LYRICS FOR SONG ALBUM: "THEY ALSO RODE TO WARN!"
1. "The Night Ride of Sybil Ludington"
The Night Ride of Sybil Ludington
(Yankee Doodle Intro)
There's a young girl cryin' the British are comin'
But that was many years ago
Her statue stands at Carmel, New York
And the tale that it tells you'll want to know
One night a man riding hard and fast
Stopped at her father's door and cried:
"The British are fighting at Dan-bur-y,
Someone must warn - someone must ride!"
The moon's a beacon of silver light
The owl's hooting in the night
Come on Starr - we've got to run
This is the night ride of sybil Ludington
RIDE SYBIL RIDE-YOU GOT TO WARN THE COUNTRYSIDE
We must warn the families the North to flee
"'l'll ride!" The Colonel's daughter cried
"For patriots have a mind to be free
I'll warn of the Redcoats this very night !"
So she rode from Fredericksburg that night
Through dangerous country for forty miles
She called her father's men to fight
You could her her voice echo through the countryside
The moon's a beacon of silver light
The owl's hooting in the night
Come on Starr - we've got to run
This is the night ride of sybil Ludington
RIDE SYBIL RIDE-YOU GOT TO WARN THE COUNTRYSIDE
To Carmel then through Mahopac
Rode Kent cliffs to Farmers' Mills
Back from Stormville alerted the men
Her stick in the air and an iron will!
Next morning she watched her father's men
As to the Hudson they marched so brave
And she thought about the night before
As she gave her father one last wave
The moon's a beacon of silver light
The owl's hooting in the night
Come on Starr - we've got to run
This is the night ride of sybil Ludington
RIDE SYBIL RIDE-YOU GOT TO WARN THE COUNTRYSIDE
So thanks to Sybil's long night ride
The Redcoats retreated they ran away
Thanks to a girl of sixteen years
The towns were saved that fateful day
Long hair and dress whipping in the wind
Her voice will echo in your mind
On the shore of Lake Gleneida rides
The girl who raced on Freedom's side!
The moon's a beacon of silver light
The owl's hooting in the night
Come on Starr - we've got to run
This is the night ride of sybil Ludington
RIDE SYBIL RIDE-YOU GOT TO WARN THE COUNTRYSIDE
2. Betsy Dowdy's Rid
BETSY DOWDY'S RIDE
Chorus: Bessie - keep a-goin'
The British - they are marching
We gotta ride 'till the break of dawn
Past the sand dunes Bessie keep a-goin' on
Bessie - Bessie, keep a goin' on!
Sam and Dad are talkin'
Sam Jarvis - he is squakin'
"Lord Dunmore's men are maraching to Carolina!
He's at Great Bridge many men
John Marshall's hardly got a chance
But Skinner's sharp-shootin' men are finer!"
Betsy was cookin' up Bluefish
Listen' hard she made a wish
Fifty miles but with Bess I could ride it,
she slipped outside the cabin door
She called her Bessie through the ocean's roar
And off they went to warn as the tide hit! (Chorus:)
A foggy night - she crossed the sound
Church Island - then the mainland ground
The Woods Trail - Indians - Bessie go on
A ferry boat - Mr. Lamb he said
"God speed Betsy!" Then off she sped
Cross the Pasquotank to Hertford Town, she rode on
"How do I find Yeopim Stream?"
At the Eagle Tavern - Betsy screamed
"The British, they are comin' down sir!"
He pointed East - she galloped on
Yeopim Creek, she reached at dawn
General Skinner, Betsy finally found, sir (Chorus:)
When General skinner got the news,
To Great Bridge marched - no time to lose
And a General thought - such a young girl for that ridin'!
Then a skirmish came - poor Dunmore's men
They'll never try Great Bridge again!
How Marshall laughed - and then he cried from thinkin'
Her father sits home so concerned
"Can't let the Albemarle be burned
That Betsy - sixteen years - why did she ride Sam?"
"Joe - she has a spirit strong as you
And her Bank Pony has a strong one too
But she's lots more strong 'bout Liberty than I am!"
Chorus: Bessie - keep a-goin'
The British - they are marching
We gotta ride 'till the break of dawn
Past the sand dunes Bessie keep a-goin' on
Bessie - Bessie, keep a goin' on!
©Bernie Griff*** Hayward, California *** February 22, 1970*****
3. Jack Jouette's Ride
THE NIGHT RIDE OF JACK JOUETTE
Jack was sittin' restin - pushed his long hair back
Puffin' on his long pipe when he heard some clackety-clack
Was a band of British soldiers ridin' into town
And Jack Jouette must ride and not be found
It was Colonel tarleton, King Georges' "Hunting thrill"
With his troops of Green dragoons bound for Charlottesville
Jack knew at once their reason and couldn't help but frown
And Jack Jouete must ride and not be found
He saddled up his buckskin mare and rode off in the night
It was Jefferson - Patrick Henry he must reach in time
But there was only one road so when his thoughts unwound
It was Jack Jouette ridin' out of town
Forty miles to charlottesville so Jack took to the fields
He rode cross meadows, woods and thickets kickin' Sallie with his heels
Owls hooting in the moonlight - all kinds of rustling sounds
And Jack Jouette must ride and not be found
But luck was with Jack Jouette never stopping for a rest
While Tarleton's men burned wagon trains and stopped three times at
best
When Jack reached the ford at Milton he yelled ferryman let's be bound
And Jack Jouette went riding for the town
Jack reached Monticello gave his warning puffing hard
You must ride away at once my boys for Tarleton's not far
So Jefferson hid state papers that the British hoped to win
And Jack Jouette rode to his father's Inn
The people there at Charlottesville leaned close to hear the news
Patrick Henry fled the town-safe from the British troops
But Jack still had another ride to save a General's skin
So Jack Jouette rode off once again
Jack wore a bright officer's coat - the Redcoats raced to him
But Jack had his father's swiftest horse that was not match for them
Gave the British a merry chase - the general slipped around
And Jack Jouette rode off to his home town
©Bernie Griff * 3/11/01 * Redding, California
4. The Midnight Ride of William Dawes
THE MIDNIGHT RIDE OF WILLIAM DAWES
Somebody else was ridin' out of Boston
While Paul Revere was rowin' 'cross the Sound
Will was really good at lyin'
Toward the Sentries he was flyin'
That night somebody else rode out of town!
Chorus: Ridin' on - through the town
Warn the people -there's Redcoats marchin' down
Through the night - they rode to warn
Revere and Dawes
Are ridin'-ridin'-ridin'-ridin' on!
Now Will got hung up stallin' with the Sentries
To give a great diversion for Revere
The Redcoats let him go after an hour
Of this unsung hero's ride now you shall hear! (Chorus)
Now it's Will Dawes who I'm meaning
Who on his horse was leanin'
The night that they put tweo lights in the tower
Paul yelled: "The Lobsterbacks are oln their way to do us in
But Will was yellin' too with equal power! (Chorus)
Paul met Will Dawes at Clarke's house in Lexington
Then they ate a bite and left for Concord Town
Paul met Prescott but got caught
Dawes got away but time was bought
And then the Battle of Lexington began!
Chorus: Ridin' on - through the town
Warn the people -there's Redcoats marchin' down
Through the night - they rode to warn
Revere and Dawes
Are ridin'-ridin'-ridin'-ridin' on!
©Bernie Griff***Redding, CA***Revised Aprin 30, 2001
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