The Sandman's Hour, Abbie Phillips Walker

[Joy Beeson]

Monday, 26 February 2024

Today a make-it-up-as-you go along song that I heard thirty or forty
years ago came into my head:

We had a gum tree, No gum would it give
Until that rooster came into the yard
And caught that gum tree right off of its guard
Now it's growing chicklets, just like it uster
Ever since that rooster
came into the yard.

So I duck-ducked "rooster came into the yard" (with quotes) in hope of
turning up more verses. It turns out that knowledge of the song is
very widespread, but the verses I found made those that I remember
look like Shakespear.

The phrase "rooster came into the yard" also appears in "The Rooster
That Crowed Too Soon" in the Gutenberg edition of


The Sandman's Hour
Stories for Bedtime

Abbie Phillips Walker
Illustrated by Rhoda C. Chase

Harper & Brothers, Publishers
Copyright 1917


E-Book release August 25, 2013


I thought my review would read "The kindest thing one can say about
these stories it that there are no errors in spelling, grammar, or
punctuation."

The characters don't aspire to cardboard, the plots are hardly
anecdotes, and the morals are anvilicious.

Yet I read every last one when I should have been doing something
else.

They are, at least, very short.

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

Post by Joy Beeson
Monday, 26 February 2024
Today a make-it-up-as-you go along song that I heard thirty or forty
We had a gum tree, No gum would it give
Until that rooster came into the yard
And caught that gum tree right off of its guard
Now it's growing chicklets, just like it uster
Ever since that rooster
came into the yard.
So I duck-ducked "rooster came into the yard" (with quotes) in hope of
turning up more verses. It turns out that knowledge of the song is
very widespread, but the verses I found made those that I remember
look like Shakespear.

I've heard the song sung in fan setting, though I'm not sure if that's
where the singers learned it.

[Paul S Person]

On Fri, 01 Mar 2024 21:36:19 -0500, Joy Beeson

Post by Joy Beeson
Monday, 26 February 2024
Today a make-it-up-as-you go along song that I heard thirty or forty
We had a gum tree, No gum would it give
Until that rooster came into the yard
And caught that gum tree right off of its guard
Now it's growing chicklets, just like it uster
Ever since that rooster
came into the yard.
So I duck-ducked "rooster came into the yard" (with quotes) in hope of
turning up more verses. It turns out that knowledge of the song is
very widespread, but the verses I found made those that I remember
look like Shakespear.

The version I have on CD starts with the rooster solving the
hens'-aren't-laying-eggs problem, and then applies that to ... other
barnyard problems.

I suspect it is in one of the New Christie Minstrel's medleys, but I
can't be sure.

[Scott Dorsey]

Post by Paul S Person
The version I have on CD starts with the rooster solving the
hens'-aren't-laying-eggs problem, and then applies that to ... other
barnyard problems.

Yes, that is precisely the point of the song. We had a elephant and
no tusks would she grow..... she's laying bowling balls of solid ivory
ever since that rooster came into our yard.

I first heard the song from Robin Welch at Sci-Con in Norfolk back in
the eighties. It is no doubt much older than that and likely dates
to the Great Folk Scare of the 1960s.
--scott

[Robert Carnegie]

Post by Joy Beeson
Monday, 26 February 2024
Today a make-it-up-as-you go along song that I heard thirty or forty
We had a gum tree, No gum would it give
Until that rooster came into the yard
And caught that gum tree right off of its guard
Now it's growing chicklets, just like it uster
Ever since that rooster
came into the yard.
So I duck-ducked "rooster came into the yard" (with quotes) in hope of
turning up more verses. It turns out that knowledge of the song is
very widespread, but the verses I found made those that I remember
look like Shakespear.
The phrase "rooster came into the yard" also appears in "The Rooster
That Crowed Too Soon" in the Gutenberg edition of
The Sandman's Hour
Stories for Bedtime
Abbie Phillips Walker
Illustrated by Rhoda C. Chase
Harper & Brothers, Publishers
Copyright 1917
E-Book release August 25, 2013
I thought my review would read "The kindest thing one can say about
these stories it that there are no errors in spelling, grammar, or
punctuation."
The characters don't aspire to cardboard, the plots are hardly
anecdotes, and the morals are anvilicious.
Yet I read every last one when I should have been doing something
else.
They are, at least, very short.

Since it says "Stories for Bedtime", it seems
to be intended as engaging while not exciting.

However, _Sandman's Rainy Day Stories_ (1920)
as well as _Sandman's Goodnight Stories_ (1921)
also are available. "Goodnight" doesn't include
a cover, but "Rainy Day" has a large crescent
moon, on a clear night evidently, and all of
them are presented with one piece of interior
art with a large full moon, as well, in whose
light the Sandman applies the opioid.

I suppose that on a rainy day you want your
children to nap, too.

But thoughtful readers will expect this to happen.
<https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?38200>
Though his is a cover of _The Dwath Rays of Ardilla_.
(Death rays are not shown.)

I wonder if the "Sandman" as well as
"Where the Sparks Go" inspired elements
in _Logan's Run_. I don't think people
read in that setting, but its _Sandman's
Goodnight Stories_ is probably not in
the same style anyway.

[Titus G]

Post by Joy Beeson
The characters don't aspire to cardboard, the plots are hardly
anecdotes, and the morals are anvilicious.

Brilliant. (But I had to look up anvilicious.)