December 3, 1845: “Times Is Not As They Used To Was”, by Pete Tiff, published in the Milwaukie Semi-Weekly Gazette (a reprint from the Grant County Paper).
Times is not as they used to was
When we poor lads could make our own laws
Before the land shark and the hyena
Had got possession of Galena;
When ‘tick’ was had on the strength of ochre
And nothing wasn’t said agin grog and poker,
Oh, dear, oh, dear, I can’t but groan
For them good old times, if I can I’ll be blown.
Old Snake Hollow, once scaly as sin,
Has sluffed her name as well as her skin;
Each house in Plattville’s got a steeple,
So very pious has got the people;
And Shake Rag never more will flutter
Her rags away down in the gutter.
Oh, dear! oh, dear! I can’t but lament
For the good old days that’s gone and went.
Sing hi! sing ho! I can’t but grieve
For the good old days of Adam and of Eve.