Waxford Girl- Mrs. Robertson (OH) 1939 Eddy A
[From: Eddy, "Ballads and Songs from Ohio," 1939. Nost version are from the 1920s. version of her The Murdered Girl ballads.
Has the handkerchief stanza found in Scottish trad versions.
R. Mateson 2016]
A. THE WAXFORD GIRL- From Mrs. James Robertson, Perrysville, Ohio,
1. In the town of Waxford,
I used to live and dwell
And in the town of Waxford,
I owned a flour mill.
2. I used to court the Waxford girl
With dark and roaming eyes;
I asked her if she'd marry me,
It was her own complies.
3. We went into her sister's house
The wedding to provide;
I asked her to walk with me
Down by the river's side.
4. We roamed all o'er the hills and hollows
Till we came to level ground,
Then I picked up a fence stake
And knocked this lady down.
5. She fell upon her bended knees;
"Have mercy," she did cry,
"Oh, Johnny dear, don't murder me now,
For I'm not prepared to die."
6. But little attention did I pay,
I beat her all the more,
Till everything around me
Was in a bloody gore.
7. I took her by those Yellow locks,
I drug her on the ground,
I threw her in the river
That runs through Waxford town.
8. Twelve o'clock and after,
When I returning home,
My aged mother lie dreaming
For she was all alone.
9. I asked her for a candle
To light me up to bed,
And then for a handkerchief
To bind my aching head.
10. "Son, oh, son, what have You done
To bloody your hands and clothes?"
The answer that I gave to her
Was, "Bleeding at the nose."
11. So early next morning
This poor girl was found,
Floating in the river
That runs through Waxford town.
12. So early next morning
I was lodged in jail,
No one to go my security,
No one to go my bail.
13. Her sister swore my life away
Without a fear or doubt;
She swore I was the very man
That took her sister out.