I will plant cypress trees, I will.
And I will build a fence around,
And I will fertilize the ground
With tears enough to turn a mill."
She went and got a hired man.
She brought him forty miles from town,
And in the tall grass knelt down
And bade him build as she should plan.
But cruel cowboys with their bands
They saw and hurriedly they ran
And told a bearded cattle man
Somebody builded on his lands.
He took his rifle from the rack,
He girt himself in battle pelt.
He stuck two pistols in his belt,
And mounting on his horse's back,
He plunged ahead. But when they shewed
A woman fair, about his eyes
He pulled his hat, and he likewise
Pulled at his beard, and chewed and chewed.
At last he gat him down and spake:
"O lady, dear, what do you here?"
"I build a tomb unto my dear,
I plant sweet flowers for his sake."
The bearded man threw his two hands
Above his head, then brought them down
And cried, "O, I am William Brown,
And this the corner of my lands."
The preacher rode a spotted mare,
He galloped forty miles or more;
He said he never had before
Seen bride and bridegroom half so fair.
And all the Injuns they came down
And feasted as the night advanced,
And all the cowboys drank and danced,
And cried: "Big Injun! William Brown."
