The delectable ballad of the waller lot by Eugene Field

Up yonder in Buena ParkThere is a famous spot,In legend and in historyYclept the Waller Lot.

There children play in daytimeAnd lovers stroll by dark,For 't is the goodliest trysting-placeIn all Buena Park.

Once on a time that beauteous maid,Sweet little Sissy Knott,Took out her pretty doll to walkWithin the Waller Lot.

While thus she fared, from RavenswoodCame Injuns o'er the plain,And seized upon that beauteous maidAnd rent her doll in twain.

Oh, 't was a piteous thing to hearHer lamentations wild;She tore her golden curls and cried:"My child! My child! My child!"

Alas, what cared those Injun chiefsHow bitterly wailed she?They never had been mothers,And they could not hope to be!

"Have done with tears," they rudely quoth,And then they bound her hands;For they proposed to take her offTo distant border lands.

But, joy! from Mr. Eddy's barnDoth Willie Clow beholdThe sight that makes his hair rise upAnd all his blood run cold.

He put his fingers in his mouthAnd whistled long and clear,And presently a goodly hordeOf cow-boys did appear.

Cried Willie Clow: "My comrades bold,Haste to the Waller Lot,And rescue from that Injun bandOur charming Sissy Knott!"

"Spare neither Injun buck nor squaw,But smite them hide and hair!Spare neither sex nor age nor size,And no condition spare!"

Then sped that cow-boy band away,Full of revengeful wrath,And Kendall Evans rode aheadUpon a hickory lath.

And next came gallant Dady FieldAnd Willie's brother Kent,The Eddy boys and Robbie James,On murderous purpose bent.

For they were much beholden toThat maid - in sooth, the lotWere very, very much in loveWith charming Sissy Knott.

What wonder? She was beauty's queen,And good beyond compare;Moreover, it was known she wasHer wealthy father's heir!

Now when the Injuns saw that bandThey trembled with affright,And yet they thought the cheapest thingTo do was stay and fight.

So sturdily they stood their ground,Nor would their prisoner yield,Despite the wrath of Willie ClowAnd gallant Dady Field.

Oh, never fiercer battle ragedUpon the Waller Lot,And never blood more freely flowedThan flowed for Sissy Knott!

An Injun chief of monstrous sizeGot Kendall Evans down,And Robbie James was soon o'erthrownBy one of great renown.

And Dady Field was sorely done,And Willie Clow was hurt,And all that gallant cow-boy bandLay wallowing in the dirt.

But still they strove with might and mainTill all the Waller LotWas strewn with hair and gouts of gore -All, all for Sissy Knott!

Then cried the maiden in despair:"Alas, I sadly fearThe battle and my hopes are lost,Unless some help appear!"

Lo, as she spoke, she saw afarThe rescuer looming up -The pride of all Buena Park,Clow's famous yellow pup!

"Now, sick'em, Don," the maiden cried,"Now, sick'em, Don!" cried she;Obedient Don at once complied -As ordered, so did he.

He sicked'em all so passing wellThat, overcome by fright,The Indian horde gave up the frayAnd safety sought in flight.

They ran and ran and ran and ranO'er valley, plain, and hill;And if they are not walking now,Why, then, they're running still.

The cow-boys rose up from the dustWith faces black and blue;"Remember, beauteous maid," said they,"We've bled and died for you!"

"And though we suffer grievously,We gladly hail the lotThat brings us toils and pains and woundsFor charming Sissy Knott!"

But Sissy Knott still wailed and wept,And still her fate reviled;For who could patch her dolly up -Who, who could mend her child?

Then out her doting mother came,And soothed her daughter then;"Grieve not, my darling, I will sewYour dolly up again!"

Joy soon succeeded unto grief,And tears were soon dried up,And dignities were heaped uponClow's noble yellow pup.

Him all that goodly companyDid as deliverer hail -They tied a ribbon round his neck,Another round his tail.

And every anniversary dayUpon the Waller LotThey celebrate the victory wonFor charming Sissy Knott.

And I, the poet of these folk,Am ordered to compileThis truly famous historyIn good old ballad style.

Which having done as to have earnedThe sweet rewards of fame,In what same style I did beginI now shall end the same.

So let us sing: Long live the King,Long live the Queen and Jack,Long live the ten-spot and the ace,And also all the pack.