Lexaton Murder- Frank Joy (NY) pre-1963 REC
[From Folkways ©1963 by Folkways Records & Service Corp., 121 w. 47th st. NYC USA "NEW YORK STATE SONGS AND BALLADS" FOLKSONGS OF THE CATSKILLS as sung by Barbara Moncure with Harry Siemsen, 1963. The liner notes follow.
R. Matteson 2017]
SIDE II, Band 2: THE LEXINGTON MURDER From Frank Joy. One of the most widely collected murder ballads, it has numerous titles, some of which are "The Oxford Tragedy," "The Wexford Girl," "The Cruel Miller," etc. See the many references printed in Laws, ibid., and the various tunes as reported in the Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Ballads, Vol. 4, "The Music of the Ballads," edited by Jan Philip Shinhan (Durham, N.C., 1957). Whether Joy thought he was singing about a true incident of nearby Lexington, in Greene County, we will never know.
FRANK JOY, born in Sawkill, spent most of his life in the area as woodsman, farmer, and beekeeper. He also worked as a stone cutter, on the Ulster and Delaware Railroad and in the Kingston Water Works. He played the accordion and learned many songs from his father and other singers. Joy died in 1958 at the age of 77.
Lexaton Murder- learned from Frank Joy of Sawkill, New York before 1958.
My tender parents brought me up, provided for me well,
Then in the town of Lexaton[1], they employ'd me in a mill;
Twas there I met this pretty fair maid, on her I cast my eye,
I asked her if she'd marry me, and she believed a lie.
I went then to her father's house, 'bout eight o'clock that night,
And little did the poor girl think I awed her any spite.
I asked her it she'd take a walk, but just a little way,
That her and I might then agree, upon our wedding day.
I lured her (all) along the road, till in a lonesome place,
I drew a stake from out the fence, and smoten her through the face.
She fell on her bended knees, for mercy she did cry,
For mercy's sake don't murder me, for I'm not fit to die.
But heeding not her mournful groan, I pounded on her more:
Until I took her precious life, which I never could restore.
And grabbed her by the hair of the head, to cover o'er my sin;
I dragged her to the old mill stream, and plunged her body in.
Then all that night I lay 'round and fret for never could I rest:
I could feel the very pains of Hell was running through my breast:
Next morning I was searched for, and was very quickly found:
By the shadow of the old mill-side, my conscience had me down.
Oh what is that upon your face, and blood all o'er your clothes,
I answered to the officers then, 'twas bleeding from the nose.
But soon my crime I did confess, in prison now I lie,
The judge has spoke the fatal words, I am condemned to die.
1. Frank Joy distinctly said "Lex-a-ton", not "Lexington"