Edwin Ford Piper

IT was boots and spurs and hat and gun

In a hole by a willow tree;

And that is how we planted him

Where the line fence ought to be.

Bill left his gun with the town marshal,

An’ I at the livery;

An’ I only had two jolts of gin

An’ a little rye in me

When up comes this Hyannis Hal,

An’ he wouldn’t drink with me.

He snorted some an’ cavorted some,

He slobbered, an’ wagged his chin;

An’ he swore that he would wade in the gore

Of us an’ all our kin!

“Roll up your pants, Hyannis,

An’ come a-steppin’ in!”

I got my gun from the livery,

An’ Bill at the town marshal,

An’ we was joggin’ pleasantly

Along the Wolf Creek trail;

An’ at Warbonnet Springs rides out

This same Hyannis Hal.

Says I, “You missed the section line;

She’s on my land five rod!”

“I put her there, an’ there she stays,

If I got to wade in blood!

“I’ll wade in blood to my belt gets red,

I’ll wade in blood to my chin!”

I answered back like a feller does

On a couple of jolts of gin.

It seemed like there was too much talk;

So the doin’s, they begin.

It was boots and spurs and hat and gun

In a hole by a willow tree;

And that was how we planted him

Where the line fence ought to be.