John Hardy

John Hardy was a desperate little man
Carried a razor ev'ry day
He killed a man on the West Virginia line
Shoulda seen John Hardy gettin' away

John Hardy had a pretty little girl
The dress she wore was blue
She came skippin' through the old jail hall
Sayin', "Pappy, I'll be true to you"

And John Hardy had another little girl
The dress she wore was red
She followed John Hardy to his hangin' ground
Saying, "Pappy, I would rather be dead"

John Hardy stood in the barroom door
So drunk, he could not see
The sheriff came by and took him by the hand
Said, "Johnny, come and go with me"

And the night John Hardy was to be hung
There came a storm and a hail
And the wind blew the hangin' scaffold down
They threw John Hardy back in jail

Now I been to the East, and now I been to the West
I been this wide world around
I been to the river and I been baptized
Take me to my buryin' ground