Banks of the Sacramento (song)

Banks of the Sacramento is an American heaving shanty from the mid 20th century. This "gold-rush" shanty is an adaptation of Stephen Foster's well-known minstrel song Camptown Races, which was published in 1850:

Camptown ladies, sing dis song,
Doo da, Doo da!
Camptown race track five miles long,
Doo da, doo da day!

Ch: Gwine to run all night,
Gwine to run all day,
I'll bet my money on de bob-tailed nag,
Somebody bet on de bay!

Go down dar wid my hat caved in,
Come back home wid my pockets full ob tin.

De long-tailed filly and de big black hoss
Dey fly de track and dey both cut across,

De blind hoss stickin' in a big mud hole,
Can't touch bottom wid a ten-foot pole.

Old muley cow come out on de track,
De bob he fling her ober his back,

Den fly along like a railroad car
Runnin' a race wid a shootin'-star.

De sorrel hoss he's got a cough,
An' his rider's drunk in de old hay-lof'.

Dar's fo’teen hosses in dis race,
I'm snug in de saddle an' got a good brace,

De bob-tail hoss she can't be beat,
Runnin' around in a two-mile heat.

I win my money on de bob-tail nag,
An' carry it home in de old tow-bag.

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A bully ship and a bully crew
Ch: Doo-da, doo-da!
A bully mate and a captain too,
Ch: Doo-da, doo-da-day! Then
Blow, ye winds, Hi-oh,
For Californy-O!
There's plenty of gold, so I've been told,
On the banks of the Sacramento!

Round Cape Horn in the month of May,
Round Cape Horn in the month of May

We came to a land where the cocktail flows,
We came to a land where the cocktail flows

Came to a river and I couldn't get across,
Jumped on a black man, thought he was a hoss.

From Roll and Go by Joanna Carver Colcord (1924)

A charming maid I chanced to meet,
Ch: And a hoodah, hoo-dah-day!

Ch: Blow, boys, blow,
For Californi-o,
There's plenty of hold, so I've been told,
On the banks of the Sacramento

This maid was neat and fair to view,
Her hair was brown and her eyes were blue.

I asked her if she'd take a trip,
Down to the whard to see my ship.

She said "I have a sweetheart true,"
"And I will not leave him now for you."

From Songs Of The Sea & Sailors' Chanteys by Robert Frothingham (1924)

Metadata

Attribution: Derivative of Stephen Foster's "Camptown Races"

DT Index: 498

Heaving shanty, Capstan shanty

American, Parody

Selected recordings:

Short Sharp Shanties, Vol. 1 Various artists

Foc'sle Songs and Shanties Paul Clayton and The Foc'sle Singers

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Banks of the Sacramento

(Sacramento)

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Metadata

Selected recordings:

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