I.
William Scanlon is my name I own,
And all 'round Feenagh, sure I am well known,
(?) was there I lived by industry,
But day and night the devil tempted me.

II.
To kill the fair one I did prepare,
The beauteous, handsome young Bridget Gayer,
Across the fields I led her astray,
And with a loaded Pistol, took her life away.

III.
Her lifeless body then I dragged across,
And well concealed it under sticks and moss,
For eight long days it lay hidden there,
While her friends and relations searched everywhere.

IV.
The lord ordained on that day,
A labouring man should pass the way,
When he discovered, both cold and grey,
The lifeless body of young Bridget Gayer.

V.
Suspicion then surrounded me,
I was arrested immediately,
Conveyed to Charleville, and that with speed,
I was convicted of the deed.

[Typewritten note: "I do not remember the last verse,
but it was a prayer by the prisoner for god to show him mercy."]