The Badger Dig

They came with shovel, pick and bar The three men from the south And along with them in Shannon's motor car They brought three terriers for to drag the badger out. Tom Hardy brought his wheaten dog named Crown Of strength and fighting skill With tousled coat of lightish brown And powerful jaws to make the kill. Ned Canty brought his fiery dog Dave Of short legged Sealyham breed A white and brown and truly brave And a great earth dog indeed. Bill Shannon brought his bull terrier Jack A powerfully built dog Last month he broke a fox's back In a field near Blackstone Bog. The grey badger lay sleeping In his dark underground set Unaware that men had come with dogs For to savage him to death. The voices of men and the barking dogs Roused the badger from his sleep And he snorted like a startled hog In his set sandy and steep. Said Tom this is a sandy set And the brock's a long way in A steeper set we've not yet met And I doubt that we'll get him. Ned Clancy in reflective mood Said we may never get him out He must be in at least one half a rood But it's worth a try no doubt. Said Bill there's no need to lose heart Why we've yet to begin We've come to dig so lets make a start And we'll see what happens then. They started in to work all three Ned dug with pick in hand Whilst Tom made holes with his hunting bar And Bill shovelled out loose sand. Whilst the men were working over head The badger used his paws And burrowed deeper into his sandy bed With his long and powerful claws. After two hours work the men took a break And had a bite to eat But the badger went on tunnelling In his under ground retreat. Whilst the men enjoyed their sandwiches And drank from their flasks of tea The badger went on burrowing He worked on tirelessly. After tea break Bill said unleash the sealyham Ned let his dog go free And he crawled into the badger set Displaying true bravery. Said Tom this badger's way in deep And he's far too deep for hope And in such a steep and sandy set The terrier with him will not cope. Said Ned my dog has not yet failed to draw A fox or badger from the ground He has got great strength and powerful jaws And I will bet with you ten pound. Said Tom I will accept that bet If so you wish to choose Today you won't see badger death And this is one bet that you're going to lose. Said Ned the bet is on provided That the dog and badger clash And if he fails to reach the badger Then we both can keep our cash. Said Tom well that's okay with me I'd have it no other way For he who wagers money Is entitled to fair play. The badger prepared himself for fight As the terrier to him drew near He had to fight and claw and bite This was no time for fear. The badger had fought for life before With poacher's Corbet's bull terrier bitch But he left the terrier feeling sore When she jumped him in a ditch. The terrier grabbed hold of the badger by the scruff And tried to drag him out But with his paws the badger cuffed The terrier across the mouth. Outside the wheaten and bull terrier were yapping In anticipation of blood spill With excitement they were panting As they waited for the kill. The terrier held on to his firm grip And tried to drag the badger fro But the badger used his claws and flesh did rip And canine blood did flow. The sealyham uttered forth a painful yelp And he backed out of the set And the badger had won his fight for life And Ned had lost his bet. Dave the type of dog that all badger baiting men admire Had met up with defeat He lay there looking weak and tired Badly bruised and truly beat. Said Bill we'd best be out of here As the moon will soon be up And we'll stop on the way home in Dromleer For a thirst quenching sup. In Dromleer Village they stopped at a bar And there had a couple of drinks And then Bill he drove the motor car Towards their homes in Rossalink. Stars twinkled in the November sky And the moon shone round and pale As the badger crept out of his set In lonely Dromleer vale. He'd come unscathed from the underground strife And he'd proved himself quite brave And he'd won the battle for his life And humbled the great dog Dave.