Classic Poem

Come all you people if you want to hear
A story about a cruel mountaineer.
Sydney Allen was a villain in vain
Until at the courthouse he won ill fame.

Sydney Allen, the prisoner took the stand;
Unbeknown to guards around him,
With a pistol in his hand,
He sent Blake Yancey to the Promised Land.

A few minutes more, the place was in a roar
The dead and dying were lying on the floor;
With a Thirty-eight Special and a thirty-eight ball
Sydney backed the sheriff up against the wall.

The judge thought he was in a mighty bad place;
The mountaineer was staring him right in the face.
He turned to the window and then he said,
" A few minutes more and we'll all be dead. "

Sydney mounted to his pony and away he did ride,
With his friends and his kinsmen riding by his side;
They all shook hands and swore they would hang
Before they would give up to the prominent gang.

They arrived at the station about eleven forty-one,
His wife and his daughter and his two little sons;
They all shook hands, and they knelt down to pray;
Crying, " Oh Lord; don't take Pappy away. "

The people all gathered from far and near,
To see poor Sydney sent to the electric chair.
But to their great surprise, the judge he said;
" Syd's going to the penitentiary instead. "