| Author | Topic: Add: The Dying Cowboy | |
| irishajo | Posted - 08 Mar 03 - 02:50 pm | |
Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie Where the coyotes howl and the wind blows free. In a narrow grave just six by three; Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie. It matters not I've oft been told, Where the body lies when the heart grows cold. Yet grant, oh grant, this wish to me Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie. I've always wished to be laid when I died In the little churchyard on the green hillside; By my father's grave there let mine be, And bury me not on the lone prairie. Let my death-slumber be where my mother's prayer And a sister's tear will mingle there; Where my friends can come and weep o'er me; O bury me not on the lone prairie. "O bury me not" and his voice failed there. But we took no heed of his dying prayer. In a narrow grave just six by three We buried him there on the lone prairie. And the cowboys now as they roam the plain For they marked the spot where his bones were lain Fling a handful of roses o'er his grave With a prayer to Him who his soul will save. "O bury me not on the lone prairie, Where the wolves can howl and growl o'er me. Fling a handful of roses o'er my grave With a prayer to Him who my soul will save." Source: Oberndorfer, Marx & Anne, The New American Song Book (A Century of Progress in American Song), 1941, Chicago, Hall & McCreary Company Notes: The Oberndorfers write: "No type of folk music which is native to America is of greater interest than the songs of the cowboys. In the old days when ranch life was of a most primitive type, the cowboys gathered in the big ranch house on the long evenings. There they would entertain themselves and each other by singing of their life and past experiences. Sometimes they sang tunes they knew, changing them to suit the words which they improvised. The favorite of all cowpunchers was the sorrowful lament 'O Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie' The Dying Cowboy. This song exists in many different versions, for it was a universal favorite from Wyoming to New Mexico and from Montana to Texas." Database entry is here Edited By Ed - 09/03/2003 13:50:44 | ||
| Ed | Posted - 08 Mar 03 - 02:59 pm | |
To save any duplication of effort, I'll note that I'm 'on the job' | ||
| Ed | Posted - 08 Mar 03 - 03:12 pm | |
Having said that, it looks like a bugger of a tune to accurately ABCify! *grin* Give me a few hours... Edited By Ed - 08/03/2003 15:17:33 | ||
| irishajo | Posted - 08 Mar 03 - 03:19 pm | |
Sorry Ed...figures I'd pick a difficult one! | ||
| masato sakurai | Posted - 09 Mar 03 - 03:31 pm | |
Laws #B2 ("The Dying Cowboy (Oh Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie"). This song is an adaptation of "The Ocean Burial," a version of which is in Eloise Hubbard Linscott, Folk Songs of Old New England (Macmillan, 1939, pp. 245-248). The first stanza is: "Oh, bury me not in the deep dep sea!"Linscott wrote: "The Ocean Burial" was written by the Reverand Edwin H. Chapin (1814-1880), a famous Universalist clergyman, and published in the Southern Literary Messenger in 1839. It was set to music in 1850 by George N. Allen, and was sung in public at the concerts of Ossian N. Dodge and in innumerable homes. It was carried westward by some New England or Canadian youth, who went from punching logs to punching cattle, and was re-created as "The Lone Prairie," sung to the old ballad air, "Hind Horn." | ||
| masato sakurai | Posted - 09 Mar 03 - 03:50 pm | |
Sheet music is at the Levy Collection: Title: The Ocean Burial. A Favorite and Touching Ballad. New and Improved Edition. Composer, Lyricist, Arranger: The Music Composed by George N. Allen. Publication: Boston: Oliver Ditson, 115 Washington St., 1850. Form of Composition: strophic Instrumentation: piano and voice First Line: O! bury me not in the deep, deep sea, the words came low and mournfully Dedicatee: Affectionately Inscribed to His Sister by George N. Allen Plate Number: 1891 Subject: Deathbeds Subject: Sailors Subject: Families Subject: Love Subject: Burials at sea Call No.: Box: 182 Item: 106 | ||
| Malcolm Douglas |
Posted - 09 Mar 03 - 04:32 pm | |
Roud 631 Laws B2 The genre seems to have been a popular one at the time. Also at Levy is The Sailor Boy's Grave (J. Martin of Clifton, 1841), beginning Oh bury me not in the dark cold grave, and it appears that still others tried their hands at similar poems and songs. Kenneth Peacock (Songs of the Newfoundland Outports, I, p.151 1965) prints a set of Bury Me Not in the Deep Deep Sea noted from Leonard Hulan, Jeffrey's, 1960, commenting: "The words of this sailor's lament were supposed to have been written by a Rev. E. H. Chapin and published as The Ocean Burial in the September 1839 issue of Poe's Southern Literary Messenger. When the words were set to music by George N. Allen, the song became a fo'c'sle favourite and soon found its way into the lumberjacks' repertoire as well. After it reached the frontier, the cowboys took it to their hearts and made it over into the famous Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie." Peacock also prints a set of the latter. The song was hugely popular for a time, but suffered from over-exposure. Reference is made in a Mudcat discussion (Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie) to an unidentified book by one J. B. Tinsley, who quotes "Teddy Blue" Abbot: "It was a saying on the range that even the horses nickered it and the coyotes howled it; it got so they'd throw you in the creek if you sang it. I first heard it along about '81 or '82 and by '85 it was prohibited." More than one tune has been found with the song; some are based on the published music, but traditional tunes have wandered in along the way as well; one notable example being the Scottish tune commonly found with versions of such ballads as Hind Horn, Babylon and The Cruel Mother; Cecil Sharp found it, for example, in pentatonic and hexatonic forms in Kentucky and North Carolina (1917-18). Recordings from tradition can be heard at The John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip: The Dying Cowboy sung by Frank Goodwyn, Falfurrias, Texas, 1938/9; three examples. Because of the over-complex search routine on that site, it seems only to be possible to link to a list in most cases. There is also another recording, of Mrs G. A. Griffin, Newberry, Florida, 1939: The Dying Cowboy. Again, it appears to be impossible to link directly to the appropriate page. | ||
| masato sakurai | Posted - 10 Mar 03 - 01:06 am | |
The Tinsley book is Jim Bob Tinsley's He Was Singin' This Song (A Collection of Forty-eight Traditional Songs of the American Cowboy, with Words, Music, Pictures, and Stories) (University of Central Florida Press, 1981). The quotation is on page 82, which is taken from E.C. ("Teddy Blue") Abbott and Helen Huntington Smith, We Pointed Them North: Recollections of a Cowpuncher (1939), pp. 256-70. Other recordings at the Max Hunter and Wolf collections: Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie (As sung by Ollie Gilbert, Mountain View, Arkansas on Ocober 7, 1969) [Hunter] Bury Me Not on the Prairie (As sung by Ollie Gilbert, Mountain View, Arkansas on March 12, 1970) [Hunter] BURY ME NOT (OH BURY ME NOT ON THE LONE PRAIRIE) (Sung by: Mr. and Mrs. F.E. Ash; Recorded in Evening Shade, AR 6/30/59) [Wolf] Edited By masato sakurai - 10/03/2003 01:12:23 | ||
| Mary in Kentucky | Posted - 30 Mar 03 - 10:36 pm | |
Here is the ABC for the tune I know. It's from Jerry Silverman's Folk Song Encyclopedia, Chappell & Co., Inc., 1975, and curiously, is not the same tune as in the Lomax book or any of the recordings linked to above. The Boston Pops used this tune here and I aways thought it was the most common one. We always used it in parodies for skits when I was a child. X:1 T:O Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie M:4/4 L:1/8 Q:1/4=120 K:G z2A,2DDF2|: A8|-A2BAF2D2|F8| w:Oh bur-y me|not|-on the lone prai-rie| w:****|lips|* of a youth who|lay| z2A,A,D2F2|E8|-E2FED2B,2|D8|[1 z2A,A,D2F2 :|[2 z4|| w:These * words came|slow|* and - mourn-ful|ly| From the pal-lid| w:On his dy-ing |bed|* at the close of|day|| I had a tough time with the ABC. It sounds OK at Concertina.net, but I had to use rests in order to not carry ties into the endings. I don't know if that is common in all ABC software. Here are more words from Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads collected by John A. Lomax and Alan Lomax, The MacMillan Co., 1948: quoting on p. 49: The varying "choruses," or refrains, sung to the same melody, are printed to illustrate the results of different composers of the song, not with pen and paper at hand, but evolved, perhaps, as a cowboy rode alone over the prairie. We may read them now as another example of the survival of the fittest. "Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie," These words came low and mournfully From the pallid lips of a youth who lay On his dying bed at the close of day. He had wailed in pain till o'er his brow Death's shadows fast were gathering now; He thought of his home and his loved ones nigh As the cowboys gathered to see him die. "Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie "In fancy I listen to the well known words Of the free, wild winds and the song of the birds; I think of home and the cottage in the bower And the scenes I loved in my childhood's hour. "It matters not, I've oft been told, Where the body lies when the heart grows cold; Yet grant, oh, grant this wish to me: Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie. "Oh, then bury me not on the lone prairie," I've always wished to be laid when I died In the little churchyard on the green hillside; By my father's grave there let mine be, And bury me not on the lone prairie. "Let my death slumber be where my mother's prayer And a sister's tear will mingle there, Where my frieneds can come and weep o'er me; Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie. "Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie "There is another whose tears may be shed For one who lies on a prairie bed; It pained me then and it pains me now -- She has curled these locks, she has kissed this brow. "These locks she has curled, shall the rattlesnake kiss: This brow she has kissed, shall the cold grave press: For the sake of the loved ones that will weep for me, Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie. "Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie "Oh, bury me not--" And his voice failed there, But we took no heed of his dying prayer; In a narrow grave just six by three We buried him there on the lone prairie. Where the dewdrops glow and the butterflies rest, And the flowers bloom o'er the prairie's crest; Where the wild coyote and winds sport free On a wet saddle blanket lay a cowboy-ee. "Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie Oh, we buried him there on the lone prairie Where the wild rose blooms and the wind blows free; Oh, his pale young face nevermore to see -- For we buried him there on the lone prairie. Yes, we buried him there on the lone prairie, Where the owl all night hoots mournfully, And the blizzard beats and the winds blow free O'er his lowly grave on the lone prairie. And the cowboys now as they roam the plain -- For they marked the spot where his bones were lain -- Fling a handful of roses o'er his grave, With a prayer to Him who his soul will save. "Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie | ||
| dmcg | Posted - 31 Mar 03 - 09:03 am | |
Mary's version is now in the database here. | ||
| Ned (guest) |
Posted - 08 Jul 09 - 03:29 am | |
Hey, How come nobody mentions the Bugs Bunny recording? That's where I first heard it... | ||
| Mr Happy (guest) |
Posted - 13 Jul 09 - 01:19 pm | |
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xokeGcluZ-g Having listened to this, I feel the tune's somewhat reminiscent of 'Dirty Old Town' ? | ||
| Norwegianguy (guest) |
Posted - 13 Jul 11 - 02:37 pm | |
Precisely; I got here because I googled "Dirty old town" and "Oh, bury me not" together - I wanted to know if the similarity was widely noted/recognised. I find it particulary striking in the arrangement of "Bury me not" used in John Ford's "Stagecoach"... | ||
| lawrence1066 (guest) |
Posted - 23 Sep 11 - 01:28 am | |
I agree with the writer who says that the similarity between Dirty Old Town and Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie, is seldom noted anywhere. I did the same google search as the writer, both titles together and this is the only thread I picked up. The similarity between these two tunes is so close, I would say that Ewan MacColl borrowed part of the melody of Bury Me Not, changing just enough of it, either to suit his lyrics, or to bring something new to the melody. Folksingers have been updating familar folk melodies with new lyrics for centuries, although in the 20th century there seems to be a desire to bring something new to a traditional old melody, either to suit new lyrics or to bring a touch of originality to the tune, or maybe this has always been the case. Another recent song that features part of a borrowed melody is You Raised Me Up, which writer Brendan Graham admits he lifted from Danny Boy. Sing the words "Oh Danny Boy" then sing "You Raised Me Up" and you'll hear exactly what Graham did. Now sing "Oh Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie", then sing "I Met My Love By The Gasworks Wall" and you'll hear what Ewan did. I took up songwriting in 2005, but couldn't write an original melody, so I used to write the words and then find a traditional melody to go with my lyrics, thus avoiding copyright problems. I set my first lyrics, a tribute to football legend George Best to the melody of Danny Boy, only later to discover it's similarity to You Raise Me Up. Then I wrote a tribute song the the Titanic's little sister ship the Nomadic, which had just returned to Belfast for the first time in 95 years. I decided a traditional old sea shanty would be appropriate and after a lengthy search, found Bury Me Not In The Ocean Deep, and old sea shanty or sailor's song dating back to the 17th century. After further research, I discovered that immigrants while traveling by ship to the "New World", had become acquainted with the song during their long stretches at sea. Later while pioneering their way across America, the immigrants encountered vast "seas" of grass and appropriately changed the lyrics to Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie. So it was that I set my lyrics to the melody of Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie, only later to discover it's similarity to Dirty Old Town. For the record I wrote one more song with a borrowed melody from Whiskey In The Jar and then much to my amazement I accidentally came up with an original melody for my next song. Ever since then, I get the melody as I am writing the words, I don't know exactly how, I can't really explain it, but I can do it every time and I'm now writing hits for a number of Irish singers and producing my own songs in Nashville. I release my songs under the banner THE LAWRENCE JOHN PROJECT and you can listen to all of them in full on Youtube, including the 3 songs with borrowed melodies. Georgie Boy (Danny Boy), Home In Belfast (Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie) and Single Irish Girls (Whiskey In The Jar), the latter two sung by Cliff Austin and produCed by me in NASHVILLE. Lawrence John Deejay/ Songwriter/ Producer Belfast and Nashville ljenergy@hotmail.co.uk | ||