On the Road with Silver John: "Old Devlins Was A-Waiting"

[For previous ballads about the balladeer, click the "On the Road with Silver John" label under Features in the right sidebar.]


"Old Devlins Was A-Waiting"

Asked to play a part in a strange conjuring experiment,
John treks through the mountains to Flornoy College.
His folk singing and silver-stringed-guitar picking will form
Perfect complement to the professors' esoteric knowledge.

It all sounds innocent and interesting enough,
But soon John is going to need a good deal of poise.
For a student's summoned kinfolk are the Hatfields,
The notorious, perennial enemies of the McCoys.


Manly Wade Wellman's short story "Old Devlins Was A-Waiting" can be found in Owls Hoot in the Daytime & Other Omens.