I first heard "Little Mary Phagan" from a 1980s film clip of Mabel Cawthorn of Carnesville, Georgia. My instrument is an 1888 Thompson & Odell "The Luscomb" banjo tuned eAEG♯B ~ gCGBD.
Little Mary Phagan went to work one day
Down in the pencil factory to draw her little pay,
She left her home at eleven she kissed her mother goodbye
Not one time did Mary think that she was soon to die.
Leo Frank he met her with a brutal heart we know
He smiled and said, "Little Mary you won't go home no more,"
He crept along behind her into a darkened room
He laughed and said, "Little Mary you've met your fatal doom."
Down upon her knees to Leo Frank she pled
He picked up a stick from the junk pile and knocked her on the head,
The tears were streaming down her face the blood flowed down her back
She remembered telling Mother what time she would be back.
Clifton Hicks
2023-06-25 00:07:38 +0000 UTCHairymare
2023-06-24 21:27:30 +0000 UTCClifton Hicks
2023-06-23 14:53:04 +0000 UTCrjk
2023-06-23 14:02:30 +0000 UTC