Jack Combs

DESCRIPTION: "As I passed by where Jack Combs was murdered, As I passed by there so early one day, I spied a cold corpse wrapped up in fine linen." The victim (?) discusses his burial and says "For I have been murdered and you know they've done wrong"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1967
KEYWORDS: cowboy homicide burial
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Combs/Wilgus-FolkSongsOfTheSouthernUnitedStates 49B, p. 180, "Jack Combs" (1 text)
Thorp/Fife-SongsOfTheCowboys XIII, pp. 148-190 (29-30), "Cow Boy's Lament" (22 texts, 7 tunes, the "M" text being in fact a version of this piece)
Roud #2
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Streets of Laredo" [Laws B1] (tune & meter, lyrics) and references there.
NOTES [40 words]: This is almost certainly a localized form of "The Streets of Laredo" (itself an adaption of "The Unfortunate Rake") -- but the focus is different (note the last line, "and you know THEY'VE done wrong"), so it deserves a separate listing. - RBW
File: CW180

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