Quantrell

Come all you bold robbers and open your ears
Of QuantrelI the lion-heart you quickly will hear
With his band of bold raiders in double-quick time
He came to burn Lawrence just over the line.

Chorus:
All routing and shouting and giving the yell
Like so many demons just raised up from Hell,
The boys they were drunken with powder and wine
And came to burn Lawrence just over the line.

They came to burn Lawrence, they came not to stay,
They rode in one morning at breaking of day.
Their guns were a-waving, their horses a-foam
And QuantrelI a-riding his famous big roan.

They came to burn Lawrence, they came not to stay
Jim Lane he was up at the break of the day.
He saw them a-coming and got in a fright,
Then crawled in a corncrib to get out of sight.

Oh, QuantreIl's a fighter, a bold-hearted boy,
A brave man or woman he'll never annoy.
He'd take from the wealthy and give to the poor
For brave men there's never a bolt to his door.

from Am. Ballads and Folksongs, Lomax
RG