“The Little Old Sod Shanty on My Claim”

Description

The singer admits, "I'm looking rather seedy while holding down my claim." His little sod shanty is made of poor materials and is infested by mice. He recalls the easier life out east, and wishes a girl would join him

Notes

This piece is probably based on Will S. Hays's "The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane," with which it shares a melody.

The song clearly dates back to the latter part of the nineteenth century, the period of Homestead Claims. The Homestead Act of 1862 had opened large areas of the western U.S. to settlement, allowing settlers to lay claim to 160 acre sections in return for nominal payments. However, the settlers were required to live on their claims for five years before they could "prove up" and gain title to the property. Many settlers, like the one here, wound up living in impossible conditions because it was the only way to stake the claim.

Fife in Thorp/Fife treats "Little Adobe Casa," and some related parodies, as separate from "Little Old Sod Shanty." (Interestingly, the Fifes lump the songs in "Cowboy and Western Songs"). To me these look to be simply localizations of the same song, and there are intermediate versions, so I do not separate them.

Several people seem to have claimed the authorship (e.g. Pound lists a report that one Emery Miller claims to have made it up while living on a claim in the 1880s). The claim by Baker seems to be the strongest, but proof is probably impossible. - RBW

Historical references

• May 20, 1862 - President Lincoln signs the Homestead Act

Cross references

• cf. "The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (tune) and references there
• cf. "Starving to Death on a Government Claim (The Lane County Bachelor)" (theme)
• cf. "My Little German Home Across the Sea" (tune & meter)
• cf. "I Will Tell You My Troubles" (tune & meter)
• cf. "The Double-Breasted Mansion on the Square" (tune & meter)

Recordings

• Jules Verne Allen, "Little Old Sod Shanty" (Victor 23757, 1933; on MakeMe)
• Craver & Tanner [pseud. for Vernon Dalhart & probably Carson Robison], "The Little Old Sod Shanty" (Vocalion 5342, 1929)
• Jenkins Family, "That Little Old Sod Shanty" (OKeh 45563, 1932; rec. 1930)
• Lone Star Ranger, "The Little Old Sod Shanty" (Regal 8881, 1929)
• Chubby Parker, "My Little Old Sod Shanty on the Claim" (Gennett 6319/Silvertone 25103, 1927)
• Jack Weston, "Little Old Sod Shanty" (Van Dyke 84293, 1929)
• John White, "The Little Old Sod Shanty" (Domino 4440/Cameo 9321 [as "My Little Old Sod Shanty"], 1929)
• Marc Williams, "Little Old Sod Shanty" (Brunswick 564, 1931; rec. 1930)

References

1. Randolph 197, "The Little Old Sod Shanty on the Claim" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
2. Fowke/Johnston, pp. 90-91, "The Little Old Sod Shanty" (1 text, 1 tune)
3. Sandburg, pp. 89-91, "The Little Old Sod Shanty" (1 text, 1 tune)
4. Thorp/Fife VII, pp. 87-96 (20), "Little Adobe Casa" (6 texts, 2 tunes)
5. Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 142-143, "The Little Old Sod Shanty" (1 text, 1 tune)
6. Lomax-FSNA 205, "The Little Old Sod Shanty" (1 text, 1 tune)
7. Fife-Cowboy/West 25, "The Little Old Sod Shanty" (7 texts, 2 tunes, though some of these -- especially the "G" and "H" texts -- appear distinct)
8. Arnett, pp. 94-95, "Little Old Sod Shanty" (1 text, 1 tune)
9. LPound-ABS, 74, p. 165, "The Little Old Sod Shanty on the Claim" (1 text)
10. Darling-NAS, pp. 332-333, "Little Old Sod Shanty" (1 text)
11. Silber-FSWB, p. 121, "The Little Old Sod Shanty On My Claim" (1 text)
12. DT, SODSHANT*
13. Roud #4368
14. BI, R197