The Boney Bailiff

[Verse 1]
Well loved for the home that was in it
And the crooked fuchsia'd walls
But the sow killed for a belly full
How could this a home we call?
And heavy hearts bundled in wool
And was it worth fightin' for?
When it come from the sheep that graze the land
That belong to some distant lord

[Chorus]
Until the boney bailiff
The shrew-eyed boney bailiff
The silk-pursed boney bailiff
Came a-knockin' at the door

[Verse 2]
At the time the geese were flyin'
Honk over the hoary frost
'Til road and church and cable knit
All were double-crossed
And neighbor gathered with neighbor
'Round rubble a house no more
With the money spent they raised the rent
Said, "You'll always have the poor"

[Chorus]
Until the boney bailiff
The hackneyed boney bailiff
The horsy boney bailiff
Came a-knockin' at the door

[Verse 3]
Well met at the well of loneliness
Where the dark trees used to grow
Before our time but within the time
Of the stories that we all know
Well fortified with whiskey
And a barrel for one last wake
Tonight we'll drink to dear darlin' death
Which never made a mistake

[Chorus]
And wait for the boney bailiff
The knock-kneed boney bailiff
The dumbfounded boney bailiff
To come knockin' at the door

[Verse 4]
Did not wait for the benediction
Or wait for the battering ram
We took what iron was in it
To reflect the iron in man
Sharpened for one last harvest
Then it's off to a distant shore
Forgive me Father for I have sinned
Now I'll go and sin no more

[Chorus]
But curse the boney bailiff
The cantankerous boney bailiff
The cadaverous boney bailiff
Who came knockin' at the door
But curse the boney bailiff
The pleadin' boney bailiff
The beggin' boney bailiff
Who came knockin' at the door
Came knockin' at the door