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Shoot The Buffalo/Hunt the Buffalo
Old-Time, Breakdown and Song. USA; Mississippi; Kansas; Arkansas, Missouri.
ARTIST: Lyrics from Randolph
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes
DATE: 1800s; In R. E. Banta book, The Ohio, the song is dated 1812-1818; "The Banks of Ohio" appeared in print in The Forget-me-not Songster, ca. 1840; a complete version appears in George Stuyvesant Jackson's Early Songs.
Collected in 1909 by Perrow; First recorded by The Swamp Roosters in 1930 but was never released.
RECORDING INFO: Shoot the/that Buffalo [Me II-A28]
Lomax, J. A. & A. Lomax / American Ballads and Folk Songs, MacMillan, Bk (1934), p296
Ford, Ira W. / Traditional Music in America, Folklore Associates, Bk (1965/1940), p244
Lomax, John A. & Alan Lomax / Folk Song USA, Signet, Sof (1966/1947), # 32
Fife, Austin E. & Alta S. / Cowboy and Western Songs, Bramhall House, Bk (1982/1969), p272/# 98A
Fife, Austin E. & Alta S. / Cowboy and Western Songs, Bramhall House, Bk (1982/1969), p274/# 98B-C
Brand, Oscar. Absolute Nonsense, Riverside RLP 12-825, LP (195?), trk# A.09
Breeden, A. W. (Professor). Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume III, Humorous & Play-Party ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p308/#523C [1935/04/12]
Cotten, Elizabeth. Shake Sugaree, Volume 2, Folkways FTS 31001, LP (196?), trk# 14
Drake, Rod. Owens, William A. (ed.) / Texas Folk Songs. 2nd edition, SMU Press, Bk (1976/1950), p150 [1952]
Fox, Martin. New River Jam: One, Mountain 308, LP (1976), trk# 14
Hartley, Savannah. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume III, Humorous & Play-Party ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p309/#523F [1941/10/22]
Hughes, Ella. Skip to My Lou, Pine Breeze 004, LP (1977), trk# B.03 [1975]
Jones, Mrs. W. E.. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume III, Humorous & Play-Party ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p307/#523A [1928/11/05]
Smithers, Rena. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume III, Humorous & Play-Party ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p308/#523D [1934/04/17]
Song Spinners. Johnson, Margaret & Travis (eds) / Early American Songs from ... the Spi, AMP, Fol (1943), # 4
Spradley, Isabel. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume III, Humorous & Play-Party ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p308/#523E [1929/12/14]
Unidentified Singer. Owens, William A. (ed.) / Texas Folk Songs. 2nd edition, SMU Press, Bk (1976/1950), p149 [1930s]
Waddell, Elizabeth. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume III, Humorous & Play-Party ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p308/#523B [1930/06/12]
PRINT REFERENCES (9 citations):
Randolph 523, "Shoot the Buffalo" (2 texts plus 4 excerpts, 1 tune)
Hudson 149, pp. 297-298, "Shoot the Buffalo" (1 text)
Fuson, p. 165, "Chase the Buffalo" (1 text)
SharpAp 262, "Chase the Buffalo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 32, "Shoot the Buffalo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 296-297, "Shoot the Buffalo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 98, "Shoot the Buffalo" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Arnett, p. 96, "Shoot the Buffalo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 563, "We'll Hunt the Buffalo!" (1 text, 1 tune, with the chorus of "Shoot the Buffalo" and lyrics from "The Lovely Ohio")
RELATED TO: "Banks of the Pleasant Ohio"
OTHER NAMES: “Hunting the Buffalo;” “Gonna Go Huntin’ for the Buffalo”
SOURCES: Ceolas; Mudcat Café; Mike Seegar plays a version learned from Jimmy Driftwood (John Morris of Timbo, Arkansas), who had the tune from his uncle. They played it in B,EGB tuning. Source for notated version: Barb Zavon (Cincinnati, Ohio) via Helga Sermat (Vancouver, B.C.) [Songer]. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; pg. 105. Dorian Discovery DIS-80103, Helicon - "Horizons" (1992. Learned from fiddler Freyda Epstein, Charlottesville, Va.). HPV1, Ramona Jones – “Back Porch Fiddling.” Shanachie 6001, Norman Blake - “Just Gimme Somethin’ I’m Used To” (1991). Time and Strike #7785, Clyde Curley and Oxymorons – “Old Time Mandolin Music.”
NOTES- SHOOT THE BUFFALO: "Shoot the Buffalo" evolved from "The Banks of Ohio" which appeared in print in The Forget-me-not Songster, ca. 1840; a complete version appears in George Stuyvesant Jackson's Early Songs. This is not the murder ballad, "On the Banks of the Ohio" which begins, "I asked my love to take a walk,' or the Nightingale Serenaders, "De Banks ob de Ohio"
which begins, "We lib on de banks ob de Ohio Tral lal lal la." This song was titled, HUNT THE BUFFALO, OR THE BANKS OF THE PLEASANT OHIO in a broadside from the Civil War period.
Buffalo trails around the Ohio River were responsible for many settlements in Kentucky (Owensboro, Lexington, Louisville and Frankfurt) and Ohio (Cincinnati). According to R. E. Banta in the book, The Ohio, the song is dated back to the 1812-1818 period.
According to Barrett, this was popular emigrant song from the early 1800s and was especially popular in London. It was also found along the Missouri River in America. It was printed on numerous broadsides (there are six different broadsides of The Buffalo in the Bodleian Library Collection). Rev. S. Baring-Gould collected two versions.
Notes from Kuntz: A Major. Standard tuning. AABB. The melody is apparently based on an old play-party song from the Ozarks, with various titles such as “Shoot the Buffalo” and “Gonna Go Huntin’ for the Buffalo.” Mike Seegar plays a version learned from Jimmy Driftwood (John Morris of Timbo, Arkansas), who had the tune from his uncle. They played it in B,EGB tuning. Source for notated version: Barb Zavon (Cincinnati, Ohio) via Helga Sermat (Vancouver, B.C.) [Songer]. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; pg. 105. Dorian Discovery DIS-80103, Helicon - "Horizons" (1992. Learned from fiddler Freyda Epstein, Charlottesville, Va.). HPV1, Ramona Jones – “Back Porch Fiddling.” Shanachie 6001, Norman Blake - “Just Gimme Somethin’ I’m Used To” (1991). Time and Strike #7785, Clyde Curley and Oxymorons – “Old Time Mandolin Music.”
SHOOT THE BUFFALO (DANCE) Randolph
All verses from Missouri except the last, which is from Arkansas. Vance Randolph, Ozark Folksongs, vol. 3, # 523, pp. 306-309, with music.
"All couples form a ring and dance about the room, singing at the top of their voices. When they come to the third line in each verse they change partners, and then promenade back to their original places in the circle. At some parties, the stanza which begins "We'll Shoot the Buffalo" is used as a chorus, being repeated after each of the succeeding verses."
Rise ye up, my dearest dear,
Present me to your paw,
An' we'll all march together
To the state of Arkansas.
Where the hawk shot the buzzard,
An' the turkey stumped his toe,
We'll rally through the cane-brakes
An' shoot the buffalo.
I had an old saddle,
An' I hung it in the loft,
Along come a cowboy
An' cut the pockets off.
Yes, he cut the pockets off,
He cut the pockets off,
Along come a cowboy
An' cut the pockets off.
The buffalo is dead,
Cause we shot him in the head,
We'll rally through the cane-brakes
An' shoot the buffalo.
Other stanzas:
Rise you up, my dearest dear,
An' present to me your hand,
An' I'll march you in possession
Of a far and distant land.
Where the hawk shot the buzzard,
An' the buzzard shot the crow,
We'll rally through the cane-brakes
An' shoot the buffalo.
A buzzard stumped his toe,
An' a crow ketched a beau,
Rattle up the cane-brake
An' shoot the buffalo.
We'll shoot the buffalo,
And we'll swing the calico,
And we'll travel this world over
And shoot the buffalo.
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