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Barry Dog Wherever You Are
Written by Jack Winters Hamilton
Barry dog wherever you are
No mother father or friend
Ever loved me as much as you did
My hunting partner and true friend
So sleep the long sleep partner
Your body got weak and old
But your memory will live forever
Your story told and retold
The campfires will be lonely
The hunt won't be the same
Your every effort was for me Barry
So thanks I'll remember your name
You taught me the joy of the chase
The beauty of the earth day and night
But now your spirit has left you
And the worlds not the same tonight
Barry it was because of you
I got my first two hounds
A dog trained as good as you
Can show these pups the rounds
You taught them how to grab a coon
And how to shake his neck just so
The pups stood by watching
And now fighting coon they know
You taught them how to catch squirrels
I didn't need a gun
But just a stick so I could knock them down
So you could catch them on the run
I remember when we were both younger
We thought like this we'll always be
We thought we'd live forever
And never find that final tree
We thought we'd move to the mountains someday
And live up there for free
a-huntin and a-loafing
The pups, you Barry and me
But you never saw those mountains
And the pups may never too
Unless I make this promise
And make it Barry to you
I'll build a pack of hound dogs
We'll go to the mountains too
And when a lion or a bear were running
Barry dog we'll be running that critter for you
Our love for each other was unbounded
Your all to me you gave
I thought that now you'd be sleeping
But not with snow upon your grave
Barry you were too old and sick
To go out hunting the night
Cotton Joe and Sue May treed
Three separate coon on a very windy night
You lived for only two days
After Joe and Sue Mays great night
I wish you could have been there
But you missed it your health wasn't right
When you had to stay at home that night
I know you understood
That you were much to weak and sick
To go hunting in the woods
The younger dogs can stand it
But your too valuable a friend
To take out in the damp cold night
And expose you to the wind
Better stay home tonight, I told you
Better a house dog than dead
But I'll never forget the look you gave
When I sent you into bed
The younger dogs are all loaded
And a hunting we will go
My oldest friend is coming
And I've promised him a show
So Barry you stay home tonight
Your too sick and you'll be slow
We'll take you with us next time
You'll get better now I've got to go
But old Barry dogs dead now
Those words I never thought I'd say
He missed his crowning achievement
The pups he trained with three coon at bay
For two days later he left me
I let him out to pee
At 1:30 in the morning
And he never came back to me
We found him the next day at sunset
He had died two hours before
He looked like he was sleeping
Barry we won't go huntin no more
Barry spent his last day alone there
On the hill watching the sun set
He didn't want us to see him suffer
He's a dog I'll not soon forget
Barry your life has ended
Tomorrow I'll put you in the clay
I'll say a few words over you
And then I'll walk away
Barry rest in peace old partner
There's nothing more I can do
Your gone and your gone forever
And I wish I were going with you
As I sit here by my wood stove
I ate a little and I'm warm
But Barrys laying outside
The cold can't hurt him no more
His place by the fire is empty
And the silence is like a storm
So here's to you old Barry dog
And here's to you once more
Thank you
'Knife' himself
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