And cattle were his pride;
Oxen and sheep, and horses, too,
And what you please, beside.

His brindle cow, the highest prize
Won at the county fair,
For taper limbs and rounded form,
And short and shining hair.

Old Bonny Gray, a noble steed
Of sure, majestic pace,
Before the deacon purchased him,
Was famous at a race.

This story he would sometimes tell,
And at the end would say,
"Alas! such sports are far from right;
But Bonny won the day!"

Still, more than all, the spotted bull
Had filled the deacon's mind;
His back so straight, his breast so broad,
So perfect of his kind.

And when 'twas said that Moses Grimes,
A justice of the peace,
Had got the likeliest bull in town,
The deacon had no ease.

So off he rode to see the squire,