From the sheet music at Johns Hopkins University:


“Respectfully Dedicated to All the Bad Spellers”
THE SPELLING MATCH
Words and music by Frank Wilder ©1875.

1. What next will be the rage, I’m sure ’tis hard for one to tell,
But now the order is to see how all of us can spell.
So all the schoolboys, more or less, their craniums expand,
And e’en reporters of the press in spelling lend a hand.

CHORUS: What next will be the rage around, the people’s mind to catch?
Oh, I don’t know, but surely now they’re all for a “spelling match.”

2. A row of “spellers,” right and left, upon the stage appear,
And when the words are given out, the spelling’s mighty queer.
The fun it is enjoyed by all; sometimes a feller’ll frown,
But that is when he makes a miss and quickly is “spelled down.” CHORUS

3. Some spell a word and use the I, instead of saying E.
Some put two Ls and think they’re right, where only one should be;
And then there’s where the laugh comes in: the speller is confused.
He has to take a “back seat” sure, ’mid shouts of those amused. CHORUS