266
Great Granddad
621
This is reported as cowboy song both by the Lomaxes (CS 302-4)
and by Margaret Larkin in her Singing Ccnvboy (New York, 1931,
PP- 73-5)- It is listed in the Archive of American Folk Song
Check-List. Its authorship remains undisclosed.
'Great Granddad.' Sung by Obadiah Johnson of Crossnore, Avery county,
in July, 1940.
1 Great-grand-dad, when the land was young,
Barred his door with a wagon-tongue ;
For times was tough, and the redskins mocked.
And he said his prayers with his shotgun cocked.
2 Great-grand-dad was a lusty man.
Cooked his grub in a frying pan.
Picked his teeth with his hunting knife,
And wore the same suit all his life.
3 Twenty-one children came to bless
The old man's home in the wilderness.
Doubt this statement if you can
That great-grand-dad was a busy man.
4 Twenty-one boys and not one bad.
They never got fresh with their great-grand-dad !
If they had, he'd have been right glad
To tan their hides with a hickory gad.
5 He raised them rough but he raised them strong ;
When their feet took hold on the road to wrong
He straightened them out with the old ramrod
And filled them full of the fear of God.
6 They grew strong in heart and hand,
A firm foundation of our land.
They made the best citizens we ever had.
We need more men like great-grand-dad.
7 Grand-dad died at eighty-nine ;
Twenty-one boys he left behind.
Times have changed, but you never can tell ;
You might yet do half as well.
--------------------
266
Great Granddad
'Great Granddad.' Sung by Obadiah Johnston. Recorded at Crossnore, Avery
county, in 1940. The text is almost the same as that in OFS iii 248, No. 483
Cf CS 302 Measures 5-6 resemble melodically 'Little Brown Jug.'
For melodic relationship cf. **OFS in 248, No. 483.
Scale: Hexachordal. Tonal Center: d. Structure: nmm^ (4,2,2) = inverted
barform.