Befo’ I let this rock beat me down
I’d die wid de hammer in may han’,
Lawd, I’d die wid de hammer in my han’.”
[91] Stanzas of this kind are frequent in John Henry. They came originally from the old English ballad, The Lass of Roch Royal. See Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, No. 76.
F
John Henry had a little woman,
The dress she wore was red;
She went on down the railroad track,
Say, “Goin’ where John Henry fall dead.”
John Henry said to his captain,