When I Was a Brave Cowboy

I once had a gal and I loved her well,
I loved her better than tongue can tell;
I told her that my love was dear.
She told me that she did not care.

Her father gave me good advice
To stay at home and live a quiet life;
But for this word I did not care,
This good advice I did not hear.

I once had a home and I loved it well,
But in those mountains I longed to dwell,
Where the coyotes yell and the panthers squall,
And the bears they climb those mountains tall.

Our bed last night was snow and sleet,
And not a moment did we sleep,
Got up next morning, the clouds hung low,
And down that trail we was forced to go.

It was on the way we told our tale;
We met the Redskins on the trail.
To keep our course we shot them down,
About they fell to the frozen ground.

We traveled, traveled many long hours,
Until we reached those camps of ours;
We started singing, we'd gained our day,
We're the brave cowboys on the western trail

From Cowboy Songs, Lomax, Collected from the Gant Family, TX 1936
RG