Collected by: Mrs. Willis Bowman
Doug Dunham Goodman, Mo.
For M. C. Parler Instrumental:
Max Dunham Jan. 9, '65
Reel 305 Item 26
Nioma, Nioma,
Would you think me unkind, If I sat down beside you, And told you my mind.
My mind is to marry, And never to part,
And never to die with,
A sad broken heart.
Then he kicked and he cursed her, Till she hardly could stand,
Then he threw her in the river, Just to know
people all gather,
From nigh over and,
Just a-guessin' Nioma,
Would never be found.
So you run tell your mother, Lies at first you understand, That she had Jack in prison, For killing a man.
While Jack was in prison, With his head all bowed down, He made a confession,
And wrote it all down.
Don't hang me, don't hang me,
For I am the man
That drowned Nioma
Just below the mill dam.
Ozark Folksong Collection
