TWENTY-THREE CAMELS

by Bruce Coughlan

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This is a bizarre story – 23 camels hauling gear during the Klondike gold rush!!? Bruce adds another one to his list of Canadian folk songs. This is one of the funniest – and fas! – a real barn burner.

It came about on a month of May
23 Camels sailed away
23 Camels bound for Yale
on the road to the Cariboo

Where the Camels came from, no one knew
In the Cariboo in the days of old
From the U.S. Army or the old Manchu?
In the Cariboo in the days of gold
Maybe Arizona on a railway crew
In the Cariboo in the day
on the road to the Cariboo

But 23 Camels that’s a twist
You’ve never seen such a sight like this
Run like the devil when the camels hiss
On the Road to the Cariboo

Now “Ships of the Desert” was the camel’s fame
In the Cariboo in the days of old
They could carry a half-of-a-ton was claimed
In the Cariboo in the days of gold
Till their feet took tender and they all took lame
In the Cariboo in the days of old
They were auctioned off away

But 23 Camels, that’s a sight
Where the donkey brays the horse takes flight
It’s a wonder everybody didn’t die of fright
On the road to the Cariboo

They kicked and spit at everything that moved
In the Cariboo in the days of old
They smelled so bad they scared the mules
In the Cariboo in the days of gold
Causin’ so much trouble that the teamsters sued
In the Cariboo in the days of old
Their disruptions to curtail

But 23 Camels that’s a twist
You’ve never seen such a sight like this
Run like the devil when the camels hiss
On the Road to the Cariboo

But 23 Camels that’s a twist
You’ve never seen such a sight like this
Run like the devil when the camels hiss
On the Road to the Cariboo

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SATB – piano with violin or four hands – CP 1637 – 2:30