Great Grandad
[Great Grandad appeared in the 1925 Saturday Evening Post, written by Lowell Otus Reese (1866-1948), an Indiana farm boy who became a California journalist. It was picked up by Romaine (Romy) Lowdermilk, who performed it and a 78 was recorded. The first publication of Great Grandad was in 1929 in the "The Lonesome Cowboy," which were Lowdermilk's lyrics based on the poem printed in the Post. It was also published in Miller's, Popular Cowboy Songs (1940) p.22. At that time it was regarded as a folk-song, entered tradition, and this stanza from the Brown Collection was collected from Obadiah Johnson in NC:
Grandad died at ninety-three,
twenty-one boys he left behind,
times have changed but you can never tell,
You might do half as well.
Great Grandad was adapted by John Irwin White (his intro in Git Along, Little Dogies), who wrote an article about the song history and published it with music in 1975. It begins:
I have a little song I'll sing to you;
'Tain't particularly old, 'tain't particularly new;
'Tain't particularly funny, 'tain't particularly sad,
Just a song about my Great Grandad.
Great grandad when he was young,
barred the door with his wagon tongue,
times were rough and Redskins mocked,
Said all his prayers with a shotgun cocked.
White apparently is responsible for the sequel, "Great Grandma," which has also entered the folk tradition.
R. Matteson 2014]
GREAT GRANDDAD
Great grandad when he was young,
barred the door with his wagon tongue,
times were rough and Redskins mocked,
Said all his prayers with a shotgun cocked.
CHORUS:
Great grandad, great grandad,
Said all his prayers with a shotgun cocked,
Great grandad.
As a man he was tough and grim
Danger was duck soup to him
He ate cornbread with his bacon fat
Great grandson would starve on that.
CHORUS:
Great grandad, great grandad,
Great grandson would starve on that,
Great grandad.
Twenty-one children came to bless
Granddad’s home in the wilderness.
Doubt this tale if you wish and can,
Grandad was a busy man. CHORUS: (with last line as above)
Twenty-one boys and how they grew,
Tall, and strong, on their backs too,
Slept on the floor with the dogs and cats,
Hunted deer with their coonskin caps. CHORUS: (with last line as above)
Twenty-one boys and not one lad
Would get fresh with my great granddad
Well they knew if they ruffled him
He'd tan their hides with a hickory limb. CHORUS: (with last line as above)
They were rough but he raised them well,
If their feet made a break for hell.
He turned them back with an iron ramrod,
And filled then full of the fear of God. CHORUS: (with last line as above)