Lyr Add: Gold Miners' Songs (American) 2

Subject: Lyr Add: JOE BOWERS (longer version than DT)
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 20 Apr 02 - 03:29 PM

Click for part 1

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There are many more songs, and additions to songs, to be posted. some revisions to DT entries follow. "Joe Bowers" in the DT is much shortened, and not credited to the author.

Lyr. Add: JOE BOWERS

My name is Joe Bowers, I've got a brother Ike;
I come from old Missouri, yes, all the way from Pike;
I'll tell you why I left thar, and how I came to roam,
And leave my poor old mammy, so far away from home.

I used to have a gal thar, they called her Sally Black;
I axed her for to marry me, she said it was a whack;
"But," says she to me, "Joe Bowers, before we hitch for life,
You'd orter have a little home to keep your little wife."

Says I, "My dearest Sally, oh! Sally, for your sake,
I'll go to Californy, and try to raise a stake."
Says she to me, "Joe Bowers, oh, you're the chap to win,
Give me a buss to seal the bargain," and she threw a dozen in!

I shall ne'er forgit my feelins when I bid adieu to all;
Sally cotched me around the neck, then I began to bawl;
When they sot in, they all commenced-- you ne'er did hear the like,
How they all took on and cried, the day I left old Pike.

When I got to this 'ere country, I hadn't nary (a) red,
I had sich wolfish feelins, I wish'd myself most dead;
But the thoughts of my dear Sally soon made these feelins git,
And whispered hopes to Bowers-- Lord, I wish I had them yit!

At length I went to minin', put in my biggest licks,
Come down upon the boulders jist like a thousand bricks;
I worked both late and airly, in rain and sun and snow,
But I was working for my Sally, so was all the same to Joe.

I made a very lucky strike, as the gold itself did tell,
And saved it for my Sally, the gal I loved so well;
I saved it for my Sally, that I might pour it at her feet,
That she might hug and kiss me, and call me something sweet.

But one day I got a letter from my dear, kind brother, Ike--
It came from old Missouri, sent all the way from Pike;
It brought me the gol-darn'dest news as ever you did hear--
My heart is almost bustin', so, pray, wxcuse this tear.

It said my Sal was fickle, that her love for me had fled;
That she'd married with a butcher, whose har was owful red!
It told me more than that-- oh! it's enough to make one swar,
He said Sally had a baby, and the baby had red har!

Now, I've told you all I could tell about this sad affar,
'Bout Sally marryin' the butcher, and the butcher had red har.
Whether 'twas a boy or gal child, the letter never said,
It only said its cussed har was inclined to be a red!

J. E. Johnson, 1858, Johnson'd Original Comic Songs, pub. San Francisco. John Stone wasn't the only poet-composer in California in the Gold Rush days.
Taken from Lingenfelter and Dwyer, 1968, pp 96-97, with music ("Doniphan's Expedition") by J. T. Hughes, 1907. Song ID=3215 in the DT is incomplete, and not credited, but this song was passed by word of mouth all the way back east (and probably back again), so there are several versions. Allen (1874), Lomax (more than once), and others have published versions.

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Click for part 1

Subject: Chords Add: JOE BOWERS
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 20 Apr 02 - 06:14 PM

JOE BOWERS, chords: ## 4/4
My (D)name it is Joe Bowers, I've (G)got a brother (D)Ike
I come from old Missouri, yes, all the way from Pike;
I'll tell you why I left thar, and how I came to roam,
And leave my poor old mammy, so (G)fer away from (D)home.

John and Alan Lomax, 1934, American Ballads and Folk Songs, p. 422, use essentially the same words (Johnson's 1860 printing), but a different tune taken from J. H. Cox's Ballads of the South (Harvard Univ. Press), b4/4, but do not give chords.
A version in Randolph, Ozark Folk Songs, ed. Norm Cohen (##6/8), uses "Lily of the West" and "Young Caroline of Edinburgh Town."
Randolph says the piece seems to be a rewrite of the British "The Girl I Left Behind Me" (several versions in the Bodleian Library website) but the connection is not close.

Subject: Lyr/Chords Add: HO! FOR CALIFORNIA!
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Apr 02 - 02:24 PM

Lyr. Add: HO! FOR CALIFORNIA!

We've (C)formed our band and are well-mann'd,
To journey afar to the promised land,
Where the golden ore is rich in store,
On the banks of the Sacramento shore.

Chorus:
Then Ho! Brothers, ho!
To California go.
There's plenty of gold in the world we're told,
On the banks of the (G7)Sacra (C)mento.
(F)Heigh O and away we go,
(C)Digging up gold in San Francisco.

O! don't you cry nor heave a sigh,
For we'll all come back again, by and by,
Don't breathe a fear, nor shed a tear,
But patiently wait for about two year.

As the gold is thar, most any whar,
And they dig it out with an iron bar,
And where 'tis thick, with a spade or pick,
They can take out lumps as heavy as brick.

As we explore that distant shore, --
We'll fill our pockets with the shining ore;
And how 'twill sound, as the word goes round,
Of our picking up gold by the dozen pound.

We expect our share of the coarsest fare,
And sometimes to sleep in the open air,
Upon the cold ground we shall all sleep sound
Except when the wolves are howling round.

As off we roam over the dark sea foam,
We'll never forget our friends at home
For memories kind will bring to mind
The thoughts of those we leave behind.

In the days of old, the prophets told
Of the City to come, all framed in gold,
Peradventure they saw the day,
Now dawning in California.

O! the land we'll save, for the bold and brave--
Have determined there never shall breathe a slave;
Let foes recoil, for the sons of toil
Shall make California GOD'S FREE SOIL.

Chorus:
Then Ho! Brothers ho!
To California go,
No slave shall toil on God's Free Soil,
On the banks of the Sacramento.
Heigh ho, and away we go,
Chanting our songs of freedom, O.

Tune- De Boatmen Dance, D. D. Emmett. Written by J. Hutchinson, 1851, "Book of Words of the Hutchinson Family, pub. NY, Baker, Godwin & Co. Music rev. Damon, 1936. Variant in Sandburg, 1927, and Dwyer et al., 1964.
Reminiscent of "The Banks of the Sacramento."
From R. E. Lingenfelter and R. A. Dwyer, 1968, Songs of the American West, pp. 14-15, with music; guitar chords by David Cohen.

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 21 Apr 02 - 07:55 PM

Surely this should be a "Lyr Add:" Thread. otherwise, someone is sure to mention "Clementine". (Oh Sh** I mentioned it!)

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 Apr 02 - 01:16 AM

Hi, Nigel - as long as the message says ADD and the song title, we'll find it. If you're posting or soliciting a number of interrelated songs, it's best to do it in a thread like this.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: rich-joy
Date: 22 Apr 02 - 06:30 AM

The redoubtable STEWIE has just successfully pulled off yet another interesting Workshop - this time at the Aust'n National Folk Festival over Easter, and entitled "The Devil's Bargain : Mining Songs from North America" - ask him about it!!!
Cheers! R-J

Subject: Old Put - John A. Stone - Gold Rush Songs
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 Apr 02 - 02:31 PM

I wonder if anybody can give us more information about John A. Stone, the Gold Rush songwriter known as "Old Put."

I posted this in the previous thread:

The most popular songwriter and singer of ballads in 1864 was John A. Stone, or "Old Put" as he preferred being called. He and his Sierra Nevada Rangers went from camp to camp entertaining; singing songs he knew the miners liked to hear. Those songs live on and tell the story of another day. (from Singing Gold, a songbook published by the Sacramento Bee in 1977).

Barry Finn posted this:
Thread #6228   Message #36195
Posted By: Barry Finn
28-Aug-98 - 12:05 AM
Thread Name: LYR REQ: Gold Miners' Songs (American)
Subject: RE: LYR REQ: Gold Miners' Songs (American)

"Seeing The Elephant" is according to Debby McClatchy the acknowledged fist song written in California about the gold rush. "Just From Dawson" from the last of the big gold rushes, 1898 in the Yukon. You could probably start an Old Put (John Stone) thread, he's been mentioned often with these gold rush songs, he had been a broken down miner like the rest & then made a big hit in 1853, put together a group, as Joe mentions above, the Sierra Nevada Rangers & started sing at the camps & halls, basically financing his pastime with his gain from the ground. Another of his is the "Humbug Steamship Companies" a great rendering of the passages through the Panama Canal made by gold seekers aboard steamers kept together by gum & glue. Probably his most famous would be the "Days Of 49". Old Put died of drink when his fans moved on with the later rushes of Nevada & South Dakota the last moving futher north to the frozen fields of the Yukon. Stone published 4 books of his songs before he roared out his soul in a glory hole. Most of this came by way of Debby McClatchy. Barry

---

I've asked Debby to join us in this discussion, but she claims computer illiteracy. Debby is a member of the family that has published the Sacramento Bee since James McClatchy became editor in 1857. Debby has a home not far from me in the Sierra, and she sure knows her Gold Rush songs.


But back to my question - is there more information about Old Put? In Songs of the American West (1968), Richard Lingenfelter and Richard Dwyer list a number of books by Put, all published by Appleton & Co. of San Francisco:

• 1855: Put's Original California Songster (4th edition published in 1868)
  
• 1857: Put's Mountain Songster
  
• 1858: Put's Golden Songster, first and second editions published in the same year
  
• 1861: Pacific Song Book

I'm wondering if Put wrote all the songs in his songbooks, or if he collected some of the songs from miners. This Whither Zither (click) column by Peter Berryman has some interesting information about Old Put, including the fact that the name is pronounced "Putt" (which proves once again that Joe Offer is sometimes wrong).
-Joe Offer-

Subject: Old Put - John A. Stone
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 Apr 02 - 02:47 PM

I found some interesting information in the Mountain Democrat of Placerville, California, in an article published December 29, 2000:

John Stone is buried in the old pioneer cemetery in Greenwood. He is arguably one of the county's most famous men, though few people today have heard of him. He wrote songs under the pseudonym "Old Put." The word "put" is a synonym for a "rustic" or a "clown." Stone affected the manner of each.

Stone, when he came to California, was said to have been "a good natured, lazy, hard drinking man who would rather visit saloons and sing for his supper than work." He mined in Sonora County where he claimed to have pulled out a prodigious "lump" worth $15,000. He sold his claim and moved to Greenwood, where, after dissipating his mining bonanza with whiskey, he committed suicide.

Many of Stone's "Old Put" songs consisted of lyrics he wrote to be sung to the tune of other compositions, typically traditional ballads from rural sections of the southeast and from England, Scotland and Ireland. His most famous song, for example, was "Sweet Betsy from Pike," meant to be sung to the tune of "Villihans and His Dinah."

The song is, of course, the rather common tale of a Pike County farmer named Ike who travels overland to California with his girlfriend Betsy, "Two yoke of oxen, a large yellow dog, / A tall Shanghai rooster and one spotted hog." After the long trek west "They suddenly stopped on a very high hill, / With wonder looked down upon old Placerville; / Ike sighed when he said, and he cast his eyes down, / 'Sweet Betsy, my darling, we've got to Hangtown."

Stone also wrote "Hangtown Girls."

In 1854 Stone published Put's Original California Songster, a little songbook of 50 pages that sold for a quarter each, went through five editions, and ultimately sold over 25,000 copies. The book included such cynical ditties and old favorites as "The Miner's Lament," "Seeing the Elephant," "The Fools of '49," and "The Lousy Miner," which begins, "It's four long years since I reached this land, / In search of gold among the rocks and sand, / And yet I'm poor when the truth is told, / I'm a lousy miner in search of gold."

Placerville used to be known as "Hangtown." It is the county seat of El Dorado County, California - the county just east of Sacramento. I'm in rural Placer County, just north of the American River from El Dorado County, a 45-minute drive northeast of Sacramento. I believe a number of California towns had the name Greenwood. I'm not familiar with the one mentioned in this article, but I found out is is not far from me in El Dorado County (click).

Located on the Georgetown Divide just off Highway 193, this sleepy little village was once a rip-roaring gold camp with thousands of busy miners. The town was founded by John Greenwood, one of the many children of colorful mountain man Caleb Greenwood.
Today only a few homes remain. The Greenwood cemetery contains the remains of John A. Stone, nicknamed Old Put. A performer who roamed up and down the Mother Lode, he wrote many songs. His best-known effort is "Sweet Betsy from Pike."

Oh, I also found that there was an American Revolutionary War hero and tavern owner named Israel Putnam who was called "Old Put." Do you suppose that Stone stole the nickname from Putnam?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: MMario
Date: 22 Apr 02 - 03:00 PM

Music for 'De Boatmen Dance' is at Levy box 18 item 29

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Apr 02 - 03:00 PM

Wyo Woman in the earlier thread complained about the dearth of songs about women in the Gold Rush Days. Can anyone post "Hangtown Girls"? (I haven't checked the DT; just going out for the week's grub)

Subject: Lyr Add: HANGTOWN GALS (John A Stone)
From: masato sakurai
Date: 22 Apr 02 - 04:47 PM

HANGTOWN GALS
(Air: New York Gals)
J.A. Stone

1
Hangtown gals are plump and rosy,
Hair in ringlets mighty cosy;
Painted cheeks and gassy bonnets;
Touch them and they'll sting like hornets.

CHORUS:
Hangtown gals are lovely creatures,
Think they'll marry Mormon preachers;
Heads thrown back to show their features
Ha, ha, ha! Hangtown gals.

2
They'er dreadful shy of forty-niners,
Turn their noses up at miners;
Shocked to hear them say "gol durn it!"
Try to blush, but cannot come it.

3
They'll catch a neighbor's cat and beat it,
Cut a bean in half to eat it;
Promenade in silk and satin,
Cannot talk, but murder latin.

4
On the streets they're always grimming;
Modestly they lift their linen;
Petticoats all trimmed with laces,
Matching well their painted faces.

5
To church they very seldom venture--
Hoops so large they cannot enter;
Go it, gals, you're young and tender,
Shun the pick and shovel gender.

Text: Golden Songster.
Music: "New York Gals" or "Boston Gals," Comic Songs.

(From: Richard A. Dwyer and Richard E. Lingenfelter, eds., The Songs of the Gold Rush, University of California Press, 1965, p. 126; with music)

~Masato

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: masato sakurai
Date: 22 Apr 02 - 04:49 PM

lovely creatures

Subject: ADD: Hangtown Gals
From: masato sakurai
Date: 23 Apr 02 - 08:21 AM

Another mistake: "they're always grinning".

"Hangtown Gals" is also in Hazel Arnet, I Hear America Singing! (Praeger, 1975, p. 97), with a different tune and no source given (saying simply "Traditional"). The lyrics have some minor differnces (underlined).

1
Hangtown gals are plump and rosy,
Hair in ringlets, mighty cosy,
Painted cheeks and josy bonnets.
Touch them and they'll sting like hornets.

CHORUS:
Hangtown gals are lovely creatures,
Think they'll marry Mormon preachers;
Heads thrown back to show their features.
Ha, ha, ha, those Hangtown gals!

2
[...] Dreadful shy of valentiners,
Turn their noses up at miners,
Shocked to hear them say "Gol-durn it,"
Try to blush but cannot turn it.

3
On the street they're always grinnin';
Modestly they lift their linen,
Petticoats all trimmed with laces,
Matching well their painted faces.

4
To church they very seldom venture;
Hoops so large they cannot enter.
Go it, gals, you're young and tender;
Shun the pick-and-shovel gender.

~Masato

Subject: Lyr Add: DINAH'S LAMENTATION
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 20 Jul 02 - 02:54 PM

Lyr. Add: DINAH'S LAMENTATION

Way down beside Francisco Bay,
My tru lub's gone a-mining;
He ran away with a yaller gal,
And left me home repining,
Oh! Pompey dear, how could you go,
And leave your Dinah weeping?
Her bref grows short, her cheeks turn pale,
And nights she has no sleeping.

De purty tears roll down her cheeks,
Her heart wid lub am beating;
De tales of lub false Pompey told,
Heart-broken she's repeating;
Yet, Pompey, she forgibs you all,
But nebber can dat nigger,
De yaller-gal what coax you off,
Of tall and lubsome figger.

May be she'll die and you'll come back,
Oh! what a happy meeting!
No more will Dinah weep and sigh,
But forgib you all de cheating,
Farewell! farewell! until we meet,
On de udder side ob Jorden;
If we shall meet in de world no more,
She'll die like Peggy Jorden.

Sweet Peggy Gorden died for lub,
Her heart was truly broken;
And so will Dinah die likewise;
Dear friends, I'm not a joken.
If Pompey don't come back again,
She'll jump into de ribber;
Amongst de cat-fish and de eels,
Wid mud dey'll Dinah kibber.

Air: The Girl I Left Behind Me. Pub. H. De Marsan, dealer in songs, toy-books, etc., No. 60 Chatham. St N.Y. ND, mid-19th century.
Single sheet, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress. American Memory website.
@gold rush @minstrel @mining

Subject: Index: Songs of the Gold Rush (Lingenfelter/Dwyer)
From: masato sakurai
Date: 20 Jul 02 - 08:06 PM

These songs are included in SONGS OF THE GOLD RUSH, edited by Richard A. Dwyer and Richard E. Lingenfelter (University of California Press, 1965).

1. HO FOR CALIFORNIA
2. O, CALIFORNIA
3. ARRIVAL OF THE SAN FRANCISCO
4. YOU WHO DON'T BELIEVE IT
5. COMING AROUND THE HORN
6. RIPPING TRIP
7. HUMBUG STEAMSHIP COMPANIES
8. LOSS OF THE CENTRAL AMERICA
9. CROSSING THE PLAINS
10. SWEET BETSEY FROM PIKE
11. ARRIVAL OF THE GREENHORN
12. THAT IS EVEN SO
13. EMIGRANT FROM PIKE
14. SEEING THE ELEPHANT
15. JOE BOWERS
16. POKER JIM
17. WE ARE ALL A PANNING
18. AWAY UP ON THE YUBA
19. WHEN I WENT OFF TO PROSPECT
20. STRIKING A LEAD
21. PROSPECTING DREAM
22. MINERS MEETING
23. HE OUGHT TO KNOW
24. HONEST MINER
25. SENSIBLE MINER
26. NATIONAL MINER
27. PIKE COUNTY MINER
28. LIFE BY THE CABIN FIRE
29. MY LOG CABIN HOME
30. MOUNTAIN COTTAGE
31. SHADY OLD CAMP
32. LIFE IN CALIFORNIA
33. GAMBLER
34. CITY COUNCIL
35. JOHN CHINAMAN, MY JO
36. ROWDY, THE
37. CALIFORNIA BLOOMER
38. HANGTOWN GALS
39. CALIFORNIA BALL
40. SACRAMENTO GALS
41. HE'S THE MAN FOR ME
42. CALIFORNIA HUMBUGS
43. STEAM NAVIGATION THIEVES
44. CALIFORNIA STAGE COMPANY
45. CALIFORNIA BANK ROBBERS
46. JOAQUIN THE HORSE-THIEF
47. SONORA FILIBUSTERS
48. UNHAPPY MINER
49. LOUSY MINER
50. VOCAL MINER
51. MINER'S LAMENT
52. I'M SAD AND LONELY HERE
53. I OFTEN THINK OF WRITING HOME
54. MINER'S DREAM
55. DO THEY MISS ME AT HOME
56. THEN HURRAH FOR HOME
57. MINER'S FAREWELL
58. ON BOARD THE STEAMER
59. CALIFORNIA AS IT IS AND WAS
60. DAYS OF FORTY-NINE
61. YE ANCIENT YUBA MINER, OF THE DAYS OF 49
62. SONG OF THE ARGONAUTS
63. LAND WE ADORE
64. CLEMENTINE

~Masato

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: masato sakurai
Date: 20 Jul 02 - 08:44 PM

California Sheet Music Project (19th-Century California Sheet Music) has these titles; all are available online, including whole pages of the second item. CLICK HERE for (1)~(3), and CLICK HERE for (4).

(1) Bonanza waltz / composed by Miss Mary J. Shawhan, aged nine years.

(2) The gold digger's songbook (San Francisco: The Book Club of California, 1975)

(3) The miner's song / words by J. Swett ; music by Jas. C. Kemp (1859)

(4) Gold is king!: the miner's song / music composed by Gustave A. Scott (1863)

~Masato

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: masato sakurai
Date: 20 Jul 02 - 09:07 PM

The Levy Collection has these Gold Rush-related pieces:

(1) Title: When He's Full.
Composer, Lyricist, Arranger: Words by Chas. Ross. Music by John Strombert.
John Strombert Publication: New York: W.H. Anstead, 33 West 27th Street, 1901.
Form of Composition: strophic
Instrumentation: piano and voice
First Line: A man always thinks that he's having great fun, When he's full, he parts with his senses and likewise his "mon"
Performer: Sung and Featured by Robert Fitzsimmons
Engraver, Lithographer, Artist: Teller, Sons & Dorner, New York
Advertisement: ads on back cover for W.H. Anstead stock

(2) Title: The San Francisco Quadrilles. (1) Poor Nelly; (2) The Old Folks at Home; (3) Carry Me Long; (4) The Virginia Rosebud; (5) Nelly Bly.
Composer, Lyricist, Arranger: Arranged from the most favourite Negro Melodies for he Piano Forte by George Peck.
Publication: San Francisco: Atwill & Co., at Their Music Store Plaza, 1852.
Form of Composition: sectional
Instrumentation: piano
Dedicatee: Respectfully dedicated to the Ladies of California By Their Sincere Admirer, George Peck
Engraver, Lithographer, Artist: Lith. of B.F. Butler S. Francisco; Reys [del.]

(3) Title: Pike's Peak Gallop.
Composer, Lyricist, Arranger: Composed by Felix Roteri.
Publication: Louisville, Ky.: D.P. Faulds & Co., 1859.
Form of Composition: sectional
Instrumentation: piano
Dedicatee: To Orlando Miller.
Engraver, Lithographer, Artist: Chas. Dunbar.

(4) Title: Pike's Peak. March. 3d. Edition.
Composer, Lyricist, Arranger: By Gustav Baumhauer.
Publication: St. Louis: Jacob Endres, 52 Fourth St., 1859.
Form of Composition: da capo
Instrumentation: piano

(5) Title: Pike's Peak Gallop [with narrative].
Composer, Lyricist, Arranger: Arranged by W.C. Peters.
Publication: Cincinnati: W.C. Peters & Sons, No.76, West Fourth St., 1859.
Form of Composition: da capo
Instrumentation: piano
Engraver, Lithographer, Artist: Ehrgott & Forbriger Lith. Cin. O.

(6) Title: An Antidote for the Cold Fever. Billy Pike of Klondike. A Sad Little Story told in Verse.
Composer, Lyricist, Arranger: by W.R. Raniss.
Publication: Chicago: Lyon & Healy, 189.
Form of Composition: strophic with chorus
Instrumentation: piano and voice
First Line: Billy Pike, the boys all say, was braking on the S. and K.
First Line of Chorus: Billy Pike, Billy Pike, how do you like Klondike?

~Masato

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 20 Jul 02 - 09:28 PM

American Memory has a manuscript collection of Gold Rush songs, collected during the 1930s (in the Cowell Collection). Titles are:
1. JOE BOWERS
2. BETSY FROM PIKE
3. I'VE JUST GOT IN ACROSS THE PLAINS
4. WHEN I LEFT THE STATES FOR GOLD
5. WHEN THE GOLD FEVER RAGED I WAS DOING VERY WELL
6. COME ALL YE POOR MEN OF THE NORTH WHO ARE WORKING FOR YOUR LIVES
7. NOW IF YOU LISTEN TO THE TALE I WILL TELL
8. SINCE TIMES ARE SO HARD, I'LL TELL YOU, MY WIFE
9. OH LEAVE YE MINERS, LEAVE
10. OH MINERS, POOR MINERS, HUNGRY AND COLD
11. DON'T GO THERE, I PRAY, STAY AWAY IF YOU CAN

Some of these titles are first lines.
Also:
HO FOR CALIFORNIA (version)
THEN BLOW, BULLIES, BLOW (Banks of the Sacramento)
I CAME FROM SALEM CITY (tune Oh, Susanna)
THE LOUSY MINER (version)

As time permits, I will post some of these, or variations from songs previously posted or in the DT. These are the yield from the first 500 hits on the word 'miner'; many more probably still not looked at in this 'glory hole.'

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 20 Jul 02 - 11:02 PM

Didn't Dick and Carol Holdstock make a CD of goldmining songs? Or maybe they were working on it and it hasn't come out yet...

I can't help with gold mining songs, but there is a beautiful song called the "Star of Bannock" which I learned from Deckman aka Bob..I presume it is about a silver mining town but could for once be wrong.

mg

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: Deckman
Date: 21 Jul 02 - 12:42 AM

Hi Mary ... nice to see your name on my puter screen! How are things in Long Beach? My dear brother lives just a few miles North of you in Westport. As to "The Star Of Bannock"... I'm pleased that you remember this song ... your rememberance of it must mean that I sang it well. As well you know, being the very fine singer that YOU are, singing , or presenting a song well, is an obligation! I cannot write songs, so I must sing others compositions. And as a performer of other peoples songs, even though they are unknown, I feel I have to do them well. Thanx for your posting. CHEERS from Everett, Bob(deckman)Nelson

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: GUEST,andymac
Date: 21 Jul 02 - 04:24 AM

What a fascinating thread. Full of information and songs and sources. What I'd like to ask is how can I (living in Scotland) tap into some or any of the collections mentioned? Any advice/suggestions gratefully received...

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: masato sakurai
Date: 21 Jul 02 - 05:01 AM

andymac, American Memory (Library of Congress), The Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music (Milton S. Eisenhower Library of The Johns Hopkins University) and others are collections which are available online no matter where you are living. The Cowell Collection Dicho refers to is California Gold -- Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties collected Sidney Robertson Cowell.

~Masato, who has been living in Japan

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: masato sakurai
Date: 21 Jul 02 - 10:50 AM

At The Gold Rush site, these songs are listed with lyrics under the heading of "Gold Rush Songs":

The Californian
Gold
John Chinaman's Appeal
The Lousy Miner
My Sweetheart is a Mule in the Mines
On the Banks of the Sacramento
Song of the Flume
What was Your Name in the States?
When I Left the States for Gold

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Jul 02 - 02:04 PM

Andymac, as a postscript to the links posted by Masato, two books which are fairly widespread in libraries are:
Dwyer, Richard A., Lingenfelter, R. E., and David Cohen, 1964, The Songs of the Gold Rush, Univ. California Press.
Lingenfelter, Richard E., Dwyer, R. A. and David Cohen, 1968, Songs of the American West, Univ. California Press.
These books have been cited in this thread, but for convenience, above are the complete citations.
Also:
Sherwin, Sterling and Katzman, Lewis, 1932, Songs of the Gold Miners, Fisher and Son, N. Y.
Botkin, B. A., 1951, A Treasury of Western Folklore, Crown Pub.
Many others have selections. The Mudcat threads plus the DT and Forum have many useful comments and additions and add up to a good collection.
The American Memory website (see post by Masato, above) has a lot of material, some of it in the form of interviews. If you have the time and the interest, put a general term like 'miner' in their search blank, and literally thousands of items become available, including pictures, reminiscences, songs, mining regulations, etc. To cut the listing, try modifiers like 'California,' etc. Their collections will give you the grass roots background not only for the California Gold Rush, but the Klondike and Alaskan and western US gold "stampedes" as well.

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Feb 03 - 08:51 PM

At the risk of promoting my own book and research--which I am--here are some observations on gold rush songs.

The well known song "Seeing the Elephant" published by John Stone was not the earliest gold rush song. This idea results from widespread confusion with the play, "Seeing the Elephant" that appeared in San Francisco during 1850. That play was probably a reworking of P.T. Barnum's "Gold Mania" that appeared in New York during 1849. The hit tune from Barnum's show was "California As It Is" a parody of Jeannette and Jeannot with lyrics by Thaddeus Meighan.

This very popular song by Meighan seems to have popularized the expression--to see the elephant.

A review of Meighan's writing suggests the origins of this phrase. The expression "to see the elephant" appeared in the song and perhaps, to a limited extent, outside the song because of P.T. Barnum. Barnum was exhibiting a mastodon bone. In advertising this bone with "see the elephant", he was bilking people.

Meighan used the phrase to indicate that seeking gold in California was to be bilked by humbug. The song also implicitly criticized Barnum, whom Meighan continued to ridicule. After "Gold Mania" Barnum resolved to quit burlesque and put on only "moral drama". He returned from Europe a year and half later, parading Jenny Lind through New York with a group of real elephants--the first to appear in America.

References from a California book suggest that Old Put was a lawyer--hence "Put" as in putting a case. Stone himself helped confuse the issue by citing his effort to put things together.

There were reasons for Stone to soft pedal his effort. The "case" appears to have been his championship for the earliest stereotype of a western hero-- "Pike". In California, the name Pike applied to Missouri immigrants. Pikes were initially disdained. By 1853 they had come to be regarded as heros--at least in the gold country of the Sierra Nevada. Stone deserves much credit, at least for his willingness to champion Pike.

For Stone and others, the characterization of Pike was often modeled on the English saloon theater and minstrel show comic heros of that time. The social political subtleties of these characters are too complex for discussion here.

Whether Stone wrote all the songs in his collections is questionable. But we may never know.

Published in 1858, "Sweet Betsey From Pike" seems to have been inspired by the 1857 California play, "A Live Woman in The Mines". This play featured High Betty Martin, nicknamed Betsey, a Pike girl modeled on High Betty Martin in the song of that name.

Chris Bayer: "The Miner's Farewell, on the trail of gold rush song and dance."

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Feb 03 - 12:31 AM

Hi, Chris - please be sure to tell us when your book is available - or is it available now?
Do you live in this area?
-Joe Offer, Colfax, California-

---

Here (click) is where to get information on The Miner's Farewell: on the trail of Gold Rush song and dance, published in 1994.
-Joe Offer, February, 2004

Subject: Lyr Add: PIKE COUNTY MINER
From:
Date: 14 Jul 03 - 06:29 PM

The Pike County Miner

Oh! Once I was a 'right smart' lad,
When I lived out in Pike,
I'd a heap of good things, I never was sad
And I did whatever I'd like

Chorus:
But now I've nothing but rags to my back
And my boots scarce hide my toes
And my pants are patched with an old flour sack
To jive with the rest of my clothes

I thought when I first started from Pike
And drove an ox team o'er the plains
That when I got here I should make a big strike
And get some pay for my pains
But now

I landed at last in the mines, and I find
That money is hard to be made,
This sworking in water is not to my mind,
And I'm sick of the pick and the spade.
For now

I have drifted, I've washed, I've creviced and dug,
I've worked all the flesh to the bone
But never have had as much as a slug
That could be considered my own
And now

I am sick of the country, "I'm down at the heel"
I'm dirth, I'm ragged, I'm cold
Thought scarce one and twenty, I really do feel
As thought I was powerful old.
For here I've nothing

now I am resolved to labor and sweat
'Til something I make like a "strike,"
And jiust whenever a raise I may geret,
This "hombre" will "vamose" for Pike.

For there I'll have good clothes to my back,
And boots that will hide my toes,
And never a patch will I cut from a sack
For my pants of the rest of my clothes.

"Songs Of The Gold Rush"

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 14 Jul 03 - 07:04 PM

Source of "Pike County Miner"? Is it from the "Songs of the Gold Rush by Dwyer and Lingenfelter"?

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: masato sakurai
Date: 14 Jul 03 - 08:13 PM

"The Pike County Miner" is in Dwyer and Lingenfelter's book (pp. 91-92; with tune). The last stanza quoted above ("For there I'll have good clothes...") is a second chorus. Words: M. Taylor.

Text: Diggers' Song Book.
Music: "Landlord's Pet" or "There Was a Jolly Miller," in Sabine Baring-Gould, English Minstrelsy: A National Monument of English Song (Edinburgh: T.C. Jack, 1895), vol. 6.

~Masato

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 14 Jul 03 - 08:50 PM

Thanks, Masato. The Bodleian collection has two broadside copies of "Their [sic] Was a Jolly Miller," ca. 1850.

Subject: ADD: Song of the Argonauts
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Dec 03 - 01:34 AM

Debby McClatchy recorded this on her 2003 CD, Chestnut Ridge. It was written as a reminiscence, 25 years after the California Gold Rush. Debby's CD booklet says the song was written in 1874, but the publication date I found in my source was 1878. Tune is the "common" version of "Auld Lang Syne.
-Joe Offer-


SONG OF THE ARGONAUTS
S.C. Upham, 1878

We are assembled here today, A band of Pioneers,
To celebrate with grateful hearts, Events of bygone years:
We come from hill and valley fair, Sierras capped with snow.
With kindly words we greet you now, Dear friends of long ago.

CHORUS
Oh, cherished be forevermore, The days of auld lang syne
Those golden days, remembered days, The days of Forty-Nine


Fresh laurel-wreaths we bring to-day, To crown the Patriarch,
Whose hand unlocked the golden ore, In gulch and cañon dark.
Old Pioneer thy name we still In all our hearts enshrine;
God's blessing rest upon thy head, Dear friend of auld lang syne!

We are a band of Argonauts, Erst from Eureka State.
By some the golden fleece was found, Whilst others mourned their fate.
We digged in gulch and delved in mine, From morn till setting sun,
With aching limbs and moistened brows — But perseverance won.

No maiden's voice, with cheering words, Was heard in mine or camp —
The miner's food was grizzly meat, And knot of pine his lamp.
But changes great have taken place, Since days of 'Forty-nine,
The miner now in comfort dwells, And kneels at woman's shrine.

Hillside, ravine and tulé marsh Now blossom as the rose,
And 'round Diablo's verdant base, The crystal streamlet flows.
Now glory be to God on high! Let this our paean be —
And peace on earth, good-will to man, Our prayer, O God, to Thee!


Text: "Song of the Argonauts, or The Days of 49," by Sam C. Upham (Philadelphia, 1978)
Music: "Auld Lang Syne," Good Old Songs. Transposed from G to E.

Source: The Songs of the Gold Rush, Lingenfelter & Dwyer

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 30 Dec 03 - 07:52 AM

Now ther wsa an Australian "Argonauts Club" on the ABC Radio that had a theme song - I thought this thread was about that... ohhh...

Robin

Subject: Lyr Add: HIGH COUNTRY (Mike Campbell)
From: Alaska Mike
Date: 30 Dec 03 - 10:38 AM

HIGH COUNTRY
Mike Campbell 1994

Oh Mary, sweet Mary, I have just come from town,
Where young Joseph Connolly was showing what he found.
He's returned from high country, and truth, it be told.
He's come back with great riches, his pockets filled with gold.

When I saw all the treasure he's taken from this earth,
The short time in high country that multiplied his worth,
I compared it to the many years I've toiled on this land,
And the sum of my wealth I can count on one hand.

How cruel, the Almighty, when he decides our fate,
How wrong though my temptation, this young man to hate,
I was filled with great anger, consumed with envy,
That he should find in high country all I wanted for thee.

Way up in high country where the air smells so clean,
Men are finding their fortunes in rivers and streams,
Its a road I must follow, for it calls out my name,
And this fever for gold sure might drive me insane.

I have packed up my gear and the clothes that I shall wear,
Placed my blanket and saddle on the back of the mare,
I shall go to high country for all the gold we need,
Then return like young Joseph and lay it at your feet.

So now I must leave you, dear Mary my love,
But I swear that each night 'twill be you I dream of,
And if anyone comes out here asking for me,
You must tell them high country is where I shall be.

Subject: Lyr Add: SACRAMENTO GALS + BOBBIN' AROUND
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 02 Dec 04 - 04:55 PM

Lyr. Add: SACRAMENTO GALS
(Air- "Bobbin' Around")

The Sacramento gals are some,
Napping 'round, around, around;
They're down on men who live on rum,
As they go nipping 'round.

They're pretty gals, I must confess,
Nipping 'round, around, around;
And "Lordy-massy" how they dress,
As they go nipping 'round.

On J street they are to be found,
Nipping 'round, around, around,
Their bustles lift them off the ground,
As they go nipping 'round.

Their hoops will reach around a dray,
Nipping 'round, around, around;
They're "airy" on a windy day,
As they go nipping 'round.

There's many a gal from Ar-kan-saw,
Nipping 'round, around, around,
Who well remembers *hollowing "haw,"
As she went nipping 'round.

Their faces covered with paint and chalk,
Nipping 'round, around, around;
Their hoops take up the whole sidewalk,
As they go nipping 'round.

They're here and there, like Santa Anna,
Nipping 'round, around, around;
They're fresh and mellow as a ripe banana,
As they go nipping 'round.

Give me a rosy country gal,
Nipping 'round, around, around;
No matter if her name is Sal,
As she goes nipping 'round.

But of all the gals I ever see,
Nipping 'round, around, around;
The Sacramento gals for me,
As they go nipping 'round.

* as spelled in the "Songster."
John A. Stone, 1858, "Put's Golden Songster," pp. 21-22. Appleton & Co., San Francisco.
Based on the popular song, "Bobbin' Around," by W. J. Florence, 1850(?), 2nd. ed. 1855. Levy Sheet Music, Bobbin' Around

Lyr. Add: BOBBIN' AROUND
W. J. Florence, 1851(?), 1855

In August last on one fine day,
A bobbing around, around, around,
When Josh and I went to make hay,
We went a bobbing around.

Says Josh to me let's take a walk,
a bobbing around. around, around,
Then we can have a private talk,
As we go bobbing around.

We walked along to the mountain ridge,
a bobbing around, around, around,
Till we got near Squire Slipshop's bridge,
As we went bobbing around.

Then Josh and I went on a spree,
A bobbing around, around, around,
And I kiss'd Josh and Josh kiss'd me
As we went bobbing around.

Then Josh's pluck no longer tarri'd,
A bobbing around, around, around,
Says he dear Patience let's get married
Then we'll go bobbing around.

Now I know he lov'd another Gal,
A bobbing around, around, around,
They called her long legg'd
crooked shin curly tooth'd Sal,
When he went bobbing around.

So after we got into church,
A bobbing around, around, around,
I cut and left Josh in the lurch,
Then he went bobbing around.

"The Yankee Song Bobbin' Around," 2nd. ed. 1855, words and music by W. J. Florence, New York, pub. Samuel L. Jollie, the only authentic edition. Levy Sheet Music Collection, link above.

In 1851, John A. Stone published "Bobbin' Around Songster." No other data.

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 02 Dec 04 - 05:03 PM

Try again-
http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/cgi-bin/display.pl?record=050.012.000&pages=5
Bobbin Around

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 02 Dec 04 - 05:10 PM

I typed 059 instead of 050- got to take a cut and paste lesson sometime.
Bobbin Around

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: open mike
Date: 02 Dec 04 - 05:15 PM

HI Chris--glad to see you posting here.
Yes i was going to recommend Chris Bayer's Gold Mine songs..
book and c.d. He is from Carson City Nevada and helps to
do the contra dances there. Years ago our band played for
Contra dances in Carson City, and Reno and Jack's Valley
and Gardiner and Minden area. I have met him and jammed
a bit and have his c.d. and book...thier family is active
in arts and music in Nevada and are often involved in
productions, musical and theatrical at Brewery Arts Center .
check out their home page Laurel from down the canyon below Quincy

Subject: Lyr Add: POKER JIM
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 16 Feb 06 - 04:57 PM

Lyr. Add: POKER JIM
Tune- Raging Canal

Now I'll tell you of my history since eighteen forty seven,
When I lived in old Missouri, and my home was like a heaven;
I had a buxom little wife, as purty as could be,
She said as how she loved me well, and I'm certain I loved she.

But there came a lot of news along, I shall ne'er forget the day,
About there being lots of gold in Cal-i-for-nia:
I said "Good-bye" unto my wife, though my heart felt many pains,
But thought the road to fortune, sure, lay straight across the Plains.

The first place that I got into is now called Placerville,
In them days it was hangtown, but they thought that ungenteel:
I went to work right willingly, with shovel, pick, and pan,
And every chunk of gold saved for my Mary Ann.

In about two years, I made a pile, though things were awful dear,
And then I started home again, to fetch my wife out here;
I took passage by the steamer, just because it went so quick,
But I'll never travel so no more, for the damned thing made me sick.

I stayed at home for half a year, and then we left for good,
My wife and children all were well, I was in a merry mood:
I bought a right good ox-team, and a wagon for the trip,
And when we started, Mary Ann said, "Joshua, let 'em rip!"

We had a very pleasant time, and all got safely through,
I went to work quite willingly, and so did my wife, too:
To make my home a happy one, my Mary Ann did try,
But very shortly after that, began my mis-e-ry.

There was a noted gambalier a living in our camp,
They called him Poker Jim, and, oh! he was an awful scamp:
He used to come and talk to her, while I tried to make a strike,
And said she was a fool to love an ugly d----d d----d Pike.

One night I felt almighty tired, I'd been at work all day,
When I got home the neighbors said my wife had run away;
My heart was nearly bursting, and my head began to swim,
She'd left a letter saying as how she'd eloped with Poker Jim.

I tried to keep my dander up, but felt awful bad of course,
For the d----d d----d critter she commenced an action for divorce;
She got it and with Poker Jim she went off and got wed,
And the only ground she got it on, was because I snored in bed!

R. A. Dwyer and R. E. Lingenfelter, 1965, "The Songs of the Gold Rush," pp. 58-59, with music. From Johnson, J. E., 1858, "Johnson's Original Comic Songs," San Francisco, Presho & Appleton Co.

Subject: Lyr Add: ONLY THE HANGMAN
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 16 Feb 06 - 06:17 PM

I often sing this old Al Terry song. The air is similar to Spanish Ladies/Streets of Laredo.

ONLY THE HANGMAN
(As sung by Al Terry.)

I left my hometown one warm summer evening
Went down to the station to catch me a train
Rode west through Missouri and into Wyoming
Headed out to California to stake a gold claim

I met her at Clancy’s, the cause of my trouble
A woman with beauty for all men to see
She fed me rye whisky and gave me a six-gun
Said the fools do the digging; smart men work for me

There's gold in the mountain, gold in the valley
Gold in the river and gold in the sea
Fortunes are waiting for men to find them
But only the hangman is waiting for me

She gave me her favors, I gave her my six-gun
We cheated most all of the miners in town
Those who complained that she dealt from the bottom
Were challenged to draw and were quickly shot down

I'm so tired of killing for love of this woman
The notches on my gun are twenty and three
The next one I kill will be my scarlet lover
And that's why the hangman is waiting for me

There's gold in the mountain, gold in the valley
Gold in the river and gold in the sea
Fortunes are waiting for men to find them
But only the hangman is waiting for me

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: GUEST,Wendi
Date: 02 Jan 07 - 05:57 PM

Can anyone find the music and complete lyrics to a song I learned in elementary school? Part of it went,"I'm goin' to Californiay! Californiay! There's gold in them thar hills in Californiay! I've come to live where life is best, in the golden west. I'm gonna strike it rich in Californiay!"

I remember those words and the tune from our school music text in the '70's.

Thanks!

Subject: Lyr Add: HANGTOWN GALS
From: GUEST,Old Put's Ghost
Date: 20 Aug 07 - 09:50 PM

Let's get this straight:

Hangtown Gals.

Air -- "New York Gals"

Hangtown gals are plump and rosy,
Hair in ringlets mighty cosy;
Painted cheeks and gassy bonnets;
Touch them and they'll sting like hornets.

          Chorus
Hangtown gals are lovely creatures,
Think they'll marry Mormon preachers;
Heads thrown back to show their features --
   Ha. ha. ha ! Hangtown gals.

They're dreadful shy of forty-niners,
Turn their noses up at miners;
Shocked to hear them say " gol darn it !"
Try to blush , but cannot come it.

Chorus -- Hangtown gals are lovely creatures, etc.

They'll catch a neighbor's cat and beat it,
Cut a bean in halves to eat it;
Promenade in silk and satin.
Cannot talk, but murder Latin

Chorus -- Hangtown gals are lovely creatures, etc.

On the streets they're always gr'nn'ng;
Modestly they lift their linnen;
Petticoats all trimmed with laces,
Matching well their painted faces.

Chorus -- Hangtown gals are lovely creatures, etc.

To church they very seldom venture --
Hoops so large they cannot enter ;
Go it, gals, you're young and tender,
Shun the pick and shovel gender.

Chorus -- Hangtown gals are lovely creatures, etc.

---------------------
Plus, I might add, it weren't a $15K nugget but more to $25K.
Consequently, I erected the popular Black's Theater in
Greenwood. Although a going concern, I finally took the lead
pill from a steel box upon hearing of my lady's demise.

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 20 Aug 07 - 10:37 PM

Old Put's Ghost has a pretty good memory after all these years; the lyrics are as writ in "Put's Golden Songster," 1858, p. 58.
Only one word different- in verse 3, the miners said "Gol durn it," not gol darn it.

But Masato had it all correct in his post way back in aught two.

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Jan 08 - 05:10 PM

The Sacramento Bee has an interesting Website on the Califrnia Gold Rush, http://www.calgoldrush.com/.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 Jan 08 - 02:18 PM

The "Bee" articles ignore the plight of the Indians during the 'Gold Rush' period.
Some 300,000 native Americans are estimated to have been living in California just prior to the Gold Rush. Most were killed and starved out, leaving only about 20,000 by the 1890s.

The remaining tribes are trying to get bones of their ancestors back from the University of California (Berkeley), which has the remains of 12,000 stored in cabinets under the Hearst Gymnasium swimming pool.
Under the provisions of NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act), the University Hearst Museum is required to identify the tribal origins of its bones and artifacts (some 400,000) and return them to federally recognized tribes that request them.

Native Americans staged protests in 2007 on the campus, demanding action on return, and recognition of the Gold Rush holocaust. The University has been unconscionably unresponsive. So far, bones of only about 260 individuals have been returned.

Many articles, this one today in "The Santa Fe New Mexican."
Tribes vs Berkeley

Subject: RE: GOLD MINERS' SONGS (American) 2
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 Jan 08 - 02:21 PM

Not sure what is wrong-
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/National%20News/Tribes_school_spar_over_fate_of_remains
.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Gold Miners' Songs (American) 2
From: GUEST,Terry
Date: 05 Oct 12 - 08:42 AM

Re Sandy Mc Lean only the Hangman could anyone please provide me with
the guitar chords for this song, preferably easy one's as I am not long playing the guitar.

Tks