Harris and The Mare

Lyrics

[Verse 1] Harris my old friend It's good to see your face again More welcome though yon trap and that old mare For my wife is in a swoon And I am all alone Harris, fetch thy mare and take us home For the wife and I came out for a quiet glass of stout And a word or two with neighbors in the room And young Clarry he came in Wild and drunk as sin And he swore the wife would leave the place with him But the wife as quick as thought Said "no I'll bloody not" And struck the brutal blow about the head And he reached his ugly paw and he lashed her on the jaw She fell onto the floor like she were dead [Verse 2] Now Harris well you know I've never struck an angry blow Nor would I keep a friend who raised his hand I was a conchie in the war Cryin' "what the hell is this for?" But I had to see his blood to be a man I grabbed him by his coat Spun him round and took his throat And beat his head upon the parlor door He dragged out an awful knife And he roared "I'll have your life!" And he stuck me and I fell onto the floor Blood I was from neck to thigh Bloody murder in his eye As he shouted out "I'll finish you for sure!" But as the knife came down I lashed out from the ground And the knife was in his breast when he rolled o're [Verse 3] Now with the wife as cold as clay I carried her away No hand was raised to help us through the door Now I brought her half a mile And I'll need to rest a while And none of them I'll call a friend no more For when the knife came down I was helpless on the ground No neighbor stayed his hand I was alone But by god I was a man And now I cannot stand Harris fetch thy mare and take us home Harris fetch thy mare and get us out of here In my nine and fifty years I've never known That to call myself a man For my loved ones I must stand Harris fetch thy mare and take us home