In the beautiful hills way back in Roane County There’s where I’ve roamed for many long years There’s where my heart’s been tender most ever There’s where the first step of misfortune I made 
I was thirty years old when I courted and married When Amanda Gilbraith was then called my wife Her brother stabbed me for some unknown reason Just three months later I’d taken Tom’s life 
For twenty-five years this whole world I rambled I went to old England, to France and to Spain I thought of my home way back in Roane County I boarded a steamer and came home again 
I was captured and tried in the village of Kingston Not a man in that county would speak a kind word When the jury came in with the verdict next morning "A lifetime in prison" were the words that I heard 
When the train pulled out, my mother stood weeping And sister she sat alone with a sigh And the last words I heard was "Willy God bless you" Was "Willy God bless you, God bless you, good bye" 
No matter what happens to me in Roane County No matter how long my sentence may be Boys when you write home from the prison in Nashville Place one of my songs in your letter for me 
file from: www.traditionalmusic.co.uk 
Visit http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk for more songs