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Percy Montross (ND-ND) http://tinyurl.com/Montross

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Clementine

From "Oh, My Darling Clementine," 1884.

Reader: Wm Leslie Howard

Listen to California's state song—"I Love You California"—and you're sure to judge it a treakly bit of unabashed boosterism. A better choice might be one of the popular songs about the Gold Rush.

One of the best of the Gold Rush songs is the almost universally familiar—and weirdly offbeat—"Oh, My Darling Clementine." Here are a few verses.

In a cavern, in a canyon,
Excavating for a mine,
Lived a miner, forty-niner, And his daughter Clementine.

Light she was and like a fairy,
And her shoes were number nine;
Herring boxes without topses,
Sandals were for Clementine.

Drove the ducklings to the water,
Every morning just at nine,
Hit her foot against a splinter,
Fell into the foaming brine.

In my dreams she oft doth haunt me,
With her garments soaked in brine;
Though in life I used to hug her,
Now she's dead I draw the line.

Oh my darlin', oh my darlin',
Oh my darlin' Clementine,
You are lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry Clementine.

Although countless verses have been added to the song, the first printing of words and music for "Oh, My Darling Clementine" appeared in 1884 by poet Percy Montrose.