It has been set several times, a least once in 1917 and once in 1953 (if I recall), though I haven't seen either setting. I ran across this poem while poem prospecting and immediately thought it would make a good song, when I could get around to it. And finally, I have. So, here's my radio-cowboyish setting, in ABC notation.
X:1
T:Lone Dog
C:Text by Irene Rutherford McLeod, 1914
C:Music by Robert Wahl, 2011
%%header \ Lone Dog
%%writehistory 1
%%printparts 0
S:Text from Songs to Save a Soul. Irene Rutherford McLeod. New York, B.W. Huebsch, 1915.
H:Published in The Living Age, Vol. 282 (Sept. 12, 1914); taken from The Nation.
%%MIDI program 1 24 % Nylon guitar
P:ABABA
M:6/8
L:1/8
Q:3/8=72
K:Cdor
P:A
%%text Chorus
F/F/ | "Cm"Gc2-c2z/B/ | "F"AF2-F2z/G/ | "Ab"_AB2-B2B | "G7"G3-Gz F/F/ |
w: I'm a lean dog,_ a keen dog,_ a wild dog,_ and lone;_ I'm a
"Cm"GC2-C2z/G/ | "Bb"FB,2-B,2z | "Ab"DE2-EEF | "Bb6"G3-GzG/G/ |
w: rough dog,_ a tough dog,_ hunt-ing_ on my own;_ I'm a
("Cm"c2G) ("F"FG)A | ("Gm"B>cA) "Eb"G2z | "F"FF2-F>GE | "Gm"D3 z2B, |
w: bad_ dog,_ a mad__ dog, teas-ing_ sil-ly sheep; I
"Cm"C2D "F7"EC2 | "Bb"d>c(B- "Gm"BA)F | "Ab"E2E "G"F2D | "Cm"C3-Cz ||
w: love to sit and bay the moon,__ to keep fat souls from sleep.
%
%%text Verses
P:B
C | "Cm"C2D (ED)C | "Bb"FG2-Gz2 | "Ab"F/F/-F2 "Bb"G2B, | "Cm"C3 z2F |
w: I'll ne-ver be_ a lap dog,_ lick-ing_ dir-ty feet, A
w: * Not for me_ the other dogs,_ run-ning_ by my side,*
"Eb"EG2-GEG | "F"Bc2-c2c | "Bb"BBB- "Am7"BcA | "G"G3-Gz2 |
w: sleek dog,_ (x) a meek dog,_ (x) cring-ing__ for my meat,
w: Some have_ run a short while,_ but none of them_ would_ bide.
"Eb"(GA)B "C"c2B | "F"(AG)F-FzF | "Ab"(EE2-E)F-F | "Bb"D3z2D |
w: Not* for me the fire--side,_ the well---filled_ plate, But
w: O mine is still the lone_ trail,_ the hard trail,_ (x) the best,*
"Cm"C2zczd | "Bb"c2zFzB, | "Fm"_A,2C "Gm"B,2D | "Cm"C3 z2 ||
w: shut door, and sharp stone, and cuff and kick, and hate.
w: Wide wind, and wild stars, and hun-ger of the quest!
%
%%begintext center
Music copyright \251 2011 by Robert Wahl.
All rights reserved.
%%endtext
You can generate a MIDI or score by feeding the ABC to the folkinfo.org ABC converter. (Note: The converter at concertina.net won't handle this ABC properly.)