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Hunt the Buffalo or the Banks of Pleasant Ohio/Shoot The Buffalo/Hunt the Buffalo
Old-Time, Breakdown and Song. USA; Mississippi; Kansas; Arkansas, Missouri.
ARTIST: Lyrics from American Memory
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes
DATE: 1800s; In R. E. Banta book, The Ohio, the song is dated 1812-1818; "The Banks of Ohio" appeared in print in The Forget-me-not Songster, ca. 1840; a complete version appears in George Stuyvesant Jackson's Early Songs.
Collected in 1909 by Perrow; First recorded by The Swamp Roosters in 1930 but was never released.
RECORDING INFO: Shoot the/that Buffalo [Me II-A28]
Lomax, J. A. & A. Lomax / American Ballads and Folk Songs, MacMillan, Bk (1934), p296
Ford, Ira W. / Traditional Music in America, Folklore Associates, Bk (1965/1940), p244
Lomax, John A. & Alan Lomax / Folk Song USA, Signet, Sof (1966/1947), # 32
Fife, Austin E. & Alta S. / Cowboy and Western Songs, Bramhall House, Bk (1982/1969), p272/# 98A
Fife, Austin E. & Alta S. / Cowboy and Western Songs, Bramhall House, Bk (1982/1969), p274/# 98B-C
Brand, Oscar. Absolute Nonsense, Riverside RLP 12-825, LP (195?), trk# A.09
Breeden, A. W. (Professor). Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume III, Humorous & Play-Party ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p308/#523C [1935/04/12]
Cotten, Elizabeth. Shake Sugaree, Volume 2, Folkways FTS 31001, LP (196?), trk# 14
Drake, Rod. Owens, William A. (ed.) / Texas Folk Songs. 2nd edition, SMU Press, Bk (1976/1950), p150 [1952]
Fox, Martin. New River Jam: One, Mountain 308, LP (1976), trk# 14
Hartley, Savannah. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume III, Humorous & Play-Party ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p309/#523F [1941/10/22]
Hughes, Ella. Skip to My Lou, Pine Breeze 004, LP (1977), trk# B.03 [1975]
Jones, Mrs. W. E.. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume III, Humorous & Play-Party ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p307/#523A [1928/11/05]
Smithers, Rena. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume III, Humorous & Play-Party ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p308/#523D [1934/04/17]
Song Spinners. Johnson, Margaret & Travis (eds) / Early American Songs from ... the Spi, AMP, Fol (1943), # 4
Spradley, Isabel. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume III, Humorous & Play-Party ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p308/#523E [1929/12/14]
Unidentified Singer. Owens, William A. (ed.) / Texas Folk Songs. 2nd edition, SMU Press, Bk (1976/1950), p149 [1930s]
Waddell, Elizabeth. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume III, Humorous & Play-Party ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p308/#523B [1930/06/12]
PRINT REFERENCES (9 citations):
Randolph 523, "Shoot the Buffalo" (2 texts plus 4 excerpts, 1 tune)
Hudson 149, pp. 297-298, "Shoot the Buffalo" (1 text)
Fuson, p. 165, "Chase the Buffalo" (1 text)
SharpAp 262, "Chase the Buffalo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 32, "Shoot the Buffalo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 296-297, "Shoot the Buffalo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 98, "Shoot the Buffalo" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Arnett, p. 96, "Shoot the Buffalo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 563, "We'll Hunt the Buffalo!" (1 text, 1 tune, with the chorus of "Shoot the Buffalo" and lyrics from "The Lovely Ohio")
RELATED TO: "Banks of the Ohio" "Banks of the Pleasant Ohio"
OTHER NAMES: “Hunting the Buffalo;” “Gonna Go Huntin’ for the Buffalo”
SOURCES: Ceolas; Mudcat Café; Mike Seegar plays a version learned from Jimmy Driftwood (John Morris of Timbo, Arkansas), who had the tune from his uncle. They played it in B,EGB tuning. Source for notated version: Barb Zavon (Cincinnati, Ohio) via Helga Sermat (Vancouver, B.C.) [Songer]. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; pg. 105. Dorian Discovery DIS-80103, Helicon - "Horizons" (1992. Learned from fiddler Freyda Epstein, Charlottesville, Va.). HPV1, Ramona Jones – “Back Porch Fiddling.” Shanachie 6001, Norman Blake - “Just Gimme Somethin’ I’m Used To” (1991). Time and Strike #7785, Clyde Curley and Oxymorons – “Old Time Mandolin Music.”
NOTES- SHOOT THE BUFFALO: "Shoot the Buffalo" evolved from "The Banks of Ohio" which appeared in print in The Forget-me-not Songster, ca. 1840; a complete version appears in George Stuyvesant Jackson's Early Songs.
“Come all you young men, who have a mind to range,
Into the western country, your station for to change;
For seeking some new pleasure we'll altogether go,
Come along lively lads, and we'll altogether go,
And we'll settle on the banks of the pleasant Ohio...
Girls, if you'll card, knit, and spin, we'll plough, reap, and sow,
And we'll fold you in our arms while the stormy wind doth blow.”
-Excerpt from The Forget-Me-Not Songster
This is not the murder ballad, "On the Banks of the Ohio" which begins, "I asked my love to take a walk,' or the Nightingale Serenaders, "De Banks ob de Ohio" which begins, "We lib on de banks ob de Ohio Tral lal lal la." This song was titled, HUNT THE BUFFALO, OR THE BANKS OF THE PLEASANT OHIO in a broadside from the Civil War period.
Buffalo trails around the Ohio River were responsible for many settlements in Kentucky (Owensboro, Lexington, Louisville and Frankfurt) and Ohio (Cincinnati). According to R. E. Banta in the book, The Ohio, the song is dated back to the 1812-1818 period.
From an early source: A single verse drops in here as a matter of history. It is from one of the songs that was sung at the East at the end of some game where kissing-never to be a lost art-was going on between young people, who later largely became fathers and mothers out here in the Ohio-land.
“Arise, my true love, and present me your hand,
And we’ll march in procession for a far distant land:
Where the girls will card and spin, And the boys will plough and sow,
And we’ll settle on the banks of the pleasant Ohio.”
Notes from Kuntz: A Major. Standard tuning. AABB. The melody is apparently based on an old play-party song from the Ozarks, with various titles such as “Shoot the Buffalo” and “Gonna Go Huntin’ for the Buffalo.” Mike Seegar plays a version learned from Jimmy Driftwood (John Morris of Timbo, Arkansas), who had the tune from his uncle. They played it in B,EGB tuning. Source for notated version: Barb Zavon (Cincinnati, Ohio) via Helga Sermat (Vancouver, B.C.) [Songer]. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; pg. 105. Dorian Discovery DIS-80103, Helicon - "Horizons" (1992. Learned from fiddler Freyda Epstein, Charlottesville, Va.). HPV1, Ramona Jones – “Back Porch Fiddling.” Shanachie 6001, Norman Blake - “Just Gimme Somethin’ I’m Used To” (1991). Time and Strike #7785, Clyde Curley and Oxymorons – “Old Time Mandolin Music.”
Hunt the Buffalo or the Banks of Pleasant Ohio/SHOOT THE BUFFALO
HUNT THE BUFFALO, OR THE BANKS OF THE PLEASANT OHIO
From American Memory: Andrews', Printer, 38 Chatham St., N. Y., Dealer in Songs, Games, Toy Books, &c., Wholesale and Retail. Circa 1860; No date given
Come all ye likely lads that have a mind for to range,
Into some foreign country your situation to change,
In seeking some new pleasures we will all together go,
And we'll settle on the banks of the pleasant Ohio.
And we'll range through the wild woods and hunt the buffalo.
And we'll range through the wild woods and hunt the buffalo.
All ye girls of New England who are unmarried yet,
Come along with us and rewarded you shall get;
For there is all kind of game, besides the buck and the doe,
And we'll range through the wild woods and hunt the buffalo.
The fish in this river are good for our use,
Besides there is lofty sugar trees that yield us their juice,
There's all kinds of grain in Kentucky doth grow,
And we'll drain the rich man's gold from the New Mexico.
And we'll range through the wild woods and hunt the buffalo.
To sit down to your wheels, girls, it will do you no harm,
To spin yourselves some clothing to keep yourselves warm;
If you card and spin, girls, we will plough, reap and sow,
When we settle on the banks of the pleasant Ohio.
And we'll range through the wild woods and hunt the buffalo.
If by chance the wild Indians should happen to come near,
We'll all unite together with heart and with cheer;
We'll march through the town, boys, and strike a deadly blow,
And we'll drive them from the banks of the pleasant Ohio.
And we'll range through the wild woods and hunt the buffalo.
It is now to conclude, without giving offence,
Each one has a right to choose his own residence,
But I will choose my residence where milk and honey flow,
And we'll settle on the banks of the pleasant Ohio.
And we'll range through the wild woods and hunt the buffalo.
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