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The Hounds of Sheriff John

from The Scatterlings by The Scatterlings

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    "Rustic, Rootsy, and Sunny-Side Dark"
    Americana/Roots music with songs about heartbreak, whiskey, killings, hangings and other happy things.

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about

The story of Asheville’s Sheriff John Lyerly, his famous bloodhounds, and his ghost who still occasionally pays a visit.

lyrics

The Hounds of Sheriff John

Was many a body that lost the chase and swung from the hangin’ tree
Despite the pleas of desperate men it was easy to foresee
When the hounds stopped a-runnin’ the conclusion was foregone
Never was one that could break away from the hounds of Sheriff John

Old Joe took the lead and not a scent that he could not track
And those who tried to get away found no turning back
They began to shake and sweat and their hearts began to pound
When they heard Sheriff John’s pack of howling hounds

When the hounds of Sheriff John were set loose upon the trail
They always found their man and it was justice that prevailed
Listen close about the time of the waning of the day
You may hear the hounds of Sheriff John begin to howl and bay

When a gentle hand from high above took the one that he had wed
The soul of Sheriff John was gone and he may as well be dead
A pearl handled pistol could put an end to all his grief and pain
So on a cold and dark winter’s day he shot a bullet in his brain

When the hounds of Sheriff John were set loose upon the trail
They always found their man and it was justice that prevailed
Listen close about the time of the waning of the day
You may hear the hounds of Sheriff John begin to howl and bay

To always uphold the law was the oath that he had sworn
And though he died in twenty-four his promise will be borne
In a long black overcoat he makes his rounds near the Buncombe jail
While the hounds of Sheriff John cry out their lonesome wail

When the hounds of Sheriff John were set loose upon the trail
They always found their man and it was justice that prevailed
Listen close about the time of the waning of the day
You may hear the hounds of Sheriff John begin to howl and bay
You may hear the hounds of Sheriff John begin to howl and bay

Richard E Russell (Richard Russell Publishing/ASCAP) © All Rights Reserved

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from The Scatterlings, released July 12, 2017

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The Scatterlings Asheville, North Carolina

"Rustic, Rootsy, and Sunny-Side Dark"

Americana/Roots music with mountain influences, folk stylings, astute songwriting, textural instrumentation, songs about heartbreak, whiskey, killings, hangings and other happy things

The Scatterlings are a four-piece acoustic/Americana band based in Asheville, North Carolina. ... more

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