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Acres of Clams/Old Settler's Song
[From: “An Illustrated History of the State of Washington, ” 1893. See also: Kuntz, a Fiddlers' Companion.
R. Matteson 2005]
NOTES: The first recorded reference to this song was in the Olympia, Washington newspaper the Washington Standard in April 1877. Lyrics wed to the fiddle tune “Old Rosin the Bow/Beau” about 1874 by Francis D. Henry (1842- 1893), a police court judge. The song achieved prominence decades later through radio-show singer Ivar Haglund, who made it the theme song of Acres of Clams, his flagship seafood restaurant on the Seattle Waterfront's Pier 54.
Acres of Clams - Lyrics written police court judge, Francis D. Henry of Olympia, Washington about 1874.
I've wandered all over this country,
Prospecting and digging for gold,
I've tunneled, hydraulicked and cradled,
And I nearly froze in the cold.
And I nearly froze in the cold,
And I nearly froze in the cold,
I've tunneled, hydraulicked and cradled,
And I nearly froze in the cold.
For one who got wealthy by mining,
I saw many hundreds get poor,
I made up my mind to go digging,
For something a little more sure,
For something a little more sure,
For something a little more sure.
I made up my mind to go digging,
For something a little more sure.
I rolled up my grub in my blanket,
I left all my tools on the ground,
I started one morning to shank it,
For the country they call Puget Sound,
For the country they call Puget Sound,
For the country they call Puget Sound.
I started one morning to shank it,
For the country they call Puget Sound.
No longer a slave of ambition,
I laugh at the world and its shams,
And I think of my happy condition,
Surrounded by Acres of Clams,
Surrounded by Acres of Clams,
Surrounded by Acres of Clams.
And I think of my happy condition,
Surrounded by Acres of Clams.
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