They say my Grandpa died here in 1931
I guess it's best we're laid to rest
in the place where we come from
It's sure nobody lives here now
the road is overgrown
But I would walk as far again
to touch one sacred stone
When Grandpa was a boy of ten, he was the oldest son
He got given to his uncle
for his aunt and uncle had none
No one to help with the plowing
no one to tend to the farm
And no one saw my Grandpa cry
on the day his uncle did come
Grandpa worked their farm until his aunt and uncle were gone
When word came down his father died
Grandpa took a walk to town
Now he walked that winding mountain trail
through the mud and the rain alone
He walked near twenty miles one day
to find one sacred stone
Grandpa stayed in town all week to watch them cut the stone
Tho' on its face was carved the name
of a man he'd hardly known
Then he loaded the stone to a wagon's bed
with the help of an extra arm
And with the last of his money he bought a horse
to pull it all back to the farm
Grandpa turned the horse for home, but the road turned narrow and steep
The sacred stone were a heavy load
made the wagon's wheels run deep
'Til they stuck so fast in the mud and the rain
that the horse did stagger and sway
Halfway up that mountain road
was as far as they could get
Around the stone he tied a rope to pull it from the bed
Then Grandpa gently laid the rope
around the horse's head
And with a mighty groan that stone
commenced into the quag
And up the road one sacred load
that horse and he did drag
If God can see the sparrow fall
While watching every bird
He can hear a poor man's
prayer
Above the other words
They pulled the stone until they reached the place it stands today
They did not stop until it stood
upon his father's grave
Well the sacred stone were a heavy load
that my Grandpa chose to bear
But ne'er so heavy as the one
his daddy had to wear
They say my Grandpa died here in 1931
I guess it's best were left to rest
in the place where we come from
It's sure nobody lives here now
the road is overgrown
But I would walk as far again
to touch one sacred stone
© 1995 Betty Elders/ Whistling Pig Music (ASCAP)