Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Groundhog

I was going through my old high school papers, and I found the lyrics to two old folk tunes. I have little idea where they came from. I think they were handed to me in either a high school or college writing class. Those papers are a little mixed up, so it could've been either. They are remarkable pieces for their pure Appalachian sound. I will transcribe them here as they're written on these pieces of paper.


GROUNDHOG

Shoulder up yer gun and whistle up yer dog
Shoulder up yer gun and whistle up yer dog
Goin' up the holler gonna catch a ground hog... Groundhog

Down in the hole all thick and stout (x2)
Cut me a stick and twist him out...

Skin that whistle pig and tan his hide
Make the best bootlace you ever tied

Cut him up in pieces and put him on to boil
Smell him cooking a country mile

Up comes Vester from behind the plow
I want some whistle pig I want it now

Here comes Sal with a snicker and a grin
Groundhog grease all over her chin


WILD HOG

There's a wild hog in yonder woods, diddle-o-down, diddle-o-day
There's a wild hog in yonder woods, diddle-o-down-o-day
There's a wild hog in yonder woods, cut his throat and drink his blood
Cut him down, cut him down, kill him if you can

There's a wild hog in yonder mast...
Cutting his way through oak and ash...

Bangum will you hunt him right...
Sword and pistol by your side...

Bangum hunted day and night...
Swore he'd take that wild boar's life...

Bangum went to the wild boar's den...
Found the bones of a thousand men...

Fought three hours on that day...
The wild hog shied and he ran away...

Bangum threw his wee pen knife...
That was the end of the wild hog's life...

1 comment:

KateMadd/skmckinn said...

If I ever have a son, I will call him "Bangum." (Forget all this Callum and Cuchulain business.)