“A Trip on the Erie (Haul in Your Bowline)”
Description
"You can talk about your picnics and trips on the lake, / But a trip on the Erie you bet takes the cake!" A summary of life on the Erie canal, ending with comments about the cook: "A dumpling, a pet, / And we use her for a headlight at night on the deck!"
Notes
The Erie Canal, as originally constructed, was a small, shallow channel which could only take barges. These vessels -- if such they could be called -- were normally hauled along by mules.
The Lomaxes, in _American Ballad and Folk Songs_, thoroughly mingled many texts of the Erie Canal songs (in fairness, some of this may have been the work of their informants -- but in any case the Lomaxes did not help the problem). One should check all the Erie Canal songs for related stanzas. - RBW
Historical references
- 1825 - Erie Canal opens (construction began in 1817)
Cross references
- cf. "The E-ri-e" (theme) and references there
- cf. "The Erie Canal"
References
- FSCatskills 94, "Haul in Your Bowline" (1 text+fragments, 1 tune)
- Warner 35, "A Trip on the Erie" (1 text, 1 tune)
- Lomax-ABFS, pp. 455-457, "Ballad of the Erie Canal" (1 text, composite and probably containing stanzas from other Erie Canal songs); pp. 459-463, "The Erie Canal Ballad" (8 texts, some fragmentary, most of which belong here though at least one is "The E-ri-e"); pp. 465-466, "A Trip on the Erie" (1 text)
- DT, TRIPERIE*
- Roud #6555
- BI, Wa035