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The Cattle Thief

Wayfarer

High in the north
Under the mountains' gaze
Two bodies still hand
It was there by the blood fevered hands of men
She they called the cattle thief was slain
50 men in black coats
Ride in from the south
It is not justice that fills their hearts
Or foams at their mouths
The queen of the mavericks
Daughter of the plains
Her corpse hangs for rumor
Her corpse hangs for company aims
This land bestowed upon the barons
Every grass every straw
We will draw lines across the open range
By order of law
A reckoning comes
From those branded thieves
Driven to desperation
And disparate means
Sound out the bells of war
Within the county line
Here in the wake of the thaw
In a young nation blind
It's war they've waged
It's blood they crave
They come bringing fire
They come bringing siege
A note on the corpse of the peoples' men
Thieves beware, it would read
Beware!
The gods of men are he who holds
The gunpowder and the gold
Beware!
The company kills for company men
If you should find your name upon their list
But beware thee
Oh men of the company
Beware the ghost of cattle kate
Beware what you create
They're riding out
Through the dusk, to the north
They bring menacing
Blind in rage
And endless violence
The lost men ride
Into the fray
Fifty men rode in
Under promise of pay
Seventy names on a list
Fifty dollars each name
Oh thee men of the association
Who murdered in profits name
Absolved by your own
You carry on in prosperity
Devoid of shame
But there remains
A shadow on the range
The ghost of the cattle thief
Whispers her claim
I heard you seen her now
A dream or not she'll wander
The county round
Until the end
You sure that what you fear is gone?
You blindly hope
I heard you crawl from her now
Endlessly
You are never alone