Ballad of John Hardy

I've been learning the Ballad of John Hardy because it's local to southern West Virginia, and presumably based on the true story of a murderer who was hanged for his crime.

There are many recorded versions of the song, and of course several variations in the lyrics too. Here is my favorite--sung by a seven-year-old girl. She holds fairly close to the lyrics I learned from the Carter Family version.

John Hardy Was A Desperate Little Man
John Hardy was a desperate little man,
he carried two guns every day.
He shot a man on the West Virginia line,
and you oughta seen John Hardy gettin' away.

John Hardy, he got to the Keystone Bridge,
he thought that he would be free.
But up stepped a man and took him by the arm,
saying, “Johnny, walk along with me.”

He sent for his poppy and his mommy, too,
to come to go his bail.
But money won't go a murdering case,
and they locked John Hardy back in jail.

John Hardy he had a pretty little girl,
the dress that she wore was blue,
as she came skipping through the old jail hall,
said Poppy, I've been true to you.

John Hardy, he had another little girl,
the dress that she wore was red.
She followed John Hardy to the hanging ground,
saying Poppy I would rather be dead.

I've been to the East, and I've been to the West ,
I've been this wide world around,
I've been to the river and I've been baptized,
and now I'm on my hanging ground.

John Hardy walked out on his scaffold high,
with his loving little wife by his side.
And the last word she heard poor Johnny say,
I'll meet you in that sweet bye and bye.