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If I Had Known (Murder Ballad)

by Zan & The Winter Folk

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about

In 1853, Henrietta Robinson—also known as The Veiled Murderess—killed two people by poisoning their beers with arsenic in Troy, NY.

Henrietta was known around town as a heavy drinker and often thought her neighbors were out to get her; she even carried a revolver in her dress. On one particular night, she got very drunk at a local bar owned by a couple named the Lanahans. Mrs. Lanahan wound up kicking Henrietta out for being too rowdy; the next day Henrietta came by the Lanahans' home to apologize for her rowdiness, offering beers as an apology. Mr. Lanahan let her in, but his wife was suspicious. She watched as her husband (and their cousin) drank the beers and quickly fall to their death from arsenic poisoning. Henrietta is later convicted of the murders and wears a veil the entirety of her trial—hence her nickname, The Veiled Murderess.

The song is written from the perspective of Mrs. Lanahan as if she's telling her story in a police report. Many news articles from the 1850s focus on how to be a good wife—set the table, don't ask questions, let the husband lead—and this song highlights Mrs. Lanahan's suspicions but also keeping quiet, knowing her place.

credits

released November 5, 2021
recorded at HOWL RECORDING STUDIO, hudson, ny
mixed at TREE WALKER AUDIO, albany, ny
engineered by RYAN SLOWEY
album art by BETH MICKALONIS

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about

Zan & The Winter Folk Troy, New York

Anthems
for the revivalists /
Lullabies
for the lonely /
Ballads
for the hopeful.

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