Streets of Laredo
trad
As I walked out in the streets of Laredo
As I walked out in Laredo one day,
I spied a young cowboy all wrapped in white linen
All wrapped in white linen, as cold as the clay.
"I see by your outfit that you are a cowboy,"
This young man did say as I slowly passed by.
"Come sit down beside me and hear my sad story,
I'm shot in the breast and I know I must die."
"It was once in the saddle I used to go dashing,
Once in the saddle I used to go gay,
But first to the ale house and then to the whorehouse,
Was shot in the breast and I'm dying today."
"Get six jolly cowboys to carry my coffin
Get six pretty maidens to bear up my pall,
Lay bunches of roses all over my coffin
To deaden the sounds of the clods as they fall.”
"O, beat the drums slowly and sound the fife lowly,
Play the Dead March as you carry me along,
Take me to the green valley and lay the sod o'er me,
For I'm a young cowboy and I know I've done wrong."
"O, fetch me a cup, a cup of cool water
To cool my parched lips," the young cowboy said.
But when I returned the spirit had left him,
And gone to his Maker, the cowboy was dead.
We beat the drum slowly and played the fife lowly,
And bitterly wept as we carried him along
For we all loved our cowboy, so brave, young and handsome,
We all loved our cowboy although he’d done wrong
Picked Up by Chuck Connors
During the summer, we would sometimes drive up to New Hampshire to go to a county fair. They were intended as family fun days. There were carnival rides and arcade games, fairy floss and popcorn, farm animals and farm machinery, and an outdoor stage for music and entertainment. Kids could get a ride on a donkey and hand feed the horses.
As a little girl, I was a fan of the TV show The Rifleman, which went to air when I was about 7 years old.
As you can see from the photo, I was a classic blond-haired child, with freckles and my hair in two pigtails. And my eyes are blue.
At one of the fairs, when I was about 9 or 10, the featured celebrity was Chuck Connors, star of The Rifleman. When I realised who it was on the little outdoor stage, he noticed me as I made my way to the front of the crowd. He beckoned to me, and I approached the stage. He leaned down, and scooped my up onto the stage, and propped me on his hip.
He seemed very tall!
I can’t remember anything he said, and I’ve never been one to be start-struck or a celebrity follower, but I was over the moon – The Rifleman had chosen ME to be on stage with him!
When he was finished his little chat with the audience, he gave me a peck on the cheek and landed me gently back down in front of the stage.
