Traditional
Night Herding Song - Live
I'd like to sing you an old time cowboy song now, so this is down at Acapulco. (laughter) But this is a cowboy work song, one of the few... (laughter) Not that cowboys don't work, but songs that are sung to help the work go better like a lotta railroad songs, don't seem to have many of them. But this one here is for singing to cattle. It's kind of a cow lullaby. It's called the "Night Herding Song," and it goes something like this:

Oh say, little dogies, why don't you lay down?
You've wandered and trampled all over the ground
Lay down, little dogies, lay down

I've cross-herded, trail-herded, an' circle-herded too
But to keep you together, that's what I can't do
My horse is leg-weary and I'm awful tired
But if I let you get away, I'm sure to get fired
Bunch up, little dogies, bunch up