Shawneetown

Sometimes mistaken for a much older traditional tune, this song was largely composed by Indiana-born folk musician Dillon Bustin in the 1970s. The first verse and chorus were adapted from two separate fragments published in 1828, which Bustin found quoted in a 1969 book called "The Keelboat Age on Western Waters":

>
> "Some rows up, but we rows down,
>
> All the way to Shawnee town,
>
> Pull away — pull away!"
>
>
>
> "Hard upon the beech oar!—
>
> She moves too slow!—
>
> All the way to Shawneetown,
>
> Long while ago."
>
>
>
>

Bustin combined these fragments, composed the tune, and wrote several additional verses to complete the song.

The Longest Johns' version originated on  Andy's chill streams. Andy has commented that he learned it from Kimber's Men, and began using it during sound checks for live shows. Its first appearance on a full-band stream was on 23 August 2022.

## Factoids

**Shawneetown** is a town on the Ohio River in southern Illinois. Located just downriver from the confluence of the Ohio and the Wabash, the original town, now called Old Shawneetown, was a major trade center for Europeans and Native Americans. It served as a government administrative center for the Northwest Territory in the early 19th century, and was located near strategically important salt deposits in Gallatin County (hence the mention of **rock salt** in the second verse). The area was subject to frequent flooding, and after being completely inundated in the Ohio River Flood of 1937, the town was moved 3 miles inland to its current location, though a small village still remains at the original site.

There has been some debate over whether the type of **oar** mentioned in the chorus should be spelled "beech" or "beach". Beech was a commonly available type of wood that could reasonably have been used for oars. Alternatively, various speculators have suggested that "beach oar" might have referred to the oar on the side of the boat facing the shore, or to a specific oar used for pushing off the shore or riverbed, though these claims do not appear to be supported by historical evidence. This editor has opted for the "beech" spelling, in line with that used in the original fragment.

**Bushwhacking**, though more commonly associated with land-based pursuits in modern usage, in the early 19th century referred to pulling a boat along by means of the bushes along the water's edge.

## Lyrics

Based on the version performed in the band's livestreams. The Johns mostly follow the lyrics of the Kimber's Men version, less one omitted verse.

>
> Some rows up
>
> But we floats down
>
> Way down the Ohio
>
> To Shawneetown
>
>
>
> {Chorus}
>
> And it's hard on the beech oar
>
> She moves too slow
>
> Way down to Shawneetown
>
> On the Ohio
>
>
>
> Whiskey's in the jug, boys
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> And wheat's in the sack
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> We'll trade 'em down in Shawneetown
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> And we'll bring the rock salt back
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>
>
> {Chorus}
>
>
>
> Oh, them good old boys
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> They talk so loud and long
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> They're wide as a barrel
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> And they're twice as strong
>
>
>
> {Chorus}
>
>
>
> The water's mighty warm, boys
>
> The air is cold and dank
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> The curséd fog, it gets so thick
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> You cannot see the bank
>
>
>
> {Chorus}
>
>
>
> Now the current's got her
>
> And we'll take up the slack
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> We'll float her down to Shawneetown
>
> And we'll bushwhack her back
>
>
>
> {Chorus}
>
>
>
> Some rows up
>
> But we floats down
>
> Way down the Ohio
>
> To Shawneetown
>
>
>
> {Chorus 2x}
>
>
>
>

## Recordings

#### YouTube Videos

* Lyric Video
* Single version

#### Full Band Streams

* Stream me up Scotty! (23 Aug 2022)
* Streamworks (18 Jan 2023)
* Do Androids Stream Of Electric Sheep (3 Aug 2023)
* Ghost in the Mastream (30 Aug 2023)
* Jingle Jam 2023 | Day 4 (4 Dec 2023)

#### Chill Streams

* It's banjo time, come on grab your banjo related accessories... - 23/10/2021
* To the Banjo Cave! - 29/11/2021
* Banjon Banjoff - 21/01/2022
* He do be banjin doe - 07/02/2022

#### Gaming Streams

* All aboard the shant bus... I mean boat... I mean ship - 20/11/2020

Voyage

1. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=DIxKAAAAMAAJ&q=Shawneetown#v=snippet&q=Shawneetown&f=false
2. ↑ https://archive.org/details/westernsouvenirc00hall/page/n125/mode/2up?ref=ol&view=theater
3. ↑ https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=10783#4146480
4. ↑ https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/OI/Documents/Oct09Salt.pdf
5. ↑ https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=26728#323853
6. ↑ "bushwhacking, n." OED Online, Oxford University Press, June 2022, www.oed.com/view/Entry/25223. Accessed 24 August 2022.