Title:

Acres of Clams

Notes on this song:

Here's a neat song about a man who finally finds his peace in the Northwest.

It was written in the 1870s.

It is sometimes known as The Old Settler, or Lay of the Old Settler.

There is a Restaurant in Seattle named after this song.

Track 13 on Sampawam's Creek's first CD.

Resources for more information

http://www.geocities.com/lilandr/kantoj/diversaj/AcresOfClams1.htm

Lyrics:

I've traveled all over this country,
Prospectin' and diggin' for gold.
I've tunneled, hydraulicked and cradled,
And I have been frequently sold.

So, rolling my grub in my blanket,
I left all my tools on the ground,
For two years I started to shank it
For a spot that they call Puget Sound.

No longer a slave of ambition,
I laugh at the world and it's shams,
As I think of my happy condition
Surrounded by acres of clams.

Arriving flat broke in mid-winter
I found it enveloped in fog
And covered all over with timer
As thick as the hair on a dog

I took up a claim in the forest
And set myself down to hard toil
For two years I chopped and I labored
But I never got down to the soil

No longer a slave of ambition,
I laugh at the world and it's shams,
As I think of my happy condition
Surrounded by acres of clams.

I tried to get out of the country
But poverty forced me to stay
Until I became and old settler
Then nothing could drive me a way

And now that I'm used to the climate
I think that if man ever found
A place to be peaceful and quiet
That spot is on Puget Sound

No longer a slave of ambition,
I laugh at the world and it's shams,
As I think of my happy condition
Surrounded by acres of clams.

No longer a slave of ambition,
I laugh at the world and it's shams,
As I think of my happy condition
Surrounded by acres of clams.