The Liar's Bench

The Old Liar's Bench photo was taken on the Morgan County Courthouse colonnade. Please scroll down below the photo and read the poem that was written by James Ball Naylor. The photo and poem were supplied by Karen Wortman. Thanks, Karen!

In a scrapbook my Aunt Dorothy(Hayes) Allard kept is a poem by James Ball Naylor that was printed in The Morgan County Herald possibly more than once but this time was probably in the 1930's. There was included with the poem a picture of five gentlemen seated on a bench on the front of the courthouse and one standing nearby. A part of the bench is empty so that everyone can read what is painted on the back of the bench--"Liars' Bench". The gentlemen were M. F. Sheets, True Ridgley, Dr. James Ball Naylor, V. A. Vanhorn, P. W. Masterson, L. B. Adrean. Following is the poem written by James Ball Naylor called:

THE OLD LIARS' BENCH

You may talk of the "church in the wildwood"
Of the creek and the old "swimmin' hole,"
Of the glorified days of your childhood---
Of your joys and your solace of soul;
But when age and its ailments assail you,
Then the one place of sunshine and shade--
Where your ribs get a wrench--is the old "Liars' Bench"
On the courthouse colonnade.

You may boast of far-famed Marco Polo
And the wandering life that he led;
You may brag of old Baron Munchausen--
Still remember, they're both of 'em dead!
But of all present-day living liars
Whose honors and laurels won't fade,
Their fingers still clench the old "Liar's Bench"
On the courthouse colonnade.

They are there in the dew-dampened morning
They are there in the mid-afternoon--
All their musty old tales re-adorning,
All their tee-tattle tongues all atune;
But observe 'em sit pious and silent,
Should it happen that matron or maid,
Or widow or wench, nears the old "Liar's Bench"
On the courthouse colonnade.

James Ball Naylor