Taneytown

I went down to taneytown
I went down to taneytown
To see what I could see
My mama told me never go
But I’m almost 22 years old
Sometimes I fear this holler swallow me
She ran off to Gettysburg
Went off with that new beau of hers
I snuck off after dark
Long way down the county road
Stars were bright
The moon was low
Down to where the black top highway starts
I could see everybody stared at me
You’d think that they ain’t never seen
A coloured boy before
They chunked at me at me
Called me names
They’d have whipped me sure but the sheriff came
I slipped off through the dry goods store
I ran down division street
Some of them boys followed me
Down to the rail-road track
Four of them and I can’t fight
But I had my old randall knife
I cut that boy and I never did look back
Month went by without a word
Somebody down the holler heard
About that boy they hung
He begged those men to spare his life
But I dropped my bloody randall knife
He picked it up so they thought he was the one