ARTIST: Christopher Shaw
TITLE: Mad Fiddler of the North Country
Lyrics and Chords
Oh, come with me to the north country where the devil and the cold winds wail
Where the drink is strong and the nights are long and I'll tell an Adirondack tale
/ Am - - G / C G AmG Am /
It was on a cold and moonlit night Dan Barrow tracked that bear
And his good hound howled, and the bear he growled and their fighting filled the air
And the bear stood on his hind legs and with one almighty blow
He knocked the hound down to the ground and it died there in the snow
Then the bruin turned to Barrow with blood fever in his eyes
And the whole north woods resounded with the fury of his cries
But Barrow held his ground there and he jerked his .44
But the pistol would not fire, it was frozen to the core
As the bear advanced upon him he fell backwards in the snow
But before the beast could reach him, it stopped dead in the moon's bright glow
Somewhere in the pine woods a fiddle tune split the night
And the fiddle's wail made the bear turn tail and flee into the night
Barrow climbed back to his feet and he peered into the night
As a man stepped from the shadows and into the moon's bright light
But as the moon's light fell upon him not a weapon did it show
Just a man there in a mackinaw, with a fiddle and a bow
Barrow called out to the man as to what his name might be
"Nick Goodall," cried the stranger, "the mad fiddler of the north country"
Five winters they had come and gone since first the two men met
And in a public house in Saranac, Nick Goodall's luck was spent
For a half-crazed, drunken logger with a temper and a 12-inch knife
Decided to skin the fiddler for entertainment there that night
The logger said, "Friends, gather round, and watch this fiddler die"
As Barrow shoved his .44 right between his eyes
Sweat came to the logger's forehead and the knife fell from his hand
And as the fiddler walked out of the door, they heard these words from Dan
"Now, there ain't one man among you with the courage or the gall
To go out and walk these wild north woods with just a fiddle and a mackinaw"
{Repeat first verse}
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