Tiger Whitehead

Wild blackberries bloomin' in the thickets on the mountain Sheep shire and water cress are growin' round the fountain Where a big black bear is drinkin' lappin' water like a dog Tiger Whitehead's in the bed sleepin' like a log. But tomorrow he'll see bear tracks seven inches wide And by sundown he'll be bringin' in the hide. Pretty Sally Garland comin' down the mountain side Where Tiger Whitehead's tryin' to nap a mill at the mill She sits down on a bearskin and she says "You'll be my man I'll have me the best bear hunter in these hills." A wild child was Tiger Whitehead and they say he killed Ninety-nine bears before he went to rest went to rest Once he left two bear cubs orphaned but he brought 'em right on home And Sally nursed the two bear cubs upon her breast.   Wild blackberries bloomin' in the thickets on the mountain Sheep shire and water cress are growin' round the fountain Where a big black bear is drinkin' lappin' water like a dog Tiger Whitehead's in the bed sleepin' like a log. But tomorrow he'll see bear tracks seven inches wide And by sundown he'll be bringin' in the hide. Tiger now is eighty-five and he lay upon his bed And the bears he killed now numbered ninety-nine ninety-nine. Some fellers trapped the bear but Tiger said "Just let him go If he ain't running wild he won't be mine." But at the night when the wind howls Cross the hills of eastern Tennessee And when the lightnin' flashes There's the strange thing that the people say they see : An old grey headed ghost runnin' through mountains there It's Tiger Whitehead after his one hundredth bear.   Wild blackberries bloomin' in the thickets on the mountain Sheep shire and water cress are growin' round the fountain Where a big black bear is drinkin' lappin' water like a dog Tiger Whitehead's in the bed sleepin' like a log. But tomorrow he'll see bear tracks seven inches wide And by sundown he'll be bringin' in the hide.