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John Hardy was a desperate little man,
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he carried two guns every day.
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He shot a man on the West Virginia line,
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and you oughta seen John Hardy getting away.
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John Hardy, he got to the East Stone Bridge,
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he thought that he would be free.
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And up stepped a man and took him by the arm,
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saying, “Johnny, walk along with me !”
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He sent for his poppy and his mommy, too,
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to come to go his bail.
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But money wont go a murdering case,
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and they locked John Hardy back in jail.
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John Hardy, he had a pretty little girl,
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the dress that she wore was blue,
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as she came skipping through the old jail hall,
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saying, “Poppy, I've been true to you!”
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John Hardy, he had another little girl,
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the dress that she wore was red.
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She followed John Hardy to the hanging ground,
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saying Poppy, “I would rather be dead !”
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I've been to the East, and I've been to the West ,
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I've been this wide world around,
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I've been to the river and I've been baptized,
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and now I'm on my hanging ground.
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John Hardy walked out on his scaffold high,
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with his loving little wife by his side.
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And the last word she heard poor John-o say,
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“I'll meet you in that sweet bye and bye. “