You could set a watch by my old grandaddy roy He used to take me hunting when i was just a boy I ran em through the woods while he was logging pine Covered up in creosote and coughing all the time My cousin was the only barber in that quiet town He heard all the gossip then spread it around He charged a keg of corn for a shave and cut Never talked about us cause we weren't up to much Like they're nothing, country stories Don't write em down, don't make a sound Start with a whisper, end with a frown All handed down (by word of mouth) Just simple words An alligator snapping turtle weighed 200 pounds At the bottom of the Tickfaw river where i almost drowned He sat there on the mud like a trap set to be sprung They put him by the roadside store to frighten everyone Old man Murdoch was shaving up the stairs He cut himself and hit the floor, spilling everywhere Crawled out to the road and died there in a green We pass and call into his woods every halloween If I had conviction or the time to write a book I'd take as many wive's tales - line em up and look They handed stories down like furniture or gold Most of they have disappeared, never again to be told