| Lyrics: | McAfee's Confession
1.Draw nigh, young men, and learn from me
My sad and mournful
history,
And may you ne'er forgetful be
Of what this day I tell to
thee.
2.Before I reached my fifth year,
My father and my mother dear
Were
both laid in their silent grave
By Him who them their beings gave.
3.But
Providence, the orphan's friend,
A relief did quickly send,
And snatched from want and
penury
Poor little orphan McAfee.
4.Beneath my uncle's friendly roof,
From
want and danger far aloof,
Nine years was I most tender reared,
And oft his kind
advice I heard.
5.But I was thoughtless, young and gay,
And sometimes broke the
Sabbath day,
In wickedness I took delight,
And ofttimes did what was not
right.
6.And when my uncle would me chide,
I'd turn away dissatisfied,
And
join again my wickedness,
And Satan serve with eagerness.
7.At last there came the
fatal day,
When from my home I ran away,
And to my sorrow since in life,
I took
unto myself a wife.
8.And she was kind and good to me
As any woman need to
be,
And now alive would be no doubt,
Had I ne'er seen Miss Hettie
Shout.
9.O, well I recollect the day
When Hettie stole my heart away;
'Twas
love for her controlled my will,
And caused me my wife to kill.
10.'Twas on a
pleasant summer night,
Wnen all was still, the stars shone bright,
My wife was lying
on the bed,
When I approached and to her said:
11."Dear wife, here's medicine I
brought,
Whicn for your sake this day I bougnt,
And I do hope it will cure
you,
From tnose vile fits; pray, take it, do."
12.She gave to me a tender
look
And in her mouth the poison took;
Then by her babe upon the bed
Down to
her last long sleep she laid.
13.But, fearing that she was not dead,
My hand upon
her tnroat I laid,
And there such deep impressions made,
Her soul soon from her body
fled.
14.Then was my heart filled full of woe,
I cried, "O, whither shall I
go?
Or how to quit this mournful place,
The world again how can I face?
"
15.I'd freely give up all my store,
Had I ten thousand times much more,
If I could bring again to life
My dear, my darling murdered wife.
16.Her body
lies beneath the sod,
Her soul I hope is with its God,
And soon into eternity,
My guilty soul will also be.
17.The moment now is drawing nigh
When from this
world my soul must fly,
To meet Jehovah at the bar,
And there my final sentence
hear.
18.Young men, pray take adviee from me,
And shun all evil eompany;
Walk in the ways of righteousness,
And God yow soul will surely bless.
19.Kind
friends, I bid you all adieu;
No more on earth shall I see you;
On heaven's bright
and flowery plain
I hope we all shall meet again.
from Folk Songs of the South,
Cox
@murder
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