Harris and The Mare Willie Watson

[Verse 1]
Harris my old friend
It’s good to see your face again
More welcome though yon trap and that old mare
For my wife is in a swoon
And I am all alone
Harris, fetch thy mare and take us home
For the wife and I came out for a quiet glass of stout
And a word or two with neighbors in the room
And young Clarry he came in
Wild and drunk as sin
And he swore the wife would leave the place with him
But the wife as quick as thought
Said “no I’ll bloody not”
And struck the brutal blow about the head
And he reached his ugly paw and he lashed her on the jaw
She fell onto the floor like she were dead

[Verse 2]
Now Harris well you know
I’ve never struck an angry blow
Nor would I keep a friend who raised his hand
I was a conchie in the war
Cryin’ “what the hell is this for?”
But I had to see his blood to be a man
I grabbed him by his coat
Spun him round and took his throat
And beat his head upon the parlor door
He dragged out an awful knife
And he roared “I’ll have your life!”
And he stuck me and I fell onto the floor
Blood I was from neck to thigh
Bloody murder in his eye
As he shouted out “I’ll finish you for sure!”
But as the knife came down I lashed out from the ground
And the knife was in his breast when he rolled o’re