Unknown - A Prisoner For Life lyrics

A Prisoner For Life

My old father advised me when I was but young,

"Of ramblin' an' gamblin', bad company shun.

These words you'll remember when I'm old an' gray,

These words you'll remember when I'm cold in my grave."

But I kept on a-ramblin' in that terrible band,

Till I was attackted by the laws of the land,

Was tried an' convicted for mail robbery,

Nine years was transported across the salt sea.

Then I met my old father a-leavin' the dock,

He wrang his poor hands an' he tore his gray locks ,

Sayin', "Son, they have ruint you, I've advised you before,

But now we are partin' to meet here no more."

If I was on shipboard, pretty Molly by me,

Bound down in strong Ireland I'd feel myself free,

Bound down in strong Ireland an' kept like a slave,

'Twas in my own country I did not behave.

Farewell, little doogie, to an embel you fly,

You sing an' you sorrow your troubles all by;

Oh, what would I give in such freedom to share,

To roam at my ease an' to breathe the fresh air.

Oh, farewell, kind comrades, I'm willin' to own

That such a wild outcast has never been known;

'Tis the cause of my ruin an' sudden downfall,

An' caused me to labor behind the stone wall.

Note: One of many local variants, each, apparently with an

"authentic" local history. In next to last verse, I find myself

utterly charmed by "..little doogie, to an embel you'll fly.."

Any Missourians have a clue?

From Ozark Folksongs, Randolph. Collected from Carrie Baber, MO,

1922

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RG

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