Dere 's some lak dory, an' some lak bass,
An' plaintee dey mus' have trout--
An' w'ite feesh too, dere 's quite a few
Not satisfy do widout--
Very fon' of sucker some folk is, too,
But for me, you can go an' cut
De w'ole of dem t'roo w'at you call menu,
So long as I get barbotte--
Ho! Ho! for me it 's de nice barbotte.
No fuss to ketch heem--no row at all,
De sam' as you have wit' bass--
Never can tell if you hook heem well,
An' mebbe he 's gone at las'!
An' trout, wall! any wan 's ketchin' trout
Dey got to be purty smart--
But leetle bull-pout, don't have to look out,
For dem feller got no heart--
Good t'ing, dey ain't got no heart
Dat 's wan of de reason I lak heem too--
For all you have got to do
Is takin' your pole on de feeshin' hole
An' anchor de ole canoe--
Den spit on de worm for luck, an' pass
De leetle hook up de gut,
An' drop it down slow, jus' a minute or so,
An' pull up de nice barbotte,
Ha! Ha! de fine leetle fat barbotte.
Pleasan' to lissen upon de spring
De leetle bird sing hees song,
Wile you watch de line an' look out for sign
Of mooshrat swimmin' along;
Den tak' it easy an' smoke de pipe,
An' w'ere is de man has got
More fun dan you on de ole canoe
W'en dey 're bitin', de nice barbotte--
De nice leetle fat barbotte.
No runnin' aroun' on de crick for heem,
No jompin' upon de air,
Makin' you sweat till your shirt is wet
An' sorry you 're comin' dere--
Foolin' away wit' de rod an' line
Mebbe de affernoon--
For sure as he bite he 's dere all right,
An' you 're ketchin' heem very soon--
Yass sir! you 're gettin' heem purty soon.
Den tak' heem off home wit' a dozen more
An' skin heem so quick you can,
Fry heem wit' lard, an' you 'll fin' it hard
To say if dere 's on de pan
Such feesh as dat on de worl' before
Since Adam, you know, is shut
Out of de gate w'en he 's comin' home late,
As de nice leetle fat barbotte--
Dat 's true, de nice leetle sweet barbotte.
[Illustration: Lyrics and melody of "The Rossignol"]
[Illustration: Lyrics and melody of "The Rossignol"--Concluded]
[Illustration: Border]