Lyrics The Ways of Coenraad De Buys - John Edmond

He was the descendant of a French Huguenot
Born in 1761 in the Cape of Good Hope
In Montague grew to be a wily old fox
They say he stood seven feet tall in his socks
He was a vagabond that needed plenty space
And his name was Coenraad de Buys
Then he rustled cattle, people ran for their lives
Took Maria and Elizabeth like tribal wives
He crossed the frontier at the big Fish River
Fought the Boers and the British on the side of the Xhosa
The Boers and British wanted him alive or dead
With dollars and guineas upon his head
In 1818 before the great trek
He went far and wide to save his neck
Down the Marico River his wagons did roll
But hardship and fever they took their toll
They called him a traitor they called him a raider
They hounded him all over the place
Though he was outrageous he was kind and courageous
Those were the ways of Coenraad de Buys.
With Maria and Elizabeth and family
Settled across the border where they thought they could be free
Then Coenraad got distresses when Elizabeth died
She was one of his favourite wives
Some folks say that ironically
She was related to Mzilikazi
But in 1821, Coenraad de Buys
Vanished down the Limpopo without a trace
He was gone but his persecuted clan moved on
To the Soutpansberg, led by his sons
One day those two boys, Gabriel and Machiel
On their travels were besieged by an Impi on a hill
Matabele warriors of Mzilikazi's tribe
"You're gonna die of thirst up there " they cried
Gabriel told the chief right then and there
He had power to make water out of thin air
He threw their last skin of water over the cliff
And the warriors disappeared cause they feared the myth
And because of his mystic water
The hill was called Buys Kop thereafter
The apple doesn't fall very far from the tree
Gabriel used his father's ingenuity
Though Coenraad caused a big tirade
Somehow his good deed were repaid
They called him a traitor they called him a raider
They hounded him all over the place
Coenraad helped van der Kemp a missionary
In 1780 spreading Christianity
Providence prevailed in 1888
When president Kruger of the Transvaal State
Gave the people of the de Buys Clan
In the Soutpansberg their own piece of land
To live without strife in a peaceful way
His descendants are still living there today
Though he was outrageous he was kind and courageous
Those were the ways of Coenraad de Buys.
Back in the days of Coenraad de Buys