Knoxville Girl- unknown (TN) 1936 Crabtree B
[No informant named. From: "Songs and Ballads Sung in Overton County, Tennessee: A Collection" by Lillian Crabtree, 1936, 316 pages long. It was her Master's thesis, George Peabody College for Teachers in 1936, which resulted in the texts of 323 songs and ballads, without music.
R. Matteson 2016]
B. Knoxville Girl
There lived a girl in Knoxville
A girl whom I loved well;
And every Sunday evening
In her home I’d dwell.
On one Sunday evening
About a mile from town;
I drew a stick up o'er her head
And backwards knocked her down.
She fell upon on her bended knees
For mercy she did cry;
"Oh Will, oh Will, don’t kill me here
I’m not prepared to die."
He heeded not her pleading wants,
But still he beat her more;
Until the ground around him,
Was in her bloody flow[1].
He took her by her golden locks
He dragged her o'er the ground
He threw her in the river,
That runs from Knoxville Town.
On the way returning home,
It being 'bout midnight;
His mother, she being weary,
She woke with a terrible fright.
"Oh son, oh son, what have you done
To bloody your hands and clothes?"
The answer that he gave to her,
"Been bleeding at the nose."
The first it was a candle,
To light myself to bed;
The next it was a handkerchief
To tie up his aching head.
All night long he rolled and tumbled,
For rest he could not find;
The fire[2] of hell was 'round him,
And in his eyes could shine.
They arrested him on suspicion,
They locked him in Knoxville jail.
His friends would gather round him
But none would go his bail.
Her sister swore his life away.
She swore without a doubt.
Then he was that very young man
That carried her sister out.
Come all you boys of Knoxville,
And listen to what I say,
If you ever have a sweetheart,
Don't treat her this way.
1. usually "gore"
2. has "fee"