The Derby Ram - English Folk Song - Two Finger Thumb Lead Banjo

The Derby Ram, also known as The Darby Ram and, As I Was Going To Derby, is an English traditional folk song. It was said to be a favorite of George Washington who liked to sing it during the American Revolutionary war. Bascom Lamar Lunsford and Jean Ritchie have recorded this song. I have always felt like this is a sad song. They cut the poor giant Rams throat and the blood it run for 40 miles. It took all the men in Derby town to roll the bones away and all the pretty girls to carry the wool away. Anyways this is my arrangement, Two Finger Thumb Lead Banjo and vocal.

The Derby Ram - lyrics
arranged and performed by
Dan D. Dirges
Two Finger Thumb Lead Banjo
Banjo Tuning: relative standard only much lower - Csharp Aflat Csharp F Aflat

As I went down to darby all on a summers day
I spied the biggest ram sir thats ever been fed on hay

And he rambled, and he rambled,
yes he rambled till the butcher cut him down

This old ram had four feet sir and when he put em down
every foot he had measured a whole acre around

And he rambled, and he rambled,
yes he rambled till the butcher cut him down

the horns on this rams head sir reached halfway to the moon
a man went up in january and he never come down till june, And he rambled

every tooth in this rams head sir was hollow as a horn
and every tooth he had held a 40 bushel of corn

And he rambled, and he rambled,
yes he rambled till the butcher cut him down

the wool on this rams back sir reached up for the sky.
where the eagle built her next for I heard the young ones cry

And he rambled, and he rambled,
yes he rambled till the butcher cut him down

the head on this large ram sir was as big as noahs ark
A dog ran up its nostril then turned around and barked, And he rambled

the man that cut this rams throat stood knee deep in the blood
and the man that held the basin bowl got washed away in the flood

And he rambled, and he rambled,
yes he rambled till the butcher cut him down

the blood it run for 40 miles Im sure it run no more
it turned the biggest water wheel that has ever turned before

And he rambled, and he rambled,
yes he rambled till the butcher cut him down

took all the men in darby town to roll the bones away
took all the pretty girls in darby town to carry the wool away

And he rambled, and he rambled,
yes he rambled till the butcher cut him down

yes he rambled till the butcher cut him down