Camp Milbrook Songs

Do you remember any of the Camp Milbrook songs? If so, please write them down and e-mail them so they can be added to this page.

Hiking for Milbrook
(date, unknown; tune, unknown)

Hiking for Milbrook here's to her name
Forward together we'll bring her fame
Mountains high and valleys low
We'll take them all as onward we go
Forward together matching our stride
We'll climb the highest peaks side by side
Come now all and sing our song as hiking along we go

Thanks for the Memories
(date, unknown; tune: "Thanks for the Memories")
as collectively remembered by Nancy (Nutter) Nesbitt and John Hultgren on 8.20.01

Thanks for the memories
Of dirty shirts and jean
Of Saturday's baked beans
Of hiking trips and counselors' tips
And Blue and White Teams
Oh thank you, so much

Thanks for the memories
Of vespers at the Grove
Gardens that we've howed
Of rainy days and cabin plays
And horses that we've rode
Oh thank you, so much

Back at Camp Milbrook Again
(date, unknown; tune: "Back in the Saddle Again")
as collectively remembered by Nancy (Nutter) Nesbitt and John Hultgren on 8.20.01

We're back at Camp Milbrook again
Back where a friend is a friend
Where the hungry campers feed
On the lowly spinach weed
Oh we're back at Camp Milbrook again

We're haying the fields once more
And shoveling the old horse manure
We sleep out every night and the insects we must fight
Oh we're back at Camp Milbrook again

M, for Milbrook
(date, unknown; tune: "Do, a Deer" from the "Sound of Music")
remembered by Nancy (Nutter) Nesbitt on 8.20.01

M, for Milbrook up in Maine
I, a camper full of fun
L, Lake Highland, cold and wet
B, for things that Brookie's done
R, for riding round the ring
O, for outings every week
Oh, for all my aches and pains
That will bring us back to K, a kool camp 

Unknown title
(date, unknown; tune: "Camptown Races")
remembered by Nancy (Nutter) Nesbitt on 8.20.01

I came to camp all pale and white, doo dah, doo dah
I must have looked an awful sight, oh doo dah day

Chorus:
We came to camp to work, we came to camp to play
But work is work and play is play, whatever the counselors say

[Remainder of song unknown except for the ending:]
I went back home all tan and brown, doo dah, doo day
And showed my stuff all over town, oh doo dah day

Taps
remembered by Nancy (Nutter) Nesbitt on 8.20.01 who also writes:
"I just had a memory of Brookie leading us in singing the words to Taps in the grove at vespers while someone played the bugle. She was a stickler for getting the order of the last part right, and would move her hand up as we sang 'from the lake, from the hills, from the sky...'"

Day is done
Gone the sun
From the lake
From the hills
From the sky
All is well
Safely rest
God is nigh

Oh Brookie, We're Singing To You
(date, unknown; tune: unknown)
remembered by Nancy (Nutter) Nesbitt on 8.20.01

Oh Brookie, we're singing to you
So listen until we are through
We want you to know we are loyal and so
We will go through the years cheering you, Rah! Rah!

Oh Brookie, we think you are tops
Your seasons have never been flops
Your campers are proud to be at Camp Milbrook
So Brookie, here's to you!

Paddle On, Through The Night
(date, unknown; tune: Brahms' Lullaby)
remembered by Nancy (Nutter) Nesbitt on 8.20.01

Paddle on, through the nigh
With the heavens alight
Homeward bound, 'neath the moon
Hear the wail of the loon
And the trees, gliding by
Seem to merge with the sky
As we sing on our way
At the close of the day

Camp Milbrook Grace
(date, unknown; tune: unknown)
remembered by Nancy (Nutter) Nesbitt on 8.20.01

Sung in parts, male and female, before meals:

Oh give thanks, Oh give thanks, Oh give thanks unto the Lord
For he is gracious and his mercy endureth, endureth forever. Amen.

[Unknown bedtime song]
(date, unknown; tune: unknown)
remembered by Nancy (Nutter) Nesbitt on 8.21.01

Sung by the counselors and older campers to the younger campers as their bedtime came along:

Now run along home and jump into bed
Say your prayers and cover your head
The very same thing I say unto you:
You dream of me and I'll dream of you

In The Main Woods We Will Gather
(date, unknown; tune: unknown)
remembered by Nancy (Nutter) Nesbitt on 8.24.01

In the Maine woods we will gather, and our lives will grow together
And the memories that we formed there will withstand all time and weather
Let us search for fun and laughter 'ere our camping days are over
And remember Camp Milbrook on Lake Highland, la-dee-doo-da
In the Maine woods la-dee-doo-da we will gather la-dee-doo-da

Cabin Inspection
(date, unknown; tune: unknown)
remembered by Martha (David) Schroeder on 8.9.05

The other morning for their chore
The inspectors knocked upon my door.
They snooped and poked and walked around.
There's one thing that they almost found.
Ho ho ho, you and me,
There's one thing that they did not see.
Had they moved my trunk
There'd been some fuss...
For that is where I swept my dust!

Laugh It Off
(date, unknown; tune: When You're Happy And You Know It)
remembered by Martha (David) Schroeder on 8.9.05

When you're working in the garden with a hoe,
And forget that corn is planted in a row,
Just put back the roots and then
Get right on the job again.
Laugh it off, oh camper, laugh it off.

When you're dumb and the counselors bawl you out
And they tell you all about it with a shout
-------
-------
Laugh it off, oh camper, laugh it off.

(I can't remember those two lines.  And I think there were a couple more verses.)

Trip Day
(date, unknown; tune: Unknown)
remembered by Martha (David) Schroeder on 8.9.05

Each Thursday morn
When we hear Johnny's horn [Later it was Brookie's horn]
We are out of our beds with a bound.
On with our packs, fastened tight to our backs
We are off for the mountain's crown.

Though the trail may be long
In our  hearts there's a song
And we sing every step of the way.
"Milbrook" we all shout
As on we hike carefree and gay.
"Milbrook, you're the camp
That's on the kievive each day."

(I never did know what kievive meant or how to spell it)