The Cure Of Calumette

Dere's no voyageur on de reever never  run hees canoe d'ecorceT'roo de roar an' de rush of de rapide, w'ere it  jump lak a beeg w'ite horse,

Dere's no hunter man on de prairie, never  wear w'at you call

Can beat leetle Fader O'Hara, de Curé of  Calumette.

Hees fader is full-blooded Irish, an' hees moder  is pure Canayenne,

Not offen dat stock go tegedder, but she's  fine combination ma frien'For de Irish he's full of de devil, an' de French  dey got savoir faire,

Dat's mak'it de very good balance an' tak'  you mos' ev'ry  w' ere.

But dere' wan t'ing de Curé wont stan' it;  mak' fun of de

An' of course de French we say not'ing,  'cos de parish she's all Canayen,

Den you see on account of de moder, he can't  spik hese'f very moche,

So de ole joke she's  all out of fashion, an' wan  of dem t'ing we don't  touch.

Wall! wan of dat kin' is de Curé, but w'en he  be comin' our

De peop' on de parish all w'isper,  "How  young he was look on hees face;

Too bad if de wedder she keel heem de firse  tam he got leetle wet,

An' de Bishop might sen' beeger Curé, for it's  purty tough place,

Calumette!"Ha! ha! how I wish I was dere, me, w'en he   go on de mission

On de shaintee camp way up de reever, drivin'  hees own cariole,

An' he meet blagger' feller been drinkin', jus'  enough mak' heem ack lak fou,

Joe Vadeboncoeur, dey was call heem, an' he's  purty beeg feller too!

Mebbe Joe he don't know  it's de Curé, so he's  hollerin', "Get out de way,

If you  don't geev me whole of de roadside,  sapree! you go off on de sleigh."But de Curé he never say not'ing, jus' poule  on de line leetle bit,

An' w'en Joe try for kip heem hees promise,  hees nose it get badly hit.

Maudit! he was strong leetle Curé, an' he go  for Jo-zeph en

An' w'en he is mak' it de finish, poor Joe  is n't  feel it firse class,

So nex' tam de Curé he's goin' for visit de  shaintee

Of course he was mak' beeges' mission never  see on dat place before.

An' he know more,

I'm sure dan de lawyer,  an' dere's  many poor

Is glad for see Fader O'Hara, an' ax w'at he  t'ink of de lawW'en dey get leetle troub' wit' each oder, an'   don't know de bes' t'ing to do,

Dat's  makin' dem save plaintee monee, an'   kip de good neighbor too.

But w'en we fin' out how he paddle till canoe  she was nearly

An' travel racquette on de winter, w'en snow-  dreef is pillin' up

For visit some poor man or woman dat's waitin'  de message of peace,

An' get dem  prepare for de journey, we're  proud on de leetle pries'!

O! many dark night w'en de chil'ren is put  away safe on de

An' mese'f an' ma femme mebbe sittin' an'   watchin' de small curly

We hear somet'ing else dan de roar of de ton-  der, de win' an' de rain;

So we're bote passin' out on de doorway, an'   lissen an' lissen again.

An' it's lonesome for see de beeg cloud sweep-  in' across de

An' lonesome for hear de win' cryin' lak some-  body's goin'to die,

But de soun' away down de valley, creepin'  around de

All de tam gettin' closer. closer, dat's de soun'  mak' de heart stan'still!

It's de bell of de leetle Curé, de music of deat'  we hear,

Along on de black road ringin', an' soon it was  comin'

Wan minute de face of de Curé we see by de  lantern light,

An' he's gone from us, jus' lak a shadder, into  de stormy night.

An' de buggy rush down de hill an' over  de bridge below,

W'ere creek run so high on de spring-tam,  w'en mountain t'row off de snow,

An' so long as we hear heem goin', we kneel  on de floor an'

Dat God will look affer de Curé, an' de poor  soul dat 's passin' away.

I dunno if he need our prayer, but we geev' it  heem jus' de sam',

For w'en a man's  doin' hees duty lak de Curé  do all de

Never min' all de t'ing may happen, no matter  he's  riche or

Le bon Dieu was up on de heaven, will look  out for dat man,

I'm sure.

I'm only poor habitant farmer, an' mebbe  know not'ing at all,

But dere's  wan t'ing I'm always wishin', an'   dat's  w'en  I get de

For travel de far-away journey, ev'ry wan on  de worl' mus'

He 'll be wit' me de leetle Curé 'fore I'm  leffin' dis place below.

For I know I'll be feel more easy, if he's  sittin' dere by de

An' he'll geev' me de good-bye message, an'   place hees han' on ma head,

Den I'll hol' if he 'll only let me,  dat han' till  de las' las' breat'An' bless leetle Fader O'Hara, de Curé of   Calumette.[The Curé of a French Canadian parish, when summoned to the beside of a dying member of his flock, always carries in his buggy or sleigh a bell.

This bell serves two purposes:first, it has the effect of clearing a way for the passgage of thegood priest's vehicle, and, secondly, it calls to prayer those of the faithful who are within hearing of its solemn tones.]