Henry's Songbook

My Uncle Walter shot his wife
They put him in jail for the rest of his life
He sent me a sail-boat, made in his cell
And a card for my birthday, wishing me well

He was a sailor during the war
When he got ashore, he'd wreck half the bars
They sent him his papers, a bad time I guess
Said, he wasn't the worst one but he wasn't the best

The few times I saw him, everyone cried
They let him out sometimes if a relative died
He offered up both hands to my questioning eyes
With a plain-clothes policeman on his left and his right

I knew a man called Billy, he was good to me
Got his face cut real bad and from then on was mean
Maybe Uncle Walter was the same kind of guy
Got cut up real bad once, deep down inside

Repeat 1

(as sung by Iain MacKintosh)