The Originals © by Arnold Rypens - MAID FREED FROM THE GALLOWS, THE
"The Maid Freed from the Gallows" is one of many titles of a centuries-old folk song about a condemned maiden pleading for someone to buy her freedom from the executioner. In the collection of ballads compiled by Francis James Child, it is indexed as Child Ballad number 95; eleven variants, some fragmentary, are indexed as 95A to 95K.
The Maid Freed from the Gallows - Wikipedia
The Child Ballads
Maid Freed from the Gallows, The [Child 95]
The song was also contained in Cecil Sharp's "English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians"(1917)
https://archive.org/stream/englishfolksongs00camp#page/106/mode/2up
https://archive.org/stream/englishfolksongs00camp#page/106/mode/2up
The ballad existed in a number of folkloric variants from many different countries, and has been remade in a variety of formats. It was recorded in 1939 as "The Gallis Pole" by folk singer Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter, but the most famous version was the 1970 arrangement of the Fred Gerlach version by English rock band Led Zeppelin, which was entitled "Gallows Pole" on the album Led Zeppelin III.
In the most known versions below, the protagonist is male. This appears to be more prevalent in the United States, where hanging of women was uncommon. The crime for which the protagonist faces hanging is occasionally mentioned. The woman may be being held for ransom by pirates; or, she has stolen something from her employer. Other instances tell of her having lost a treasured golden ball, or indicate that she is being hanged for fornication.
Bentley Ball was the first artist to record this traditional. In his version the victim is male.
The only info on Bentley Ball I could find is this: Bentley Ball was an itinerant typewriter salesman and song collector who forayed into recording.
He was also the first artist to record "Jesse James". SEE NEXT LINK
and the first artist to record "The Dying Cowboy". SEE NEXT LINK
Bentley Ball
(o) Bentley Ball (1920) (as "Gallows Tree")
Recorded early 1920 in New York.
Matrix 90041.
Released in 1920 on Columbia A-3084
These are the lyrics of the 1920 Bentley Ball version:
Hangman, hangman, hold off your rope, oh, hold it for a while;
I looked over yonder and I see paw coming, he's walked for many a long mile.
Say paw, say paw, have you brung along some gold, some gold for to set me free?
Or have you come for to see me hung, beneath the Gallows Tree.
No son, no son, I brung along no gold, No gold for to set you free,
I only come for to see you hung, beneath the Gallows Tree.
Hangman, hangman, hold off your rope, oh, hold it for a while;
I looked over yonder and I see ma coming, she's walked for many a long mile.
Say ma, say ma, have you brung along some gold, some gold for to set me free?
Or have you come for to see me hung, beneath the Gallows Tree.
No son, no son, I brung along no gold, No gold for to set you free,
I only come for to see you hung, beneath the Gallows Tree.
Hangman, hangman, hold off your rope, oh, hold it for a while;
I looked over yonder and I see my sweetheart coming, she's walked for many a long mile.
Sweetheart, sweetheart, have you brung along some gold, some gold for to set me free?
Or have you come for to see me hung, beneath the Gallows Tree.
Yes boy, yes boy, I brung along some gold, Some gold for to set you free,
And I have yet come for to take you home, home from the Gallows Tree.
Listen here: cusb_col_a3084_01_90041_02d.mp3
Or here:
(c) Charlie Poole with the North Carolina Ramblers (1928) (as "Hangman, Hangman, Slack The Rope")
Recorded July 23, 1928 in New York
Released on Columbia 15385-D
Charlie Poole With The North Carolina Ramblers* - I Once Loved A Sailor / Hangman, Hangman, Slack The Rope (1928, Shellac) | Discogs
Here are the lyrics:
http://www.jerrydallal.com/poole/Hangman_Hangman_Slack_the_Rope.txt
Listen here:
The next important person in the history of this song is Huddy "Leadbelly" Ledbetter.
He recorded the song on a few occasions with different titles:
And although his first recorded version is entitled "Maid Freed From The Gallows", the victim in all of the Leadbelly versions is also a man.
1. Leadbelly (1935) (as "The Maid Freed from the Gallows")
Huddie Ledbetter vocal/guitar
Recorded January 20, 1935 in Wilton, Connecticut (unissued at the time)
Matrix LoC # 139-A-2
Released in 1990 on The Complete Library of Congress Recordings vol 5 1935.
Leadbelly - Vol. 5 1935 (Complete Library Of Congress Recordings In Chronological Order On 12 LPs) (1990, Vinyl) | Discogs
Listen here:
Or here:
2. Leadbelly (1938) (as "Mama, Did You Bring Me Any Silver?")
Huddie Ledbetter vocal/guitar
Recorded December 26, 1938 in New York City (unissued at the time)
Matrix LoC # 2501-A
Released in 1965 on the triple album "The Library of Congress Recordings" (Elektra ELK 301/2)
Leadbelly - The Library Of Congress Recordings (1965, Vinyl) | Discogs
Listen here:
3. Lead Belly (1939) (as "The Gallis Pole")
Recorded April 1, 1939 in New York City
Matrix GM-506 and GM-509-A
Released on Musicraft 227-A
Father, did you bring me the silver?
Father, did you bring me the gold?
What did you bring me, dear father
Keep me from the gallows pole?
Yeah, what did you?
Yeah, what did you?
What did you bring me, keep me from the gallows pole?
Spoken: In olden times years ago, when you put a man in prison behind the bars in a jailhouse
If you had fifteen or twenty-five or thirty dollars
You could save him from the gallows pole 'cause they gonna hang him if you don't bring up a little money
Everybody would come to the jailhouse and boy would ran upside the jail; he was married, too
As for who brang him something, lot of comfort, here comes his mother
Mother, did you bring me the silver?
Mother, did you bring me the gold?
What did you bring me, dear mother
Keep me from the gallows pole?
Yeah, what did you?
Yeah, what did you?
What did you bring me, keep me from the gallows pole?
Son, I brought you some silver
Son, I brought you some gold
Son, I brought you a little of everything
Keep you from the gallows pole
Yeah, I brought it
Yeah, I brought it
I brought you, keep you from the gallows pole
Spoken: Here come his wife. His wife brought him all kind of clock parts and trace change
Everything in the world she could to get him out of the jailhouse
Wife, did you bring me the silver?
Wife, did you bring me the gold?
What did you bring me, dear wifey
Save me from the gallows pole?
Yeah, what did you?
Yeah, what did you?
What did you bring me, keep me from the gallows pole?
Friends, did you bring me the silver?
Friends, did you bring me the gold?
What did you bring me, my dear friends
Keep me from the gallows pole?
Yeah, what did you?
Yeah, what did you?
What did you bring me, keep me from the gallows pole?
Listen here:
(c) Jean Ritchie (1954) (as "The Hangman Song")
During 1952/1953 Jean Ritchie was on a Fulbright scholarship tour through Scotland, Ireland and England.
Ritchie sought the sources of the kinds of songs that had been in her family for several generations. She gathered some of the results on the 1954 album "Field Trip", pairing them, when possible, with her performances of American versions of the songs.
https://www.discogs.com/Jean-Ritchie-Field-Trip/release/6857653
Listen here:
(c) Peggy Seeger (1957) (as "Hangman, Hangman (Child #95"))
Released on her album Folksongs and Ballads
https://www.discogs.com/Peggy-Seeger-Folksongs-And-Ballads/release/3386101
Listen here:
Peggy says she doesn't remember where she got the song but the tune and lyrical structure are similar to the version above by Jean Ritchie.
Ritchie learned the song from her father, Balis W. Ritchie, who was born in Knott County, Kentucky in 1869.
Peggy remains remarkably faithful to that version almost fifty years later.
On the next link you can listen to Peggy's version from the album "Love Call Me Home" (2005)
https://peggyseeger.bandcamp.com/track/hangman
(c) Andrew Rowan Summers (1954) (as "The Hangman's Tree")
Released on his Folkways album "The Lady Gay", which has a rather different melody.
https://www.discogs.com/Andrew-Rowan-Summers-The-Lady-Gay/release/1393620
Here are the liner-notes: https://folkways-media.si.edu/liner_notes/folkways/FW02041.pdf
Listen here:
Or here:
(c) Odetta (1957) (as "The Gallows Pole")
Odetta (Holmes) recorded her version in 1957 in the Esoteric Studios in New York City.
On the back-cover of the album with her version of the song, she says the following:
"GALLOWS TREE: There are many versions of this song. I think the most popular is Huddie Leadbetter's. I suppose what I sing is an accumulation of all the Gallows Trees and Poles I've heard—I'm sure I sing the song because I like the guitar accompaniment. (Ah, modesty, I've lost you) I like the song too".
Odetta at the Gate of Horn: Tradition Records at the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
https://www.discogs.com/Odetta-At-The-Gate-Of-Horn/release/5093814
Listen here:
(c) Fred Gerlach (1960) (as "Gallows Pole")
Another important person in the history of the song: Fred Gerlach, whose version was copied by Led Zeppelin.
On the back-cover of the album with his version of the song, he says the following:
1. GALLOWS POLE - This is based on one of Leadbelly's songs, which itself has a long history dating back hundreds of years in England. The rythms and finger-picking styles have taken me four years to evolve. It is my favorite number, but it is so strenuous that I must perform regularly for a week before I'll attempt it.
Here's the original imprint of the album on the Audio-Video label (released around 1959/1960) and re-released on Folkways in 1962.
If you click on the link below you get a picture of the back-cover of this album
If you click again on that picture you are linked to a bigger picture
http://www.wirz.de/music/gerlach/grafik/gallbac4.jpg
Listen here
(c) Kingston Trio (1961) (as "Hangman")
Released on their album "Make Way".
https://www.discogs.com/The-Kingston-Trio-Make-Way/release/7471694
Listen here:
(c) The Limeliters (1963) (as "Hangman, Hangman")
Released on their album "Fourteen 14K Folk Songs"
https://www.discogs.com/The-Limeliters-Fourteen-14K-Folksongs/release/5399455
Listen here:
Or to a sample here: https://www.harbel.one/limeliters/mp3/Hangman,_Hangman.mp3
In 1967 Ewan MacColl and his wife Peggy Seeger recorded an English and American version of this Child Ballad # 95 on the much praised 10 record "Long Harvest" series.
http://ewan-maccoll.info/AlbumInfo.aspx?ID=146
Ewan's (English) version was called "Prickle Holly Bush" and Peggy's (American) version was called "Hangman". Again the victim is male. Both versions were on record 6.
Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger - The Long Harvest (Record Six) (1968, Vinyl) | Discogs
Listen to both versions here The Long Harvest Vol.6 | Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger
(c) Peter Paul & Mary (1965) (as "Hangman") (live on the BBC)
Watch it here:
The most familiar version today is by English band Led Zeppelin who recorded the song in the summer of 1970 for their album Led Zeppelin III. The album is a shift in style for the band towards acoustic material, influenced by a holiday Jimmy Page and Robert Plant took to the Bron-Yr-Aur cottage in the Welsh countryside. Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page adapted the song from the version by Fred Gerlach. On the album the track was credited "Traditional: Arranged by Page and Plant".
They made a bit of change in the traditional lyrics: the brother brings some gold, the sister has sex with the hangman and still the narrator gets hanged.
HERE ARE THE ZEP LYRICS:
Hangman, hangman, hold it a little while,
I Think I see my friends coming, Riding a many mile.
Friends, you get some silver?
Did you get a little gold?
What did you bring me, my dear friends? Keep me from the Gallows Pole.
What did you bring me to keep me from the Gallows Pole?
I couldn't get no silver, I couldn't get no gold,
You know that we're too damn poor to keep you from the Gallows Pole.
Hangman, hangman, hold it a little while,
I think I see my brother coming, riding many a mile.
Brother, you get me some silver?
Did you get a little gold?
What did you bring me, my brother, to keep me from the Gallows Pole?
Brother, I brought you some silver, yeah.
I brought a little gold, I brought a little of everything
To keep you from the Gallows Pole.
Yes, I brought you to keep you from the Gallows Pole.
Hangman, hangman, turn your head awhile,
I think I see my sister coming, riding many mile, mile, mile.
Sister, I implore you, take him by the hand,
Take him to some shady bower, save me from the wrath of this man,
Please take him, save me from the wrath of this mad, man.
Hangman, hangman, upon your face a smile,
Tell me that I'm free to ride,
Ride for many mile, mile, mile.
Oh yes, you got a fine sister, She warmed my blood from cold,
She warmed my blood to boiling hot to keep you from the Gallows Pole,
Your brother brought me silver, Your sister warmed my soul,
But now I laugh and pull so hard, see you swinging from the Gallows Pole
But now I laugh and pull so hard, see you swinging from the Gallows Pole
Swingin' on the gallows pole!
Ah-ha-ha
Swingin'
Swingin' on the gallows pole!
See-saw marjory daw
See-saw knock at my door
(PS: "See-saw marjory daw" in the LAST VERSE is from a Nursery Rhyme)
SEE: Seesaw Marjorie Daw nursery rhyme lyrics, origins and history
Listen here for Zep's version from their album Led Zeppelin III.
Led Zeppelin members Page and Plant later recorded a version of this song for their 1994 release "No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded". They also released this track as a single. The song was performed regularly on the subsequent tour and featured a hurdy gurdy.
Here are Page and Plant in the Jools Holland Show in 1994:
Canadian singer/songwriter Neil Young has a version named "Gallows Pole" on his 2012 album Americana recorded with Crazy Horse
(c) Neil Young & Crazy Horse (2012) (as "Gallows Pole")
Listen here:
Or here:
I also added a few versions of the "Prickly Bush" variant of "Child Ballad # 95" which in some cases use the literal lyrics of "Gallows Trees".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prickly_Bush
https://www.mainlynorfolk.info/lloyd/songs/thepricklybush.html
(c) A.L. Lloyd (1956) (as "The Prickly Bush")
on the album: The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) Vol. 2
https://mainlynorfolk.info/lloyd/records/popularballads.html#vol2
Listen here:
Or here:
(c) Judy Collins (1961) (as "The Prickilie Bush")
Released on the album "Maid Of Constant Sorrow".
Listen here:
(c) Nic Jones recorded "Prickly Bush" prior to 1982.
It was released in 2001 on the album "Unearthed"
https://mainlynorfolk.info/nic.jones/records/unearthed.html
Listen here:
(c) Steeleye Span (1996) (as "The Prickly Bush")
Released on the album "Time"
https://mainlynorfolk.info/steeleye.span/records/time.html
Here are the LINER-NOTES:
"This story is allegorical, the gold signifying the maid's honour, which when lost can only be restored by one person -- her lover. Gold seems from early times to have been the symbol of integrity, appearing in Danish ballads as the virgin's insignia. So too in the Scottish ballad of Tam Lin -- "I forbid you maidens all, that wear gold in your hair.."
The 'prickly bush' is familiar in English and Scottish ballads as the symbol of unhappy love. The real question is -- do we remember the lessons learned whilst in the prickly bush?
Chorus:
Oh the prickly bush
it pricks my heart full sore
and if ever I'm out of the prickly bush
I'll never get in it any more.
Hangman, oh hangman
Hold your rope awhile
I think I see my father, over yonder stile
Father did you bring me gold or have you brought any fee
for to save my body from the cold, clay ground
and my neck from the gallows tree
No I didn't bring you gold nor have I brought any fee
but I have come to see you hung upon the gallows tree
Hangman, oh hangman
Hold your rope awhile
I think I see my brother, over yonder stile
Brother did you bring me gold or have you brought any fee
for to save my body from the cold, clay ground
and my neck from the gallows tree
No I didn't bring you gold nor have I brought any fee
but I have come to see you hung upon the gallows tree
Chorus
Hangman, oh hangman
Hold your rope awhile
I think I see my sister, over yonder stile
Sister did you bring me gold or have you brought any fee
for to save my body from the cold, clay ground
and my neck from the gallows tree
No I didn't bring you gold nor have I brought any fee
but I have come to see you hung upon the gallows tree
Chorus
Hangman, oh hangman
Hold your rope awhile
I think I see my lover, over yonder stile
Lover did you bring me gold or have you brought any fee
for to save my body from the cold, clay ground
and my neck from the gallows tree
Yes I brought you gold
yes, I brought you fee
and I've not come to see you hung
upon the gallows tree
Listen here:
Or here:
SEE ALSO THE NEXT LINKS:
http://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~zierke/lloyd/songs/thepricklybush.html
http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=62077
Finally I added a very interesting 78-RPM version of Asa Martin and Bob Roberts "Hang down your head and cry".
The Martin & Roberts 1933 recording is a weird mishmosh: one verse that sounds like it's from the "Ten Thousand Miles Away from Home" family, one from "The Gallows Tree", and one more or less from "Roving Gambler."
I put it here because that middle verse is most explicitly from here, whereas the others are vaguer.
Listen here:
On his turn the 1933 Martin & Roberts version above can be traced back to September 20, 1926, when Charlie Poole with the North Carolina Ramblers recorded the song "The Highwayman", which has the same Gallows Tree middle verse.
http://www.lizlyle.lofgrens.org/RmOlSngs/RTOS-Highwayman.html
Listen here:
(c) Charlie Poole with the North Carolina Ramblers (1928) (as "Hangman, Hangman, Slack The Rope")
Recorded July 23, 1928 in New York
Released on Columbia 15385-D
Charlie Poole With The North Carolina Ramblers* - I Once Loved A Sailor / Hangman, Hangman, Slack The Rope (1928, Shellac) | Discogs
Here are the lyrics:
http://www.jerrydallal.com/poole/Hangman_Hangman_Slack_the_Rope.txt
Listen here:
The next important person in the history of this song is Huddy "Leadbelly" Ledbetter.
He recorded the song on a few occasions with different titles:
And although his first recorded version is entitled "Maid Freed From The Gallows", the victim in all of the Leadbelly versions is also a man.
1. Leadbelly (1935) (as "The Maid Freed from the Gallows")
Huddie Ledbetter vocal/guitar
Recorded January 20, 1935 in Wilton, Connecticut (unissued at the time)
Matrix LoC # 139-A-2
Released in 1990 on The Complete Library of Congress Recordings vol 5 1935.
Leadbelly - Vol. 5 1935 (Complete Library Of Congress Recordings In Chronological Order On 12 LPs) (1990, Vinyl) | Discogs
Listen here:
Or here:
2. Leadbelly (1938) (as "Mama, Did You Bring Me Any Silver?")
Huddie Ledbetter vocal/guitar
Recorded December 26, 1938 in New York City (unissued at the time)
Matrix LoC # 2501-A
Released in 1965 on the triple album "The Library of Congress Recordings" (Elektra ELK 301/2)
Leadbelly - The Library Of Congress Recordings (1965, Vinyl) | Discogs
Listen here:
3. Lead Belly (1939) (as "The Gallis Pole")
Recorded April 1, 1939 in New York City
Matrix GM-506 and GM-509-A
Released on Musicraft 227-A
Father, did you bring me the silver?
Father, did you bring me the gold?
What did you bring me, dear father
Keep me from the gallows pole?
Yeah, what did you?
Yeah, what did you?
What did you bring me, keep me from the gallows pole?
Spoken: In olden times years ago, when you put a man in prison behind the bars in a jailhouse
If you had fifteen or twenty-five or thirty dollars
You could save him from the gallows pole 'cause they gonna hang him if you don't bring up a little money
Everybody would come to the jailhouse and boy would ran upside the jail; he was married, too
As for who brang him something, lot of comfort, here comes his mother
Mother, did you bring me the silver?
Mother, did you bring me the gold?
What did you bring me, dear mother
Keep me from the gallows pole?
Yeah, what did you?
Yeah, what did you?
What did you bring me, keep me from the gallows pole?
Son, I brought you some silver
Son, I brought you some gold
Son, I brought you a little of everything
Keep you from the gallows pole
Yeah, I brought it
Yeah, I brought it
I brought you, keep you from the gallows pole
Spoken: Here come his wife. His wife brought him all kind of clock parts and trace change
Everything in the world she could to get him out of the jailhouse
Wife, did you bring me the silver?
Wife, did you bring me the gold?
What did you bring me, dear wifey
Save me from the gallows pole?
Yeah, what did you?
Yeah, what did you?
What did you bring me, keep me from the gallows pole?
Friends, did you bring me the silver?
Friends, did you bring me the gold?
What did you bring me, my dear friends
Keep me from the gallows pole?
Yeah, what did you?
Yeah, what did you?
What did you bring me, keep me from the gallows pole?
Listen here:
(c) Jean Ritchie (1954) (as "The Hangman Song")
During 1952/1953 Jean Ritchie was on a Fulbright scholarship tour through Scotland, Ireland and England.
Ritchie sought the sources of the kinds of songs that had been in her family for several generations. She gathered some of the results on the 1954 album "Field Trip", pairing them, when possible, with her performances of American versions of the songs.
https://www.discogs.com/Jean-Ritchie-Field-Trip/release/6857653
Listen here:
(c) Peggy Seeger (1957) (as "Hangman, Hangman (Child #95"))
Released on her album Folksongs and Ballads
https://www.discogs.com/Peggy-Seeger-Folksongs-And-Ballads/release/3386101
Listen here:
Peggy says she doesn't remember where she got the song but the tune and lyrical structure are similar to the version above by Jean Ritchie.
Ritchie learned the song from her father, Balis W. Ritchie, who was born in Knott County, Kentucky in 1869.
Peggy remains remarkably faithful to that version almost fifty years later.
On the next link you can listen to Peggy's version from the album "Love Call Me Home" (2005)
https://peggyseeger.bandcamp.com/track/hangman
(c) Andrew Rowan Summers (1954) (as "The Hangman's Tree")
Released on his Folkways album "The Lady Gay", which has a rather different melody.
https://www.discogs.com/Andrew-Rowan-Summers-The-Lady-Gay/release/1393620
Here are the liner-notes: https://folkways-media.si.edu/liner_notes/folkways/FW02041.pdf
Listen here:
Or here:
(c) Odetta (1957) (as "The Gallows Pole")
Odetta (Holmes) recorded her version in 1957 in the Esoteric Studios in New York City.
On the back-cover of the album with her version of the song, she says the following:
"GALLOWS TREE: There are many versions of this song. I think the most popular is Huddie Leadbetter's. I suppose what I sing is an accumulation of all the Gallows Trees and Poles I've heard—I'm sure I sing the song because I like the guitar accompaniment. (Ah, modesty, I've lost you) I like the song too".
Odetta at the Gate of Horn: Tradition Records at the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
https://www.discogs.com/Odetta-At-The-Gate-Of-Horn/release/5093814
Listen here:
(c) Fred Gerlach (1960) (as "Gallows Pole")
Another important person in the history of the song: Fred Gerlach, whose version was copied by Led Zeppelin.
On the back-cover of the album with his version of the song, he says the following:
1. GALLOWS POLE - This is based on one of Leadbelly's songs, which itself has a long history dating back hundreds of years in England. The rythms and finger-picking styles have taken me four years to evolve. It is my favorite number, but it is so strenuous that I must perform regularly for a week before I'll attempt it.
Here's the original imprint of the album on the Audio-Video label (released around 1959/1960) and re-released on Folkways in 1962.
If you click on the link below you get a picture of the back-cover of this album
If you click again on that picture you are linked to a bigger picture
http://www.wirz.de/music/gerlach/grafik/gallbac4.jpg
Listen here
(c) Kingston Trio (1961) (as "Hangman")
Released on their album "Make Way".
https://www.discogs.com/The-Kingston-Trio-Make-Way/release/7471694
Listen here:
(c) The Limeliters (1963) (as "Hangman, Hangman")
Released on their album "Fourteen 14K Folk Songs"
https://www.discogs.com/The-Limeliters-Fourteen-14K-Folksongs/release/5399455
Listen here:
Or to a sample here: https://www.harbel.one/limeliters/mp3/Hangman,_Hangman.mp3
In 1967 Ewan MacColl and his wife Peggy Seeger recorded an English and American version of this Child Ballad # 95 on the much praised 10 record "Long Harvest" series.
http://ewan-maccoll.info/AlbumInfo.aspx?ID=146
Ewan's (English) version was called "Prickle Holly Bush" and Peggy's (American) version was called "Hangman". Again the victim is male. Both versions were on record 6.
Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger - The Long Harvest (Record Six) (1968, Vinyl) | Discogs
Listen to both versions here The Long Harvest Vol.6 | Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger
(c) Peter Paul & Mary (1965) (as "Hangman") (live on the BBC)
Watch it here:
The most familiar version today is by English band Led Zeppelin who recorded the song in the summer of 1970 for their album Led Zeppelin III. The album is a shift in style for the band towards acoustic material, influenced by a holiday Jimmy Page and Robert Plant took to the Bron-Yr-Aur cottage in the Welsh countryside. Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page adapted the song from the version by Fred Gerlach. On the album the track was credited "Traditional: Arranged by Page and Plant".
They made a bit of change in the traditional lyrics: the brother brings some gold, the sister has sex with the hangman and still the narrator gets hanged.
HERE ARE THE ZEP LYRICS:
Hangman, hangman, hold it a little while,
I Think I see my friends coming, Riding a many mile.
Friends, you get some silver?
Did you get a little gold?
What did you bring me, my dear friends? Keep me from the Gallows Pole.
What did you bring me to keep me from the Gallows Pole?
I couldn't get no silver, I couldn't get no gold,
You know that we're too damn poor to keep you from the Gallows Pole.
Hangman, hangman, hold it a little while,
I think I see my brother coming, riding many a mile.
Brother, you get me some silver?
Did you get a little gold?
What did you bring me, my brother, to keep me from the Gallows Pole?
Brother, I brought you some silver, yeah.
I brought a little gold, I brought a little of everything
To keep you from the Gallows Pole.
Yes, I brought you to keep you from the Gallows Pole.
Hangman, hangman, turn your head awhile,
I think I see my sister coming, riding many mile, mile, mile.
Sister, I implore you, take him by the hand,
Take him to some shady bower, save me from the wrath of this man,
Please take him, save me from the wrath of this mad, man.
Hangman, hangman, upon your face a smile,
Tell me that I'm free to ride,
Ride for many mile, mile, mile.
Oh yes, you got a fine sister, She warmed my blood from cold,
She warmed my blood to boiling hot to keep you from the Gallows Pole,
Your brother brought me silver, Your sister warmed my soul,
But now I laugh and pull so hard, see you swinging from the Gallows Pole
But now I laugh and pull so hard, see you swinging from the Gallows Pole
Swingin' on the gallows pole!
Ah-ha-ha
Swingin'
Swingin' on the gallows pole!
See-saw marjory daw
See-saw knock at my door
(PS: "See-saw marjory daw" in the LAST VERSE is from a Nursery Rhyme)
SEE: Seesaw Marjorie Daw nursery rhyme lyrics, origins and history
Listen here for Zep's version from their album Led Zeppelin III.
Led Zeppelin members Page and Plant later recorded a version of this song for their 1994 release "No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded". They also released this track as a single. The song was performed regularly on the subsequent tour and featured a hurdy gurdy.
Here are Page and Plant in the Jools Holland Show in 1994:
Canadian singer/songwriter Neil Young has a version named "Gallows Pole" on his 2012 album Americana recorded with Crazy Horse
(c) Neil Young & Crazy Horse (2012) (as "Gallows Pole")
Listen here:
Or here:
I also added a few versions of the "Prickly Bush" variant of "Child Ballad # 95" which in some cases use the literal lyrics of "Gallows Trees".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prickly_Bush
https://www.mainlynorfolk.info/lloyd/songs/thepricklybush.html
(c) A.L. Lloyd (1956) (as "The Prickly Bush")
on the album: The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) Vol. 2
https://mainlynorfolk.info/lloyd/records/popularballads.html#vol2
Listen here:
Or here:
(c) Judy Collins (1961) (as "The Prickilie Bush")
Released on the album "Maid Of Constant Sorrow".
Listen here:
(c) Nic Jones recorded "Prickly Bush" prior to 1982.
It was released in 2001 on the album "Unearthed"
https://mainlynorfolk.info/nic.jones/records/unearthed.html
Listen here:
(c) Steeleye Span (1996) (as "The Prickly Bush")
Released on the album "Time"
https://mainlynorfolk.info/steeleye.span/records/time.html
Here are the LINER-NOTES:
"This story is allegorical, the gold signifying the maid's honour, which when lost can only be restored by one person -- her lover. Gold seems from early times to have been the symbol of integrity, appearing in Danish ballads as the virgin's insignia. So too in the Scottish ballad of Tam Lin -- "I forbid you maidens all, that wear gold in your hair.."
The 'prickly bush' is familiar in English and Scottish ballads as the symbol of unhappy love. The real question is -- do we remember the lessons learned whilst in the prickly bush?
Chorus:
Oh the prickly bush
it pricks my heart full sore
and if ever I'm out of the prickly bush
I'll never get in it any more.
Hangman, oh hangman
Hold your rope awhile
I think I see my father, over yonder stile
Father did you bring me gold or have you brought any fee
for to save my body from the cold, clay ground
and my neck from the gallows tree
No I didn't bring you gold nor have I brought any fee
but I have come to see you hung upon the gallows tree
Hangman, oh hangman
Hold your rope awhile
I think I see my brother, over yonder stile
Brother did you bring me gold or have you brought any fee
for to save my body from the cold, clay ground
and my neck from the gallows tree
No I didn't bring you gold nor have I brought any fee
but I have come to see you hung upon the gallows tree
Chorus
Hangman, oh hangman
Hold your rope awhile
I think I see my sister, over yonder stile
Sister did you bring me gold or have you brought any fee
for to save my body from the cold, clay ground
and my neck from the gallows tree
No I didn't bring you gold nor have I brought any fee
but I have come to see you hung upon the gallows tree
Chorus
Hangman, oh hangman
Hold your rope awhile
I think I see my lover, over yonder stile
Lover did you bring me gold or have you brought any fee
for to save my body from the cold, clay ground
and my neck from the gallows tree
Yes I brought you gold
yes, I brought you fee
and I've not come to see you hung
upon the gallows tree
Listen here:
Or here:
SEE ALSO THE NEXT LINKS:
http://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~zierke/lloyd/songs/thepricklybush.html
http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=62077
Finally I added a very interesting 78-RPM version of Asa Martin and Bob Roberts "Hang down your head and cry".
The Martin & Roberts 1933 recording is a weird mishmosh: one verse that sounds like it's from the "Ten Thousand Miles Away from Home" family, one from "The Gallows Tree", and one more or less from "Roving Gambler."
I put it here because that middle verse is most explicitly from here, whereas the others are vaguer.
Listen here:
On his turn the 1933 Martin & Roberts version above can be traced back to September 20, 1926, when Charlie Poole with the North Carolina Ramblers recorded the song "The Highwayman", which has the same Gallows Tree middle verse.
http://www.lizlyle.lofgrens.org/RmOlSngs/RTOS-Highwayman.html
Listen here:
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