Annotation:I'm Gonna Go a-Hunting for the Buffalo
Back to I'm Gonna Go a-Hunting for the Buffalo
I'M GONNA GO A-HUNTING FOR THE BUFFALO. American, Reel. G Major. BEgb tuning (fiddle). AABB. The Lomaxes printed, in Best Loved American Folk Songs (1947, p. 103):
And it's ladies to the center and it's gebts around the row,
And we'll rally round the canebrake and shoot the buffalo.
CHO: (1) And we'll shoot the buffalo, we'll shoot the buffalo,
We'll rally round the canebrake and shoot the buffalo.
Rise you up, my dearest dear, present to me your hand,
I'll lead you in procession to a far and distant land.
CHO: (2) And we'll promenade, you know, and we'll promenade, you know,
And we'll all meet together and we'll shoot the buffalo.
Rise you up, my dearest dear, present to me your paw,
I'm sure you've got terbacker, I'd like to have a chaw.
The girls will sit and spin, and the boys will sit and grin,
Rally round the barnyard and chase the old blue hen.
The girls will go to school, the boys will act the fool,
Rally round the barnyard and chase the old gray mule.
The girls will sew and patch, the [boys] will fight and scratch,
And we'll all meet together in the sweet potato patch.
Oh, the hawk shot the buzzard and the buzzard shot the crow,
And we'll rally rtound the canebrake and shoot the buffalo.
Source for notated version: Jimmie Driftwood (recorded in the field by Mike Seegar, 1960's) [Milliner & Koken].
Printed sources: Milliner & Koken (Milliner-Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes), 2011; p. 314.
Recorded sources: