Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads

<p class="tit-song">YOUNG COMPANIONS <span class="pagenum"><SPAN id="page081" name="page081"></SPAN>(p. 081)</span></p> <p>Come all you young companions<br/> And listen unto me,<br/> I'll tell you a story<br/> Of some bad company.</p> <p>I was born in Pennsylvania<br/> Among the beautiful hills<br/> And the memory of my childhood<br/> Is warm within me still.</p> <p>I did not like my fireside,<br/> I did not like my home;<br/> I had in view far rambling,<br/> So far away did roam.</p> <p>I had a feeble mother,<br/> She oft would plead with me;<br/> And the last word she gave me<br/> Was to pray to God in need.</p> <p>I had two loving sisters,<br/> As fair as fair could be,<br/> And oft beside me kneeling<br/> They oft would plead with me.</p> <p>I bid adieu to loved ones,<br/> To my home I bid farewell,<br/> And <span class="pagenum"><SPAN id="page082" name="page082"></SPAN>(p. 082)</span> I landed in Chicago<br/> In the very depth of hell.</p> <p>It was there I took to drinking,<br/> I sinned both night and day,<br/> And there within my bosom<br/> A feeble voice would say:</p> <p>"Then fare you well, my loved one,<br/> May God protect my boy,<br/> And blessings ever with him<br/> Throughout his manhood joy."</p> <p>I courted a fair young maiden,<br/> Her name I will not tell,<br/> For I should ever disgrace her<br/> Since I am doomed for hell.</p> <p>It was on one beautiful evening,<br/> The stars were shining bright,<br/> And with a fatal dagger<br/> I bid her spirit flight.</p> <p>So justice overtook me,<br/> You all can plainly see,<br/> My soul is doomed forever<br/> Throughout eternity.</p> <p>It's now I'm on the scaffold,<br/> My moments are not long;<br/> You may forget the singer<br/> But don't forget the song.</p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />