Lyr Add: Tune the Old Cow Died On

22 Apr 99 - 12:30 PM (#72743)
Subject: Lyr/Tune Add: THE TUNE THE OLD COW DIED ON
From: Bruce O.

THE TUNE THE OLD COW DIED ON

Old Farmer John came walking home
One summer morning
And sat him down neath a maple tree
And sang himself a tune
The farmer sang til the cows came up
And round him formed a ring
For they never heard old Farmer John
Attempt before to sing

And this was the tune
Roy fal dol da dol
Sung neath the maple grove
Roy fal dol dol, roy fal dol day
Tis the tune the old cow died on.

The oldest cow in the farmer's herd
Tried hard to join the song
But the melody she could not get
Though her voice was loud and strong
The farmer laughed till the tears ran down
His cheeks like apples red
Then the cow got mad and tried to sing
Until she dropped down dead

And this was the tune, &c.

Old Farmer John had an inquest held
To see what killed his cow.
The jury sat and a verdict brought
Which I mean to tell you now.
They said that the cow would be living yet
To chew her cud with glee
If Farmer John hadn't sung that song
Beneath the maple tree.

X:1
T:The Tune the Old Cow Died On
S:H. H. Flanders, 'A Garland of Green Mountain Song', 1934
Q:120
L:1/8
M:2/4
K:G
D|G B G B|G E E3/2 D/|G B G B|d3B/ B/|c e c A/ A/|\
B d B G/ G/|A G G F|(E F G) D|G B G B/ B/|G E E D|\
G B G B|d3B/ B/|c e c A|G d B3/2 G/|A c E F|\
G3||"Chorus"D|G B/ B/ G B/ B/|G E E D|G B G3/2 B/|\
d3 B|c e c A|B d B G/ G/|A/ A/ c E F|G3|]

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09 Apr 02 - 07:39 PM (#686617)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tune the Old Cow Died On
From: MMario

Refreshing this to thank Bruce! I've been singing this since a few days after it was posted. Realized that I didn't know who posted it.

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14 Sep 03 - 12:12 AM (#1018446)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tune the Old Cow Died On
From: GUEST,[e-mail]

Hi, I have been wishing I knew some history of this song for a long time. My grandmother sang it to my sister and I before bedtime when we visited her. That was over 45 yrs ago. She said she learned it in 2nd grade, which would be early 1900's.   The words she sang were slightly different, but this is it. Do you know who wrote it or when? Please write me back with any suggestions of how I can find out! Thank you, Cathy

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14 Sep 03 - 12:51 AM (#1018452)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tune the Old Cow Died On
From: masato sakurai

The earliest date given at The Traditional Ballad Index: The Tune The Old Cow Died On is "1927 (Randolph)", but according to this sheet music (Boston: Perry & Co., John F., 1880) at American Memory it was first composed by "Eastburn" (pseudonym for Joseph Eastburn Winner, composer of "Little Brown Jug," and a younger brother of Septimus Winner). Sidney Robertson Cowell recorded two versions in 1939, which are at California Gold: Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties.

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14 Sep 03 - 01:08 AM (#1018457)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tune the Old Cow Died On
From: masato sakurai

Some info (but not a history) is at The Fiddler's Companion:

TUNE THE OLD COW DIED OF, THE. AKA and see "The Nutting Girl." American, Air and Dance Tune (4/4 time). USA; northern W.Va., southwestern Pa. D Major. Standard. One part. Bayard (1981) states that a comic song to this tune was popular in the southern Pa./northern W.Va. region about a cow so entranced by a farmer's song that she danced herself to death. The title became for a time a phrase characterizing any extremely bad piece of music. Source for notated version: S Hall (fiddler from Pa., 1930's) [Bayard]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 95, pgs. 56-57.

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26 Jun 04 - 06:47 PM (#1214785)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tune the Old Cow Died On
From: Bat Goddess

Well, I went to see the Town Clerk today about registering my car and ended up talking to the Nottingham (NH) Town Tax Collector, originally about our Fourth of July Free Breakfast (7 a.m.), Music (8 a.m. -- all of us usual suspects) and the reading of the Declaration of Independence (9 a.m.) by David Behm from the porch of Demmon's Old Country Store in West Nottingham, but then he asked me about a song he was taught in the third grade (prolly mid-1950s) and was told it was an old song from Vermont.

Of course, as soon as we started talking about it, a steady stream of people came in to pay their taxes or stuff like that. So he called me a bit later and gave me the only words he could remember. Now the story he says it told is a bit different -- and, as I'm discovering, there are several different story lines out there.

He said it was about a farmer who used a song to call his cows for the evening milking. Here's what he gave me (and he wants to know more) -- also note the slight variation on the title:

The Tune the Old Cow Died Of   [Of, not On]

The farmer had an inquest held
To see what killed the cow
The jury sat [something, something]
The verdict was
'Twas the tune the old cow died of.

Curmudgeon also is curious as to why he has a familiarity with the song, yet knows he didn't learn it in school and hasn't found it in any of the sources he suspected it might be in.

Linn

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26 Jun 04 - 09:04 PM (#1214817)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE TUNE THE OLD COW DIED ON (J H Hewett)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)

The "Tune the Old Cow Died On" became a popular phrase voiced whenever someone didn't like or was bored by a song. Mark Twain used it in "Life on the Mississippi" and a James Joyce character says it in "Ulysses." It once was common on both sides of the Atlantic.

There is more than one song with the title. The one posted above by Bruce Olson is close to the one in the sheet music at American Memory linked by Masato, words- George Russell Jackson, music by 'Eastburn' (Winner) from 1880. The original poem is older.

Here is one at Public Domain Music by John Hill Hewett.ca. 1850?, from an undated Ms. The song is widespread in collections.

THE TUNE THE OLD COW DIED ON
(John Hill Hewett)

I am a poor old widdower,
My name is Betsy Dow,
I once possessed a fortinin,
And a fine old brindle cow.
I milk'd her ev'ry noon and night;
And sold my cheese and butter
But then, poor thing! she died on day,
May soon be dead and gone;

Chorus (sung after each verse):
I'm singing now in doleful strain
The tune my cow died on.
(Note: manuscript refers to a chorus beginning
"Oh, pity" but the words are not included.)

On applesass and peanutsuts
I feed my poor old cow,
And ev'ry day I sang herer
The tune I'm singing now.
I gave her sassafrase and salt,
Mix'd with plantation bitters,
But, she got worse and worse each day
The vile, ungrateful critter!

She could not speak her feelingsings
When this 'ere song I sing;
She knew that she was dyinging
Lodown her head was hung.
The song it so affected her,
That she began a sighing,
And then she look'd a look that said,
"Oh, stop for I am dying!"

The fled her gentle spiritit,
She's gone where good cows go;
And then on Abram's bosomom
(Note: verse incomplete in manuscript)

Copied without changes. "Source: manuscript photocopy from John H. Hewitt papers # 31 (OP3 8)
Special Collections, The Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322-2870."

Old Cow

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27 Jun 04 - 08:39 AM (#1214946)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tune the Old Cow Died On
From: Bat Goddess

Right -- I mentioned I found several different songs with the same title -- also different story lines. Anyone run into the one Bill, our Nottingham town tax collector was forced to learn (and sing in a distinctive way) in 3rd grade back in the '50s? He was told it was an old song from Vermont.

The Tune the Old Cow Died Of 

The farmer had an inquest held
To see what killed the cow
The jury sat [something, something]
The verdict was
'Twas the tune the old cow died of.

Anyone know any more of THIS one?!?

Linn

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27 Jun 04 - 05:34 PM (#1215112)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE TUNE THE COW DIED ON
From: MoorleyMan

This gets interesting!
I only recently came across this gem - through the singing of the excellent Jeff Warner. He said his dad collected it from the singing of the redoubtable Lena Bourne Fish (east coast) back in (I believe) the 40s, and these are the words of that version as transcribed from his own recent rendition at Ryburn and Chester. (I've been singing it ever since - but maybe it seems to cry out for an extra verse!)

THE TUNE THE COW DIED ON

Farmer Brown from his work came home one summer's afternoon
And sat beneath the maple tree to sing himself a tune
All the cows the farmer had, around him joined a ring
For never before had Farmer Brown attempted for to sing

(Chorus:)
Hi fal-de-re-do – so sang Farmer John
Hi fal-di-re-do – it's the tune the cow died on


Now the oldest cow the farmer had, (she) tried to join the song
But she could not strike the melody tho' her voice was loud and strong
The farmer laughed till the tears rolled down, his cheeks like apples red
The cow got mad, she could not sing, and so she fell down dead


So the farmer had an inquest held to see what ailed the cow
The jury sat, the verdict gave, I mean to tell you now
They said that the cow would be living yet and chewing her cud with glee
If Farmer Brown hadn't sung that song beneath the maple tree

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27 Jun 04 - 06:30 PM (#1215121)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE TUNE THE OLD COW DIED ON
From: Q (Frank Staplin)

Moorleyman, this appears in the school songbook, Silver Burdett, New Music Horizons 5, McConathy et al., with music, p. 35. (see Permathread 69027, Silver Burdett Songbooks).
Close to the Jeff Warner version that you quote. It is listed as a folk song from Vermont close to the "Green Mountain State where Bruce O's version came from.

THE TUNE THE OLD COW DIED ON

Old Farmer John came walking home
One summer afternoon,
And sat hin down 'neath a maple tree
And sang him-self a tune;-
The farmer sang till the cows came up
And round him formed a ring,
For they never heard old farmer John
Attempt before to sing.

Chorus
And this was the tune Roy fal dol da dol
Sung 'neath the maple grove
Roy fal dol dol, roy fal dol day,
'Tis the tune the old cow died on.

The oldest cow in the farmer's herd
Tried hard to join the song;
But the melody she could not get,
Though her voice was loud and strong.-
The farmer laughed till the tears ran down
His cheeks like apples red;
Then the cow got mad and tried to sing
Until she dropped down dead.

Chorus

Old Farmer John had an inquest held
To see what killed the cow;
The jury sat and a verdict brought
Which I mean to tell you now.-
They said that the cow would be living yet
To chew her cud with glee,
If Farmer John hadn't sung that song
Beneath the maple tree.

Chorus

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Click to play

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27 Jun 04 - 07:03 PM (#1215137)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tune the Old Cow Died On
From: Joe_F

A. E. Housman would appear to have been alluding to this tradition when he wrote

The cow, the old cow, she is dead;
It sleeps well, the horned head;
We poor lads, 'tis our turn now
To hear such tunes as killed the cow.

In _A Shropshire Lad_, LXII -- first published in 1896

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27 Jun 04 - 07:47 PM (#1215148)
Subject: Lyr Add: TUNE THE OLD COW DIED ON (Jackson/Winner)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)

For completeness, here is the 1880 sheet music, noted by Masato, from which were derived the 'trad' New England versions and the one in the Silver Burdett school song book.

THE TUNE THE OLD COW DIED ON
Words George Russell Jackson
Music 'Eastburn' (Joseph Eastburn Winner)

Old Farmer John from his work came home one summer afternoon,
And sat him down 'neath a maple tree, and he sang himself a tune,
He sang until the cows came running up, and round him formed a ring.
For they never heard good old Farmer John attempt before to sing.

Chorus
And this is the tune Ri fol dol da do,
Sung in the maple grove,
Ri fol dol da dol ri fol dol da,
'Tis the tune the old cow died on.

The oldest cow in the farmer's herd tried hard to join the song,
And she could not strike the melody 'tho her voice was loud and srong;
The farmer laughed till the tears ran down his cheeks like apples red,
But the cow was mad and she tried to sing until she dropped down dead.

Old Farmer John had an inquest held to see what killed the cow,
The jury sat and a verdict brought which I mean to tell you now,
They said the cow would be living yet to chew her cud with glee,
If old Farmer John had not sung that song beneath the maple tree.

'Eastburn,' on the sheet music, is listed as composer of "Little Brown Jug."
Published by John F. Perry & Co., NY.
On the cover it says "You have often heard of "The Tune the Old Cow Died On" but never before have seen it in print. Here it is." This suggests that the saying is older than this song; was there also a previous song? (The one by Hewett, probably earlier, was never published and is quite different).

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27 Jun 04 - 11:24 PM (#1215247)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tune the Old Cow Died On
From: Jeri

You want some synchronicity? Someone was asking me (a couple of weeks ago) if I knew anything about that song - the guy that puts on the free Jul 4th breakfast! I'd never even heard of it before then. I'll print the thread out for him, but perhaps we might be able to get the tune from Jeff and sing it on Jul 4th ...or just get Jeff to sing it.

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28 Jun 04 - 08:57 AM (#1215462)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tune the Old Cow Died On
From: Bat Goddess

Hey, Jeri --

That "guy" who asked you about it is Bill Garnett -- the Nottingham Town Tax Collector (who asked me about it the other day when I went in to see the Town Clerk to register my car -- aren't small towns grand?).

And, unfortunately, Jeff won't be there at the breakfast/music/reading of the Declaration this year on the Fourth. (He'll be in New Bedford next weekend.)

But, yeah, print out the thread for Bill -- and I also found the term in Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable -- as an idiom for any tune that's been played to death. (Geez, I can think of several even in our own circle -- prolly even being played the morning of July Fourth during breakfast.)

Linn

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03 Oct 04 - 07:25 PM (#1287715)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tune the Old Cow Died On
From: Joe Offer

I was cleaning out my e-mailbox last night, and discovered a scan of this song that Q asked me to post, way back in June. got it posted today. The old dead cow must be ripe by now.
-Joe Offer-

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Click to play

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04 Oct 04 - 07:00 AM (#1288120)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tune the Old Cow Died On
From: Bat Goddess

Funny this thread should show up right now. I saw Bill last Thursday night and he said he had just gotten back from Vermont and had no luck there tracking down the version he was taught in school.

I DID tape him singing what he could remember of it on Fourth of July after David Behm read the Declaration of Independence from the porch of the store.

I haven't had a chance (well, I actually had entirely forgotten about it as I've been rather busy of late) to play it for Jeff Warner (or anybody else).

It's somewhat different (I think; I'll have to listen again) to the version just posted.

Linn

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02 Sep 09 - 05:19 PM (#2714934)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tune the Old Cow Died On
From: GUEST,sunburst

Hello! I wonder if you can help me with a tune, though perhaps there really isn't one. It's for "The Tune the Cow Died Of" but the words given to me are quite different from "Farmer John" and I've never heard anyone sing it. Nor do I know whether there are more words. What do you think?

There was an old man and he had an old cow,
And he had no fodder to give her.
So he took up his fiddle and played her this tune.
Consider, good cow, consider.
This isn't the time for the grass to grow.
Consider, good cow, consider.

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04 Sep 09 - 11:44 AM (#2716176)
Subject: Lyr Add: COW'S DIRGE / TUNE THE OLD COW DIED OF
From: Jim Dixon

From "Outward Bound" in The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Miscellany, Volume 18, November, 1835, page 202:

The Society for the Suppression of Cruelty to Animals, biped as well as quadruped, should bring in an act of parliament prohibiting the embarkation of every musical instrument on board ship, not warranted to be kept in its case during the voyage. The practising of the band on the poop is a most dreadful infliction, particularly when the leader happens to be a man of aspiring genius, who attempts to instruct his unruly French horns in the intricacies of some of the splendid compositions of Weber or Rossini. We lost a cow on our voyage to India, and her death was mainly attributable to the dolorous ditties continually poured into the poor creature's ears. One of the passengers was so convinced of this fact, that he wrote a monody to the very tune which it was believed had killed the unfortunate animal; and as it forms a good sample of oceanic poetry, it is subjoined for the benefit of the reader:—

THE COW'S DIRGE.
Air.—"Tune the old Cow died of."

The cow! the cow!—that butcher, death,
In her hay-day appears,
And interrupts her sweetest breath,
Amid the cable tiers.
No more she'll stretch her dew-lapped neck,
To low in thundering stave;
She's gone from the deserted deck,
Too low beneath the wave

The cow! the cow!—and must our tea
Go all unwhitened now?
No more in tête-à-teat shall be
The milker and the cow;
No more the cud, with look sedate,
She'll, all contented, chew;—
Alas! we now must ruminate—
On what we are to do!

The cow! the cow!—she's in the sea,
A thousand fathom deep;
And sharks have joined in revelry,
That carnival to keep.
Oh! 'twould have cheered this mournful note,
And soothed the general grief,
Had timely knife across her throat
Transformed her into beef.

The cow! the cow!—the zodiac weeps,
And—oh! lugubrious "sign!"
Yon Bull, whose eye moist sorrow steeps,
Augments th' entombing brine.
She little dreamed that TAURUS bent
On her his glances keen,
For, bashful still, she only went
To sea, not to be seen.

The cow! the cow!—she died that day,
And tearful skies deplore her:
Her death obstructs the "milky way,"
Though cream-topped waves roll o'er her.
Her moans were sad, her eyes aghast,
One faint whisk gave her tail;
And she the bucket kicked at last,
Who'd often kicked the pail.

The cow! the cow!—a few weeks more
Had she contrived to stay;
Her death had then been less a bore,
Than what it is to-day:
For though we're one, "by're lady," yet
In vain for milk we try;
The best has overboard gone wet,
The other has gone dry!

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04 Sep 09 - 12:06 PM (#2716185)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tune the Old Cow Died On
From: Jim Dixon

From Notes and Queries, 2nd Series, Vol. 2, No. 34, August 28, 1856, page 157:

"The Tune the Old Cow Died Of" (2nd S. 5. 375. 500.; ii. 39.) — Your correspondents are quite on a wrong scent on this head. One quotes the old nursery rhyme, "Willie Wily Had a Cow," which is sung to any tune a nurse pleases; and another brings forward the Scotch words, "There was a Piper had a Cow," &c., which go to the popular air known as "The Corn Rigs Are Bonny." The cow died of no air in particular, — still less a popular one: "the tune the old cow died of" being merely a proverbial or slang way of expressing "the music is insufferably bad." P. P.

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