Cowboy Songs | Page 7

against a knife In the hands of old Bob Sine, And over Jake they held a wake In the days of Forty-Nine.
There was Monte Pete, I'll ne'er forget The luck he always had, He would deal for you both day and night Or as long as he had a scad. It was a pistol shot that lay Pete out, It was his last resign, And it caught Pete dead sure in the door In the days of Forty-Nine.
Of all the comrades that I've had There's none that's left to boast, And I am left alone in my misery Like some poor wandering ghost. And as I pass from town to town, They call me the rambling sign, Since the days of old and the days of gold And the days of Forty-Nine.

Days of Forty-Nine (Mus. Not.)
You are gaz-ing now on old Tom Moore, A rel-ic of by-gone days; 'Tis a bum-mer now they call me. But what cares I for praise; It is oft, says I, for days gone by, It's oft do I repine For those days of old when we dug out the gold, In the days of For-ty-nine, In those days of old when we dug out the gold, In the days of For-ty-nine.

JOE BOWERS
My name is Joe Bowers, I've got a brother Ike, I came here from Missouri, Yes, all the way from Pike. I'll tell you why I left there And how I came to roam, And leave my poor old mammy, So far away from home.
I used to love a gal there, Her name was Sallie Black, I asked her for to marry me, She said it was a whack. She says to me, "Joe Bowers, Before you hitch for life, You ought to have a little home To keep your little wife."
Says I, "My dearest Sallie, O Sallie, for your sake, I'll go to California And try to raise a stake." Says she to me, "Joe Bowers, You are the chap to win, Give me a kiss to seal the bargain,"-- And I throwed a dozen in.
I'll never forget my feelings When I bid adieu to all. Sal, she cotched me round the neck And I began to bawl. When I begun they all commenced, You never heard the like, How they all took on and cried The day I left old Pike.
When I got to this here country I hadn't nary a red, I had such wolfish feelings I wished myself most dead. At last I went to mining, Put in my biggest licks, Came down upon the boulders Just like a thousand bricks.
I worked both late and early In rain and sun and snow, But I was working for my Sallie So 'twas all the same to Joe. I made a very lucky strike As the gold itself did tell, For I was working for my Sallie, The girl I loved so well.
But one day I got a letter From my dear, kind brother Ike; It came from old Missouri, Yes, all the way from Pike. It told me the goldarndest news That ever you did hear, My heart it is a-bustin' So please excuse this tear.
I'll tell you what it was, boys, You'll bust your sides I know; For when I read that letter You ought to seen poor Joe. My knees gave 'way beneath me, And I pulled out half my hair; And if you ever tell this now, You bet you'll hear me swear.
It said my Sallie was fickle, Her love for me had fled, That she had married a butcher, Whose hair was awful red; It told me more than that, It's enough to make me swear,-- It said that Sallie had a baby And the baby had red hair.
Now I've told you all that I can tell About this sad affair, 'Bout Sallie marrying the butcher And the baby had red hair. But whether it was a boy or girl The letter never said, It only said its cussed hair Was inclined to be red.

THE COWBOY'S DREAM[2]
Last night as I lay on the prairie, And looked at the stars in the sky, I wondered if ever a cowboy Would drift to that sweet by and by.
Roll on, roll on; Roll on, little dogies, roll on, roll on, Roll on, roll on; Roll on, little dogies, roll on.
The road to that bright, happy region Is a dim, narrow trail, so they say; But the broad one that leads to perdition Is posted and blazed all the way.
They say there will be a great round-up, And cowboys, like dogies, will stand, To be marked by the Riders of Judgment Who are posted and know every brand.
I know there's many a stray cowboy Who'll be lost at the great, final sale, When he might have gone in the green