Chorus:
Poor ellen smith. how was she found? shot through the heart
Lyin' dead on the ground.
Her body was mangled and all cast around and x marks the spot
Where poor ellen was found.

They picked up her body, carried it away and now she's
A-sleepin' in some lonesome old grave.
Who had the heart and who had the brain to shoot my little ellen
On that cold lonesome plain?

(chorus)

They picked up their rifles and hunted us down. they found us
A-loafin' all 'round town.
The judge may convict me and god knows he can but i know i died
As an innocent man.

(chorus)

The warden has told me that soon i'll be free to go to her grave
Near that old willow tree.
I'm free from the walls of that prison at last but i'll never be
Free of my sins from the past.

(chorus)