A bold hippopotamus was standing one day
On the banks of the cool Shalimar
He gazed at the bottom as it peacefully lay
By the light of the evening star.
Away on a hilltop sat combing her hair
His fair hippopotami maid
The hippopotamus was no ignoramus
And sang her this sweet serenade
Mud, mud, glorious mud
Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood
So follow me follow, down to the hollow
And there let us wallow in glorious mud
The fair hippopotama he aimed to entice
From her seat on the hilltop above
As she hadn't got a ma to give her advice
Came tiptoeing down to her love
Like thunder the forest re-echoed the sound
Of the song that they sang as they met
His inamorata adjusted her garter
And lifted her voice in duet
Mud, mud, glorious mud...
Now more hippopotami began to convene
On the banks of that river so wide
I wonder now what am I to say of the scene
That ensued by the Shalimar side?
They dived all at once with an ear-splitting splosh
Then rose to the surface again
A regular army of hippopotami
All singing this haunting refrain
Mud, mud, glorious mud...
The amorous hippopotamus whose love song we know
Is now married and father of ten
He murmurs God rot 'em as he watches them grow
And he longs to be single again.
He'll gambol no more on the banks of the Nile
Which Nasser is flooding next spring
With hippopotamas in silken pyjamas
No more will he teach them to sing
Mud, mud, glorious mud
Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood
So follow me follow, down to the hollow
And there let us wallow in glorious mud
Shoo fly, don't bother me
Shoo fly, don't bother me
Shoo fly, don't bother me
I belong to somebody
I do, I do, I do, and I ain't gonna tell you who
I belong to somebody, yes indeed I do
All under the leaves and the leaves of life
I met with virgins seven
And one of them was Mary mild
Our Lord's first mother in heaven
Oh what are you seeking you seven pretty maids
All under the leaves of life?
We are seeking for no leaves, Thomas
But for a friend of thine
Go down, go down into yonder town
And sit in the gallery
And there you'll see sweet Jesus Christ
Nailed to a big yew tree
So down they went into yonder town
As fast as foot could fall
And many a bitter and a grevious tear
From the virgin's eyes did fall
Oh peace, Mother, oh peace, Mother
Your weeping does me grieve
But I will suffer this, he said
For Adam and for Eve
Oh how can I my weeping leave
My sorrows undergo
While I do see my own son die
And sons I have no more?
He laid his head on his right shoulder
And death has struck him nigh
The Holy Ghost be with your soul
Sweet Mother, now I die
Oh the rose, the gentle rose
The fennel it grows so strong
And then good Lord your charity
Is the ending of my song
This spring ballad carol tells a story based on the Apocrypal Gospels.
It is about 150 years old.
De Camptown ladies sing this song
Doodah, doodah.
De Camptown racetrack five miles long
Doodah doodah day.
I come down der with my hat caved in
Doodah doodah.
I go back home with a pocket full of gin.
Doodah doodah day.
Gwine to run all night
Gwine to run all day.
I'll bet my money on the bobtail nag
Somebody bet on the bay.
The longtail filly and the big black hoss
They fly the track and they both cut across
The blind hoss sticking in a big mud hole
Can't touch bottom with a ten foot pole.
Old muley cow come onto the track
The bobtail fling her over his back
Then fly along like the railroad car
Running a race with a shooting star.
See them flying on a ten mile heat
Round the race track then repeat
I win my money on the bobtail nag
I keep my money in an old tow—bag.
Well some rows up, but we floats down
Way down the Ohio to Shawneetown
And it's hard on the beech oar, she moves too slow
Way down to Shawneetown on the Ohio
Now the current's got her, and we'll take up the slack
We'll float her down to Shawneetown and we'll bushwack her back
And it's hard on the beech oar, she moves too slow
Way down to Shawneetown on the Ohio
Whisky's in the jar, boys, the wheat is in the sack
We'll trade 'em down to Shawneetown and we'll bring the rock salt back
And it's hard on the beech oar...
I've got a wife in Louisville and one in New Orleans
When I get to Shawneetown, gonna see my Indian queen
And it's hard on the beech oar...
Water's mighty warm, boys, the air is cold and dank
And that cursed fog, it gets so thick you cannot see the bank
And it's hard on the beech oar...
Well some rows up, but we floats down
Way down the Ohio to Shawneetown
And it's hard on the beech oar, she moves too slow
Way down to Shawneetown on the Ohio
It was pleasant and delightful one midsummer's morn
And the fields and the meadows were all covered in corn
And the thrushes and songbirds sang on every green spray
And the larks they sang melodious at the dawning of the day.
And the larks they sang melodious
And the larks they sang melodious
And the larks they sang melodious
At the dawning of the day
A sailor and his true love were walking one day.
Says the sailor to his true love, I am bound far away
I am bound for the East Indies where the loud cannons roar
I am bound to leave you, Nancy, you're the girl that I adore
I am bound to leave you, Nancy...
Then the ring from off her finger she instantly drew
Saying, Take this dearest William and my heart it goes too
And as they were embracing tears from her eyes fell
Saying, May I go along with you? Oh no, my love, farewell
Saying May I go along with you...
Now the wind's in the rigging and the anchor's aweigh
And the ship she will be sailing at the dawning of the day
And the current is rising on a fast-flowing tide
And if ever I return again, I will make you my bride
And if ever I return again
And if ever I return again
And if ever I return again
She sailed away on a sunny summer's day
On the back of a crocodile
You see, said she, He's as tame as tame can be
I'll ride him down the Nile
Well the croc winked his eye
As the lady waved goodbye
Wearing a happy smile
But at the end of the ride
The lady was inside
Once I loved a girl, and I loved her as my life
Truly would I have given her my hand and my heart
To make her my wife
But she took me by the hand, and she led me to the door
And the answer that she gave me was, Don't come here no more
O don't come here no more
So I stayed away six months which caused her to complain
And she wrote to me a letter saying, Please come back again
O, please come back again
So I wrote to her another, and it was to let her know
That a young man often ventures where he ought not to go
Ought not to go
For the leaves they will wither, and the roots they will decay
And the beauty of a fair young maid will soon fade away
O-oh will soon fade away
We had some chickens _ no eggs would they lay (x2)
So I said honey, this sure ain't funny
We're losing money; no eggs would they lay
One day a rooster crept into our yard
And caught those chickens right off of their guard
They're laying eggs now just like they used to
Ever since that rooster crept into our yard.
We had some moo-cows _ no milk would they give (x2)
So, I said honey, this sure ain't funny
We're losing money; no milk would they give
One day a rooster crept into our yard
And caught those moo-cows right off of their guard
They're giving egg nog instead of milk now
Ever since that rooster crept into our yard.
We had some elephants _ no tusks would they grow (x2)
So I said honey, this sure ain't funny
We're losing money; no tusks would they grow
One day a rooster crept into our yard
And caught those elephants right off of their guard
They're laying eggs now of solid ivory
Ever since that rooster crept into our yard.
We had a tractor _ it just wouldn't go (x2)
So I said honey, this sure ain't funny
We're losing money; it just wouldn't go
One day a rooster crept into our yard
And caught that tractor right off of its guard
Now it goes EGGsactly just like it used to
Ever since that rooster crept into our yard.
We had some scientists _ they just wouldn't work (x2)
So I said honey, this sure ain't funny
We're losing money; they just wouldn't work
One day a rooster crept into our yard
And caught those scientists right off of their guard
They're doing EGGsperiments just like they used to
Ever since that rooster crept into our yard.
Johnny Todd, he took a notion
For to sail the ocean wide
But he left his true love behind him
Weeping by the Liverpool tide
For a while she wept full sorely
Tore her hair and wrung her hands
Till she met up with another sailor
Walking on the Liverpool sands
Why fair maiden, are you weeping
For your Johnny gone to sea?
If you will wed with me tomorrow
I will kind and constant be
I will buy you sheets and blankets
I will buy you a wedding ring
And I'll give to you a gilded cradle
For to rock your baby in
Johnny Todd came back from sailing
Sailing o'er the ocean wide
But he found his fair and false one
Was another sailor's bride
So all young men who go a-sailing
For to fight the foreign foe
Don't you leave your love, like Johnny
Marry her before you go