The Hoosier

Hew Ainslie 1792 ( Dailly, Ayrshire) – 1878 (Louisville, Kentucky)



We lads that live up in the nobs,
Tho' our manners might yet bear a rubbing,
We're handy at neat little jobs
Such as chopping and hewing and grubbing.
Tho' we roost in a cabin of logs,
And clapboards lie 'twixt us and heaven,
Our mast makes us fine oily hogs,
And from hoop-poles we pick a good living.
Right quiet -- to a decent degree --
it's seldom we guzzle it deep, Sir,
Tho' we don't mind a bit of a spree,
Provided the liquor is cheap, Sir.
Our neighbours, that live 'cross the drink.
May laugh at our fondness for cider,
But so long as we pocket their clink
They may laugh till their mouths they grow wider.
Our gals make our trousers, you see,
From that beautiful stuff called tow linen,
and in coats of the linsey -- dang me,
If we don't look both handsome and winning.
Our wives are our weavers, to boot;
Ourselves are first rate on a shoe, Sir;
We can doctor a tub with a hoop --
And hark ! we're our own niggers too, Sir,
So here's to our Hoosier land,
The sons of its soil and its waters !
May the "nullies" ne'er get it in hand,
Nor demagogues tear it in tatters.
But still may it flourish and push,
Thro' vetos and all such tough cases,
Till railroads are common as brush,
And the nobs are as sleek as your faces.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:14 min read
66

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABACABDEDEFEFEACDBGEHEIAIAJAKA
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,207
Words 242
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 32

Hew Ainslie

Hew Ainslie was a Scottish poet.  more…

All Hew Ainslie poems | Hew Ainslie Books

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