"Old Settler's Song (Acres of Clams)" is a Northwest United States

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

written by Francis D. Henry around 1874. The lyrics are sung to the tune "

Old Rosin the Beau "Old Rosin the Beau" (or "Rosin the Bow") is an American folk song popular in the 19th century, probably of British or Irish origin, first published in Philadelphia during 1838. An earlier version, "Rosin the Bow" (not "Beau") refers to rosin wit ...

." The song also goes by the names "Acres of Clams", “Lay of the Old Settler,” “Old Settler’s Song,” while the melody is known as “Rosin the Beau,” "

," "Rosin the Bow," "Mrs. Kenny," "A Hayseed Like Me," "My Lodging's on the Cold, Cold Ground." The tune was also used for the song "Denver", which was recorded by

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in their 1962 live performance album ''The New Christy Minstrels - In Person''. The first recorded reference to this song was in the

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. European ...

newspaper the ''Washington Standard'' in April 1877. Although no official record exists, "The Old Settler's Song" was thought to be the state song of Washington according to ''The People's Song Bulletin'' until it was decided the lyrics were not dignified enough. The song achieved prominence decades later when radio-show singer

Ivar Haglund Ivar Johan Haglund (March 21, 1905 – January 30, 1985) was a Seattle, Washington, Seattle folk music, folk singing, singer, restaurateur and the founder of Ivar's. Background Ivar Johan Haglund was born in Seattle, Washington, the son of pion ...

used it as the theme song for his

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

radio show.

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...

and

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said that they taught the song to Haglund. Haglund went on to name the Seattle restaurant " Ivar's Acres of Clams" after the last line from the ballad.

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

included the song in his album '' How the West Was Won'' (1959). Pete Seeger sings additional verses written by Charlie King to protest the

Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant The Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant, more commonly known as Seabrook Station, is a nuclear power plant located in Seabrook, New Hampshire, United States, approximately north of Boston and south of Portsmouth. It has operated since 1990. With its ...

in New Hampshire (1976). Both versions of the song are included on the live album ''Pete Seeger Singalong - Sanders Theatre, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1980.''

Lyrics

Version 1

:I've wandered all over this country, :Prospecting and digging for gold, :I've tunneled, hydraulicked and cradled, :And I nearly froze in the cold. ::And I nearly froze in the cold, ::And I nearly froze in the cold, ::I've tunneled, hydraulicked and cradled, ::And I nearly froze in the cold.

:For one who got wealthy by mining, :I saw many hundreds get poor, :I made up my mind to go digging, :For something a little more sure, ::For something a little more sure, ::For something a little more sure. ::I made up my mind to go digging, ::For something a little more sure.

:I rolled up my grub in my blanket, :I left all my tools on the ground, :I started one morning to shank it, :For the country they call Puget Sound, ::For the country they call Puget Sound, ::For the country they call Puget Sound. ::I started one morning to shank it, ::For the country they call Puget Sound.

:No longer a slave of ambition, :I laugh at the world and its shams, :And I think of my happy condition, :Surrounded by Acres of Clams, ::Surrounded by Acres of Clams, ::Surrounded by Acres of Clams. ::And I think of my happy condition, ::Surrounded by Acres of Clams.

Version 2

:I've traveled all over this country :Prospecting and digging for gold :I've tunneled, hydraulicked and cradled :And I have been frequently sold.

:For each man who got rich by mining :Perceiving that hundreds grew poor :I made up my mind to try farming :The only pursuit that was sure

:So, rolling my grub in my blanket :I left all my tools on the ground :I started one morning to shank it :For the country they call Puget Sound.

:Arriving flat broke in midwinter :I found it enveloped in fog :And covered all over with timber :Thick as hair on the back of a dog.

:When I looked on the prospects so gloomy :The tears trickled over my face :And I thought that my travels had brought me :To the end of the jumping-off place.

:I staked me a claim in the forest :And sat myself down to hard toil :For two years I chopped and I struggled :But I never got down to the soil.

:I tried to get out of the country :But poverty forced me to stay :Until I became an old settler :Then nothing could drive me away.

:And now that I'm used to the climate :I think that if a man ever found :A place to live easy and happy :That Eden is on Puget Sound.

:No longer the slave of ambition :I laugh at the world and its shams :As I think of my pleasant condition :Surrounded by acres of clams.

"Lay of the Old Settler" version

:I've traveled all over this country :Prospecting and digging for gold; :I've tunneled, hydraulicked and cradled, :And I have been frequently sold — ::And I have been frequently so-o-old, ::And I have been frequently sold: ::I've tunneled, hydraulicked and cradled, ::And I have been frequently sold!

:For one who gained riches by mining, :Perceiving that hundreds grew poor, :I made up my mind to try farming, :The only pursuit that was sure — ::The only pursuit that was su-u-ure, ::The only pursuit that was sure, ::I made up my mind to try farming, ::The only pursuit that was sure!

:So, rolling my grub in my blanket, :I left all my tools on the ground :And started one morning to shank it :For the country they call Puget Sound — ::For the country they call Puget Sou-ou-ound, ::For the country they call Puget Sound, ::I started one morning to shank it ::For the country they call Puget Sound.

:Arriving flat broke in midwinter, :I found the land shrouded in fog :And covered all over with timber :Thick as hairs on the back of a dog — ::Thick as hairs on the back of a do-o-og, ::Thick as hairs on the back of a dog — ::And covered all over with timber ::Thick as hairs on the back of a dog!

:When I looked on the prospects so gloomy, :The tears trickled over my face :And I thought that my travels had brought me :To the end of the jumping-off place! ::To the end of the jumping-off pla-a-ace, ::To the end of the jumping-off place: ::I thought that my travels had brought me ::To the end of the jumping-off place.

:I staked me a claim in the forest, :And sat myself down to hard toil: :For six years I chopped and I labored, :But I never got down to the soil — ::But I never got down to the soi-oi-oil, ::I never got down to the soil: ::For six years I chopped and I labored, ::But I never got down to the soil!

:I tried to get out of the country, :But poverty forced me to stay — :Until I became an old settler, :Then nothing could drive me away! ::Then nothing could drive me away-ay-ay, ::Then nothing could drive me away! ::Until I became an old settler — ::Then nothing could drive me away!

:And now that I'm used to the climate, :I think that if a man ever found :A place to live easy and happy, :That Eden is on Puget Sound — ::That Eden is on Puget Sou-ou-ound, ::That Eden is on Puget Sound — ::A place to live easy and happy? ::That Eden is on Puget Sound!

:No longer the slave of ambition, :I laugh at the world and its shams :As I think of my pleasant condition, :Surrounded by acres of clams — ::Surrounded by acres of cla-a-ams, ::Surrounded by acres of clams, ::A poor boy will never go hungry, ::Surrounded by acres of clams!

References

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Notes

External links

Discussion of the lyrics at Mudcat.org
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212032710/http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=16971 , date=2007-12-12 Bluegrass songs

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

Pete Seeger songs Woody Guthrie songs American folk songs Clams Songs about Washington (state)