The Hog-Eye Man
A Hog-Eye was a distinctive flat-bottom boat or barge used in the shallow waters surrounding San Francisco Bay during the California Gold Rush, named from the dismissive name ‘ditch-hog’ applied to rivermen by deep-water sailors..
UPPER
Oh hand me down my riding cane,
I’m off to meet my darlin’ Jane
With a hog-eye, oh
Row the boat ashore with a hog-eye
Steady on the jig with a hog-eye, oh
She wants the hog-eye man
UPPER
Oh, the hog-eye man is the man for me,
He was born and raised in Tennessee
UPPER
Oh, he came to the shack where Sally did dwell
He knocked on the door and he rang the bel
LOWER [chorus]
LOWER
Oh, who’s been here since I been gone
A railroad navvy with his sea-boots on
With a hog-eye, oh
Row the boat ashore with a hog-eye
Steady on the jig with a hog-eye,
oh she wants the hog-eye man
LOWER
Oh, Sally’s in the garden sifting sand
The hog-eye man sittin’ hand in hand
UPPER [chorus]
LOWER
Oh, Sally’s in the garden shelling peas
Her long yellow hair hangin’ down to her knees
UPPER [chorus]
EVERYONE
Oh, a hog-eye ship and a hog-eye crew
A hog-eyed mate and a skipper too
[CHORUS x2]