The Banks Of “Lizzard Crick”

On the banks of Lizzard Crick over back of Gungawamp;

Don’t I wish ‘at I wuz there on thet fallen chestnut stump;

Where the heavy alder bushes hang their heads above the stream,

Where the bright carnation blossoms throw a soft, reflected gleam.

O, I’ve set fur hours fishin’ on the banks uv Lizzard Crick,

With a cotton line a-danglin’ frum a crooked birchen stick;

An’ ef the fish wuz lazy why I never seemed to care,

I envied them the feelin’; an’ I allus hed my share!

On the banks uv Lizzard Crick

     Where I uster set an’ fish;

On the shores uv Lizzard Crick

     Where the waters gently swish;

O, you kin go to Rangely

     Where the trout an’ salmon be;

But Lizzard Crick

                        An’ a white birch pole,

     Thet’s good enough fur me!

On the banks uv Lizzard Crick where I uster roam erlone;

I knew their every crevice, an’ I knew their every stone.

My playmates wuz the squirrels, an’ we played at hide an’ seek,

While I waited fur the nibble uv a shiner bright an’ sleek.

O you banks uv Lizzard Crick, may you never know the change

‘At I’ve seen in other places where the chopper cleared the range;

Fur I want my boys an’ their boys in turn to hev a lick

‘At fishin’ unmolested on the banks uv Lizzard Crick!

On the banks uv Lizzard Crick

     Where I uster set an’ fish;

On the shores uv Lizzard Crick

     Where the waters gently swish;

O, you kin go to Rangely

     Where the trout an’ sarmon be;

But Lizzard Crick

                        An’ a white birch pole,

     Thet’s good enough fur me!

Dec. 23, ‘97

Pub. in “Sports Afield”,

June, 1898