Today’s Run:  4.22 miles

When my husband and I were in High School together, our History teacher required our class to put on a program about the history of the United States.  It had to have speaking components and musical components.  One of the songs included in that particular program (one of many programs in which we were involved) was “The Erie Canal”.

That song, “The Erie Canal” has stuck with me over all these years.  No, it is not a chart topper by any means, and I really do not particularly like it…it just stuck with me.

Which brings me to Saturday’s run.  The scheduled run with the running group is fifteen miles!  So, I have had that song stuck on the brain all day.  I know that as I trudge along those fifteen miles, I will be hauling barges filled with lumber, coal and hay.

Low Bridge!

Erie Canal Song

Low Bridge, Everybody Down
(Written by: Thomas Allen in 1905)

I’ve got a mule, and her name is Sal,
Fif-teen miles on the Er-ie canal,
She’s a good ol’ worker and a good ol’ pal,
Fifteen miles on the Er-ie can-al,
We’ve hauled some barges in our day,
Filled with lum-ber coal and hay,
And ev’ry inch of the way we know
From Al-ba-ny to Buff-a-lo OH

Chorus

Low bridge ev’-ry bod-y down,
Low bridge for we’re com-in to a town,
And you al-ways know your neighbor,
You’ll always know your pal,
If you’ve ev-er navigated on the Er-ie can-al

Chorus

We’d better look round for a job old gal,
Fif-teen miles – on the Er-ie can-al,
You bet your life I wouldn’t part with Sal,
Fif-teen miles on the Er-ie can-al,
Giddap ‘there gal we’ve passed that lock,
We’ll make Rome fore six o’clock,
So, it’s one more trip and then we’ll go,
Right back home to Buff-a-lo OH

Chorus

Oh, where would I be if I lost my pal?
Fif-teen miles on the Er-ie can-al.
Oh, I’d like to see a mule as good as Sal,
Fif-teen miles on the Er-ie can-al,
A friend of mine once got her sore,
Now he’s got a busted jaw,
‘Cause she let fly with her iron toe,
And kicked him in to Buff-a-lo OH

Chorus

Don’t have to call when I want my Sal,
Fif-teen miles on the Er-ie can-al,
She trots from her stall like a good old gal,
Fif-teen miles on the Er-ie can-al,
I eat my meals with Sal each day,
I eat beef and she eats hay,
And she ain’t so slow if you want to know,
She put the “Buff” in Buff-a-lo OH

Chorus