“The Back Porch and a Fruit Jar Full of Iced Tea”

Along came the F.F.V.
The swiftest on the line
She was runnin’ down the C&O Road
Just twenty-five minutes behind
Runnin’ into Souville
The headquarters on the line
And receivin’ very strict orders
From the station right behind

Georgie’s mother came to him
Her bucket on her arm
And she said, “My darling son
Be careful how you run
There’s many a man that’s lost his life
Just tryin’ to make lost time
But if you run your engine right
You’ll get there right on time”

Up the track she darted
And into a rock she crashed
Upside down the engine turned
And poor Georgie’s head was smashed
His head lay ’gainst the firebox door
And the flames were runnin’ high
And he said, “I’m proud to be born for an engineer
With a C&O Road to die”

The doctor said to Georgie
“My darling boy, be still
Your life may yet be saved
If it is God’s precious will”
“Oh no,” cried he, “That will not do
I’d rather die so free
I want to die for the engine I love
One hundred and forty-three”

The doctor said to Georgie
“Your life cannot be saved”
He was murdered on a railway
And laid in a lonesome grave
And his eyes were covered up with blood
And his eyes they could not see
And so the very last words poor Georgie cried
Were “Nearer my God to thee”

Late in the evening
At about sundown
High on the hill up above the town
Uncle Pen played the fiddle
Lordy, how it would ring
You could hear it talk
You could hear it sing

Oh, the people come from far away
And dance all night ’til the break of day
When the caller hollered the do-si-do
You knew Uncle Pen was ready to go

Late in the evening
At about sundown
High on the hill up above the town
Uncle Pen played the fiddle
Lordy, how it would ring
You could hear it talk
And you could hear it sing

He played a tune they called “The Soldier’s Joy”
And the one that they called “The Boston Boy”
The greatest of all was the “Jenny Lynn”
To me, that’s where good fiddlin’ begins

Late in the evening
At about sundown
High on the hill up above the town
Uncle Pen played the fiddle
Lordy, how it would ring
You could hear it talk
And you could hear it sing
Woo!

[break]

I’ll never forget that mournful day
When old Uncle Pen was called away
He hung up his fiddle and he hung up his bow
And we knew it was time for him to go

Late in the evening
At about sundown
High on the hill up above the town
Uncle Pen played the fiddle
Lordy, how it would ring
You could hear it talk
And you could hear it sing
You could hear it sing
You could hear it sing
You could hear it sing
You could hear it sing
Oh, listen to it sing
Oh, listen to it sing
Yes, you could hear it sing
You could hear it sing
You could hear it sing
You could hear it sing
You could hear it sing