Oh, my mama's in the cold, cold ground,
My daddy, he went away.
My sister married a gamblin' man,
And now I'm gone astray.
I sit here in this old jail,
And I do the best I can,
Get to thinking about the woman I loved,
She ran away with another man.
She ran away with another man, poor boy,
She ran away with another man,
Get to thinking about the woman I loved,
She ran away with another man.
I went out on the prairie,
And I stopped the Katy train,
Took a bag of mail from standing there, (1)
And I walked away in the rain.
They got the bloodhounds on me,
And they run me up a tree.
Said, "Come down from there, my boy,
And go to the penitentiary."
I said, "Mr. judge, Mr. Judge,
What you goin' to do to me?"
Said, "If the jury finds you guilty, my boy,
I'm goin' to send you to the penitentiary."
They took me to the railroad station,
A train come rollin' by.
I looked in the window, saw the woman I loved,
And I hung my head and cried.
(1) Should have been sung as "Took a bag of mail from the baggage coach,"
