“The Old Grey Mare (II)”

Description

"Once I had an old grey mare (x3), Saddled her and rode her there." "When I got there she got tired, She laid down in an old courtyard." The singers in the yard scare her, and she flees; she singer finds her "in a mud hole flat on her back."

Long description

"Once I had an old grey mare (x3), Saddled her and rode her there." "When I got there she got tired, She laid down in an old courtyard." The singers in the yard scare her, and she flees; she singer finds her "in a mud hole flat on her back." In other versions, the singer tells that the gray mare was blind and deaf; he takes her out to plow, but she doesn't know how; she runs away, he follows her and finds her on her back in a mudhole. She may get that good old-time religion

Notes

This should not be confused with "The Old Gray Mare (I) (The Old Gray Horse; The Little Black Bull)"; in that song the horse comes out of the wilderness.

Buell Kazee allegedly recorded this in the 1920s, but I can't find it in the catalogs. And Sharp is said to have printed a version, but I haven't seen it yet. So, for the moment, the earliest date stands. - PJS

Recordings

• Buell Kazee, "Old Grey Mare" (on Kazee01)
• Maude Thacker, "Once I Had an Old Grey Mare" (on FolkVisions1)

References

1. BrownIII 175, "The Old Grey Mare" (1 text)
2. SharpAp 223, "The Old Grey Mare" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
3. Roud #3442
4. BI, Br3175