"A Song of the West"

 by Harold Hersey
 

 

In thuh good old days a "two-gun" draw wuz part             of our eddication. . . .

We hadn't time fer creeds or law . . . we wuz             buildin' up a nation.

Frum out thuh East thuh weaklin's came, and in              less than one short year

They won their spurs and a he-man's name along             thuh old frontier.

 

Tuh ask a man what hiz past had been wuz                     somethin' never done,

Fer like as not with a stupid grin yuh'd be starin'             down a gun.

A man's own word wuz hiz royal right, hiz title             cold and clear. . . .

And what he wuz yuh took on sight along thuh             old frontier.

 

In a game of stud but few got mad . . thuh wise             man's hand wuz steady,

Fer thuh ones who smiled were thuh ones who             had their shootin'-irons ready.

It wasn't wise tuh bluff a sport who made strange             cards appear,

And some who tried found life wuz short along             thuh old frontier.

 

Out on thuh plains where thuh buffalo came             down like rollin' thunder,

They have flung their rails where thuh swift trains             go, and thuh hills are split asunder,

But who shall say that thuh things that are bring             faith or love or fear?

I only know that my dreams are far along the old             frontier.

 
From Singing Rawhide,

a book of Western Ballads by Harold Hersey

copyright 1926