So Dear to My Heart

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SO DEAR TO MY HEAR The greatest wealth

a man may acquire...

is the wisdom

he gains from living.

And sometimes out of

the small beginnings...

come the forces

that shape a whole life.

So dear to my heart

That Septembery day

When that old shady lane

We strolled

Was just turning

scarlet and gold

So dear to my heart

So dear to my heart

That Decembery day

When that first touch

of frost

And snow

Had painted each tree

In the road

So dear to my heart

So dear to my heart

I still can picture

the flowers in a shower

And that picnic in July

And I still treasure

Each and every hour

Of those years

That had to fly

They're locked in my heart

In a corner apart

While I tenderly hold

The key

As long as I live

They will be

So dear

To my heart

I can still see

the old Kincaid homestead...

just the way it was then--

the split-rail fence,

the red barn...

and the chinked log cabin

with its little loft bedroom...

where I used to do

my dreaming.

And I can still see Granny

out there in the field...

and General Jackson

pulling her plough.

And just a mile or so away,

Fulton Corners...

the crossroads

of my small world.

At Grundy's General Store,

you could get most anything...

from jackknives

to fishhooks or candy.

That is,

if you had the money.

And if you didn't...

why, free for nothin', you might get

to see Old 99 go highballin' through.

She's blowin' for a stop.

Uncle Hiram, come on!

Hey, Pa, she's a-stoppin',

she's a-stoppin'!

Well, I'll be.

Stoppin' right here.

Now, folks, you'll have to stand back.

Stand well back, please.

Give us plenty of room.

All right, Fred,

bring him out.

- Hang on to that dog, boy.

Stand back, folks.

- Quiet, Trumpeter. Quiet, boy.

I can hardly believe my eyes.

Dan Patch himself.

The greatest racehorse

in the world.

Of course, I'd collected

a lot of pictures of him...

from calendars and magazines,

but I never dreamed

I'd get to look right at him!

Yet here he was,

right in Fulton Corners.

And they'd stopped the Limited

just so he could get some exercise.

- Loose nail on his shoe, Abe.

- He must have pawed it loose,

Mr Burns.

- He gets restless travellin' so far.

- He'll have that shoe off

time we get to Louisville.

- There a blacksmith in this town?

- I'm a smith, sir.

- Could I get you to clinch

a new nail in his shoe?

- Sure.

- Bring your tools, Abe.

- Yes, sir.

Steady, boy.

- He wants your apple, kid.

- All right. He can have it.

Ain't wormy, is it?

All right.

You can give it to him.

I can still feel the touch

of his soft, black nose...

and his warm breath

on my hand.

And I couldn't help thinkin'

how wonderful it'd be

to own a horse like him.

What do I owe you?

- I'll just keep this nail.

- Thanks very much.

All right, boys, let's get rolling.

Stand back, folks, please.

Board!

Oh, get out the way

for old Dan Patch

De diddle di diddle do

Dan Patch

Get out the way

for old Dan Patch

Git, git

git out of the way

Bet you wouldn't

take $ 1 00 for it.

- Heck, no!

- City folks been payin'

as much as 50 cents...

for just a single hair

out of his tail.

- My goodness!

- Know what?

- What?

- I'm gonna get me a colt...

and raise him up to be

a world's champion like Dan Patch.

- Betcha Granny wouldn't let ya.

- Don't know why not.

I'd make a lot of money,

'cause he'd win all the races, I bet.

I wouldn't be too sure about that.

I'm afraid your horse'd

have quite a handicap.

- Why?

- Well, knowin' your granny...

I'm afraid he'd have to do

all of his racin' with a plough

hitched onto his tail.

I knew what Uncle Hiram meant,

all right.

For Granny's job was more

than just raising me.

She had to run a farm single-handed...

and what with ploughing

and planting...

raising sheep,

spinning wool...

she had little time or patience

for my daydreams.

So, as I added today's big idea

to the collection in my scrapbook...

I knew my chances

were pretty slim.

Granny'd probably say no.

- But as the wise old owl put it:

- Yes, we'll gather...

''Nothing ventured, nothing gained.''

- at the river

The beautiful, beautiful river

Gather with the saints

at the river

- That flows by--

- Granny!

Land sakes,Jeremiah Kincaid.

You still awake?

Why don't we trade

General Jackson for a mare?

What's the matter with old General

Jackson? We don't need no mare.

If we had a mare,

we could get a colt.

We don't need no colt.

Don't see why

we couldn't trade him off.

What good's

an old mule anyhow?

A mule is steady and reliable...

and he earns his livin'

by doin' honest work...

and that's the last time

I wanna hear you criticizing

poor old General Jackson.

- Do you hear me?

- Yes, ma'am.

- You get on back to bed.

- Can't sleep.

Well, you try countin' sheep instead

of colts, and you'll go to sleep.

Yes'm. Reckon the lambs

were born yet?

The lambs'll be born

in the Lord's good time.

I reckon I had better go and see.

Lemme go with you, Granny.

Please?

Well, I reckon.

As long as you're so wide awake

and full of ginger.

- Put on your boots.

- Yes, ma'am!

- Put on your jacket!

- Yes'm!

- Granny, they've come already!

- Yes, sir.

Three brand new ones!

All pert and sassy too.

Fetch me that pitchfork.

Granny, look!

Jezebel's got twins!

Gee! Ain't he a beauty?

Black as a lump of coal.

Look, Granny.

He ain't a bit afraid.

Nothing's born afraid.

Nice boy.

You hungry, little fella?

Hold still,Jezebel.

This little fella's hungry too.

Help me hold her, Granny.

What's the matter with you,

you fool sheep?

Hold still,

you ornery critter, you.

What's the matter with her?

Is she crazy?

Oh, sometimes

they're like that... with twins.

Especially when one of them's black.

You mean she won't take him?

- You mean she's gonna let him die?

- Well.

Maybe she'll take him

after we get outta here

and she can't see that he's black.

Here. Better wrap the little critter up

against the cold.

But, Granny, suppose she don't.

Suppose she don't take him.

Well, that's in the hands

of the Lord.

They're his critters, and their ways

are the ways he give 'em...

and there's nothin'

we can do about it.

The ways of nature

seem cruel sometimes and hard...

but there's a plan behind it all.

Oh, he knoweth

every sparrow that falleth.

Jeremiah, fetch me

another one of them flower sacks

for this little critter.

Jeremiah! I said

to fetch me one of them--

Tarnation.

Jeremiah Kincaid,

I'm puttin' my foot down.

I mean it.

If you think I'm gonna have

my kitchen smellin' like a stable,

you got another think comin'.

It ain't civilized,

it ain't sanitary and it--

Well. One of

my best dish towels.

It's got to be boiled anyway.

If you want to get it warm,

you'd better take it in by the fire.

- You mean I can--

- I mean that you can get it warm...

before you take it

back out where it belongs.

If we bottle-raise that lamb,

it'll get to be a pet.

Come time to market it,

you'll wanna keep it.

Besides, it's black.

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