound. CHORUS: For a country they called Puget Sou-ou-ound, etc. 4. Arriving flat broke in mid-winter, I found it enveloped in fog, And covered all over with timber, Thick as hair on the back of a dog. CHORUS: Thick as hair on the back of a do-o-og, etc. 5. As I looked on the prospect so gloomy, The tears trickled over my face, For I felt that my travels had brought me To the edge of the jumping-off place. CHORUS: To the edge of the jumping-off pla-a-ace, etc. 6. I took up a claim in the forest, And sat myself down to hard toil; For two years I chopped and I niggered, But I never got down to the soil. CHORUS: But I never got down to the so-o-oil, etc. 7. I tried to get out of the country, But poverty forced me to stay Until I became an Old Settler— Then nothing could drive me away. CHORUS: Then nothing could drive me away-ay-ay, etc. 8. And now that I'm used to the climate I think that if man ever found A spot to live easy and happy That Eden is on Puget Sound. CHORUS: That Eden is on Puget Sou-ou-ound, etc. 9. No longer the slave of ambition, I laugh at the world and its shams, As I think of my pleasant condition, Surrounded by acres of clams. CHORUS: Surrounded by acres of cla-a-ams, etc.
-Joe Offer, 11 May 2011- La Lilandejo gives not only the complete song with choruses, but also an eight-verse version in Esperanto. He says Francis Henry wrote the song in the 1870s. Lay of the Old Settler |
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Subject: RE: Lyrics ADD: Acres of Clams From: GUEST,Richie Date: 31 Oct 02 - 09:18 PM Here's some info from my web-site: Acres of Clams Traditional Tune; Lyrics by (Judge) Francis D. Henry; American Waltz, Air and Contra Dance Tune; Irish, Jig; English, Morris Dance Tune (6/8 time). CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes. DATE: Lyrics written in the 1870s by a police court judge, this song achieved prominence decades later through radio-show singer Ivar Haglund, who made it the theme song of Acres of Clams, his flagship seafood restaurant on the Seattle Waterfront's Pier 54. RECORDING INFO: Pete Seeger, "The Old Settler's Song. Brothers Four. BMOC (Best Music on/off Campus), Columbia CL 1578, LP (196?), cut#B.05 (Old Settler's Song) Greenway, John. Big Rock Candy Mountain. Songs of the American Hobo & Migrato.., Washington WLP 710, LP (195?), cut#B.07. Ransom, Stan. My Long Island Home, Connecticut Peddler, CD (1997), cut# 1. Stracke, Win. Americana, Bally BAL 12013, LP (195?), cut# 9. Tarriers. Tarriers, Glory PG 1200, LP (195?), cut#B.05. Toelken, J. Barre (Barry). Garland of American Folksong, Prestige International INT 13023, LP (196?), cut# 4 OTHER NAMES: "Lay of the Old Settler," "Old Settler's Song," "Rosin the Beau," "Old Rosin, the Beau," "Rosin the Bow," "Mrs. Kenny," "A Hayseed Like Me," "My Lodging's on the Cold, Cold Ground." SOURCES: Silber-FSWB, p. 48, "Acres of Clams; Lomax-FSUSA 55, "The Old Settler's Song"; Darling-NAS, pp. 283-284, "Acres of Clams". "Copied...from a MS. evidently written by a skilled fiddler with much musical taste, from Limerick, but the name of the writer nowhere appears" [Joyce]: Hogg (Pa., 1948) [Bayard]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 620, pg. 546. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 56-57 and pg. 127 {discord version} (lyrics included, pg. 56-57). Joyce (Old Irish Folk Music and Song), 1909; No. 352, pg. 162. Laufman (Okay, Let's Try a Contra, Men on the Right, Ladies on the Left, Up and Down the Hall), 1973; pg. 15. Mulvihill (1st Collection), 1986; No. 15, pg. 122. Wade (Mally's North West Morris Book), 1988; pg. 24. NOTES: Lyrics wed to the fiddle tune "Old Rosin the Bow/Beau". Key of A Major (Ford, Joyce): G Major (Bayard, Laufman, Mulvihill, Wade). Standard or AEAE. AB (Bayard, Joyce, Wade): ABB (Ford): AABB (Laufman, Mulvihill). The tune is used for a single step in the North-West England Morris dance tradition. Bayard (1981) notes the air was known to most fiddlers, fifers, and singers in Pennsylvania, as in many parts of the country. He identifies a melody by James Oswald which appears in his 2nd Collection (1740's, pg. 25) as a 6/8 "Gigg," that is extremely close to "Rosin," and he wonders if this was the ancestral tune for the air, or if Oswald himself was influenced by an older air. Further, he says a tune called "Dumfries House" in Gow's Complete Repository (3rd Ed., Part I, pg. 13) ascribed to John Riddle has a 2nd strain that equals "Rosin the Beau," and a Welsh harp tune in Bennett's Alawon fy Ngwlad also is quite close. The Fleishchmann index (1998) gives that the tune was derived from a 17th century Irish tune in 6/4 meter called "On the Cold Ground;" that tune, however, is English, attributed to Matthew Lock from the play The Rivals. The title appears in a list of standard tunes in the square dance fiddler's repertoire, according to A.B. Moore in his History of Alabama, 1934. The title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40126, Rodney Miller - "Choose Your Partners!: Contra Dance & Square Dance Music of New Hampshire" (1999). LYRICS: ACRES OF CLAMS (THE OLD SETTLER'S SONG) [Lyrics by (Judge) Francis D. Henry] I've wandered all over this country, Prospecting and digging for gold, I've tunneled, hydraulicked and cradled, And I nearly froze in the cold. And I nearly froze in the cold, And I nearly froze in the cold, I've tunneled, hydraulicked and cradled, And I nearly froze in the cold. For one who got wealthy by mining, I saw many hundreds get poor, I made up my mind to go digging, For something a little more sure, For something a little more sure, For something a little more sure. I made up my mind to go digging, For something a little more sure. I rolled up my grub in my blanket, I left all my tools on the ground, I started one morning to shank it, For the country they call Puget Sound, For the country they call Puget Sound, For the country they call Puget Sound. I started one morning to shank it, For the country they call Puget Sound. No longer a slave of ambition, I laugh at the world and its shams, And I think of my happy condition, Surrounded by Acres of Clams, Surrounded by Acres of Clams, Surrounded by Acres of Clams. And I think of my happy condition, Surrounded by Acres of Clams. |
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Subject: RE: Lyrics ADD: Acres of Clams From: GUEST,Q Date: 31 Oct 02 - 04:52 PM Thanks, MMario. |
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Subject: RE: Lyrics ADD: Acres of Clams From: GUEST,Q Date: 31 Oct 02 - 04:51 PM Sheet music is reproduced in "Songs of the American West," edited by R. E. Lingenfelter, D. A. Dwyer and David Cohen, 1968, pp. 555-556 (Univ. California Press. The title is "The Old Settler," Francis D. Henry, Olympia, WA, 1902. My scanner is not working, so can't email. Perhaps someone else has the book. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: WAIL OF AN OLD SETTLER (Francis D. Henry) From: Stewart Date: 31 Oct 02 - 04:35 PM From Linda Allen's "Rainy Day Songbook." She also gives Sequel which was written later by Mr. Henry: In the April 11, 1877 edition of the Washington Standard, the following note appears: "The demand for the new song written by Mr. (Francis) Henry, 'The Old Settler' has been so general that we publish it in this issue of the Standard. Its first public rendition was at a recent entertainment given by the Choral Society, where it was received with enthusiastic applause." In Reminiscences of Washington Territory, by Charles Prosch (Seattle, 1904), the author prints a sequel to the "Old Settler", which Mr. Henry wrote some 20 years after the original. Seems that protest songs were just as popular in Washington's early days as they are now and the themes sound quite familiar!
WAIL OF AN OLD SETTLER
Cheers, S. in Seattle
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Subject: RE: Lyrics ADD: Acres of Clams From: Peter T. Date: 31 Oct 02 - 03:54 PM Punch "Lincoln" into the search function, and you will get a thread or two with the music (one about two weeks ago). It was also President Lincoln's Campaign Waltz. yours, Peter T. |
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Subject: RE: Lyrics ADD: Acres of Clams From: Jaxon Date: 17 Dec 97 - 10:21 AM It was fun to see Charlie King's name in this thread. Charlie and I were altar boys together back in Brockton, Mass. many years ago. He's one of the few that lives the message. Jack Murray |
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Subject: RE: Lyrics ADD: Acres of Clams From: rich r Date: 16 Dec 97 - 08:14 PM Both sets of lyrics are sung by Pete Seeger on the double CD "Sing a Long" recorded at Harvard in the early 80's. "Old Rosin" was used for a number of political campaign songs in the 19th century also. rich r |
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Subject: RE: Lyrics ADD: Acres of Clams From: Richard Wright Date: 16 Dec 97 - 06:49 PM Pete! Are you out there. Answer Bruce. Richard |
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Subject: RE: Lyrics ADD: Acres of Clams From: Bruce O. Date: 16 Dec 97 - 10:58 AM Thanks all, Judge Henry is the one I once heard about, and Richard's seems to my hazy recollection to be about what I heard. Ivar Haglund had it for a theme song with which he opened his folk music program on a radio station in Seattle on Sunday mornings in the 1940's or 1950's. That's where I first heard folksongs. It's been about six years since I've eaten at the old Ivar's Acres of Clams restuarant down by the ferry dock. |
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Subject: RE: Lyrics ADD: Acres of Clams From: Richard Wright Date: 16 Dec 97 - 12:42 AM In an old Sing Out magazine I recently read an article from Pete Seeger about him and Woody going to Seattle and teaching the n Haglund later owner of Ivan's Acres of Clams restaurant. Looked it up...Seeger says, "The author found things about [the song] that I didn't know. It was written by an Olympian Probate Judge named Francis Henry in 1877 for a dinner party celebrating his election victory. The melody was best known in the 19th century as Rosin the Beau, but in the 17th century as The Gentle Maiden. Who knows before that," says Seeger The quote is in the summer 89 issue, p61. Richard |
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Subject: DT Correction: Old Settler's Song (Acres of Clams) From: Joe Offer Date: 16 Dec 97 - 12:12 AM Well, Bruce, in "Folk Song USA" (1947), John and Alan Lomax say the lyrics of "The Old Settler's Song" (Acres of Clams) were written by an unknown miner. They say this was the best ballad from the Northwest that they knew of, and that this is one of many lyrics sung to the tune of the old Irish air, "Rosin the Beau." the "Rise Up Singing" songbook says the song was collected by John and Alan Lomax, and written by Judge Francis B. Henry, whoever he was. So, which source is one to believe? I'm inclined to think the real author is "anonymous." -Joe Offer, not quite in the Northwest- Here's what the Traditional Ballad Index has to say about the song: Acres of Clams (The Old Settler's Song)DESCRIPTION: The prospector reports on the sad fate of the gold rush men: "For each man who got rich by mining... hundreds grew poor." He decides to abandon digging and head out to be a farmer near Puget Sound. This, too, proves hard, but he is too poor to move againAUTHOR: unknown EARLIEST DATE: 1940 KEYWORDS: gold farming poverty settler derivative FOUND IN: US(NW) REFERENCES (5 citations): Lomax-FSUSA 55, "The Old Settler's Song" (2 texts, 1 tune) Cohen-AFS2, pp. 621-622, "The Old Settle (Acres of Clams)" (1 text plus part of an early sheet music pring) Darling-NAS, pp. 283-284, "Acres of Clams" (1 text) Silber-FSWB, p. 48, "Acres of Clams" (1 text) DT, OLDSETLR* Roud #10032 RECORDINGS: Pete Seeger, "The Old Settler's Song" (on PeteSeeger47); "Acres of Clams, " [parody] (on PeteSeeger47) CROSS-REFERENCES: cf. "Rosin the Beau" (tune) and references there cf. "A Hayseed Like Me" (tune, lyrics) File: LxU055 Go to the Ballad Search form Go to the Ballad Index Instructions The Ballad Index Copyright 2014 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle. The Digital Tradition version is almost exactly the version published in Best Loved American Folk Songs (Folk Song USA), by John and Alan Lomax, 1947. For some reason, the DT version does not have the refrain. Here is a corrected version of the DT song, with refrain. OLD SETTLER'S SONG or ACRES OF CLAMS (Francis D. Henry) I've traveled all over this country Prospecting and digging for gold, I've tunneled, hydraulicked and cradled, And I have been frequently sold.* REFRAIN And I have been frequently so-o-old, And I have been frequently sold, I've tunneled, hydraulicked and cradled, And I have been frequently sold.* For each man who got rich by mining, Perceiving that hundreds grew poor, I made up my mind to try farming, The only pursuit that was sure. So, rolling my grub in my blanket, I left all my tools on the ground, I started one morning to shank it For the country they call Puget Sound. Arriving flat broke in midwinter, I found it enveloped in fog, And covered all over with timber, Thick as hair on the back of a dog. When I looked on the prospects so gloomy, The tears trickled over my face, And I thought that my travels had brought me, To the end of the jumping-off place. I staked me a claim in the forest, And sat myself down to hard toil, For two years I chopped and I struggled, But I never got down to the soil. I tried to get out of the country, But poverty forced me to stay, Until I became an old settler, Then nothing could drive me away. And now that I'm used to the climate I think that if a man ever found A place to live easy and happy, That Eden is on Puget Sound. No longer the slave of ambition, I laugh at the world and its shams, As I think of my pleasant condition, Surrounded by acres of clams. REFRAIN: Surrounded by acres of cla-a-ams, Surrounded by acres of clams, As I think of my pleasant condition, Surrounded by acres of clams. *The refrains of all subsequent stanzas are similarly formed by repetition of the fourth and third lines. This version is from "Best Loved American Folk Songs (Folk Song USA)," by John and Alan Lomax, 1947. The song text first appeared in the Washington Standard, April 11, 1877. The song was published in 1902 and attributed to Francis D. Henry. The original text and the Lomax version used the word "niggered" instead of "struggled." @pioneer filename[ OLDSETLR TUNE FILE: ROSINBOW CLICK TO PLAY MC |
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Subject: RE: Lyrics ADD: Acres of Clams From: Bruce O. Date: 15 Dec 97 - 09:38 PM While we are on "Acres of Clams" can any of you in the Pacific Northwest tell us who wrote the original and when? I used to know that when I lived on Puget Sound, but have long since forgotten it. I think it was written by a judge and was written just before or just after Washington became a state. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: ACRES OF CLAMS (version by Charlie King) From: Joe Offer Date: 15 Dec 97 - 06:02 PM Well, I'm quite pleased to have found the lyrics to the tune of "Rosin the Beau" that had been floating in my head. They're copied from "Rise Up Singing," which, unfortunately, does not have a "search" function like we have. Otherwise, I would not have been frustrated for so long. To avoid frustration for others, here are the lyrics: ACRES OF CLAMS (anti-nuclear) words: Charlie King, 1977 music: traditional (Rosin the Beau) (see also: "Old Settler's Song") I've lived all my life in this country I love every flower and tree I expect to live here 'til I'm ninety It's the nukes that must go and not me. It's the nukes that must go and not me. I swallowed enough radiation It's time I was standing my ground So I'm joining that grand occupation We're shutting that power plant down We're shutting that power plant down Now Seabrook, New Hampshire's a swell town It's there that we're taking our stand Don't sit home and wait for a meltdown Come fight for your freedom and land Come fight for your freedom and land Now Seabrook is just the beginning We'll soon have the nukes on the run It's a fight that the people are winning the fight for our place in the sun…. We're seizing that land with a vision Exposing the P.S.C."s shams As I sing of my happy condition Surrounded by acres of clams…. Mudcat's Bob Nelson (Deckman) singing "Old Settler's Song": |
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