Barrydog where ever you are

Barrydog 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 world’s 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

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Thank you


J. Winters von Knife