The Old Gray Mare

The Old Gray Mare is an old folk song, more recently regarded as a children's song.^[1] Although nominally about horses, it can also be interpreted as referring to women who are well past their prime.

Some authors^[2][3][4] have said that the song originated based upon the extraordinary performance of the horse Lady Suffolk, the first horse recording as trotting a mile in less than two and a half minutes. It occurred on 4 July 1843 at the Beacon Course racetrack in Hoboken, New Jersey,^[2] when she was more than ten years old.^[2][3] One author^[2] attributed the song to Stephen Foster, although the composer is listed usually as unknown. The book, The Gallant Gray Trotter,^[5] featured Lady Suffolk.^[6]

Lyrics

Oh, the old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be,

Ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be.

The old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be,

Many long years ago.

Many long years ago, many long years ago.

The old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be,

Many long years ago.

The old gray mare, she kicked on the whiffletree,

Kicked on the whiffletree, kicked on the whiffletree

The old gray mare, she kicked on the whiffletree

Many long years ago.

Many long years ago, many long years ago,

The old gray mare, she kicked on the whiffletree

Many long years ago.

Pattern

The repetitive pattern of the song is common to many traditional folk songs, including London Bridge is Falling Down. The melodic system of the two songs is also similar, with the middle of the three repetitions of the phrase being sung to a similar melody, but down a scale degree.^[7]

References in popular culture

• The song has been used for generations, as an underscore to cartoon or movie or television scenes featuring a horse, especially an old one.
• It serves as an ironic fight song for Murray State University athletics teams. Whenever the Racers score during a home football game, the band plays a quickened rendition of The Old Gray Mare while an actual thoroughbred racehorse is run around the track of Roy Stewart Stadium.
• Ohio State University fans sometimes sing the lyrics "We don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan" to the tune.
• The songs Great Green Gobs of Greasy, Grimy Gopher Guts, and I'm In the Lord's Army are usually performed to the same tune.
• Jerry Lee Lewis recorded his version of this song in 1960, retitled 'Baby Baby Bye Bye'.
• During an episode of Pushing Daisies entitled 'Girth' (view List of Pushing Daisies episodes), Olive Snook, played by Kristin Chenoweth, who is a retired jockey, becomes a target of a serial killer who charges at victims on horseback and tramples them to death. Olive sings/chants the first and second line of the song repeatedly, whilst on the ground in the path of the charging killer. She is scooped to safety by the Pie Maker.
• On an episode of the television show Out of This World (TV series), a music box playing this song was meant as a present for Evie's mother from her father for their anniversary.
• During an episode of The Simpsons entitled Krusty Gets Kancelled, the "Old Jewish Man", a recurring Simpsons character, is seen twice and heard thrice singing the song.
• On an episode of The Simpsons entitled Moms I'd Like to Forget (season 22, episode 10), the fourth graders (Bart's class) parody the song in response to the fifth graders' winning a game of dodgeball.

Notes

1. ^ Opie, Iona Archibald and Opie, Peter (1997) Children's Games with Things: marbles, fivestones, throwing and catching, gambling, hopscotch, chucking and pitching, ball-bouncing, skipping, tops and tipcat Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, page 147, ISBN 0-19-215963-1
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Hotaling, Edward (1995) They're off!: horse racing at Saratoga Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, New York, page 25, ISBN 0-8156-0350-9
3. ^ ^{a b} "The Horse in 19th Century American Sport: The Golden Age of the Trotting Horse" International Museum of the Horse
4. ^ Reed, Jerry (22 July 1967) "A look At My Mail" The Progress-Index (Petersberg, Virginia, newspaper) page 8, upon Lady Suffolk being inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Trotter in Goshen, New York
5. ^ Foster, John T. (1974) The Gallant Gray Trotter Dodd-Mead Publishing Company, New York, ISBN 0-396-06869-3
6. ^ Staff (20 April 1974) "'Lady Suffolk' Fictionalized" Steubenville Herald Star p. 14, col. 5
7. ^ Jay Rahn, "Stereotype Forms in English-Canadian Children's Songs: Historical and Pedagogical Aspects", Canadian Journal for Traditional Music (1981)

References

• Roud Folk Song Index, Roud number 751, available at Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, index numbers: S186160, S186161, S186162, S186163, S186166, S217076, S217262, S247233, S247235, S247236, S247237, S247250, S247251, S300460