Raymond Make 'em Stop
Down in Missouri where the Ozarks rise
And afar Pilot Knob seems to pierce the skies
Where the brush is thick and the hills are steep
Runs a stream of water called "Marble Creek."
About four fords south of Parkers old store
Is the Blue Schoolhouse with a single door
And there on a late autumn's day was heard
Not the bark of dogs or the twitter of a bird
But a schoolgirl's voice the greenwood stirred
With "Raymond make 'em stop! Raymond make 'em stop!"
It was noon and the school was alive with boys
And girls a real school when it comes to the noise,
The teacher was standing in the single door
Watching the games in the yard before
A real kind of teacher for a country school
In her hair a pencil, in her hand a rule
She smiled as those words her quick ear heard
The words at which the oak leaves stirred.
Not the bark of dogs or the twitter of a bird
But "Raymond make 'em stop! Raymond make 'em stop"!
Up in the oak tree nearly to the top
He hears that cry of "Raymond make 'em stop."
It touches his heart, not a moment does he lose
Thinks nothing of a bump, a scratch, or a bruise,
But down he comes from his perch on high
(In the small boy's sight he was near the sky)
"What's the matter? - Clarence Young listen here, I'm thru
A-wasting my breath just a-talking to you
I'll give you a lickin' if teacher licks me too
Next time my girl calls 'Raymond make 'em stop.'"
The school bell rings, they must get in line
"Be quiet," says the teacher the twentieth time
"March quietly in and take your seats."
They drown her words with a clatter of feet.
The threatened urchin wears a grimy grin -
"Just wait," - to his seatmate, - "I'll get even with him."
The school gets quiet the first time that day
Then a voice thru the stillness makes its way
A school boy's voice that dares to say
"Raymond make 'em stop. Raymond make 'em stop."
With his eyes on his books and a sober face
As giggles pop up from every place
The teacher sits quiet an awfully long while
"She don't know it's me," he thinks, then he smiles –
A betraying smile she speaks at last
"Stay after school" her command is passed
But in that schoolroom two there were
Who didn't smile, she looked demur
His eyes flashed the sweet heart of her
Who has never since said, "Raymond make 'em stop."
Written
by Ida May Schaffer
Spring of 1922