"The Ohio Company" is a song written by Pittsburgh composer Robert Schmertz about the Ohio Company.[1] It was arranged by Frank C. Jarema.

Lyrics

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Young man if you would westward go
And make yourself a fee
There's money in the trapper's trade
And opportunity
And you will be well found my lad
A cherished employee
Of the glorious, virtorious Ohio Company!

CHORUS:
It's ten percent for you my lad
And twenty percent for me
And the rest is for the glorious Ohio Company!

Lord Dinwiddie has put his seal
Upon our company
And for the King he governs our Virginia Colony
And so we're fully certified By the British sovereignty
And we'll sell our furs and peltries to
The petty bourgeoise!

CHORUS:
It's twenty percent for you my lad
And thirty percent for me
And the rest is for the glorious Ohio Company!

Young man if fighting you enjoy
brawl or jamboree
There's men from Philadelph-i-ay
With whom you'll not agree
You'll have some lovely fighting
As the cherished employee
Of the glorious, uproarious Ohio Company!

CHORUS:
It's thirty percent for you my lad
And forty percent for me
And the rest is for the glorious Ohio Company!
 
Across the endless mountains
With a pack horse you will go
You'll come upon three rivers
In a valley wide and low
You'll barter with the Indians
Exercise cupidity
For the profit of our glorious Ohio Company

CHORUS:
It's forty percent for you my lad
And fifty percent for me
And the rest is for the glorious Ohio Company!

The Indians have a famous queen
And she is royalty
She governs all six nations
In the Indian territoree
Her name is Allaquippa
And she will exact a fee
In muskets, rum and wampum from our glorious company!

CHORUS
It's fifty percent for you my lad
And sixty percent for me
And the rest is for the glorious Ohio Company!

There's Iriquois and Seneca
And Mingo and Shawnee
You'll buy their mink and otter skins
To send across the sea
And as they skin the beaver
Skin the red skins lad, for me
And the glorious, notorious Ohio Company!

CHORUS:
It's sixty percent for you my lad
And eighty percent for me
And the rest is for the glorious Ohio Company!

When you come back to Virginia
A rich man you'll surely be
You can pick and choose your doxies
For to bounce upon your knee
You may be a director and
A life long legatee
Of the glorious, notorious Ohio Company!

CHORUS:
It's eighty percent for you my lad
And ninety percent for me
And the rest is for the Glorious Ohio Company![2]

References

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  1. ^ "Guide to the Robert Schmertz Collection, 1898-2001 CAM.SCHM.2015". Digital.library.pitt.edu. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  2. ^ Robert Schmertz. "Sing oh! the City oh! : Songs about Early Pittsburgh" (PDF). Media.smithsonianfolkways.org. Retrieved 24 March 2022.