A poor old man came riding by And we say so, and we know so O, a poor old man came riding by O, poor old man Says I, old man, your horse will die And we say so, and we know so And if he dies, we'll tan his hide O, poor old man And if he don't, I'll ride him again And we say so, and we know so And I'll ride him 'til the Lord knows when O, poor old man He's dead as a nail in the lamp room door And we say so, and we know so And he won't come, worrying us no more O, poor old man We'll use the hair of his tail to sew our sails And we say so, and we know so And the iron of his shoes To make deck nails O, poor old man Drop him down with a long long rope And we say so, and we hope so Where the sharks have his body And the devil takes his soul! O, poor old man