THE GOOD, OLD-FASHIONED PEOPLE

When we hear Uncle Sidney tell

About the long-ago

An' old, old friends he loved so well

When he was young—My-oh!—

Us childern all wish we'd 'a' bin

A-livin' then with Uncle,—so

We could a-kindo' happened in

On them old friends he used to know!—

The good, old-fashioned people—

The hale, hard-working people—

The kindly country people

'At Uncle used to know!

They was God's people, Uncle says,

An' gloried in His name,

An' worked, without no selfishness,

An' loved their neighbers same

As they was kin: An' when they biled

Their tree-molasses, in the Spring,

Er butchered in the Fall, they smiled

An' sheered with all jist ever'thing!—

"They was god's people."

The good, old-fashioned people—

The hale, hard-working people—

The kindly country people

'At Uncle used to know!

He tells about 'em, lots o' times,

Till we'd all ruther hear

About 'em than the Nurs'ry Rhymes

Er Fairies—mighty near!—

Only sometimes he stops so long

An' then talks on so low an' slow,

It's purt'-nigh sad as any song

To listen to him talkin' so

Of the good, old-fashioned people—

The hale, hard-working people—

The kindly country people

'At Uncle used to know!