It's wonderful dogs they're breeding now: Small as a flea or large as a cow; But my old lad Tim he'll never be bet By any dog that he ever met, Come on 'says he'for I'm not kilt yet! No matter the size of the dog he'll meet, Tim trails his coat the length o'the street. D'ye mind his scar an'his ragged ear, The like of a Dublin Fusilier? He's a massacree dog that knows no fear. But he'd stick to me till his lastest breath; An'he'd go with me to the gates of death. He'd wait a thousand years,maybe, Scratching the door an'whining for me If myself were inside in Purgatory. So I laugh when I hear them make it plain That dogs and men never meet again. For all their talk who'd listen to them With the soul in the shining eyes of him? Would God be wasting a dog like Tim?
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Text Authorship:
- by Winifred Mary Letts (1882 - 1972) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Charles Wood (1866 - 1926), "Tim, an Irish Terrier", published 1913 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this page: Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2025-12-10
Line count: 20
Word count: 154