A Lover Bashful (Frank S. Gray, 1886). This song was inspired by a hunting trip around Lake Pend d’Oreille in 1885.  This region at the time comprised some of the last vestiges of the American frontier.  The hunting trip and song also involved a love affair!  Lyrics and melody line are in For Love and Bears – a Description of a Recent Hunting Trip with a Romantic Finale – A True Story by “James Daly” (pseudonym for John S. Gray).  This book was reprinted in 1998 by Great Northern Pacific Publications of Bonners Ferry, based on an unpublished manuscript dated 1886. The cover of the reprint at right is shown by permissionn of the publisher. The rendition here is by Gary Eller.