abstract
| - %22Old Settler's Song (Acres of Clams)%22 is a Northwest United States folk song written by Francis D. Henry around 1874. The lyrics are sung to the tune %22Old Rosin the Beau.%22 The song also goes by the names %22Acres of Clams%22, “Lay of the Old Settler,” “Old Settler’s Song,” while the melody is known as “Rosin the Beau,” %22Old Rosin, the Beau,%22 %22Rosin the Bow,%22 %22Mrs. Kenny,%22 %22A Hayseed Like Me,%22 %22My Lodging's on the Cold, Cold Ground.%22 The tune was also used for the song %22Denver%22, which was recorded by The New Christy Minstrels in their 1963 album In Person.The first recorded reference to this song was in the Olympia, Washington newspaper the Washington Standard in April 1877. Although no official record exists, %22The Old Settler's Song%22 was thought to be the state song of Washington according to the The People's Song Bulletin until it was decided the lyrics were not dignified enough.The song achieved prominence decades later when radio-show singer Ivar Haglund used it as the theme song for his Seattle, Washington radio show. Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie said that they taught the song to Haglund. Haglund went on to name the Seattle restaurant %22Ivar's Acres of Clams%22 after the last line from the ballad.
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