"The Old Gray Mare" is an American

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 ...

, more recently regarded as a children's song.

History

Some authors have said that the song originated based upon the performance of the horse Lady Suffolk, the first horse recorded as trotting a mile in less than two and a half minutes. It occurred on 4 July 1843 at the Beacon Course racetrack in

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 i ...

, when she was more than ten years old.Hotaling, Edward (1995) ''They're off!: horse racing at Saratoga'' Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, New York
page 25
"The Horse in 19th Century American Sport: The Golden Age of the Trotting Horse"
International Museum of the Horse One author attributed the song to

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known also as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour music, parlour and Minstrel show, minstrel music during the Romantic music, Romantic ...

, although the composer is usually listed as unknown. The archival evidence, however, is that the song originated a few decades later in the nineteenth century as a campaign ditty, composed as an epithet of seven-term Baltimore mayor Ferdinand Latrobe by Democratic political operative and appointee

Thomas Francis McNulty Thomas Francis McNulty (September 10, 1859 – May 25, 1932) was an American Democratic political operative and epithetist. He was at one time sheriff of Baltimore, Maryland. McNulty is most remembered, however, as the composer of the children ...

. Popular early recordings were by Prince's Orchestra (1917) and by Arthur Collins and Byron Harlan (1918).

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 a medley on his album ''

On the Sentimental Side ''On the Sentimental Side'' was intended to be a long-playing vinyl album and it was recorded in June 1962 by Bing Crosby for his own company, Project Records at United Recording, Hollywood. The album is in a “sing-along” style and Crosby o ...

'' (1962). The song was featured in a 1993 episode of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

'' titled "

Krusty Gets Kancelled "Krusty Gets Kancelled" is the twenty-second and final episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 13, 1993. In the episode, a new show fea ...

", where an old man sings the first verse of the song with his pants down and became a hit on television. In the 2011 episode "

Moms I'd Like to Forget "Moms I'd Like to Forget" is the tenth episode of the twenty-second season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 9, 2011. In the episode, Marge reveals ...

", 4th graders including Bart sing a parody of the song, which the 5th graders declare as a dishonor to the original.

Lyrics

:The old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be, :Ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be, :The old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be, :Many long years ago. :Many long years ago, many long years ago, :The old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be, :Many long years ago. :The old gray mare, she kicked on the whiffletree, :Kicked on the whiffletree, kicked on the whiffletree, :The old gray mare, she kicked on the whiffletree, :Many long years ago. :Many long years ago, many long years ago, :The old gray mare, she kicked on the whiffletree, :Many long years ago. *(Note that "mule" is sometimes substituted for "mare".) *(A whiffletree is a force-distributing mechanism in the traces of a draft animal. As an energetic younger horse, the mare still had the spirit to kick even though she was harnessed up to pull a plow or similar.)

Pattern

The repetitive pattern of the song is common to many traditional folk songs, including "

London Bridge is Falling Down "London Bridge Is Falling Down" (also known as "My Fair Lady" or "London Bridge") is a traditional English nursery rhyme and singing game, which is found in different versions all over the world. It deals with the dilapidation of London Bridge ...

". The melodic system of the two songs is also similar, with the middle of the three repetitions of the phrase being sung to a similar melody, but down a scale degree. The

melody A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...

has also been used in American songs such as "Ain't I Glad I Got out the Wilderness" and "Ain't You Glad You Joined the Republicans", and in turn is related to the melody of the spiritual "Go in the Wilderness".''Go in the Wilderness'' lyrics on http://traditionalmusic.co.uk

Notes

References

Roud Folk Song Index The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud (born 1949), a former librarian in the London ...

, Roud number 751, available a
Vaughan Williams Memorial Library
index numbers: S186160, S186161, S186162, S186163, S186166, S217076, S217262, S247233, S247235, S247236, S247237, S247250, S247251, S300460 {{DEFAULTSORT:Old Gray Mare Traditional children's songs Year of song unknown Fictional horses Songs about old age Songs about horses English folk songs American folk songs English children's songs

History

Lyrics

Pattern

See also

Notes

References