Richardson's Farewell

DESCRIPTION: "Injured Boston now awake While I a true confession make...." The singer, called "the Informer," got a "wretch of wretches" with child, but the crime was blamed upon a Parson. The singer confesses to every other evil and bids farewell
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Burt-AmericanMurderBallads)
KEYWORDS: pregnancy crime punishment execution clergy betrayal
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Burt-AmericanMurderBallads, pp. 179-181, "(The LIFE and humble CONFESSION of Richardson the Informer" (1 text); also p. 182, (no title) (a fragment of another broadside about Richardson)
NOTES [101 words]: This is one of those items that belongs in a bad songs contest. Ebenezer Richardson came to be known as "The Informer" during the 1760s as the American colonies tried to avoid British imports, and in the struggles of the time, Richardson accidentally shot and killed a boy named Christopher Sneider. Richardson was sentenced to death, but he eventually was pardoned.
The outraged populace could do nothing but pin every crime, natural and unnatural, on the fellow while dreaming of hanging him. This broadside is the result -- and it's as much a crime against humanity as anything Richardson ever did. - RBW
File: Burt179

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