LYRICS

1.

"THE SHOO-FLY REGIMENT"

Opening Chorus.

(Spelling Class)

"A" "B" Ab, "B" "A" Bay,

That's the lesson we had to-day.

But, you see, soon we'll be

Where the spelling is hard, they say.

"B" "A" "K" bake "E" "R" ker, baker,

"M" "A" "K" make "E" "R" ker, maker.

When such words we've tabulated,
We'll be almost educated.

So let ev'ry girl and ev'ry feller

Give three cheers for the Blue-back Speller.

Now that's not bad, and so we all are making such a fuss;
For forty years ago this alphabet was Greek to us.

(Sewing Class)

Among the other things we'd have you know,

We've learned how to cut, and we've learned how to sew;

We know just how to fit both fat and lean thin,

And make them appear just as neat as a pin.

Gingham and calico, muslin and lawn,

Under our fingers so skilful take on

Shapes that are very trim, stylish and neat;

Our work, so people say, is dainty and sweet.

2.

(Farmers)

Oh! we are the boys who've learned the worth
Of a plow, and a hoe, and an acre of earth;
We've learned that the way to deal with land
Is to work it with the head as well as with the hand.
Of course, you know, it cannot be forgotten
That our forefathers also raised some cotton;
With the help of a mule and the use of a hoe
They raised to an acre just a bale or so.
But here is the brand new farmer man,
We do our farming on a chemical plan;
Not only do we know how to plow and hoe,
But we know what makes the cotton grow.

(Ensemble)

(Sewing Class) And we stitch, stitch, stitch,
(Farmers) And we plow, and we plow.
(Spelling Class) And we little fellers
With our blue-back spellers
Are trying our best to learn how.

(All) So you'll agree, you'll agree,
Now that we, now that we,
As you can see, as you can see,
Are learning to work, we'd have you understand
With the head and hand.

(Cooking Class)

You've heard, we know, for a century or so
Of Dinah's southern cooking,

3.

And yet we say in a very modest way,
If for a cook you're looking,
That Dinah's arts and a few more too,
We know them through and through.
You'll find without any "ifs" or "buts"
We know the business from soup to nuts.
We're experts at biscuit making,
Frying, stewing, boiling or baking;
We guarantee, without a question,
That we're a cure for indigestion.

(Blacksmiths)

We are the men who've learned the song,
The song that the anvil sings;
We love the peal of steel on steel
When the sledge on the anvil rings.
And we swing, swing, swing,
As the steel and the iron glow;
And we swing, swing, swing,
And we strike with a right good blow.

(Teachers)

Of this model plan of instruction
We are quite the finished production;
We read Latin and Greek,
French and German we speak
With just the proper inflection.
We are grounded in pedagogics,
In the "isms" and all of the "ogics",

DE BO'D OF EDUCATION.

5.

1.
A man kin study hard in books,
And graduate f'om school,
And yet dat man kin be wid ease
De bigges' kind o' fool.
But how kin any man wid brains

Deny de allegation pusson
Dat it takes lots o' sense for a man to be
On de Bo'd of Education.

Chorus.

We is de bo'd, we is de bo'd
De bo'd of education.

We is de men dat suprenten'

Each school examination.

Answers dat we can't" criticize"

We let dem pass, an' jes look wise;

We is de bo'd, we is de bo'd,
De bo'd of education.

2.

Dey teaches childun now in shhool
Some things we never heard;

We can't dispute der arguments,
And so we take der word.

Dat sunshine comes a billion miles
Befo' we all receive it,

Might be true in December, but 'long in July,
Ders nobody would believe it.

3.

Dey tell us dat de earth ain't flat,
And dat de sun don't move;

Now dat's an easy thing to say,
But mighty hard to prove.

For Joshowy told de sun to stop,
And it don't need no provin'

Dat he would not a-spoke to de sun dat a way
If de sun had not been movin'.

6.

4.

Dey say de earth goes spinnin' 'round
Heap faster dan a top,

And dat we all would tumble off
If it should ever stop;

Dey call dat science, well we know
'Tain't common sense, dog gone it!

And de bes' kind o' proof dat it don't spin around
Is de fact we all stay on it.

But yet somehow we doubt it.

They're building it in such a place

That warships will not have to chase

Around the Fermi to win a race

Look in the book, and see.

2.

There are some other questions too,

That bother folks like me and you,

Questions that have never yet been asked in any school.

Why is it that we find a plate

As shiny as a dinner plate

Upon so many men? Now that's a question.

LOOK IN THE BOOK AND SEE.

7.

1.
One day the teacher said to me,
"Now shut your book, and let me see
Just how much you know about the world so big and wide."

She said, "Stand up there, Johnny Smart,
You know Geography by heart,
Where is the Panama Canal located?"

Teacher, teacher, what did you tell the teacher?
I think the engineering staff
Locates it in the Land of Graft.
Oh me! Oh my! What a funny answer!

Chorus.

Look in the book and see,
Maybe we'll find out all about it;
We think you're wrong,
You may be right,
But yet somehow we doubt it.
They're building it in such a place
That warships will not have to chase
Around the Horn to win a race
Look in the book, and see.

2.
There are some other questions too,
That bother folks like me and you,
Questions that have never yet been asked in any school.
Why is it that we find a pate
As shiny as a dinner plate
Upon so many men? Now that's a question

Sometimes for quite an hour you stand,
With twenty bundles in your hand,
Waiting for a car to pass that has a vacant seat.
Why is it when you start up town
All empty cars are going down?
The full ones going up? Now that's a question.
Tell us, etc.,
The crowded cars that pass, you see,
Are carrying the public free.
Oh me! etc.,

Cho.

Look in the book, etc.,
We think it is not wrong to say
That cars are run upon Broadway

* For people going the other way.

*Look in the book, and see.*

For local hit

* On ________ street cars are run each day

*For people going the other way*

9.

RUN BRUDDER RABBIT RUN.

10.

1.

Cottontail-hidin' in de wire-grass,
Eatin' on a turnip top.

Oh me! Oh my! Sun'pn gwinter happen soon.

Feelin' so happy, an' sayin' to heself,
"Good times never gwinter stop"

Oh me! Oh my! Rabbit better change dat tune.

Ole Uncle Eph done whisper to de f dog,
Loaded up his ole shot gun,

Ev'ry pickaminnny's got a grin on his face,
Waitin' for to see de fun.

Jaybird a-whistlin' a warnin' cry,
Settin' on a crossroad fence;

Oh me! Oh my! Rabbit ain't you got no sense?
Cho.

Run, run, run, run,

Run, Brother Rabbit, run.

Run, run, run, run,

Uncle Ephaham's got a gun;

Ole dog Tray is on yo' track,

Hist dat cotton tail on yo' back,

Jump in de briar patch, hide yo'self,

Run, Brother Rabbit, run.

11.

Dinah got de skillet on de fireplace,
Greasin' up de fryin' pan;

Oh me! Oh my! Rabbit can't you take a tip?

Taters an' shortenin' bread taste mighty good,
Wid fried rabbit it is gran';

Oh me! Oh my! Rabbit don't you act so flip.
'Member I told you what dey gwinter do,
Better hurry up, an' start;

Rabbit, when dey git you don't you blame it to me;
Shely gwinter eat my part.

Say, don't you hear? Is you fast asleep?
Rabbit, is you in a trance?

Oh me! Oh my! Gwinter gib you one mo' chance.

I'LL ALWAYS LOVE OLD DIXIE.

12.

1.

I've heard a lot of people talk
About some foreign land,
Where everything is beautiful,
And everything is grand.
I've heard them tell of sunny France,
And Ireland so green,
I don't know nothing about the lands
That I have never seen;
But there's one land that I know well,
I'll praise it night and morn,
Tis Dixieland, dear Dixieland,
The place where I was born.

Cho.

I'll always love old Dixie
No matter where I roam;
My heart will always hold a place
For my old southern home.
Let others talk and sing about
The lands across the sea,
But Dixieland, old Dixieland
Is good enough for me.

2.

Just why I love old Dixieland It isn't hard to say
It isn't hard to say

FINALE, ACT I.

14.

(Solo)

It seems to me widout a doubt
Dat Lincolnville will be about
De loneliest place in Dixieland
In a day or two; for it's done been planned
Dat de gals what have done graduate
Am gwine 'way off to a Yankee state,
An' ev'rybody's hyard de news to-day,
Dat de Shoo-fly boys gwinter march away.

Oh! de gals away up norf am gwinter be,
An' de boys am gwine off far across de sea,
Amongst a lot of cannibals,
An' other kinds of animals;
Dey'll be gone f'om us two years, an' maybe three.
Who'll be hyar to dance when de fiddles start to sound?
When de candy-pullin'-party time comes 'round?
Oh! Lincolnville will be Loneville,
Bless my soul! Indeed it will!
When de gals an' boys have gone, an' left dis town

(Enter Graduates)

Oh! we are going to Boston, the "hub" of the nation,
Oh! we are going to Boston for more education.
We're going to breathe the culture rare,
That permeates the Boston air;
We are going to Boston, to Boston.

(Sound of bugle and drum)

15.

Hear the bugle! Hear the drum!

Plank -e-ty-ty, plank, plank, plank,

Stand attention! Here they come!

Marching in a faultless rank.

It showed the wisdom of the President

When he called for the Shoo-fly regiment;

And in all that regiment none can be

The equal of the gallant Company "G".

The Shoo-fly Regiment is marching off to war,
Off to war,

The black boys they are going out to battle for,
Battle for

The honor of our native land,

Our flag so beautiful and grand;

What enemy can stand before the Shoo-fly?

The Shoo-fly?

So neatly dressed in suits of blue and buttons bright
Buttons bright,

They make the hearts of Dixie girls beat with delight,
With delight;

Where will you find a girl who can

Refuse to love a soldier man?

So here's to you, dear boys, a loving good-bye.

(Rosamond)

16.

'Tis true we go to meet the foe
On the bloody field of battle;
Where the swords flash bright in the red sunlight,
And the deadly rifles rattle.
But though the shot come fast and hot,
And the bullets rain like sixty,
You still can bet we won't forget
The girls we leave in Dixie.
Then a kiss and a sigh, and a fond good-bye,
And remember our vote is,
No Filipino girl, not the fairest in the world,
Will ever claim our notice.

(Rose)

That word "good-bye" may mean good-bye forever;
You go, alas! and you may come back never.

(Sextet)

The soldier boy's "good-bye", "good-bye",
May be the last words to his loved ones spoken;
But still for some duty some must die, must die,
And still for duty some hearts must be broken.

(Bob) Some comedy lines.

(Soldiers and Girls)

17.

Sweetheart good-bye,
Sweetheart don't cry,
I'm now a soldier in the army.
I wear the blue,
I must be true
Although my pathway may be stormy;
So I must say
Good-bye to-day,
Sweetheart, it breaks my heart to leave you;
You hear the drum
Calling to come;
So good-bye, sweetheart, good-bye.
Cho.

Will you remember me?
Sweetheart, will you remember me?

On land or on the sea,
Sweetheart, wherever I may be.
Good-bye, sweetheart, good-bye,
Wipe the tears, love, from your eye;
For Columbia's the gem of the ocean;
So good-bye, sweetheart, good-bye.

Short medley of patriotic and national airs
leading to curtain.

ACT, II.

(Male Chorus)

18.

O, Southland! O, Southland!

Dear land so far away;

We dream, we dream of thee by night,

We long for thee by day.

years

Long, our fathers 'neath thy sun,

Bent under weary toil,

They felled thy forest, and brought forth

The treasures of thy soil;

And so thy sun, thy soil, thy rocks,

Thy forests, streams, and flowers,

By right of toil, by right of birth,

By right of love are ours.

By right of love are ours.

O, Southland! O, Southland!

Dear land so far away,

We long for thee by day.

We long for thee by day.

ACT, III.

19.

When a girl's at the age that they call sweet sixteen,
She'll choose a beau, whether or no;
On the subject of love you may think she is green,
I'll have you know that isn't so.

Whether the fellow is handsome and tall,
Or if he's hardly good looking at all,
She's sure to feel that he's her ideal,
If he's a flashing, mashing, dashing soldier man.

Chorus.

My sweetheart's a soldier in the army,
Fighting for the red, white, and blue,
My sweetheart's a soldier in the army,
Doing deeds of daring-do.

No other lover's vows can charm me,
And for him my heart beats true;
And I am yearning for his returning;
My sweetheart's a soldier in the army.

2.
Many suitors may come, and to win her may try,
Poets may soar, actors may roar,
But if they are not soldiers they'll not catch her eye,
She will ignore them by the score.

They are not dressed in blue uniforms,
Gold lace and buttons and stripes on their arms,
But ev'ry girl, her head's in a whirl
Whene'er she sees her soldier boy on dress parade.

Ghost of Deacon Brown

20.

In a backwoods town lived Deacon Brown,
And he was a miser old. — Mean and old.
He would trust no bank; so he dug, and sank
In the ground a box of gold.

He sank down in the ground a box of gold.
As we've been told he hid his gold

He remembered that he did it;
But sad to say on the very next day

He forgot just where he hid it,

He forgot, forgot just where he hid it.

To find the place he tried and tried,
Till he grew faint and sick and died.

Cho.

And every dark and gloomy night,
A ghostly form in robes of white,
A tall and lean and frightful sight
Would wander around the town.

And as it roamed around and 'round,
With a spade it dug every foot of ground
Around about; so there was no doubt
'Twas the ghost of Deacon Brown.

2.

Around the church this ghost would search,
And whenever it would see, — Chance to see.
The passers-by take wings and fly
I would laugh in ghoulish glee,
Ha! Ha! then it would laugh in ghoulish glee.