An unusual version collected by Bascom Lamar Lunsford in Henderson Co., NC. (Asheville Times, Jan. 22, 1928):

John Hardy was a wild and a reckless man,
He didn't care what he done.
He killed two men in Johnnytown,
'Cause he was too nervy fer to run.
'Cause he was too nervy fer to run.

John Hardy was a gambling man,
He lived in a gambling town,
And now he's sentenced to be hung,
'Cause he shot another man down,
'Cause he shot another man down.

John Hardy went by the courthouse door,
As drunk as he could be.
The sheriff come along and took him by the hand,
"John Hardy, come and go along with me,
John Hardy, come and go along with me."

"I'm a gambling man," John Hardy said,
"You can bury me in the sand,
Put a pick and shovel at my feet,
Jack o' diamonds in my hand,
Jack o' diamonds in my hand."


In this go, John Hardy apparently shot two men (not just one, as is usual) who were threatening him (he was "too nervy to run"). Usually his victim has simply beaten him in a card game, though many singers very likely assumed that Hardy's victim had cheated him.

Hardy's life as a gambler "from a gambling town" is emphasized rather than any violent temperament ("My .44 gun it never told a lie.")

No religious angle either ("I been to the river, and I been baptized.) The pick and shovel are an interesting touch.

"Johnnytown" is Shawnee Camp, WV, now named Eckman, in the southern part of the state between Virginia and Kentucky.