Lyr Req: Old McDonald / Old MacDonald Had a Farm

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old McDonald / Old MacDonald Had a Farm
From: GUEST,A.Airey
Date: 03 Apr 08 - 08:52 PM

Since I was little I was told I had an great-great uncle who was a composer. I was also told he wrote the Marine Corp Hymn and Old McDonald. His name was L. Z. Phillips. I never saw the score from Old McDonald, but my mother said she saw it 30+ years ago when she married my father. My grandmother supposedly had it until her death, but I never found it. I have one Aunt who said she would look for it. I don't know if it is a wild goose chase or this really exists. There isn't much information on L.Z. Has anyone crossed over it in there searches?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old McDonald / Old MacDonald Had a Farm
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 06:37 PM

Music publishers are not known for good spelling.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old McDonald / Old MacDonald Had a Farm
From: GUEST,Rudi
Date: 14 Oct 06 - 11:06 PM

I have recently found a book of Kate Smith's 100 most popular songs published in 1933 and it has the title written as OLD MAC DONALD. This split of Mac and Donald is also noted in the lyrics. So, is it Mr. Mac Donald, Mac being his given name and Donald as his last name? Just more fuel to the fire?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old McDonald / Old MacDonald Had a Farm
From: Flash Company
Date: 13 Sep 06 - 10:14 AM

My pal at the last place I worked before retirement said that his 5yr old daughter Sophie came home from school and said 'We've been learning to spell today'
He said 'How do you spell farm?'
Reply 'E I E I O'
Having met the child I can believe it!

FC

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old McDonald / Old MacDonald Had a Farm
From: kendall
Date: 13 Sep 06 - 07:25 AM

I like Seamus Kennedy's version better than any.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old McDonald / Old MacDonald Had a Farm
From: Cluin
Date: 17 Aug 05 - 08:15 PM

The farmer takes the wife,
The farmer takes the wife,
He bends her over the milking stool
The farmer takes the wife.



I used to specialize in ruining kids songs for parents.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old McDonald / Old MacDonald Had a Farm
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 17 Aug 05 - 07:59 PM

Interesting. The song "Ohio," in Tommy's Tunes" and the other MacDonalds-Macdougals had to come from somewhere.

No one seems to have located any early sheet music.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old McDonald / Old MacDonald Had a Farm
From: GUEST,McDonald Descendent
Date: 17 Aug 05 - 04:35 AM

Here's my two cents...
Just back from a family history trip to Sioux City, Iowa, where I was informed that back in the late-1800's, my great-great-grandfather John McDonald, who owned a large farm, and also served as sheriff of Sioux City for a span of several years (1871-1879), hosted a man from New York on his farm for several days. After the visitor returned to New York, he supposedly wrote a song about "the farm" he had visited, and that's where the present-day version originated...IF you believe in oral family history. Add to that, my 11 year old son's belief ;-) that the chorus "Ee-I-Ee-I-O" was at some time in the past cut short from the original "Ee-I-Ee-I-Owa", thus connecting the song with its Iowa roots. Of course, I've seen others on the internet claiming similar connections to the song, but this one's new to me so I thought I'd throw it out there for others to comment on...

Subject: Lyr Add: SENEX MACDONALDUS
From: Frank Maher
Date: 22 Feb 05 - 08:23 AM

Sensational new discoveries have been made at an archaeological dig at the site of a Roman army camp near Hadrian's Wall. When the legions were evacuated, orders were sent out to destroy all valuable military records. However, in the far-flung camps, lazy army bureaucrats simply pitched all the files into the nearest bog. Now archaeologists are recovering all the records, preserved in the highly tannic bog water.


Among the latest discoveries is what appears to be a Latin translation of a Pictish folk-song. No doubt the lonely legionaries on sentry duty on the wall heard the melodic strains drifting on the wind from the Pictish encampments to the north. Roman soldiers must have learned this traditional Pictish melody, which is the earliest folksong recorded in the British Isles.


Of particular interest is the chorus of syllabic vocables, remarkably similar to the Gaelic walking song which is not found in written records until almost 1000 years later. In fact, a remarkable similar chorus of vocables: I\ aigh i\ aigh o\ can be found in a walking song from Skye, "Tha baile aig sean-Mhac a' Domhnuill", in the Frances Tolmie collection.


Following is a transcription of the original manuscript:


Senex Macdonaldus habebat fundum, EIEIO
Et in ille fundum habebat porces, EIEIO
Cum oink oink hic, oink oink hoc
Oink hic, oink hoc, ubique oink oink
Senex Macdonaldus habebat fundum, EIEIO


Senex Macdonaldus habebat fundum, EIEIO
Et in ille fundum habebat boves, EIEIO
Cum moo moo hic, moo moo hoc
Moo hic, moo hoc, ubique moo moo
Senex Macdonaldus habebat fundum, EIEIO


Senex Macdonaldus habebat fundum, EIEIO
Et in ille fundum habebat oves, EIEIO
Cum baa baa hic, baa baa hoc
Baa hic, baa hoc, ubique baa baa
Senex Macdonaldus habebat fundum, EIEIO


Senex Macdonaldus habebat fundum, EIEIO
Et in ille fundum habebat anates, EIEIO
Cum quack quack hic, quack quack hoc
Quack hic, quack hoc, ubique quack quack
Senex Macdonaldus habebat fundum, EIEIO

Subject: ADD Version: Sweet Fields of Violo
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 Feb 05 - 02:01 AM

Well, I dunno. Q and I have had a good time finding versions of "Old MacDonald," and I've enjoyed singing it many times more than I've sung a number of songs. The other thread was mostly UK versions - and until this thread, nobody had posted the "standard" version I learned as a kid..
Here's a version from Louise Pound's American Ballads and Songs (1922, 1950).

120
SWEET FIELDS OF VIOLO

How happy I was on my father's farm,
Sweet fields of Violo,
Tending to my father's horses
That I fed in the barns of Violo.
And a gee ho here and a gee ho there,
Here a gee and there a gee, and
O pretty maids, won't you come and go with me
To the sweet fields of Violo!

How happy I was on my father's farm,
Sweet fields of Violo,
Tending to my father's cows
That I milked in the yards of Violo.
And a suke, suke here, and a suke, suke there,
Here a suke and there a suke, and
A gee ho here and a gee ho there,
Here a gee and there a gee, and
O pretty maids, won't you come and go with me
To the sweet fields of Violo!

How happy I was on my father's farm,
Sweet fields of Violo,
Tending to my father's pigs
That I fattened in the pens of Violo.
And a boo hoo here and a boo hoo there,
Here a boo and there a boo, and
A suke suke here and a suke suke there,
Here a suke and there a suke, and
A gee ho here and a gee ho there,
Here a gee and there a gee, and
O pretty maids, won't you come and go with me
To the sweet fields of Violo!

How happy I was on my father's farm,
Sweet fields of Violo,
Tending to my father's sheep
That ran in the vales of Violo.
And a bleat bleat here, and a bleat bleat there,
Here a bleat and there a bleat, and
A boo hoo here and a boo hoo there,
Here a boo and there a boo, and
A suke suke here and a suke suke there,
Here a suke and there a suke, and
A gee ho here and a gee ho there,
Here a gee and there a gee, and
O pretty maids, won't you come and
To the sweet fields of Violo!

How happy I was on my father's farm,
Sweet fields of Violo,
Tending to my father's geese
That swam in the ponds of Violo.
With a shoo shoo here and a shoo shoo there,
Here a shoo and there a shoo, and
A bleat bleat here and a bleat bleat there,
Here a bleat and there a bleat, and
A boo hoo here and a boo hoo there,
Here a boo and there a boo, and
A suke suke here and a suke suke there,
Here a suke and there a suke, and
A gee ho here and a gee ho there,
Here a gee and there a gee, and
O pretty maids, won't you come and go with me
To the sweet fields of Violo!

How happy I was on my father's farm,
Sweet fields of Violo.
Tending to my father's chickens
That laid in the nests of Violo.
A cackle cackle here and a cackle cackle there,
Here a cackle, there a cackle, and
A shoo shoo here and a shoo shoo there,
Here a shoo and there a shoo, and
A bleat bleat here and a bleat bleat there,
Here a bleat and there a bleat, and
A boo hoo here and a boo hoo there,
Here a boo and there a boo, and
A suke suke here and a suke suke there,
Here a suke and there a suke, and
A gee ho here and a gee ho there,
Here a gee and there a gee, and
O pretty maids, won't you come and go with me
To the sweet fields of Violo!

Pound's notes:

Obtained by Mabel Conrad Sullivan from Fern Sikes of Crete, Nebraska, in 1915. The singer should "end the piece with a good crow." This song has some relation to the college or glee club song, "My Father Has Some Very Fine Ducks."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old McDonald / Old MacDonald Had a Fa
From: GUEST,bored
Date: 21 Feb 05 - 09:47 PM

You don't say. See every other thread on this song here for the same briefly amusing parody. Why should this new thread, started by the original Man who can't be bothered to use a Search Engine, lack the same pointless repetition?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old McDonald / Old MacDonald Had a Farm
From: wildlone
Date: 21 Feb 05 - 01:55 PM

I once heard this version

Sennex Macdonald habeat fundum,
E I E I O !
Et in hic fundum habeat bovum,
E I E I O !
"Moo Moo !" hic
"Moo Moo !" ubi
Hic "Moo "
Ubi "Moo !"
Ubique "Moo Moo !"
Sennex MacDonald habeat fundum
E I E I O !

Sennex Macdonald habeat fundum,
E I E I O !
Et in hic fundum habeat canem,
E I E I O !
"Woof Woof !" hic
"Woof Woof !" ubi
Hic "Woof "
Ubi "Woof !"
Ubique "Woof Woof !"
"Moo Moo !" hic
"Moo Moo !" ubi
Hic "Moo "
Ubi "Moo !"
Ubique "Moo Moo !"
Sennex MacDonald habeat fundum
E I E I O !

Sennex Macdonald habeat fundum,
E I E I O !
Et in hic fundum habeat porcus,
E I E I O !
   "Oink Oink !" hic
   "Oink Oink !" ubi
   Hic "Oink "
   Ubi "Oink !"
   Ubique "Oink Oink !"
   "Woof Woof !" hic
   "Woof Woof !" ubi
   Hic "Woof "
   Ubi "Woof !"
   Ubique "Woof Woof !"
   "Moo Moo !" hic
   "Moo Moo !" ubi
   Hic "Moo "
   Ubi "Moo !"
   Ubique "Moo Moo !"
Sennex MacDonald habeat fundum
E I E I O !

dave

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old McDonald / Old MacDonald Had a Farm
From: GUEST,anonanonanon
Date: 21 Feb 05 - 08:27 AM

I recall once hearing:

Old MacDonald was dislexic
I E I E A   ....???

and a whole lot of other medical conditions; pretty tasteless, but hilarious at the time.

Any one recall it?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old McDonald / Old MacDonald Had a Farm
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Feb 05 - 01:21 AM

Since he couldn't get a good e-mail copy of it to me, Q snailmailed me a photocopy of the page from Tommy's Tunes that had the tune for Ohio. The envelope had the coolest selection of whale stamps on it, so I'm doubly grateful. Thanks, Q.
-Joe Offer-

---

Click to play

Subject: RE: Req: Old McDonald / Old Mac Donald Had a Farm
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 08 Feb 05 - 01:33 PM

EIO polka? I don't come from polka country, but I remember a lot of names, from "Beer Barrel" to "Under the Double Eagle." EIO is new to me, so I checked the AMG list of recordings.
Of named polkas, the "Strip Polka" had 45 covers, the "Victory" 8, "Emilia" 6, and "EIO" 4.
(Never heard of the "Strip Polka" either, so I guess I'm not qualified to comment).

The "Strip Polka" is in the Digital Tradition Mirror with music and lyrics; EIO is not.

Subject: RE: Req: Old McDonald / Old Mac Donald Had a Farm
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Feb 05 - 08:48 AM

I remember in the 60s in my student days we sang a different chorus, and put actions to it:

Old McDonald had a farm,
E-i ei o
And on that farm he had some bulls,
E-i ei o
And the bulls were bulling it here
And the bulls were bulling it there
Bulling it here, bulling it there
Bulling it everywhere
Old McDonald had a farm,
E-i ei o.

continued with cows were cowing it here, rams were ramming it here, etc.
.

Subject: RE: Req: Old McDonald / Old Mac Donald Had a Farm
From: Kaleea
Date: 08 Feb 05 - 03:15 AM

This has got to be the most well known Polka of all time! But I don't recall Lawrence Welk playing it on his show much. I know there are other "E-I-O-" type Polkas, too and I recall playing the E I O Polka (or something like that) in a Polka band when I lived up north in MinnNEEsoTUH. Would this be of Polish origin? Or German? Or ??

Subject: RE: Req: Old McDonald / Old Mac Donald Had a Farm
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 07 Feb 05 - 06:32 PM

Masato posted the song from D'Urfey in thread 63612.
More highbrow? The verse with 'here he wooe, there he wooe,' etc. doesn't fit into my purview of 'highbrow'.

I posted Merry Green Fields and Old Missouri in that same thread; I apologise for the double posting.
MacDougal MacDonald

Subject: RE: Req: Old McDonald / Old Mac Donald Had a Farm
From: Lighter
Date: 07 Feb 05 - 05:56 PM

Thomas D'Urfey's comic opera, "Wonders of the Sun; or, The Kingdom of the Birds," was first published in 1706. The song, more highbrow but similar in several ways to "Old MacDonald," appears on pp. 50-51.

Subject: RE: Req: Old McDonald / Old Mac Donald Had a Farm
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Feb 05 - 05:55 PM

Seamus, you gotta post your "Old McDonald's deformed farm"

Subject: ADD Version: Old Missouri
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 07 Feb 05 - 04:04 PM

Another related song from Randolph.

Old Missouri

Old Missouri had a mule, he-hi-he-hi-ho,
And on this mule there were two ears, he-hi-he-hi-ho.
With a flip-flop here and a flip-flop there,
And here a flop and there a flop and everywhere a flip-flop
Old Misouri had a mule, he-hi-he-hi-ho.

Old Missouri had a mule, he-hi-he-hi-ho,
And on this mule there was a tail, he-hi-he-hi-ho.
With a switch-switch here, and a switch-switch there,
And here a switch and there a switch and everywhere a switch-switch,
Old Missouri had a mule, he-hi-he-hi-ho.

Old Missouri had a mule, he-hi-he-hi-ho,
And on this mule there were two heels, he-hi-he-hi-ho.
With a kick-kick here, and a kick-kick there,
Here a kick and there a kick and everywhere a kick-kick,
Old Missouri had a mule, he-hi-he-hi-ho.

Sung by Mr. H. F. Walker, Missouri, 1922.
Vance Randolph, Ozark Folksongs, 1980, vol. 3, no. 458, pp. 212-213.

Subject: ADD Version: The Merry Green Fields of the Lowland
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 07 Feb 05 - 03:48 PM

There is a piece in D'Urfey, "Pills to Purge Melancholy," 1719, II, pp. 214-216 which quotes a text and tune from the opera "Kingdom of the Birds," with these lines:

Booing here, booing there,
Here a boo, there a boo, everywhere a boo.

There also are 19th c. notes which I am tracing down, esp. in songbooks ca. 1860.

This one is a related variant; from Ozark Folksongs:

The Merry Green Fields of the Lowland

Old Massa had a very fine hog,
In the merry green fields of the lowland,
He turned him in to be seen
In the merry green fields of the lowland,
And it's oink here, and an oink there,
Naff-naff-naff and ev'rybody laugh as they go past
In the merry green fields of the lowland.

Old Massa had a very fine dog
In the merry green fields of the lowland,
He turned him in to be seen
In the merry green fields of the lowland.
And it's bow-wow here and a bow-wow there,
And here a bow, there a bow, here a bow-wow,
Oink here and an oink there,
Naff-naff-naff and everybody laugh as they go past
In the merry green fields of the lowland.

Old Massa had a very fine turkey
In the merry green fiends of the lowland,
He turned him in to be seen
In the merry green fields of the lowland.
And it's gibble-gobble here and a gibble-gobble there,
And here a gobble, there a gobble, here a gibble-gobble,
And it's bow-wow here and a bow-wow there,
And here a bow, there a bow, here a bow-wow,
And an oink here and an oink there,
Naff-naff-naff and everybody laugh as they go past
In the merry green fields of the lowland.

Ol Massa had a very fine sheep
In the merry green fields of the lowland,
He turned him in to be seen
In the merry green fields of the lowland.
And it's blib-blab here and a blib-blab there,
And it's gibble-gobble here and a gibble-gobble there,
And here a gobble, there a gobble, here a gibble-gobble,
And it's bow-wow here and a bow-wow there,
And here a bow, there a bow, here a bow-wow,
And an oink here and an oink there,
Naff-naff-naff and everybody laugh as they go past
In the merry green fields of the lowland.

This song perhaps came from a play-party dance.
With music, sung by Mr. Doney Hammondtree, Arkansas, 1942, learned about 1900, and he "thinks it is the ancestor of another build-up song known as Old MacDonald Had a Farm."
Vance Randolph, "Ozark Folksongs," vol. 3, no. 457, pp. 211-212.

---

Click to play

Subject: RE: Req: Old McDonald / Old Mac Donald Had a Farm
From: Lighter
Date: 07 Feb 05 - 02:26 PM

Just remembered that a 17th C. "version" of "Old Mac" is said to exist somewhere - but where? Must check my scattered notes.

Subject: RE: Req: Old McDonald / Old Mac Donald Had a Farm
From: Lighter
Date: 07 Feb 05 - 02:25 PM

Joe, John Mehlberg's site has a pdf of "Tommy's Tunes."

Nettleingham also compiled "More Tommy's Tunes" shortly afterwards, but it's not on the Web. Yet.

Subject: RE: Req: Old McDonald / Old Mac Donald Had a Farm
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 07 Feb 05 - 01:44 PM

"Old MacDougal Had a Farm" is known as a title in the States, but attached to the usual Old MacDonald Eee-1, eee-i. eee-i, o version. From University of Illinois Extension, Nutrition literature, credited to the "Youth Curriculum Sourcebook" of the Univ. Wisconsin Extension Staff, 1994.
It contains one verse seldom used in most sing-a-longs, and Old MacDougal becomes female, e. g.:

On that farm she had a fish
Eee-i, eee-i, eee-i, o.
With a blub blub here and a blub blub there,
Here a blub, there a blub,
Everywhere a blub blub,
Old MacDougal had a farm,
Eee-i, eee-i, o.

It concludes with-
On that farm she had lots of animals
Eee-i, eee-i, o, followed by another enumeration of all the animals and their sounds.

The following song is from a Flemish student website in Belgium:

Lyr. Add: Old Mac Doodle

Old Mac Doodle had a little farm
Down to the Ohio-io
And on his farm he had some pigs
Down to the Ohio-io
And a grow-grow here
And a grow-grow here
Here a grow
There a grow,
And ev'rywhere a grow.

Down by the stream (bis)
That's where I go (bis)
Back to my home (bis)
I dare not to go (bis)
For if I do (bis)
My rent I owe (bis)

Have you never seen a nigger
With a big eyebrow?
Down to the Ohio-io?

I have separated the text into three verses for clarity. More than one song seems to be combined here. Is the 'grow-grow" imitative of the pig's grunt? Notable mostly for the 'Ohio-io,' which appears in the 1917 version from "Tommy's Tunes."
Mac Doodle

Also this:

Lyr. Add: Cookie's Old MacDougal Song
'Just the chorus of a classic'

When Old MacDougal blow his bugle, me I, me I google!
With a google, google here, and a google, google there
Here a google, there a google, everywhere a google, google
When Old MacDougal blow his bugle, me I, me i google!

MacDougal Song

Subject: RE: Req: Old McDonald / Old Mac Donald Had a Farm
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Feb 05 - 04:11 PM

Not to bring in the contentious religious discussions of the last few days, but I have to remind myself today that one of the Ten Commandments says:

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods.

But like Jimmy Carter, I must confess the sin in my heart, and admit that I'm lusting after that copy of Tommy's Tunes. Thanks for posting that, Q. It's a real "find."
-Joe Offer-

---

And Tommy's Tunes is available at the archive of the Immortalia Website (click).
-Joe Offer, July, 2009-

Subject: Lyr Add: OHIO / OLD MACDOUGAL HAD A FARM
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 05 Feb 05 - 04:04 PM

From "Tommy's Tunes."

OHIO
(Old Macdougal Had a Farm)

Old Macdougal had a farm in Ohio-i-o,
And on that farm he had some dogs in Ohio-i-o,
With a bow-wow here, and a bow-wow there,
Here a bow, there a wow, everywhere a bow-wow.

Old Macdougal had a farm in Ohio-i-o,
And on that farm he had some hens in Ohio-i-o,
With a cluck cluck here, and a cluck cluck there,
Here a cluck, there a cluck, everywhere a cluck cluck.

Old Macdougal had a farm in Ohio-i-o,
And on that farm he had some ducks in Ohio-i-o,
With a quack quack here, and a quack quack there,
Here a quack, there a quack, everywhere a quack, quack.

Old Macdougal had a farm in Ohio-i-o,
And on that farm he had some cows in Ohio-i-o,
With a moo moo here, and a moo moo there,
Here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo moo.

Old Macdougal had a farm in Ohio-i-o,
And on that farm he had some pigs in Ohio-i-o,
With a grunt grunt here and a grunt grunt there,
Here a grunt, there a grunt, everywhere a grunt grunt.

Old Macdougal had a farm in Ohio-i-o,
And on that farm he had some cats in Ohio-i-o,
With a meow meow here, and a meow meow there,
Here a meow, there a meow, everywhere a meow meow.

Old Macdougal had a farm in Ohio-i-o,
And on that farm he had an ass in Ohio-i-o,
With a hee-haw here, and a hee-haw there,
Here a hee, there a haw, everywhere a hee-haw.

    Meow-meow, grunt-grunt, moo-moo, quack-quack,
    Cluck-cluck, bow-wow,
    Old Macdougal had a farm in Ohio-i-o.

With music.
Coll. and Arr. F. T. Nettleingham, 2nd. Lt. R. F. C., 1917, "Tommy's Tunes," Erskine MacDonald Ltd., London, No. 89, pp. 84-85.
"Arranged on active service with the B. E. F." An excellent collection of WW1 tunes and lyrics (lacking the bawdy stuff).

---

Click to play

Subject: ADD Version: McDonald's Farm (Brown 125A)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Feb 05 - 02:55 PM

In Book of World-Famous Music, Fuld says the first-known printing of the familiar music and words of this song was in Tommy's Tunes, published in October, 1917 - with the title "Ohio" and it is "Old MacDougal who has the farm.

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This is #125A from the Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore, from Miss Mary Scarborough of Dare County, "in 1923 or thereabouts." Notice that the wording is just a bit different from the Silber version above.

McDonald's Farm

Old McDonald had a farm,
E-i ei o
And on that farm he had some chicks,
E-i ei o
With a chick chick here and a chick chick there,
And a here chick, there chick, everywhere chick chick.
Old McDonald had a farm,
E-i ei o.

And on that farm he had some turkeys,
E-i ei o
With a gobble gobble here, and a gobble gobble there,
And a here gobble, there gobble, everywhere gobble gobble,
Chick chick here, chick chick there,
Here chick, there chick, everywhere chick chick.
Old McDonald had a farm,
E-i ei o.

And on that farm he had some ducks, E-i ei o
With a quack quack here and a quack quack there,
And a here quack, there quack, everywhere quack quack,
etc.

And on that farm he had some geese,
E-i ei o
With a honk honk here, and a honk honk there, etc.

---

Here's the tune. Note that the "here a chick" part is just a bit different from what we're familiar with.

Click to play

Message #1,400,000

Subject: RE: Req: Old McDonald / Old Mac Donald Had a Farm
From: jacqui.c
Date: 05 Feb 05 - 02:46 PM

Seamus Kennedy did a great version of this Called Old Macdonald Had A Deformed Farm. It's great.

Subject: ADD: Old Mac Donald Had a Farm
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Feb 05 - 02:43 PM

OK, so here's the more-or-less "common version"*, which I found in Silber & Silber's Folksinger's Wordbook

Old MacDonald Had A Farm

  F               Bb    F
  Old MacDonald had a farm,
  G      C       F
  E - I, E - I, Oh!
  
                      Bb       F
  And on this farm he had some chicks,
  G7     C7      F
  E - I, E - I, Oh!
  
  With a chick chick here
  
  And a chick chick there,
  Bb
  Here a chick, there a chick,
  F             Gm
  Everywhere a chick chick,
  F               Bb    F
  Old MacDonald had a farm,
  G7     C7      F
  E - I, E - I, Oh!
  
  Ducks—quack, quack
  
  Dogs—bow, wow
  
  Cows—moo, moo
  
  Pigs—oink, oink.
  
  Etc.

*I suppose, if I were totally honest, "common version" means what I've known since I've known since I was a kid in Detroit, seat of all American culture and tradition (and home of Motown Records)
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old McDonald
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Feb 05 - 01:59 PM

You know, it seems to me that we haven't taken this song seriously enough. If we look into it, we might find something surprising. Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry:

Old MacDonald Had a Farm

DESCRIPTION: (Old MacDonald's) farm features a wide variety of livestock, described cumulatively, e.g. with the pig making an oink here and an oink there, the cow a moo-moo here and there, etc. until the entire farm is sounding off
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Tommy's Tunes)
KEYWORDS: animal farming cumulative nonballad
FOUND IN: US(MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Randolph 457, "The Merry Green Fields of the Lowland" (1 text); 458, "Old Missouri" (1 text)
BrownIII 125, "McDonald's Farm" (5 text)
Kennedy 310, "When I Was a Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gilbert, p. 83, "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 389, "Old MacDonald Had A Farm" (1 text)
LPound-ABS, 120, pp. 238-240, "Sweet Fields of Violo" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 410-412, "Old MacDonald Had a Farm"
Roud #745
RECORDINGS:
Warren Caplinger's Cumberland Mountain Entertainers, "McDonald's Farm" (Brunswick 294, 1929; Brunswick [Canada] 224, c. 1933)
Sam Patterson Trio, "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" (Edison 51644, 1925)
Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers, "Old McDonald Had A Farm" (Columbia 15204-D, 1927)
SAME TUNE:
Golly, Ain't That Queer (Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 171-172)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Farmyard Song
Notes: Are the pieces listed here really one song? It's not immediately obvious. The British and American versions are often very distinct, but there are intermediate versions, e.g. Randolph's.
Neither of Randolph's texts conforms to the common version of "Old MacDonald," and "The Merry Green Fields of the Lowland," in particular, looks older (It probably derives from the George Christy version "In the Merry Green Fields of Oland," from 1865; compare Sharp's "Merry Green Fields of Ireland" and Pound's "Sweet Fields of Violo"). But the cumulative pattern is the same (indeed, something very like it is quoted in Pills to Purge Melancholy in 1707), so I assume the family is a unity.
Gilbert claims the piece (in which "My Grandfather," rather than "Old MacDonald, is the farmer) comes from a busker of the 1870s called "the Country Fiddler," but gives no details to verify this.
I use the "Old MacDonald" title because it is the best-known, though Fuld reports that this version did not appear until 1917 (and even then, it was "Old MacDougal"). - RBW
File: R457

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Be sure to see this thread (click) for early versions of the song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old McDonald
From: Peace
Date: 04 Feb 05 - 11:30 PM

Mr Happy:

I figger that between the link above and this one, ya should have enought to keep ya goin' for a while.


http://dir.yahoo.com/science/biology/zoology/animals__insects__and_pets/complete_list_of_animals_by_name/whitepages/wp_0.html

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old McDonald
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 04 Feb 05 - 11:25 PM

There are no complete words.
See thread 24747 for some musical ones- oompah, drum, etc. OLd Mac
Invent your own.

gator- chomp chomp
tractor- chug chug
jug- chug-a-lug
doxie- ?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old McDonald
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Feb 05 - 11:18 PM

Would you please define your view of COMPLETE?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old McDonald
From: Peace
Date: 04 Feb 05 - 11:11 PM

http://216.239.63.104/search?q=cache:zIwhzpGABpgJ:www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/Cottage/3192/Oldmcdonald.html+%22Old+macdona

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old McDonald
From: Sorcha
Date: 04 Feb 05 - 11:09 PM

Had a farm? Wotcha?

Subject: Lyr Req: Old McDonald
From: Mr Happy
Date: 04 Feb 05 - 11:01 PM

Anyone have complete words for this one?