November 4th, 2000
Wa’al I’ll be Durn
by Francis H. Buzzacott (1913)
“You kan’t ketch nothin’ with them thar things,
With yarn fer bodies, an’ feathers fer wings,
You must think Trout is terrible fools
To be ketched with such outlandish tools.”
“An’ look at that pole - why, that won’t do;
A good, big Trout would bust it in two,
An never think nothin’ ov what he did,
As quick as lightnin’ away he slid.”
“Well, I’ll be durn, you can shoot me dead
Ef here ain’t a windlass filled with thread,
An’ ther littlest sort ov thread at that -
Why, man, that wouldn’t hold a gnat!”
“You’ll find a good place over here,
Under ther rapids deep and clear,
You’d better take worms an’ er hick’ry pole,
Or you won’t ketch nothin’, 'pon my soul!”
Sixteen beauties, speckled bright
The basket bore ere the fall of night,
He counted them o’er on the bank of fern.
And all he said was, “Wa’al - I’ll be durn.” ~ Francis H. Buzzacott
Credit: Excerpt from The Complete Sportsman’s Encylopedia
Published by The Lyons Press.
Originally published September 15, 2002 on Fly Anglers Online by Francis H. Buzzacott.