Flunky Jim
(Dan Ferguson)

1. I am the flunky of the house, they call me Flunky Jim
You'll find me knocking around the yard in my hat without a brim
My overalls are shabby and I have no shirt at all
But I'm going to get a new outfit with my gopher tails next fall.

cho: Oh, knocking around the yard, boys, knocking around the yard,
It isn't such an easy job, don't fool yourself, old pard
My overalls are....etc.

2. At night when Pa comes from the fields, he calls for Flunky Jim
He pats me on my curly head and my hat without a brim.
He's apt to say, "Oh, Flunky Jim, your clothes are far too small."
But I'm going to get a new outfit with my gopher tails next fall.

3. I counted all my gopher tails, I almost have enough
To buy a hat, a fancy shirt, and pants that have a cuff.
And then I'll hand my old ones down - they really are too small.
Oh, I'll look [be] swell when once I sell my gopher tails next fall.

by Dan Ferguson (1875- ) of Saskatoon, sung by his grandson,
Mel Bowker, to Barbara Cass-Beggs, "Folksongs of
Saskatchewan", Folkways 1963.
JB
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