Pa, he bought a great big billy goat.

voiceSung by Mr. Clarence Smith Booneville, Ark. January 9, 1960. Reel 340, Item 7 Collected by Tom Harper, Chester Lowe, andRon R. Smith. For M.C. Parler Transcribed by Tom Harper, Chester Lowe, and Ron R. Smith. THE BILLY GOAT SONG Pa, he bought a great big billy goat. Ma, she washed nearly everyday- Hung her clothes out on the line, And the durned old goat, he came that way. He walked up to a red flannel shirt- You should have heard those buttons crack. I'm gonna get even with the son-of-a-gun— Gonna tie him to a railroad track. Tied him across the railroad track; The train came by at a powerful rate. He lifted up the old red shirt— Flagged down the durned old freight. Went to the depot and bought me a ticket. Went right in and I sat right down. Caught the ticket in the brim of my hat, And the doggone wind blowed it out on the ground. Conductor come along an' said, "I want your ticket!" "You'll have to buy another or be left on the track. But I got even with the son-of-a-gun— Got a round-free ticket and I ain't a'coming back. Was a fool and I married me a widow. Had a daughter and her name was Maude; My father want and married her daughter, And now my dad's my own son-in-law. Paddled up the road in my little old Ford; Tune up the fiddle—play Sugar in the Gourd. Sugar in the Gourd and I can't get it out- The only way to get it out is to roll the gourd about.Funding for digitization provided by the Arkansas Humanities Council and the Happy Hollow Foundation