The Gungawamp War Prophet

He set eround the village store all threw the Spanish war,

Explainin’ tew the other chaps  what this an’ that wuz for;

An’ every time a move wuz made upon the land or sea,

Resultin’ in our victory, “I tol’ yew so,” said he.

Ez early ez the Maine went down, he knew ‘twuz goin’ tur be;

“I tol’ yew they would do it, boys, I tol’ yew so,” said he;

An’ when George Dewey sunk the fleet uv Admiral Montejo,

“I tol’ yew he would do it, boys, yew know I tol’ yew so.”

An’ when Cevera’s hidin’ place wuz found with skill an’ care,

Jim Martin tol’ us everyone, he knowed ‘et he wuz there;

An' when the Merrimac wuz sunk beneath the restless tide,

Jim Martin smoked his pipe an’ ‘lowed ‘twuz what he proffersied.

Cevera’s dash, an’ Sampson’s chase, an’ Santiago’s fall,

An’ Miles’s grand reception an’ the welcome protocal

Wuz all foreseen by Jim, altho’ he kep’ the facts away

Until he’d read the papers frum the city every day.

An' Gungawamp no prophet hed  one half ez great ez Jim,

Who ‘lowed the board uv strategy should be uv souls like him;

He knew the ropes frum stem to starn, an’ every day would pose

In Jones’s store an’ emfersize his mighty “tol’ yew so’s”

But while the war wuz goin’ on Jim’s knowledge took a slump

On matters uv importance takin’ place in Gungawamp;

An’ when wuz twins at Hiram Lord’s, Jim wuz a sight tur see,

An’ everyone haw-hawed an’ says, “we tol’ yew so, says we!”

Aug. 21, ‘98