Jealous Lover- Ruby Vass (VA) 1959 Shellans
[From Folk Songs of the Blue Ridge Mountains by Herbert Shellans, 1968. His notes follow.
This variant of the Lexington Murder has been modified more than usual. Shellans apparently didn't know the motive for the murder-- an unwanted pregnancy and forced marriage-- which resulted in him giving the wrong title for this version.
R. Matteson 2016]
"The Jealous Lover" is an Americanized version of England's "The Wittam Miller" or "The Berkshire Tragedy ." During the nineteenth century it was issued in this country as a penny song sheet titled "The Lexington Miller." Most popular in the southern United States as "The Wexford Girl," or "The Lexington Murder," it is phrased as a shocking confession by a jealous suitor who has savagely destroyed the object of his affection. My informant, wishing to stress the ballad's antiquity, remarked: "That song was here when I come into this world!"
Jealous Lover- Sung by Miss Ruby Vass, with guitar, Fancy Gap, Virginia, June 20, 1959.
Come all you young lovers and listen to me,
A story to you I wilt tell;
How a jealous thought came into my mind
To murder a beautiful belle.
I went to her home one afternoon,
Pretendin' to be her friend;
She never knew that I intended
That her poor life should end.
I taken a seat close by her side,
And we began to talk;
I was hard-hearted and cruel enough
To ask her to take a walk.
We walked along together and talked
Till we came to a to a lonely desert place.
I took a stick from over the fence
And struck her on the face.
She reached to me her little-white hand,
And there for mercy cried;
5he said, "Dear Charlie, don't murder me!
I'm not prepared to die."
I run my hand into her black hair,
To try to cover my sins;
I drug her down to the riverside
And there I tossed her in.
I turned and started toward my home;
I met my servant John.
He said, "Dear Charlie, what's the matter with you?
You are so white and you are young[1].
I lighted my lamp[2] and started to bed.
Expectin' to take a rest.
It seemed as if the flames of hell
Were burnin' in my breast.
Young lovers, come near, and listen to me
And to your love be true;
And never let the devil get
The upper hand on you.
1. Instead of "young," other texts more appropriately have "wan."
2. usually 'candle"