James Derry- LeBrine (VT) 1938 Flanders C
[From Flanders; Ancient Ballads, III, 1963. Coffins notes follow. Flanders C-G are not versions of "Maid Freed" but of the related ballad "Derry Gaol/Streets of Derry," that Bronson lists as an Appendix. For whatever reason, these "Derry Gaol" ballads, although identified, are still listed under "Maid Freed."
R. Matteson 2015]
Excerpt from Coffin's notes, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows":
The C-G series, called "James Derry," or "The Streets of Derry," is listed by Barry, op. cit., 389-393, as a "secondary form" of child 95. This is an Irish re-writing of "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" that may be connected to the uprisings of 1798. It is a fine example of balladry and well worth inclusion in the extensive canon of the famous plot.
C. James Derry. This song was hand-written under the title "James Derry." Elmer George and Mrs. Myra Daniels knew it as sung by the lumberjack, Denis LeBrine, North Montpelier, Vermont. Copied literatim et punctatim, H. H. F., Collector; October 19, 1938.
My love is one of the finest young men
That ever the sun has or will shine upon
And how to gain him I do not know,
For he's got his sentence all to be hung.
And when he walks the streets of Derry
I'm sure he walks most manfully
He looks more like a commander-general
And is going to die on the gallows tree.[1]
The very first step he took up the ladder
His aged father was standing nigh'
"Come here, come here, my aged father,
And speak one word to me, Oh, then I die."
The very next step he took up the ladder
His aged mother was standing nigh,
"Come here, come here, my aged mother,
And speak one word to me' Oh' then I die."
The very next step he took up the ladder
His beloved sister was standing nigh,
"Come here, come here, my beloved sister,
And speak one word to me, Oh, then I die."
He took a ring from off his foremost finger
And wrapped it up in a napkin fine,
"Take this, take this, my beloved sister,
And bear me constant all in your mind."
The very next step he took up the ladder
His glowing colors began to fade;
His woeful sighs and most manly cries,
"There's no relief from Derry's jail."
"O hang him, hang him," cries the High Sheriff,
The clergyman was all standing nigh,
Saying, "I'll let you know that you will not hang him
Until ten minutes of the setting sun.
Then I'll let you know that you will not hang him
Until his confession to me made known."
"Oh where, oh where, is my true lover[2]
And what is keeping her so long from me;
Or does she think it's some great dishonor
For to see me die on the gallows tree?"
He looked all around him; he saw her coming.
Her flight was faster than anyone.
From a noble gallyant she dismounted,
She was dressed all up in Hollan' fine.
"Come down, come down from that weary gallows.
I have got (brought) your pardon all from the queen.
I'll let them know that they will not hang you
I'll crown you back to bold Ireland's green.
"Come down, come down, my own true lover,
(line missing)
I will let them know we will be united
For crown you back to bold Ireland's green."[3]
1. In another handwritten copy in the Flanders collection, Mr. George and Mrs. Daniels omitted lines 3 and 4 of stanza 1 and gave stanzas 1 and 2 as one six-line stanza.
2. In the other version, this line was written as "Oh, then up speaks this noble general."
3. The final two stanzas were compressed into one six-line stanza in the other version. Line 1 of the next to last stanza was replaced by the first line of the last stanza, and lines 2 and 3 were inserted between lines 3 and 4 of the next to last stanza.