<P> "The Deck of Cards" is a recitation song that was popularized in the fields of both the country and popular music, first during the late 1940s . This song, which relates the tale of a young American soldier arrested and charged with playing cards during a church service, first became a hit in the U.S. in 1948 by country musician T. Texas Tyler . </P> <P> Though Tyler wrote the spoken - word piece, the earliest known reference is to be found in an account / common - place book belonging to Mary Bacon, a British farmer's wife, dated 20 April 1762 . The story of the soldier can be found in full in Mary Bacon's World . A farmer's wife in eighteenth - century Hampshire, published by Threshold Press (2010). The folk story was later recorded in a 19th - century British publication entitled "The Soldier's Almanack, Bible And Prayer Book" </P> <P> The song is set during World War II, where a group of U.S. Army soldiers, on a long hike during a campaign in southern Italy, arrive and camp near the town of Cassino . While scripture is being read in church, one man who has only a deck of playing cards pulls them out and spreads them in front of him . He is immediately spotted by a sergeant, who believes the soldier is playing cards in church and orders him to put them away . The soldier is then arrested and taken before the provost marshal to be judged . The provost marshal demands an explanation and the soldier says that he had been on a long march, without a bible or a prayer book . He then explains the significance of each card: </P>

Who wrote the song the deck of cards
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