| Maria Daines The ballad of Mary Ann Bones There were fifteen elephants tied by string, Lions in cages growlin' at things A one-eyed dancer with a glittery frown To bring the circus into town With polished people out in a line This their festival divine A once a year, an exotic dream Once in a lifetime, never been seen Well they came to rest on Parkers Piece Come yea gentlefolk, a feast! Apple bobbin, finger robbin' Horses, dogs n' children noddin' All except for one in robes She the one that lived too close Hollerin' with fire n' stones Angry widow, Mary Ann Bones Well never in her life before Had she heard an elephant roar the door! She closed the curtains, wore a hat And locked away her gingery cat Nothin' save the wind on wood Would knock her from this neighbourhood Nothin' 'ceptin' God himself Would keep her from her glowin' health Nights the roarin' came n' went And nothin' but her time was spent She mithered up, n' she mithered down She bellowed at the work of clowns She drew a face upon the floor And stamped n' kicked it like a horse ~ No wonder when the big top raised The ringmaster was all a' daze His shoulders prickled, he was doomed Damned and set upon by gloom His tamers and trapezers fell Down with somethin' ill as hell Nobody could work it out As skilled repairmen fell about Why girls in fancy sequinned skirts Were grey as mourners behind a hearse 'It's a curse' they cried 'A Curse! A Curse!' This illness here is gettin' worse The women all grew beards n' whiskers Roustabouts were froze with blisters Nothin' worked n' nothin' stayed The big top stung like a barbers shave Children cried n' candy soured Lions slept away the hours Dogs went lame n' horses neighed The thunder broke this sad parade... And Cambridge rattled to the sound Of one last circus leavin' town Until the end of captured creatures Bony Mary Ann was speechless In the window, candles lit She spelled the demon of her fits She willed it so, she wished it done A hymn that bothered on her tongue Not one livin' thing should die Caged by wire, n' ropes n' ties Let 'em loose she chanted high And blazed her orders to the sky Nothin' in this dusty town Had seen the like of a big top down They packed it up and they set 'em free And fifteen elephants roared in key! No make no bones this is the truth She told me, for she had the proof A tale of ivory kept so long She died before she wrote this song Oh, oh the circus is gone... BACK |