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Tenaha, Timpson,
Bobo, and Blair by
Archie P. McDonald, PhD | |
| Tenaha,
Timpson, Bobo,
and Blair are communities in Shelby County whose names were appropriated for
a plea by crapshooters for good luck when seeking to roll double fives. Similarly,
dice throwers hoping for an "eight" would sing out, "Eighter from Decatur, the
County Seat of Wise." Later the alliteration in the sing-song phrase "Tenaha,
Timpson, Bobo, and Blair" helped a folk song recorded by Tex
Ritter popular. |
| | "Tenaha,
Timpson, Bobo, and Blair" on Tenaha Welcome Sign
TE Photo, July
2001 |
How
did the communities become involved with dice and popular music? Robert S.
Maxwell's history of the first railroad
in East Texas, Whistle In
the Piney Woods: Paul Bremond and the Houston, East and West Texas Railway,
offers several accounts. First, some believe that stringing the town names together
began during World War I when
soldiers in a National Guard Unit composed of men from Shelby County discarded
the familiar cadence of "hup, two, three, four" for "Tenaha,
Timpson, Bobo,
and Blair," their home towns. Dice players took up the chant, according to advocates
of this explanation.
Others argue that the popularity of the saying began
from a porter in Houston announcing
the departure of a train on the Houston, East and West Texas line. The porter
called out the various destinations along the way to Shreveport, and the alliteration
of "Tenaha, Timpson,
Bobo, and Blair" made it
a favorite of passengers.
Maxwell claims that the song had little to
do with the HE&WT other than through the recording by Ritter
that made the towns and the railroad
line famous.
Courtesy of Dr. Francis E. Abernethy, director of
the Texas Folklore Society, here are some verses of the song:
On
the HE--WT line,
Old East Texas sure looks fine
Drop me off just anywhere
(near)
Tenaha, Timpson, Bobo, and Blair
Here those drivers pound
the rails,
Takin' me back to Texas trails,
Bought my ticket, paid my
fair,
Tenaha, Timpson, Bobo, and Blair
Whooooo, waiting for the
whistle,
Whooooo, when you hear the whistle,
It means that the stations
not so far,
From where we are,
Let'er highball, engineer,
Pull
that throttle, track is clear,
There's a gal just waitin' there,
Tenaha,
Timpson, Bobo, and Blair.
The HE&WT also was said to stand for "Hell
Either Way Taken," but that is another story. |
All
Things Historical January
21-27, 2001 Column
Published by permission.
(Archie P. McDonald is Director
of the East Texas Historical Association and author or editor of over 20 books
on Texas)
Readers'
Forum:
Subject: Tenaha, Timpson, Bobo and Blair
Thank you, thank you,
thank you. I have been trying to think of Tenaha, Timpson, Bobo and Blair for
soooo long. My father, Herschel "Red" Ramsey was born somewhere in that area and
used to tell me so many "rip-roaring" stories about his younger days; that little
jingle used to rattle around in a long lost childhood memory that I couldn't quite
get a-hold of. If anyone remembers him, contact me at freewheelingX4@hotmail.com
Daddy was such a great man, and I miss him. He went on to Texas Tech from
there and played for the "Red Raiders" (hence the nickname); then played in the
2nd, 3rd and 4th years of the Philadelphia Eagles beginning in 1938. - Carol
Ramsey, September 20, 2005 | |
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