Lyr Req: Old Bonebags (Jimmy Eaton)

Subject: DTADD: Old Bonebags
From:
Date: 12 Feb 03 - 12:29 AM

Folksong, Old Bonebags is great & doesn't exist on mudcat.

Old Bonebags

Old Bonebags, old bonebags my toothless old hound
He'd growl at the prowlers 'till lhey'd come around.
He's scared of a rabbit and he shies from a dove,
but he comes running to me with eyes full of love.
With a yip yip over the mountain, how happy are we.
With a yip yip over the mountain run Bonebags and me.

I set out one morning old Bones by my side,
To call on my darling and make her my bride.
A bag full of gumdrops tucked under my vest,
We knocked on the door of the gal I loved best.
With a woof woof over the mountain, my darling to see,
With a woof woof over the mountain came Bonebags and me.

Before she could say, "Howdy-do, have a seat,"
I heard a low growl and the scrampling of feet.
I looked for old Bonebags, but all I could see,
Was a tree full of petticoats yowling at me.
With a yipe yipe over the montain,
My gal up a tree,
With a yipe yipe over the mountain ran Bonebags and me.

I'll never be shackled, I'll never be wed.
I'll roam the green wood with old Bonebags instead.
For sure as I married, there never would be
A full pound of gumdrops for Bonebags and me.
With a bow wow over the mountain,
We're glad to be free,
With a bow wow over the mountain,
Old bonebags and me.

by Jimmy Eaton

This was in a California State Series song book published in 1958.
It doesn't say the origin date of the song itself. Y.D.

Subject: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags
From: GUEST,Ted
Date: 11 Jul 04 - 09:18 AM

My fourth-grade school teacher, in the early sixties, taught us a song that as I recall was from an old childrens music book. Here is what I remember of the lyrics:

Old Bonebags, Old Bonebags, my toothless out hound,
He growls at the prowlers when they come around,
But he's scared of a rabbit, and he shys from a dove,
But he comes when I call him, with eyes full of love.

Chorus:
With a Woof! Woof! over the mountain
Go Bonebags and me.
With a Woof! Woof! over the mountain
So happy are we.

The song continues about, as I recall a trip "my true love to see,"
and Bonebags somehow manages to goof up the occasion.

I have searched for this a number of times, to no avail.

Any hints?

Thanks,

Ted

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags
From: Sorcha
Date: 11 Jul 04 - 10:23 AM

Well, Joe Offer posted a list of titles of Burdette song books in this thread and that one is there. Maybe Joe has it....

Subject: ADD: Old Bonebags (Jimmy Eaton)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Jul 04 - 01:42 AM

Hey, our school songbook index project helps again! This is from Music Near and Far, the 1956 Silver Burdett fourth-grade music textbook. I looked through the fine print in the front of the book and couldn't find any source or copyright information, other than what I posted here.
-Joe Offer-

---

^^
Old Bonebags
(words & music by Jimmy Eaton)

Old Bonebags, Old Bonebags, my toothless old hound,
He'll growl at the prowlers till they come around.
He's scared of a rabbit, and he shies from a dove,
But he comes runnin' to me with eyes full of love.

Chorus:
With a yip-yip over the mountain
So happy are we.
With a yip-yip over the mountain
Go Bonebags and me.

I set out one morning, old "Bones" by my side,
To call on my darling and make her my bride,
A bag full of gumdrops tucked under my vest,
We knocked on the door of the gal I loved best.
With a woof - woof over the mountain,
My darling to see,
With a woof - woof over the mountain,
Came Bonebags and me.

Before she could say, "Howdy-do, have a seat,"
I heard a low growl and the scrambling of feet.
I looked for old Bonebags, but all I could see,
Was a tree full of petticoats yowling at me.
With a yipe - yipe over the mountain,
My gal up a tree,
With a yipe - yipe over the mountain,
Ran Bonebags and me.

I'll never be shackled, I'll never be wed.
I'll roam the green wood with old Bonebags, instead.
For, sure as I married, there never would be,
A full pound of gumdrops for Bonebags and me.
With a bow-wow over the mountain,
We're glad to be free,
With a bow-wow over the mountain,
Old Bonebags and me.

---

I gather that Jimmy Eaton is the same songwriter who penned (with others) that 1944 megahit, "Dance With a Dolly." "Dolly" was an update of "Buffalo Gals," recorded later by Bill Haley and the Comets.

---

Click to play

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags
From: GUEST,Ted
Date: 13 Jul 04 - 09:49 PM

You folks are absolutely awe inspiring!

I have been looking for years both on the internet and in old book shops and antique stores trying to find this song. Not only do you find the song, you give me author and the name and publisher of the fourth grade book it was in!

Now, I need to go find a copy of that old book. I wonder what other songs I might remember.

Thank you so much.

Ted

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags
From: Joe Offer
Date: 23 Jul 04 - 01:13 AM

I added a MIDI, so now we can all sing along:-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags
From: GUEST,KT
Date: 23 Jul 04 - 02:45 AM

I remember that one too, Ted. From my 4th grade class! (Maybe it was the same one!)

As for other songs, how 'bout "I'm A Peddler, I'm a peddler, I'm a peddler from Conneticut, I'm a peddler, I'm a peddler, and don't you want to buy?" etc That was probably in the same book!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags
From: Joe Offer
Date: 23 Jul 04 - 04:12 AM

Hi, Kt - I posted lyrics for "Connecticut Peddler" here (click). It's in the Fifth-Grade Silver Burdett music textbook, Music In Our Country.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags
From: GUEST,KT
Date: 23 Jul 04 - 01:23 PM

Joe, you are amazing! I remembered a good chunck of that one as you've posted it. Do YOU remember it from elementary school, too? Oh, we could have some fun with all those old songs!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags
From: Barbara
Date: 23 Jul 04 - 01:56 PM

OK, Joe, I've got one for you. I don't remember the name of our grade school music book, but it had a song in it that went:
"Wouldn't you like to be a whale,
And sail serenely by?
An eighty foot whale from the tip of your tail
And a tiny briny eye?"

...and something about
"you'd always be so clean,
You'd never have to wash, I mean..."

It also had " Git Along Little Dogies" in it, I recall.
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 Jul 04 - 02:29 PM

The Whale Song posted in a new thread. For Barbara and all those in their second (third?) childhood. Hoagy Carmichael, no less!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags
From: GUEST,Penny
Date: 04 Dec 05 - 06:29 PM

Holy Moly!! I am a graduate student and an elementary music teacher desperately researching the history of the Silver Burdett music series. I was about to just cry and give up, it's hard to find this info.   At least none of my searches were yielding much. You just saved my life! Joe - you are infinitely wise! Thanks!!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 02:44 AM

Hi, Penny - I hope you saw our Silver Burdett thread. Some of us may have even more Silver Burdett books we haven't indexed yet, particularly in the Making Music Your Own and New Music Horizons series. Generally, the person who posted the index is the owner of that particular book.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags
From: GUEST,GUEST, Mike
Date: 29 Jan 07 - 06:58 PM

"I'll never be shackled, I'll never be wed.
I'll roam the green wood with old Bonebags, instead."


Those lines have stuck with me for forty years, evoking memories of long lost dogs in my life.

I never thought I'd run across the whole song again.

Thanks much.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags
From: GUEST,Michael
Date: 19 Apr 07 - 05:21 PM

Those lines have stuck with me for 45 years. I sing that damn song in the shower. It's a wonderful song. I must admit, however, that I'd never been able to remember the stanza about how Bonebags ruins the narrator's marriage prospects.

I wonder if children sing in elementary school anymore. I'm 54 years old, and I remember dozens of the songs we sang. They come to me all the time. It drives my wife crazy. I should explain that I attended the public elementary school in Montrose, California, while she attended a Roman Catholic elementary school in Potsdam, New York. While they were praying, we were singing. We had a songbook, which contained songs from all over the world. There was even a Japanese coal miners' song, called "Hiyamo Yatana." The first line was, "Each morning, at the dawn, down I go/ down into the mine so cold and damp." We had our favorites, and "Hiyamo Yatana" wasn't one of them. Our teachers made us learn new songs, but then let us sing the ones we loved. "Old Bonebags" was a big hit with us.

In long retrospect, I believe that singing songs with others developed my sense of both the rhythms and the expressive possibilities of our language. I'd love to get my hands on the songbooks we used in those years.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags
From: GUEST,Gwendolyn
Date: 19 Apr 07 - 10:16 PM

Yes, some children still get to sing the wonderful old songs that you remember--taught by 'old' teachers like me who remember them too! Tomorrow my 2nd graders will be performing "Old Bonebags" at their spring concert. Do you remember "The Ghost of John" ? My kids love it. I'd love to get my hands on the 1950's series Silver Burdett music books. They were the best I've ever seen as a student or a teacher.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags
From: GUEST,KT
Date: 20 Apr 07 - 10:11 AM

Guests Gwen and Michael, I bet you knew "I'm a Peddler" and "The Tailor and the Mouse" too!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags
From: Joe Offer
Date: 23 Apr 07 - 03:07 AM

Hi, Gwendolyn -
If you happen to see this, I have couple of Silver Burdett books that are looking for a good home. I'd be glad to send them to you - I don't even mind paying the postage.
Just send me an e-mail.
-Joe Offer-
[e-mail]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags
From: GUEST,cheryl
Date: 12 Aug 07 - 02:33 PM

wouldnt you like to be a whale,
and sail serenely by?
an eighty foot whale from your tip to your tail
with a tiny briny eye
and wouldnt you like to wallow
where nobody says come out and wouldnt you like to swallow         and blow all the brine about
and wouldnt you like to be always clean
and never have to wash i mean                                     and wouldnt you like to spout
and blow all the brine about

this is the way i remember this from my school days here in england

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 08:41 AM

I taught "Old Bonebags" (and others from the Silver-Burdette book) to students in 1961. Some other songs included: "Barnacle Bill the Sailor", "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill" and many other similar songs.
Most were American folk songs, with a sprinkling of English and Irish, as I recall. (It's been 47 years, after all!)

The kid's favorite was: "In a cottage in the wood, little old man by the window stood. Saw a rabbit hopping by, knocking at his door.

Help me, Help me, Sir!, he cried - ere the hunter shoot me dead!
Come, little rabbit, come inside - safely to abide."

This was an action song that included motions and positions, by the students, to coincide with the lyrics.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags
From: GUEST,gail
Date: 12 Mar 08 - 02:17 PM

Old Bonebags has been with me for the past 50 years too. What a great song!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags
From: GUEST,Camino Dad
Date: 25 Apr 08 - 11:58 PM

My daughter came home singing "My dog Rags". It was so sweet, and it immediately reminded me of Old Bonebags. Oddly enough, I could remember the lyrics to the first verse- but nothing else. (You'll have to imagine the expression on my wife's face as I belted it out...) Thank you so much for giving me back a little piece of my childhood. (I suspect that my daughter may go back to school singing this one!)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags
From: KT
Date: 26 Apr 08 - 01:16 AM

Gail & Camino Dad, where were you living when you learned those songs? KT

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags
From: GUEST,burnie
Date: 27 May 09 - 09:51 PM

what a trip! I was telling my fourth grader about OLD BONEBAG and Icould'nt remeber all the verses. I took a shot in the dark and googled. What a pleasent surprise. It takes me back to good ole Sidney Primary School in upstate NY thanks for the memories
                         God Bless
                              burnie niles

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags (Jimmy Eaton)
From: GUEST,clayton
Date: 06 Jun 09 - 09:11 PM

i'm fifty-five and recollect this song. i guess i've modified it slightly over the years but still sing it to my dog!
there was another song called "dummy line" from that same era:

rise and shine
and pay your fine
when you're riding on the dummy
on the dummy dummy line!

thanks for the memories!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags (Jimmy Eaton)
From: GUEST,Loretta
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 08:59 PM

Please...does any one have that Japanese coal miners song lyrics? :)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags (Jimmy Eaton)
From: GUEST,sarahc
Date: 18 Jul 09 - 03:57 PM

Im only 18 but one day after my dad had a few drinks he started telling me about this song about old bone bags and how he was mad b/c he couldnt remember all of it. im so glad I could look it up for him b/c now i love this song :)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags (Jimmy Eaton)
From: GUEST,Karen
Date: 14 Aug 10 - 10:19 PM

Tonight I started singing Old Bonebags to my dog and my husband thought I was crazy! I explained that the song was always running throgh my head, but I couldn't remember all of it. I learned it in 4th grade at Mitchell Elementary School in Garden Grove CA. What a treat to see all of the lyrics and hear the tune again! Thanks!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags (Jimmy Eaton)
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Jan 11 - 11:42 PM

Hey Ted would that gr 4 teacher be Mrs Corbett in Calgary Alberta in Albert Park Elementary ,Cliff. [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags (Jimmy Eaton)
From: GUEST,Bryan Kelso Crow
Date: 02 Apr 11 - 11:06 PM

Old Bonebags was going through my head tonight for some reason, and sure enough, I too learned it back in 4th grade, in about 1962, in Memphis, so I'm guessing it was in that same Silver Burdett songbook. Even though I made a C in music that year because I was too shy to sing in front of the class, I now sing with an Irish band and have done solo a capella songs in front of rather large audiences, so take that Mrs. DeShazo!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags (Jimmy Eaton)
From: GUEST,guest, janet b
Date: 27 Apr 11 - 03:21 AM

What a very special treat to actually have to the words my little sister sang so many years ago. She was probably in the 4th grade as well, in Riverside, Ca. I would always ask her to sing it for me. Thanks for the memories and the words.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags (Jimmy Eaton)
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Aug 16 - 03:23 PM

Does anybody know where I can hear the tune?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags (Jimmy Eaton)
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 31 May 17 - 11:35 AM

Is there anywhere that I can get the musical notations for this song?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags (Jimmy Eaton)
From: GUEST,Pam
Date: 18 Dec 18 - 01:20 AM

Where can we hear a recording???? Anywhere? I don’t remember the melody. I want to prove my sanity to my hubby of 37 years. ??????Thanks!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags (Jimmy Eaton)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 18 Dec 18 - 04:51 PM

Someone made an animated video out of OLD BONEBAGS; you can see it at YouTube. Lyrics are very close to those posted in the first message in this thread, except that the chorus (if I can call it that) is skipped several times.

It’s the only recording I can find on the internet.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags (Jimmy Eaton)
From: GUEST,Rod Atkinson
Date: 16 Oct 19 - 07:12 PM

The Teacher's Edition of Music Near and Far includes the following note as a sidebar to the song, "Old Bonebags": "This song, picturing the contentment of a man with his dog and his life in the country, was written by a contemporary composer who lives in New York. Much of our bucolic music was written by city-dwellers, inspired by visits to the country." My guess is that the Jimmy Eaton who wrote words and music for "Old Bonebags" is likely the same Jimmy Eaton who gave the swing era such songs as "I Double Dare You."

This situation was not new with Silver-Burdett, the music textbook publisher. In the 1940s they issued a music textbook series, "New Music Horizons." One of the contributors was Hollywood composer, Johnny Green, who provided a children's song for Thanksgiving. Another was Hoagy Carmichael, who (if I recall correctly) provided a song for second graders, "Little Mousie Brown."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags (Jimmy Eaton)
From: GUEST,Freddie
Date: 10 Feb 21 - 09:08 PM

My dad sang this to me when I was a little girl. I miss my dad and his songs

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags (Jimmy Eaton)
From: GUEST,Ann Vannoy
Date: 28 May 21 - 11:24 AM

I see I'm late to this party, but I actually still have those school music books, PLUS the 78 records for most of them. I'm a retired music teacher who, like many of you, sang these songs in the 60's. Years later I "rescued" them from the district discard pile. My email is [e-mail], if you want to talk about them!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags (Jimmy Eaton)
From: GUEST,#
Date: 28 May 21 - 01:17 PM

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

I'm unfamiliar with the song, so I don't know if that is the melody some of you recall.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Bonebags (Jimmy Eaton)
From: GUEST,#
Date: 28 May 21 - 01:17 PM

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

I'm unfamiliar with the song, so I don't know if that is the melody some of you recall.