"The Knoxville Girl" is an

Appalachia Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ca ...

murder ballad Murder ballads are a subgenre of the traditional ballad form dealing with a crime or a gruesome death. Their lyrics form a narrative describing the events of a murder, often including the lead-up and/or aftermath. The term refers to the content ...

Origins

It is derived from the 19th-century Irish ballad "The Wexford Girl", itself derived from the earlier English ballad "The Bloody Miller or Hanged I Shall Be" ( Roud 263, Laws P35) about a murder, in 1683, at Hogstow Mill, south of

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

. This ballad was collected by

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

, who wrote about the murder of Anne Nichols by the Mill's apprentice Francis Cooper. Other versions are known as the "Waxweed Girl", "The Wexford Murder". These are in turn derived from an

Elizabethan era The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...

poem or

broadside ballad A broadside (also known as a broadsheet) is a single sheet of inexpensive paper printed on one side, often with a ballad, rhyme, news and sometimes with woodcut illustrations. They were one of the most common forms of printed material between the ...

, "The Cruel Miller". Possibly modelled on the 17th-century broadside ''William Grismond's Downfall, or A Lamentable Murther by him Committed at Lainterdine in the county of Hereford on March 12, 1650: Together with his lamentation.'', sometimes known as ''The Bloody Miller''.

Lyrics

I met a little girl in

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state's ...

, a town we all know well And every Sunday evening, out in her home, I'd dwell We went to take an evening walk about a mile from town I picked a stick up off the ground and knocked that fair girl down She fell down on her bended knees, for mercy she did cry "Oh Willy dear, don't kill me here, I'm unprepared to die" She never spoke another word, I only beat her more Until the ground around me within her blood did flow I took her by her golden curls and I drug her round and around Throwing her into the river that flows through Knoxville town Go down, go down, you Knoxville girl with the dark and rolling eyes Go down, go down, you Knoxville girl, you can never be my bride I started back to Knoxville, got there about midnight My mother, she was worried and woke up in a fright Saying "dear son, what have you done to bloody your clothes so?" I told my anxious mother I was bleeding at my nose I called for me a candle to light myself to bed I called for me a handkerchief to bind my aching head Rolled and tumbled the whole night through, as troubles was for me Like flames of hell around my bed and in my eyes could see They carried me down to Knoxville and put me in a cell My friends all tried to get me out but none could go my

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countries ...

I'm here to waste my life away down in this dirty old jail Because I murdered that Knoxville girl, the girl I loved so well

Recordings

Samples

Plan B Plan B typically refers to a contingency plan, a plan devised for an outcome other than in the expected plan. Plan B may also refer to: * Plan B, a brand name of levonorgestrel, an emergency contraception drug Film and television * Plan B En ...

in the bootleg mash-up "Paint It Blacker" (2007) as a reference to violent music existing before modern rap.

Parodies

Patrick Sky Patrick Sky (born Patrick Linch; October 2, 1940May 26, 2021) was an American musician, folk singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was noted for his album ''Songs That Made America Famous'' (1973). He was of Irish and Native American anc ...

on his album ''

Songs That Made America Famous ''Songs That Made America Famous'' is the fifth album by Patrick Sky, released on Adelphi Records in 1973. Sky recorded the album in 1971 but had difficulty finding a label to release it, as the satirical lyrics are explicit. Track listing All ...

'', as "Yonkers Girl". *

GG Allin Kevin Michael "GG" Allin (born Jesus Christ Allin; August 29, 1956 – June 28, 1993) was an American punk rock musician who performed and recorded with many groups during his career. Allin was best known for his controversial live performances ...

on his album ''Carnival of Excess'', as "Watch Me Kill".

Uses in other media

The song features prominently in ''If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O'', the first book in the ''Ballad'' mystery series by

Sharyn McCrumb Sharyn McCrumb (born February 26, 1948) is an American writer whose books celebrate the history and folklore of Appalachia. McCrumb is the winner of numerous literary awards, and the author of the Elizabeth McPherson mystery series, the Ballad ...

Bibliography

* Collin Escott. ''Roadkill on the Three-chord Highway: Art and Trash in American Popular Music''. New York: Routledge, 2002.

References

External links

Essay on the historical roots of "knoxville Girl."
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knoxville Girl, The Murder ballads Child Ballads Outlaws (band) songs The Louvin Brothers songs The Wilburn Brothers songs 19th-century songs Year of song unknown Songwriter unknown