In Little House in the Big Woods, Pa plays the song “The Red Heifer” on his fiddle during Dance at Grandpa’s. All of the songs Pa plays during the dance are well known songs of the era, but this song is unknown.
It isn’t clear if perhaps this song is also a common one but Laura and her family knew it as the Red Heifer song, so that was the name used in the book. Or if Laura merely misremembers the name of the song, and it was another well known song by a different name.
It sang “Money Musk,” and “The Red Heifer,” “The Devil’s Dream,” and “Arkansas Traveler.” And Laura went to sleep while Pa and the fiddle were both softly singing:
(Chapter 4, Little House in the Big Woods)
