Wilds of Wise County
In the wilds of Wise County
Where the Roaring Fork meets the Canepatch Creek
There was a girl, her name was Sally
She left home at just 16
Met a boy, fell in love but it was not so sweet
Old timers said she was “fat in a family way”
When her Daddy found out, there was big, big trouble
He shot the boy dead and buried him with a shovel
No one ever knew what happened to ‘ol Jeb
But he’s 6 feet under with a bullet in his head
Sally went back to live with Daddy
Thinking Jeb up & left, just ran away
But she’d still wait, staring out that window
She got so crazy, she got so sad
Jeb was her a future, they had big plans
She guessed a baby couldn’t make him stay
One night she jumped out of bed and ran to the river
Her night gown blew, as the wind gave her a shiver
She stood on a rock and with barely a sound
She jumped right in and surely did drown
In the wilds of Wise County
Where the Roaring Fork meets the Canepatch Creek
There’s a ghost, most say it’s Sally
If you go down to the river at night
And stare at that rock in the pale moonlight
She’ll be there with a baby in her arms
A few yards away, in the wilds of Wise County
Lies the grave of her beau, in the wood’s thick bounty
What no one ever knew, what her Daddy didn’t see
Was the ring in his pocket … to wed Sally
No one ever knew, what he never told nobody
Is buried with him in that hole so deep and muddy
He wanted to get married on the first of June
He wanted a big wedding and a honeymoon
In the wilds of Wise County