McAfee's Confession [Laws F13]

DESCRIPTION: McAfee, the singer, is raised by an uncle after being orphaned. As a youth he runs away and turns wild. Married to a good woman, he has an affair with Hettie Stout and murders his wife by giving her poison instead of medicine. He is condemned to die
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1868 (Musick-JAF-TheOldAlbumOf-William-A-Larkin)
KEYWORDS: homicide orphan adultery execution
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Mar 28, 1825 - Hanging of John McAfee
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES (19 citations):
Laws F13, "McAfee's Confession"
Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety, pp. 317-321, "McAfee's Confession" (2 texts plus references to 4 more, 1 tune)
Randolph 133, "McFee's Confession" (2 texts plus a long excerpt, 1 tune)
Morris-FolksongsOfFlorida, #33, "McAfee's Confession" (1 text)
Eddy-BalladsAndSongsFromOhio 129, "McAfee's Confession" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering-BalladsAndSongsOfSouthernMichigan 138, "McAfee's Confession" (1 text)
Stout-FolkloreFromIowa 86, pp. 107-109, "McAfee's Confession" (1 text)
Sackett/Koch-KansasFolklore, pp. 175-177, "McAfee's Confession" (1 text, 1 tune)
Musick-JAF-TheOldAlbumOf-William-A-Larkin 42, "Confession of Mc ifee" (1 text)
Pound-AmericanBalladsAndSongs, 68, pp. 153-154, "Young McFee" (1 text)
Finger-FrontierBallads, p. 30, "Master MacAfee" (1 excerpt, probably this); pp 40-43, "MacAfee's Confession" (1 text plus some excerpts, 1 tune)
Cox-FolkSongsSouth 37, "McAfee's Confession" (2 texts plus references to 5 more, 1 tune)
Cox/Hercog/Halpert/Boswell-WVirginia-B, #6A-B, pp. 133-136, "McAfee's Confession" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
Bush-FSofCentralWestVirginiaVol3, pp. 54-56, "MacAfee"; pp. 57-59, "The Orphant Boy" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Sharp-EnglishFolkSongsFromSouthernAppalachians 79, "Macafee's Congession, or Harry Gray" (4 texts, 4 tunes)
Burt-AmericanMurderBallads, pp. 22-24, "McAfee's Confession" (1 text)
Cohen-AmericanFolkSongsARegionalEncyclopedia2, pp. 399-401, "Mackafee's Confession" (1 text)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood-NewLostCityRamblersSongbook, p. 136, "MacAfee's Confession" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 630, MCAFEECN*
Roud #449
NOTES [45 words]: Laws lists this as a native American ballad, but there is British influence; Pound notes that her text concludes with a wish by McFee that he had "ten thousand pounds" to bring his wife back to life. This may be a moralizing addition, but clearly from a British source. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.0
File: LF13

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