the prettiest things

I once had a boy
He lived by the Black Creek
With chestnut hair and a honey voice
The sweetest boy I ever did meet
He grew up so fine
Taller than six feet
I knew I had to make him mine
The prettiest thing I ever did see

The sweetest boy I ever did meet
Sweeter than the sugarbush
And the taste of strawberries
The prettiest thing I ever did see
Prettier than the sound of a shotgun
Ringing through the trees

I took my mother's ring
And asked him for his hand
But he said he would not marry me
Why not, I could not understand
My head began to spin
So I left the Black Creek
But I could not stop thinking of him
The prettiest thing I ever did see

The sweetest boy I ever did meet
Sweeter than the sugarbush
And the taste of strawberries
The prettiest thing I ever did see
Prettier than the sound of a shotgun
Ringing through the trees

Once autumn had arrived
I set out to go home
'Cause when my Pa was still alive
We'd shoot deer when the summer was gone
So I took to the woods
And saw a flash of brown
I aimed for where I thought he stood
And shot that young buck right on down

Now, I approached to see
The buck that I had slain
But as I passed those maple trees
I saw my lover, dead he lay
And I left him in the shade
With just my mother's ring
Around his neck on a silver chain
The prettiest things I ever did see

The sweetest boy I ever did meet
Sweeter than the sugarbush
And the taste of strawberries
The prettiest thing I ever did see
Prettier than the sound of a shotgun
Ringing through the trees