A Broadside: No. 4 Fifth Year
Title
A Broadside: No. 4 Fifth Year
Subject
Ireland
Dun Emer Press
Cuala Press
A Broadside
Irish Literary Revival
The Gaelic Revival
Description
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY E. C. YEATS AT THE CUALA PRESS, CHURCHTOWN, DUNDRUM, COUNTY DUBLIN. SUBSCRIPTION TWELVE SHILLINGS A YEAR POST FREE.
300 copies only.
300 copies only.
The woodcut on page [3] has caption: "FARMERS AT THE FAIR". Signed by Jack B. Yeats.
Creator
E. C. Yeats
Jack B. Yeats
Publisher
Cuala Press
Date
September, 1912
Text
THE COWBOY'S LAMENT
As I walked out in the streets of Laredo,
As I walked out in Laredo one day,
I spied a poor cowboy wrapped up in white linen,
Wrapped up in white linen as cold as the clay.
'Oh beat the drum slowly and play the fife lowly,
Play the Dead March as you carry me along;
Take me to the green valley, there lay the sod 'er me,
For I'm a young cowboy and I know I've done wrong.
'I see by your out-fit that you are a cowboy,'
These words he did say as I boldly stepped by.
'Come sit down beside me and hear my sad story;
I was shot in the breast and I know I must die.
'Let sixteen gamblers come handle my coffin,
Let sixteen cowboys come sing me a song,
Take me to the grave-yard and lay the sod o'er me,
For I'm a poor cowboy and I know I've done wrong.
'My friends and relations, they live in the Nation,
They know not where their boy has gone.
He first came to Texas and hired to a ranchman,
Oh, I'm a young cowboy and I know I've done wrong.
'Go write a letter to my gray-haired mother,
And carry the same to my sister so dear;
But not a word of this shall you mention
When a crowd gathers round you my story to hear.
'Then beat your drum lowly and play your fife slowly,
Beat the Dead March as you carry me along;
We all love our cowboys so young and handsome,
We all love our cowboys although they've done wrong.
'There is another more dear than a siser,
she'll bitterly weep when she hears I am gone.
There is another who will win her affection,
For I'm a young cowboy and they say I've done wrong.
'Go gather around you a crowd of young cowboys,
And tell them the story of this my sad fate;
Tell one and the other before they go further
To stop their wild roving before 'tis too late.
'Oh, muffle your drums, then play your fifes merrily;
Play the Dead March as you go along.
And fire your guns right over my coffin;
There goes an unfortunate boy to his home.
'It was once in the saddle I used to go dashing,
It was once in the saddle I used to go gay;
First to the dram-house, then to the card-house,
Got shot in the breast, I am dying to-day.
'Get six jolly cowboys to carry my coffin;
Get six pretty maidens to bear up my pall.
Put bunches of roses all over my coffin,
Put roses to deaden the clods as they fall.
'Then swing your rope slowly and rattle your spurs lowly,
And give a wild whoop as you carry me along;
And in the grave throw me and roll the sod o'er me,
For I'm a young cowboy and I know I've done wrong.
'Go bring me a cup, a cup, of cold water,
To cool my parched lips,' the cowboy said;
Before I turned, the spirit had left him
and gone to its Giver, - the cowboy was dead.
We beat the drum slowly and played the fife lowly,
And bitterly wept as we bore him along;
For we all loved our comrade, so brave, young and handsome,
We all loved our comrade although he'd done wrong.
As I walked out in the streets of Laredo,
As I walked out in Laredo one day,
I spied a poor cowboy wrapped up in white linen,
Wrapped up in white linen as cold as the clay.
'Oh beat the drum slowly and play the fife lowly,
Play the Dead March as you carry me along;
Take me to the green valley, there lay the sod 'er me,
For I'm a young cowboy and I know I've done wrong.
'I see by your out-fit that you are a cowboy,'
These words he did say as I boldly stepped by.
'Come sit down beside me and hear my sad story;
I was shot in the breast and I know I must die.
'Let sixteen gamblers come handle my coffin,
Let sixteen cowboys come sing me a song,
Take me to the grave-yard and lay the sod o'er me,
For I'm a poor cowboy and I know I've done wrong.
'My friends and relations, they live in the Nation,
They know not where their boy has gone.
He first came to Texas and hired to a ranchman,
Oh, I'm a young cowboy and I know I've done wrong.
'Go write a letter to my gray-haired mother,
And carry the same to my sister so dear;
But not a word of this shall you mention
When a crowd gathers round you my story to hear.
'Then beat your drum lowly and play your fife slowly,
Beat the Dead March as you carry me along;
We all love our cowboys so young and handsome,
We all love our cowboys although they've done wrong.
'There is another more dear than a siser,
she'll bitterly weep when she hears I am gone.
There is another who will win her affection,
For I'm a young cowboy and they say I've done wrong.
'Go gather around you a crowd of young cowboys,
And tell them the story of this my sad fate;
Tell one and the other before they go further
To stop their wild roving before 'tis too late.
'Oh, muffle your drums, then play your fifes merrily;
Play the Dead March as you go along.
And fire your guns right over my coffin;
There goes an unfortunate boy to his home.
'It was once in the saddle I used to go dashing,
It was once in the saddle I used to go gay;
First to the dram-house, then to the card-house,
Got shot in the breast, I am dying to-day.
'Get six jolly cowboys to carry my coffin;
Get six pretty maidens to bear up my pall.
Put bunches of roses all over my coffin,
Put roses to deaden the clods as they fall.
'Then swing your rope slowly and rattle your spurs lowly,
And give a wild whoop as you carry me along;
And in the grave throw me and roll the sod o'er me,
For I'm a young cowboy and I know I've done wrong.
'Go bring me a cup, a cup, of cold water,
To cool my parched lips,' the cowboy said;
Before I turned, the spirit had left him
and gone to its Giver, - the cowboy was dead.
We beat the drum slowly and played the fife lowly,
And bitterly wept as we bore him along;
For we all loved our comrade, so brave, young and handsome,
We all loved our comrade although he'd done wrong.
Original Format
Broadside
Files
Collection
Citation
E. C. Yeats and Jack B. Yeats, “A Broadside: No. 4 Fifth Year,” Linda Lear Center Digital Collections and Exhibitions, accessed November 23, 2024, https://lc-digital.conncoll.edu/items/show/1398.