There once was a barber who lived in the city, He was a polished and elegant coon,

voiceCollected by Mary Celestia Parler; Transcribed by Neil Byer Fred Smith Bentonville, Ark. December 22, 1954 Reel 206, Item 4 The Sweet-Scented Barber There once was a barber who lived in the city, He was a polished and elegant coon, His hair it was curly, his heels double-jointed, He was chief engineer at the barber saloon. To watch him each morning at handling the razor, The people would gather in crowds round the door, And oh how they'd shout when he'd shout (?) on the lather, Such a sweet-scented barber they'd ne'er seen before. There's a young servant girl named Matildy O'Brien, Provost marshall she was in a kitchen close by; While going to market, the shops she was passing, In at the barber she cast a sheep's eye. The barber he'd watch till he saw her returning And then to the door he quickly would come, A box of pomade he would slip in her basket, And then drink her health in a pint of bay rum. A certain young butcher boy by the name of Hans Schneider, He heard the barber and jealous he grew, So he loaded a sausage with kidneys and doughnuts And straight for the sweet-scented barber he flew. The battle began and the slaughter was awful, Intent upon murder at each other they'd rush, But the barber he soon got the best of the butcher, And he blew out his brains with a lathering brush. When Matildy O'Brien she heard of the slaughter, She made up her mind to commit suicide, So she drank half a gallon of brandy and water, And then she went down in the cellar and died. The sweet-scented barber he burned up his business, His policy got, and his money let fly, Then he wasted and wasted away to a shadow, And poisoned himself on a box of hair-dye.Funding for digitization provided by the Arkansas Humanities Council and the Happy Hollow Foundation