Dat Ol' Mare o' Mine
Want to trade me, do you, mistah? Oh, well, now,
I reckon not.
W’y you could n’t buy my Sukey fu’ a thousan’ on
de spot.
Dat ol’ mare o’ mine?
Yes, huh coat an long an’ shaggy, an’ she ain’t no
shakes to see;
Dat’s a ring-bone yes, you right, suh, an’ she got a
on’ry knee,
But dey ain’t no use in talkin’, she de only hoss
fu’ me,
Dat ol’ mare o’ mine.
C’ose, I knows dat Suke’s contra’y, an’ she moughty
ap’ to vex;
But you got to mek erlowance fu’ de nature of huh
sex;
Dat ol’ mare o’ mine.
Ef you pull her on de lef’ han’, she plum ‘termined
to go right,
A cannon could n’t skeer huh, but she boun’ to tek
a fright
At a piece o’ common paper, or anyt’ing dat’s
white,
Dat ol’ mare o’ mine.
W’en my eyes commence to fail me, dough, I trus’es
to huh sight,
An’ she’ll tote me safe an’ hones’ on de ve’y da’kes’
night,
Dat ol’ mare o’ mine.
Ef I whup huh, she’ll jes switch huh tail, an’ settle
to a walk,
Ef I whup huh mo’, she’ll shek huh haid, an’ lak ez
not, she’ll balk.
But huh sense ain’t no ways lackin’, she do evah-
t’ing but talk,
Dat ol’ mare o’ mine.
But she gentle ez a lady w’en she know huh beau
kin see,
An’ she sholy got mo’ gumption any day den you
or me,
Dat ol’ mare o’ mine.
She’s a leetle slow a-goin’, an’ she moughty ha’d
to sta’t,
But we’s gittin’ ol’ togathah, an’ she’s closah to
my hea’t,
An’ I does n’ reckon, mistah, dat she’d scarcely keer
to pa’t,
Dat ol’ mare o’ mine.
W’y, I knows de time dat cidah ‘s kin’ o’ muddled
up my haid,
Ef it had n’t been fu’ Sukey hyeah, I reckon I’d
been daid;
Dat ol’ mare o’ mine.
But she got me in de middle o’ de road an’ tuk me
home,
An’ she would n’t let me wandah, ner she would n’t
let me roam,
Dat’s de kin’ o’ hoss to tie to w’en you’s seed de
cidah’s foam,
Dat ol’ mare o’ mine.
You kin talk erbout yo’ heaven, you kin talk erbout
yo’ hell,
Dey is people, dey is hosses, den dey’s cattle, den
dey’s – well, -
Dat ol’ mare o’ mine;
She de beatenes’ t’ing dat evah struck de medders o’
de town,
An’ dough huh haid ain’t fittin’ fu’ to waih no
golden crown,
D’ ain’t a blessed way fu’ Petah fu’ to tu’n my
Sukey down,
Dat ol’ mare o’ mine.
