The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-01-09
EIe fries his meat in frying pan,
And stays with the girls till morning.

lie IlleS MS meat IN a Trying pan,
And stays with the girls till morning.
When Charley come for to hear of this
He thought il would not be amiSS
To saddle up his horse and ride a little piece
And stay with his girl till morning"
These had nothing in their composition or
the airs to which they We're sung to indicate
the sources from which they sprang.
Others of the same character in that re-
spect were:
Over the hills and lofty mountains,
There L spied a murmuring fountain
Come pretty girls, let's go and play,
The moon doth shine as bright as day.
Were sailing on the boats where the tide
rolls high,
Waiting for the pretty girls as they go by"
The roaring iteration that
There's nothing gained by rowing, by row.
ing, by rowing;
There's nothing gained by rowing but
broken hearts at night
and many another which was simply an in
vitation to join the promenade play your
part in the OSCILLATION with which these old
plays frequently wound up, by all standing,
open order, the lassies in one rank and the
lads in another. when they would begin at
the foot of the column and march between
the ranks to the head and there the gentle
men would each salute his partner as COM
as:
Take your lady by the hand, sir and lead
Kiss her sweet lips sir, and lead her back
again.
And this was repeated for each couple
that had participated in the march except
that, usually there were those who ran
away from the ordeal.
But the most popular of all were the songs
that referred to the events of the revolu-
tionary war or the last war with England.
The best example is the famous Quebec
March, which was inspired by the disas-
trous attempt of Arnold and Montgomery to
capture that stronghold from the British,
as it was evidently written before the tragic
denouement:
1--WE are marching down to old Quebec,
Where the drums are loudly beating;
The Americans have gained the day
And the British are retreatinS.
The wars all Ger and We'll turn back
TO the place where we first started:
Wen open the ring and choose a couple in
To release the broken-hearted.'
Another that curiously mingled the events
of the revolution with those of the war of
1912 began thus:
81 suppose you've heard Of late
OF George Washington the great,
And likewise, of Perry a-sailing on the lake,
How they bend the British back
BOth by lana ana by sea,
And made them know their Places.
Many of these songs were born Of the pio-
neer spirit that peopled the new land. One of
these that was sung TO an air that was a
variant of the Irish melody, Wearing of
the Green" invited some typical Dearest
Dear" to accompany the hero into the west
ern wilderness:
Rise you up my dearest dear and present to
me your hand
And we'll march in pursuit of some far bet
ter land.
Where the girls do knit and sew and the
boys accounting 60,
And wen settle on the banks OF the pleas
ant Ohio.
OF the pleasant Ohio. of the pleasant Ohio.
Where there's all sorts of game besides the
buck and doe,
And we'll wander through the canebrakes
and shoot the buffalo;
o. Wen shoot the buffalo; o, Wen shoot the
buffalo;
And well wander through the canebrakes
and shoot the buffalo"
/ always supposed that those 'canebrakes'
were largely mythical until ran across an
extract from a book written by Capt. Gilbert
Inlay. the man who became somewhat I'M
favorably celebrated for his alleged cruel
treatment of Mary Wolstonecroft. The book
was printed in 1892 and gave a fiambuoyant
description OF the new country. He relates
therein that canebrakes covered many parts
of the Ohio valley. THE cane" ne says, lis
a reed that grows to the height. frequently.
of ten or twelve feet. and 1t is in thickness
frcm the size of a goose quill to that of two
inches in diameter" and adds: 1T IS an