When misty Goat comes up the stair
And points a hoof at sky-drawn Bear,
Oh mercy, Lord, I see him there!
They sing and dance, they are a pair,
The Brigand and the dancing bear!
The Brigand and the dancing bear!
The Black Brigand!
Bad by day and worse by
night,
His hat was black, his
face was white,
His boots were laced up
nice and tight:
The Black Brigand!
Nobody knew where he
came from—
He kept that secret with
aplomb!
But he sure was a gentilhomme:
The Black Brigand!
Rogue by day and devil
by night,
His snorting horse was dark,
not light,
And he was of prodigious
height:
The Black Brigand!
He liked a strong black
cup of tea
And bouncing ladies on
his knee,
And never, ever went to
sea:
The Black Brigand!
He had no sense of right
and wrong,
Collected fingers, loved
a song,
And struck the hours
with a gong:
The Black Brigand!
Pull the buggy, speed
the plough,
Beat the horses, feed
the sow,
The ladies loved his
courtly bow;
The Black Brigand!
He shot the sheriff
through the head
And whipped the posse
till they bled:
The word went out: Alive
or Dead!
The Black Brigand!
He rode off hard into
the west,
His medals gleaming on
his chest,
Determined to resist
arrest:
The Black Brigand!
Blow the bugle, draw the
sword,
He galloped off without
a word,
And ne’er did yield but
to the Lord!
The Black Brigand!
No man followed where he
did go;
All this was eighty
years ago—
I’m ninety-five so I
should know.
The Black Brigand!
Men swear that when the
moon is high,
They look up in the
western sky,
And see The Brigand
riding by:
The Black Brigand!
And I, who chased him
all my life,
I see him too—so does my
wife,
And so do our twins,
Mansoor and Fyfe:
The Black Brigand!
When misty Goat comes up the stair
And points a hoof at sky-drawn Bear,
Oh mercy, Lord, I see him there!
They sing and dance, they are a pair,
The Brigand and the dancing bear!
The Brigand and the dancing bear!
The Black Brigand!
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