Iry And Billy Jo

written by


« Reload image

Iry an' Billy an' Jo!--
  Iry an' Billy's _the boys_,
  An' _Jo's_ their _dog_, you know,--
  Their pictures took all in a row.
  Bet they kin kick up a noise--
  Iry and Billy, the boys,
  And that-air little dog Jo!

  _Iry's_ the one 'at stands
  Up there a-lookin' so mild
  An' meek--with his hat in his hands,
  Like such a 'bediant child--
  (_Sakes-alive_!)--An' _Billy_ he sets
  In the cheer an' holds onto Jo an' _sweats_
  Hisse'f, a-lookin' so good!  Ho-ho!
  Iry an' Billy an' Jo!

  Yit the way them boys, you know,
  Usen to jes turn in
  An' fight over that dog Jo
  Wuz a burnin'-shame-an'-a-sin !--
  Iry _he'd_ argy 'at, by gee-whizz!
  That-air little Jo-dog wuz _his_!--
  An' Billy _he'd_ claim it wuzn't so--
  'Cause the dog wuz _his'n_!--An' at it they'd go,
  Nip-an'-tugg, tooth-an'-toenail, you know--
  Iry an' Billy an' Jo!

  But their Pa--(He wuz the marshal then)
  He 'tended-like 'at he _jerked 'em up_;
  An' got a jury o' Brickyard men
  An' helt a _trial_ about the pup:
  An' _he_ says _he_ jes like to a-died
  When the rest o' us town-boys _testified_--
  Regardin', you know,
  Iry an' Billy an' Jo.--

  'Cause we all knowed, when _the Gypsies_ they
  Camped down here by the crick last Fall,
  They brung Jo with 'em, an' give him away
  To Iry an' Billy fer nothin' at all!--
  So the jury fetched in the _verdick_ so
  Jo he ain't _neether_ o' theirn fer _shore_--
  He's _both_ their dog, an' jes no more!
  An' so
  They've quit quarrelin' long ago,
  Iry an' Billy an' Jo.

© James Whitcomb Riley