A Fair Lady of the Plains

There was a fair lady who lived on the plains,
She helped me herd cattle through hard stormy rains,
She helped me one season all through the roundup,
She would drink with me from the cold bitter cup,
She loved the red liquor which serves a man so,
She was a fair lady as white as the snow.

She loved the red liquor which serves a man so,
She was a fair lady as white as the snow;
I taught her as a cowboy when the rangers come round,
To use a six-shooter in both of her hands,
To use a six-shooter an' never to run
As long as the loads lasted in either gun.

We was goin' down the canyon in the spring one year,
To camp there a season with a herd of wild steers;
The Injuns charged on us at the dead hour of the night,
We rose from our slumber the battle for to fight.
Mid lightnin' an' thunder an' the downpour of rain,
It's in come a bullet an' dashed out her brains!

Mid lightnin' an' thunder an' the downpour of rain,
It's in come a bullet an' dashed out her brains.
I sprung to my saddle with a gun in each hand,
Sayin', "Come all you cowboys, let's fight for our band."
Sayin', "Come all you cowboys, let's fight for our life;
These redskins has murdered my darlin' young wife

From Ozark Folksongs, Randolph
Collected from Myrtle Lain, MO, 1929
note: Compare to Ranger's Command by Guthrie RG
DT #375
Laws B8
RG
apr96