Traditional
Charles Guiteau
Come all you tender Christians, wherever you may be
And likewise pay attention from these few lines from me
I was down at the depot to make my getaway
And Providence being against me, it proved to be too late

I tried to play off insane but found it would not do
The people all against me, it proved to make no show
Judge Cox he passed the sentence, the clerk he wrote it down
On the thirtieth day of June, to die I was condemned

My name is Charles Guiteau, my name I'll never deny
To leave my aged parents to sorrow and to die
But little did I think while in my youthful bloom
I'd be carried to the scaffold to meet my fatal doom

My sister came in prison to bid her last farewell
She threw her arms around me, she wept most bitterly
She said, "My loving brother, today you must die
For the murder of James A. Garfield upon the scaffold high"

My name is Charles Guiteau, my name I'll never deny
To leave my aged parents to sorrow and to die
But little did I think while in my youthful bloom
I'd be carried to the scaffold to meet my fatal doom

And now I mount the scaffold to bid you all adieu
The hangman now is waiting, it's a quarter after two
The black cap is over my face, no longer can I see
But when I'm dead and buried, dear Lord, remember me
My name is Charles Guiteau, my name I'll never deny
To leave my aged parents to sorrow and to die
But little did I think while in my youthful bloom
I'd be carried to the scaffold to meet my fatal doom