Abigail

One, two, three, four

I left my homeland

With a song on my lips

'Cause Roosevelt told me

That I could get a job with horses

Well, I'd always been one of the herd

My own mare I did tame

But I never learned to read and write

And I could barely even spell my own name

But I said, "Come Abby dear with your books on each side

Balance you out and a-steady your ride."

And I set out down the Tomahawk trail

To deliver the books on Abigail

Well, we splashed through the creeks so wide

And the valleys so deep

And every night I would flip through the pages

On her belly I would sleep

Then I held her up as the heat set in

When she found dirt in the field

And I wrapped it with herbs like the old-timer said

She began to heal

And I said, "Come Abby dear with your books on each side

Balance you out and a-steady your ride."

And I set out down the Tomahawk trail

To deliver the books on Abigail

Well, we took those books in the towns

And the hollers every day

Just to give those folks a place to go

And a chance to get away

And though I was a book lady

I never did learn to read

But I was smarter than the mountains are rough

'Cause I had Abby next to me

And I said, "Come Abby dear with your books on each side

Balance you out and a-steady your ride."

Oh, I set out down the Tomahawk trail

To deliver the books on Abigail

Yeah, I set out down the Tomahawk trail

To deliver the books on Abigail