WHEN we hear Uncle Sidney tell About the long-ago An' old, old friends he loved so well When @3he@1 was young -- My-oh! -- Us childern all wish @3we'd@1 'a' bin A-livin' then with Uncle, -- so We could a-kind o' happened in On them old friends @3he@1 used to know! -- The good, old-fashioned people -- The hale, hard-working people -- The kindly country people 'At Uncle used to know! They was God's people, Uncle says, An' gloried in His name, An' worked, without no selfishness, An' loved their neighbers same As they was kin: An' when they biled Their tree-molasses, in the Spring, Er butchered in the Fall, they smiled An' sheered with all jist ever'thing! -- The good, old-fashioned people -- The hale, hard-working people -- The kindly country people 'At Uncle used to know! He tells about 'em lots o' times, Till we'd all ruther hear About 'em than the Nurs'ry Rhymes Er Fairies -- mighty near! -- Only, sometimes, he stops so long An' then talks on so low an' slow, It's purt' nigh sad as any song To listen to him talkin' so Of the good, old-fashioned people -- The hale, hard-working people -- The kindly country people 'At Uncle used to know! |