dad was dumb.

I'd tell you how he fought Ben Caunt, and
how the deaf 'un fell,
But the game is done, and the men are
gone and maybe it's as well.

[62] Bendy he turned Methodist—he said he
felt a call,
He stumped the country preachin' and you
bet he filled the hall,

If you seed him in the pulpit, a-bleatin'
like a lamb,
You'd never know bold Bendigo, the
pride of Nottingham.

His hat was like a funeral, he'd got a
waiter's coat,
With a hallelujah collar and a choker round
his throat,

His pals would laugh and say in chaff that
Bendigo was right,
In takin' on the devil, since he'd no one
else to fight.

[63] But he was very earnest, improvin' day by
day,
A-workin' and a-preachin' just as his duty
lay,

But the devil he was waitin', and in the
final bout,
He hit him hard below his guard and
knocked poor Bendy out.

Now I'll tell you how it happened. He
was preachin' down at Brum,
He was billed just like a circus, you should
see the people come,

The chapel it was crowded, and in the fore-
most row,
There was half a dozen bruisers who'd a
grudge at Bendigo.

[64] There was Tommy Piatt of Bradford,
Solly Jones of Perry Bar,
Long Connor from the Bull Ring, the
same wot drew with Carr,

Jack Ball the fightin gunsmith, Joe Mur-
phy from the Mews,
And Iky Moss, the bettin' boss, the
Champion of the Jews.

A very pretty handful a-sittin' in a
string,
Full of beer and impudence, ripe for any-
thing,

Sittin' in a string there, right under
Bendy's nose,
If his message was for sinners, he could
make a start on those.

[65] Soon he heard them chaflin'; "Hi, Bendy!
Here's a go!"
"How much are you coppin' by this Jump
to Glory show?"

"Stow it, Bendy! Left the ring! Mighty
spry of you!
Didn't everybody know the ring was
leavin' you."

Bendy fairly sweated as he stood above
and prayed,
"Look down, O Lord, and grip me with
a strangle hold!" he said.

"Fix me with a strangle hold! Put a stop
o