How could you forget the dog:Oh don't you remember sweet Betsy from Pike,Who crossed the wide prairie with her lover Ike,With two yoke of oxen, a big yellow dog,A tall Shangai rooster, and one spotted hog?CHORUS:Singing dang fol dee dido,Singing dang fol dee day.One evening quite early they camped on the Platte.'Twas near by the road on a green shady flat.Where Betsy, sore-footed, lay down to repose --With wonder Ike gazed on that Pike County rose.The Shanghai ran off, and their cattle all died;That morning the last piece of bacon was fried;Poor Ike was discouraged and Betsy got mad,The dog drooped his tail and looked wondrously sad.It's the line "The dog drooped his tail and looked wondrously sad" that always catches me. I can just see him looking at his people thinking, "Well, this is another fine mess you've gotten me into!" ;-) Robin Thompson said:
Right now, I've got fiddler Rayna Gellert's Old Yeller Dog Come Trottin Through The Meetinghouse playing on my iTunes. Neat tune.
folkfan, I don't know all the words to Sweet Betsey from Pike so am glad she took her dog. Of the words I know, she only had her husband Ike with her.
