The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #937 Message #3608285
Posted By: Q (Frank Staplin)
08-Mar-14 - 01:39 PM
Thread Name: Origins: Poor Ellen Smith
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Poor Ellen Smith (non-DT version)
Lyr. Add: Ellen Smith (Ruby Vass)
Poor Ellen Smith,
Torn in half she was found;
Shot through the heart,
Lyin' cold on the ground.
Her clothes were all ragged,
And her purse on the ground.
The blood marked the spot
Where poor Ellen was found.
They picked up her body,
And off they did go.
To the lonesome old graveyard;
I'll see her no more.
They picked up their rifles, Lord,
They hunted me down;
They found me a-loafin'
Around through the town.
I got a letter yesterday,
I read it today;
Said the flowers on her grave
Had all faded away.
I'm leavin' today,
Back home I will go.
On poor Ellen's grave
Pretty flowers I will throw.
With musical score, p. 67.
Shellans remarks that in August, 1893, at Forsyth, NC, Peter De Graff was convicted of the murder of Ellen Smith.
Herbert Shellans, 1968, Folk Songs of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Oak Publications.