Stabbed, Poisoned, Drowned and Shot Down
A Celebration of the American Murder Ballad Murder Ballads
The word ba ad is derived from the medieval French tradition of dancing songs. Murder ba ads are not particularly good for dancing, but they do follow the tradition of being narratives. This story-driven structure originates from Scandinavian and Germanic traditions of storytelling in poetry and song.
Murder ballads recount the details of real or imagined crimes: who the victim is, why the murderer decides to take their life, how the victim is lured to the murder site, the escape or capture of the murderer. Some tell the story from the point of view of the murderer, some attempt to portray the murderer in a sympathetic light. Others take the point of view of the victims. Others still, record the details of a crime and its punishment from afar. Sometimes supernatural revenge is wrought by the victim on the murderer, sometimes the murderer gets away clean. Lord Randall
This 17th century song is an example of an Anglo- Scottish border ba ad, meaning that it was first collected in that general area. These border ballads are usually sung without accompaniment.
The song is a dialogue between a young Lord and his mother, through which it is eventually revealed that the Lord has been poisoned by his lover.
Interesting side note: this song was later used as a model when Bob Dylan wrote “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fa .” Lord Randall
Where have you been, Lord Randall my son? Where have you been, my handsome young one? I’ve been to the wild wood, mother make my bed soon For I’m weary with hunting and I fain would lie down
Where did you get dinner, Lord Randall my son? Where did you get dinner, my handsome young one? I dined with my true love, mother make my bed soon For I’m weary with hunting and I fain would lie down
What did you eat, Lord Randall my son? What did you eat, my handsome young one? I had eels bound in broth, mother make my bed soon For I’m weary with hunting and I fain would lie down
What’s become of your blood-hounds, Lord Randall my son? What’s become of your blood-hounds, my handsome young one? They swelled and they died, mother make my bed soon For I’m weary with hunting and I fain would lie down Lord Randall
I fear you were poisoned, Lord Randall my son? I fear you were poisoned, my handsome young one? Yes I was poisoned, mother make my bed soon For I’m sick in my heart and I fain would lie down
What will you leave your father, Lord Randall my son? What will you leave your father, my handsome young one? My castle and lands, mother make my bed soon For I’m sick in my heart and I fain would lie down
What will you leave your mother, Lord Randall my son? What will you leave your mother, my handsome young one? My gold and my silver, mother make my bed soon For I’m sick in my heart and I fain would lie down
What will you leave your true love, Lord Randall my son? What will you leave your true love, my handsome young one? I’ll leave her hell-fire, mother make my bed soon For it’s now I am dying and I got to lie down Edward
In this ballad, a mother questions her son about the blood on his sword. There are different versions of the song, as there are with all of these songs. In some he claims the blood is from his hawk, in others it is from his horse, cow, fox, dog.
Eventually he reveals that the blood is from his father (sometimes brother, sometimes brother-in-law). The son declares that he is leaving and will never return.
In some versions the son implicates his mother in the murder before leaving, in other versions the farm falls apart in his absence and the mother goes mad. Edward
How came that blood on your shirt sleeve? How came that blood on your shirt sleeve? Oh, dear Lord tell me Oh, dear Lord tell me Well it is the blood of the old gray mare It is the blood of my brother-in-law That plowed the fields for me That went away with me That plowed the fields for me That went away with me
It does look too pale for the old gray mare What will you do now, my love? That plowed the fields for thee Oh, dear Lord tell me That plowed the fields for thee I’ll set my foot on yonder ship And sail across the sea And sail across the sea How came that blood on your shirt sleeve? Oh, dear Lord tell me It is the blood of the old greyhound When will you be back, my love? That chased the fox for me Oh, dear Lord tell me That chased the fox for me When the moon sinks yonder in the sycamore tree And that will never be And that will never be It does look too pale for the old greyhound That chased the fox for thee That chased the fox for thee Two Sisters
First appeared in 1656, this song has gone by many names: The Miller and the King’s Daughter, Minnorie, Binnorie, The Cruel Sister, The Wind and Rain, Dreadful Wind and Rain, The Bonnie Swans, Bonnie Bows of London, and more.
The song accounts two sisters who travel down by the water. The older of the two pushes the younger into the water and watches her drown. The motive usually takes the form of jealousy, as the two sisters are either both in love with the same man or are being two-timed by the same man.
In some versions, the younger sister eventually washes up and is made into a musical instrument that plays itself, singing of her own murder. In other variations, a third character is seen robbing the corpse and is tried and hanged for the murder. Two Sisters
There was an old woman, lived by the seashore Sister, oh, sister let’s walk the seashore Bow, balance me Bow, balance me There was an old woman, lived by the seashore Sister, oh, sister let’s walk the seashore Numbered her daughters one, two, three, four And see the ships as they’re sailing in And I’ll be true to my love And I’ll be true to my love If my love will be true to me If my love will be true to me
There was a young man come there to see them While these two sisters walked the seashore Bow, balance me Bow, balance me There was a young man come there to see them While these two sisters walked the seashore And the oldest one got stuck on him The oldest pushed the youngest o’er And I’ll be true to my love And I’ll be true to my love If my love will be true to me If my love will be true to me
He bought the youngest a beaver hat Sister, oh, sister please lend me your hand Bow, balance me Bow, balance me He bought the youngest a beaver hat Sister, oh, sister please lend me your hand And the oldest one got mad at that And you will have Willy and all his land And I’ll be true to my love And I’ll be true to my love If my love will be true to me If my love will be true to me Two Sisters
I’ll never, I’ll never lend you my hand Miller, oh, miller here’s five gold rings Bow, balance me Bow, balance me I’ll never, I’ll never lend you my hand Miller, oh, miller here’s five gold rings But I’ll have Willy and all his land To push that maiden in again And I’ll be true to my love And I’ll be true to my love If my love will be true to me If my love will be true to me
Sometimes she sank, sometimes she swam The miller received those five gold rings Bow, balance me Bow, balance me Sometimes she sank, sometimes she swam The miller received those five gold rings Until she came to the old mill dam And pushed that maiden in again And I’ll be true to my love And I’ll be true to my love If my love will be true to me If my love will be true to me
The miller, he got his fishhook The miller was hung by the old mill gate Bow, balance me Bow, balance me The miller, he got his fishhook The miller was hung by the old mill gate And fished the maiden out of the brook For drowning little sister Kate And I’ll be true to my love And I’ll be true to my love If my love will be true to me If my love will be true to me Tom Dooley
This old North Carolina folk song is based on the murder of Laura Foster in Wilkes County, NC in 1866.
It is an excellent example of the “Appalachian sweetheart murder ballad” tradition.
Laura Foster had been stabbed to death with a large knife, in a particularly brutal fashion, which partly accounted for the widespread publicity of the trial that followed. Foster’s lover, a Confederate veteran named Tom Dula, was convicted and hung in May of 1868. Before leaving for the war, however, Dula was the supposed lover of Anne Melton, Laura’s cousin. Comments made by Anne are what led the authorities to Laura’s burial site. This, along with Tom’s statements on the gallows that he was not responsible but still deserving of punishment, led some to believe that he was covering for Anne. Anne would later express jealousy over Tom’s plans to marry Laura and would die in an asylum. Tom Dooley
Hang your head Tom Dooley Take down my old violin Hang your head and cry Play it all you please You killed poor Laura Foster For at this time tomorrow You know you’re bound to die It’ll be no use to me
You took her on the hillside I dug a grave four feet long And God almighty knows I dug it three feet deep You took her on the hillside And throw’d the cold clay o’er her And there you hid her clothes And tromped it with my feet
You took her by the roadside This world and one more Where you begged to be excused Where you’d reckon I’d be You took her by the roadside If it hadn’t been for Grayson And there you hid her shoes I’da been in Tennessee
You took her on the hillside To make her your wife You took her on the hillside And there you took her life Pretty Polly
This song was adapted from the traditional English song sometimes called The Gosport Tragedy, or The Cruel Ship’s Carpenter.
In the song a young woman is lured into the forest where she is killed and buried in a shallow grave. In some versions the villain is a ship’s carpenter who promises to marry Polly, but instead murders her when he finds out she is pregnant. When he goes back out to sea he is haunted by her ghost to the point that he confesses, goes mad, and dies.
Woody Guthrie later used the tune for his dustbowl ballad, Pastures of Plenty. Pretty Polly
Oh Polly, pretty Polly, would you take me unkind Oh Polly, pretty Polly, your guess is about right Polly, pretty Polly, would you take me unkind Polly, pretty Polly, your guess is about right Let me beside you and tell you my mind I dug in your grave the biggest part of last night
Well my mind is to marry and never to part Well she went a little farther and what did she spy My mind is to marry and never to part She went a little farther and what did she spy The first time I saw you it wounded my heart A new dug grave with a spade lying by
Oh Polly, pretty Polly, come go along with me Oh she knelt down before him, a-pleading for her life Polly, pretty Polly, come go along with me She knelt down before him, a-pleading for her life Before we get married some pleasures to see Let me be a single girl if I can’t be your wife
Oh, he led her over the mountains and valleys so deep Oh Polly, pretty Polly, that never can be He led her over hills and valleys so deep Polly, pretty Polly, that never can be Pretty Polly mistrusted and then began to weep Your past reputation’s been trouble to me
Oh Willy, little Willy, I’m afraid of your ways Went down to the jailhouse and what did he say Willy, little Willy, I’m afraid of your ways Went down to the jailhouse and what did he say The way you’ve been rambling you’ll lead me astray I’ve killed Pretty Polly and tried to get away False Sir John
A close cousin to Pretty Po y, they both come from the European ballad tradition referred to as Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight.
In this version of the song, the woman (Lady Isabel, the King’s daughter, May Collin, May Colven, etc...) is lured to the forest. When she gets there, the false Sir John explains to her that he is going to kill her (sometimes he “dishonors” her first), and that he has done this seven or eight times before.
She manages to distract him and pushes him into the water first, where he pleads for help before he drowns. False Sir John
False Sir John a-wooing came She’s gone unto her father’s stables To a lady young and fair Where all his steeds did stand May Colvin was this lady’s name She’s took the best and left the worst Her father’s only heir In all her father’s land
He wooed her while she spun the thread She’s mounted on a milk-white steed While they made the hay And he a dapple gray Until he gained her low consent They rode until they come to a lonesome spot To mount and ride away A cliff by the side of the sea
“Bring me some of your father’s gold “Light down, light down,” said False Sir John And some of your mother’s fee. “Your bridal bed you’ll see I’ll take thee to some far off land It’s seven women have I drowned here And there I’ll marry thee.” And the eighth one you shall be.”
She’s gone unto her father’s coffer “Have off, have off your Holland smock Where all his monies lay With borders all around She’s took the yellow, left the white For it’s too costly to lay down here And lightly skipped away And rot on the cold, cold ground.” False Sir John
“Turn around, turn around, thou False Sir John She mounted on the milk-white steed And look at the leaves on the tree And led the dapple gray It don’t become a gentleman And rode until she come to her father’s house A naked woman to see.” At the breaking of the day
Oh, false Sir John has turned around Then up and spoke the little parrot, To gaze at the leaves on the tree Said “May Colvin, where have you been? She’s made a dash with her tender little arms And what have you done with false Sir John And pushed him into the sea. That went with you riding?
“Oh, help! Oh, help! May Colvin! “Oh, hold your tongue, you little parrot Oh, help or I shall drown! And tell no tales on me I’ll take you back to your father’s house And I’ll buy you a cage of beaten gold And lightly set you down.” With spokes of ivory.”
“No help, no help,” said May Colvin “No help will you get from me The bed’s no colder to you, sir Than you thought to give to me.” Omie Wise
Alternately called Little Omie Wise, or Naomi Wise. Thematically, the song is related to Banks of the Ohio and The Knoxvi e Girl, in that a woman is murdered by her lover and dumped in a river.
Upon being asked about the song, Doc Watson (who performed it often) said: “Naomi Wise, a little orphan girl, was being brought up by Squire Adams, a gent who had a pretty good name in the community as a morally decent human being. Omie, however, was seeing a ne’er-do-well named John Lewis, who never meant anything about anything serious, except some of his meanness. John Lewis courted the girl, seemingly until she became pregnant, and decided that he’d get rid of her in some secret sort of way. He persuaded her to skip off with him and get married, but instead he pushed her into the water and drowned her. Everyone knew that he had been mean to Omie, and when the body was taken out of the water, there was evidence that she had been beaten quite a lot.” Omie Wise
John Lewis eventually escaped from prison after being arrested. As notoriety for the case grew, North Carolinians demanded Lewis captured and sentenced. He was found and put back in jail, and was tried in Guilford County.
Despite evidence and witnesses, John Lewis walked free. In 1817 he died of an unnamed illness, and confessed to the murder of Naomi Wise on his deathbed. Little Omie Wise
Listen to my story, I’ll tell you no lie Have mercy on my baby and spare me my life How John Lewis did murder poor little Omie Wise I’ll go home as a beggar and never be your wife
He told her to meet him at Adams’ Springs He kissed her and held her and turned her around He promised her money and other fine things Then pushed her in deep waters where he knew she would drown
So fool-like she met him at Adams’ Springs He got on his pony and away he did ride No money he brought her nor other fine things As the screams of little Omie went down by his side
Go with me, little Omie, and away we will go Was on a Thursday morning the rain was pouring down We’ll go and get married and no one will know When the people searched for Omie but she could not be found
She climbed up behind him and away they did go Two boys went a-fishing one fine summer day But off to the river where deep waters flow And saw little Omie’s body go floating away
John Lewis, John Lewis, will you tell me your mind They threw their net around her and drew her to the bank Do you intend to marry me, or leave me behind? Her clothes all wet and muddy they laid her on a plank
Little Omie, little Omie, I’ll tell you my mind They sent for John Lewis to come to that place My mind is to drown you and leave you behind And brought her out before him so that he might see her face
He made no confession, but they carried him to jail No friends or relations would go on his bail Banks of the Ohio
Like Omie Wise, Banks of the Ohio deals with a man murdering his lover and dumping her body in the river. In this case, however, it’s usually because she refuses his proposal of marriage.
May be historically linked with Pretty Polly, in that they both date from around the same time and tell very similar stories. Sometimes, the villains in both songs even share the same name: Willie. John Hardy
According to some sources, John Hardy was a railroad worker who was hanged for killing somebody after a craps game. He was charged with murder in the first degree and sentenced on October 12, 1893. John Hardy
John Hardy was a desperate little man John Hardy had a pretty little girl Carried two guns everyday The dress she wore was blue He killed him a man on that West Virginia line She threw her arms around his neck You oughta see John Hardy gettin’ away Said, “Daddy, I have always been true.”
He went across to the East Stone bridge I been to the east and the west There he thought he’d be free Travelled this wide world round Up stepped the sheriff and took him by the arm Been to the river and been baptized Said, “Johnny come along with me.” Now I’m on my hanging ground
He sent for his momma and poppa too To come and go his bail But there ain’t no bail on a murder charge So they threw John Hardy back in jail Poor Ellen Smith
This song is about a girl who was found shot through the heart with her clothes left scattered all around. It is based on a real event in Winston-Salem, NC.
In 1894, Peter DeGraff (the town drunk) had an ill-fated love affair with Ellen Smith. Smith, who may have been mentally challenged, becomes pregnant but the baby was still-born. Afterwards, she follows him around town and will never leave him alone.
DeGraff brings her to a secluded area and shoots her through the chest. He confessed while he stood on the gallows, just before being hung. Poor Ellen Smith
Poor Ellen Smith, how was she found? I been in this prison for seven long years Shot through the heart, lying cold on the ground. Each night I see Ellen through my bitter tears
Her body was mangled and all cast around I got a letter yesterday, read it today And blood marked the spot where Poor Ellen was found The flowers on her grave have all faded away
They picked up her body and carried it away The warden has told me, soon I’ll be free And now she is sleeping in some lonesome old grave To go to her grave ‘neath that old hollow tree
Who had the heart and who had the brain I’ll go to her grave and I’ll stay when I go To shoot my little darling in this cold lonesome plain On pretty Ellen’s grave, fairest flowers I’ll throw
They picked up their rifles and hunted us down I’m free from the walls of that prison, at last They found us a-loadin’ all around town But I’ll never be free from my sins of the past
The judge may convict me, and God knows he can But I’ll know I died as an innocent man. Down in the Willow Garden
This song is about a man who murders his lover by poisoning her, stabbing her, and throwing her in the river. It most likely comes from Ireland, but became strong in the Appalachian tradition.
Like Tom Dooley, it is categorized as an Appalachian sweetheart murder ballad.
The murder is encouraged by the man’s father, who then ends up being forced to watch his son’s execution. It is unusually gruesome, even in the Appalachian tradition. Down in the Willow Garden
Down in the willow garden And now he sits by his own cottage door Where me and my love did meet Wiping his tear-dimmed eye There we sat a-courtin’ And now he waits for his own dear son My love dropped off to sleep Upon the scaffold high
I had a bottle of burgundy wine My race is run beneath the sun Which my lover did not know Hell’s now waiting for me And there I poisoned my dear little girl For I have murdered that dear little girl Down under the banks below Whose name was Rose Connelly
I stabbed her with my dagger Which was a bloody knife And threw her into the river Which was a dreadful sight
My father often told me Money would set me free If I would murder that dear little girl Whose name was Rose Connelly In the Pines
In this mysterious southern Appalachian murder ballad a woman, usually a black woman, is caught doing something she shouldn’t be doing. The pines can be seen as a metaphor for loneliness, sexuality, or even her eventual death.
In some variations of the song she is decapitated by an oncoming train. Sometimes she is decapitated by the man, and sometimes the man is decapitated by the woman. Little Sadie
Also known as Bad Lee Brown, Cocaine Blues, Transfusion Blues, East St. Louis Blues, Late One Night, Penitentiary Blues, and others.
This 1922 song tells the story of a man who is apprehended after shooting his wife or girlfriend. May have influenced Jimi Hendrix’s later murder ballad, Hey Joe. Duncan and Brady
Sometimes called Been On the Job Too Long, or simply Brady. In this song Duncan, the bartender, shoots and kills a policeman, Brady.
The victim was James Brady, and the shooting took place at Charles Starke’s Saloon in St. Louis. The police were responding to complaints of a bar fight, apparently, but were fired upon when they tried to take patrons into custody.
James was shot by the bartender, Charles Starkes himself, though Duncan was charged with the crime. Starkes denied pulling the trigger, and so Duncan was tried and sentenced. He appealed several times but all were denied and he was hanged. Charles Starkes supposedly confessed to the murder on his deathbed.
This is a perfect example of what is called a “bad man murder ballad”, like Frankie and Johnny or Stagger Lee. Frankie and Johnny
In October 1899, in an apartment in St. Louis, Frankie Baker (a 22 year old woman) shot her 17 year old lover Allen Britt in the abdomen. He had just returned from the local dance hall where he and another woman, Nelly Bly, had won a prize for slow-dancing. Britt died of his wounds several days later.
Frankie claimed that Allen had come at her with a knife and that she had acted in self defense, and so she was acquitted. She later died in an institution in 1952.
That year Bill Dooley (no relation to Tom) composed a song called Frankie Killed Allen. It is possible, however, that the song was about a different murder. Stagger Lee
First published in 1911, this song is about the murder of Billy Lyons by “Stag” Lee Shelton in St. Louis on Christmas Day in 1895. Lee Shelton was an African-American pump and captain of a black “Four Hundred Club”, a socio-political club of dubious reputation.
On Christmas night Shelton met Lyons at the Bill Curtis Saloon, where the two got into a disagreement. Lyons supposedly took Shelton’s stetson hat, so Shelton shot Lyons, recovered his hat and left. He was tried and convicted, but pardoned in 1909. Delia’s Gone
Delia Green, 14, was shot and killed by Moses Houston on Christmas Eve, 1900, in Savannah. The shooting took place after an argument between the two who had, apparently, been in a sexual relationship for several months prior.
Houston was sentenced to life in prison, but was eventually paroled. Other Murder Ballads
The Knoxville Girl Long Black Veil Polly Vaughn Crow Jane Cocaine Blues Nebraska, Bruce Springsteen Hey Joe, Jimi Hendrix Down by the River, Neil Young & Crazy Horse Folsom Prison Blues, Johnny Cash Georgia Lee, Tom Waits