250 Jotirnal of American Folk-Lore.
The next example, also from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina (Polk County), belongs to the class of confessions of criminals, common in broadsides.
My name it is Denis, a man of high renown,
And my match in the country is hard to be found,
Is hard to be found,
And my match in the country is hard to be found.
I lived in Tennessee and there I bore the sway,
And for stealing of horses was forced to run away.
The footmen, the horsemen, they followed after me,
And straightway they carried me to the penitentiary.
And when I got over there, they welcomed me in,
They shaved off my head in the place of my chin.
They pulled off my clothes and dressed me in uniform,
Such a suit I never wore since the day I was borned.
Come all ye young horse-thieves, and warning take from me.
Never place your affections on the penitentiary.
Now I'm getting old and my locks are getting gray,
I 'm still hammering away in the penitentiary,
In the penitentiary,
I'm still hammering away in the penitentiary.[1]
The next piece has a character religious as well as sentimental.
Creation.
When Adam was first created,
The lord of the universe round,
His happiness was not completed,
Till he a helpmeet had found.
He'd all things for food that was wanted,
To give him content in his life;
He'd horses and foxes for hunting,
Which many need more than a wife.
He'd a garden all planted by nature,
To give him content in his life,
But an all wise Creator,
He saw that he needed a wife.
- ↑ Contributed by Mrs. E. M. Backus.
