Songs of Action | Page 9

or maybe at just a trifle more;
And now I'll stake my davy I wouldn't

scale at five,
And I'd 'old my own at catch-weights with the skinniest
jock alive.
And the doctor says the reason why I sit an' cough an wheeze Is all
along o' varmint, like the cheese-mites in the cheese; The smallest kind
o' varmint, but varmint all the same,
Microscopes or somethin'--I
forget the varmints' name.
But I knows as I'm a goner. They never said as much,
But I reads the
people's faces, and I knows as I am such;
Well, there's 'Urst to mind
the 'orses and the 'ounds can look to Jack,
Though 'e never was a
patch on me in 'andlin' of a pack.
You'll maybe think I'm boastin', but you'll find they all agree That
there's not a whip in Surrey as can 'andle 'ounds like me; For I knew
'em all from puppies, and I'd tell 'em without fail - If I seed a tail
a-waggin', I could tell who wagged the tail.
And voices--why, Lor' love you, it's more than I can 'elp,
It just
comes kind of natural to know each whine an' yelp;
You might take
them twenty couple where you will and let 'em run, An' I'd listen by the
coverside and name 'em one by one.
I say it's kind of natural, for since I was a brat
I never cared for
readin' books, or fancy things like that; But give me 'ounds and 'orses
an' I was quite content,
An' I loved to ear 'em talkin' and to wonder
what they meant.
And when the 'ydrophoby came five year ago next May,
When Nailer
was be'avin' in a most owdacious way,
I fixed 'im so's 'e couldn't bite,
my 'ands on neck an' back, An' I 'eaved 'im from the kennels, and they
say I saved the pack.
An' when the Master 'eard of it, 'e up an' says, says 'e,
'If that chap
were a soldier man, they'd give 'im the V.C.' Which is some kind a'
medal what they give to soldier men;
An' Master said if I were such I

would 'a' got it then.
Parson brought 'is Bible and come to read to me;
''Ave what you like,
there's everythink within this Book,' says 'e. Says I, 'They've left the
'orses out!' Says 'e, 'You are mistook;' An' 'e up an' read a 'eap of things
about them from the Book.
And some of it amazin' fine; although I'm fit to swear
No 'orse would
ever say 'Ah, ah!' same as they said it there. Per'aps it was an 'Ebrew
'orse the chap 'ad in his mind,
But I never 'eard an English 'orse say
nothin' of the kind.
Parson is a good 'un. I've known 'im from a lad;
'Twas me as taught
'im ridin', an' 'e rides uncommon bad;
And he says--But 'ark an' listen!
There's an 'orn! I 'eard it blow; Pull the blind from off the winder! Prop
me up, and 'old me so.
They're drawin' the black 'anger, just aside the Squire's grounds. 'Ark
and listen! 'Ark and listen! There's the yappin' of the 'ounds:
There's
Fanny and Beltinker, and I 'ear old Boxer call;
You see I wasn't
boastin' when I said I knew 'em all.
Let me sit an' 'old the bedrail! Now I see 'em as they pass: There's
Squire upon the Midland mare, a good 'un on the grass; But this is
closish country, and you wants a clever 'orse
When 'alf the time
you're in the woods an' 'alf among the gorse.
'Ark to Jack a'ollering--a-bleatin' like a lamb.
You wouldn't think it
now, perhaps, to see the thing I am;
But there was a time the ladies
used to linger at the meet
Just to 'ear me callin' in the woods: my
callin' was so sweet.
I see the crossroads corner, with the field awaitin' there, There's Purcell
on 'is piebald 'orse, an' Doctor on the mare, And the Master on 'is iron
grey; she isn't much to look,
But I seed 'er do clean twenty foot across
the 'eathly brook.

There's Captain Kane an' McIntyre an' 'alf a dozen more,
And two or
three are 'untin' whom I never seed afore;
Likely-lookin' chaps they
be, well groomed and 'orsed and dressed - I wish they could 'a seen the
pack when it was at its best.
It's a check, and they are drawin' down the coppice for a scent, You can
see as they've been runnin', for the 'orses they are spent; I'll lay the fox
will break this way, downwind as sure as fate, An' if he does you'll see
the field come poundin' through our gate.
But, Maggie, what's that slinkin' beside the cover?--See!
Now it's in
the clover field, and goin' fast an' free,
It's 'im, and they don't see 'im.
It's 'im! 'Alloo! 'Alloo! My broken wind won't run to it--I'll leave the
job to you.