THE BURLINGTON OHIO SONG
27 Sept. 1888 Ironton Register
“There ‘s Joe Davidson In his brick house so large,
He kept old man Wescoat, a purpose for to charge.
If you’d buy a half pint, he’d charge it to the rear,
For they had lived in Burlington for one hundred year.For corn and rye we put it to good use,
We’d take It to Tom Carr, and he ‘d wring out the juice,
We drank around brave boys with a jovial career,
For we had lived in Burlington for one hundred year.There’s George Stump with his butcher knife and gun,
Away in the woods and the deer he did run,
He took Jack, Sir, to drive up the rear,
For they lived there in Burlington for one hundred year.In the town of Burlington, there grew a great dispute,
Which was the biggest rascal, Hog Beard or Capt. Shoot?
Shoot kept some brandy, Beard kept some beer,
And they lived there in Burlington one hundred year.In the town of Burlington they appeared to be nice,
If you owe them a ninepence they’d run you for your life,
And if you did not pay them they’d law you severe,
For they lived there in Burlington for one hundred year.
In a conversation with W. D. Kelly, the other day, relative to some old-time matters, he made an allusion to the “Burlington, Ohio, song. “What is that?” we asked with some curiosity. “Oh, that was one of the several songs, the old pioneers used to sing, fifty or more years ago – there were five or six of them, he replied.
“Do you remember any of the songs?” we asked. “Yes, indeed” he answered – “I know them all. The Burlington, Ohio, song brought in several residents of Burlington of those days. People enjoyed those songs when I was a boy.
‘Can’t you repeat one to us?” we again asked. “Well, I can sing it to you,” said Mr. Kelly – and then he went off in one of those old-fashioned strains or backwoods melodies that make a fellow feel a hundred years old.
When he concluded, we asked If it was in type or had been written out, and he said “No — everybody knew it by heart and sang it all the time fifty years ago.”
We then persuaded him to repeat it, without singing It, but that was hard work, and several times he dropped into the tune in order to enable him to catch the words. And thus we took it down and will put it in type, which is the first time it ever saw daylight in this style.
We may say it is not composed, In every feature, after the true poetic art, but the singer’s voice is expected by slurs In these days, when ‘told times” is and crescendos to fill up the unpoetic gaps on tap, it may prove a very interesting contribution.
The above was the “Burlington, Ohio Song” in full. In those days, it was universally sung, but was, probably, more popular outside of Burlington, Ohio, for it seems to have been a take-off on that place because that was the county seat and put on a few airs.
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