Recordings & Info 95. Maid Freed from the Gallows
CONTENTS:
1) Alternative Titles
2) Traditional Ballad Index (Two entries)
3) Folk Index
4) Child Collection Index
5) Excerpt from The British Traditional Ballad in North America by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America
6) Wiki
7) Mainly Norfolk (lyrics and info)
8) 'The Maid' and 'The Hangman' by Eleanor Long (review)
9) Folk Trax
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
1) Roud No. 144: Maid Freed from the Gallows (334 Listings)
2) The Maid Freed from the Gallows- Krappe 1941
3) The Gallows and the Golden Ball: An Analysis by Ingeborg Urcia 1966
4) Folktales; Ashey Pelt and the Three Golden Balls 1895
5) Prickly Bush: Notes on Children's Game-Songs Gilchrist & Broadwood 1915
6) De Tale Ob De Gol'en Ball- Owen 1893
7) Hangman's Tree- Scarborough 1925
8) Brown Collection- Maid Freed from the Gallows
Alternative Titles
The Golden Ball
The Prickilie Bush
The Gallows Pole
Granny and the Golden Ball
By a Lover Saved
Down By the Green Willow Tree
Hangman Hold Your Rope
Hold Your Hands Old Man
O Judges
The Gallows Tree
The Gallis Pole
The Gallant Tree
The Hangman (Hangerman, Hangsman)
The Hangman's Son
The Hangman's Song
The Hangman's Tree
The Maid (Girl) Freed from the Gallows
The Scarlet Tree
The Sycamore Tree
The True Love Freed from the Gallows
True Love
Traditional Ballad Index: Maid Freed from the Gallows, The [Child 95]
DESCRIPTION: A (woman) is about to be hanged. If she could pay her fee, she would be freed. One by one, father, brother, (and other family members) come to see her hanged, refusing to ransom her. Then her sweetheart arrives to rescue her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1770 (Percy collection, according to Child)
KEYWORDS: execution love rescue
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland,England(North,South,West)) US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So,SW) Bahamas Jamaica
REFERENCES (49 citations):
Child 95, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (11 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #5}
Bronson 95, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (68 versions+2 in addenda, but the last four main entries are "Gallows" [Laws L11], and some of the fragments may be also)
GreigDuncan2 248, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (1 fragment)
Williams-Thames, pp. 281-282, "The Prickly Bush"; Williams-Thames, p. 283, "The Prickly Brier" (1 text plus a fragment) (also Wiltshire-WSRO Wt 498; Wiltshire-WSRO Ox 218, "Prickly Brier")
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 206-213, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (4 texts plus assorted folktale versions)
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 15-41, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (8 texts plus a fragment, 8 tunes, but of the texts, only "A," "B1," and "B2" are 'The Maid Freed" [Child 95]; the remaining six are "Gallows" [Laws L11]
Belden, pp. 66-67, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #54}
Randolph 24, "Hold Your Hands, Old Man" (5 texts plus a fragment, 4 tunes) {A=Bronson's #41, D=#61, E=#12, F=#50}
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 45-47, "Hold Your Hands, Old Man" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 24E) {Bronson's #12}
Eddy 18, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (2 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #28}
Gardner/Chickering 50, "The Golden Ball" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #22}
Davis-Ballads 95, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (24 texts plus a fragment, 5 tunes plus a variant entitles "Maid Freed from the Gallows," "The Hangerman's Tree, or Freed from the Gallos," "The Maid Saved," "Hangsman"; 9 more versions mentioned in Appendix A) {Bronson's #9, #26, #42, #46, #40}
Davis-More 29, pp. 221-228, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (3 texts plus a fragment, 2 tunes; the two longest texts, AA and DD, both contain floating material, in the case of "D" probably from "Ten Thousand Miles Away from Home (A Wild and Reckless Hobo; The Railroad Bum)" [Laws H2])
BrownII 30, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (4 texts, 5 excerpts, 1 fragment, plus mention of two more, as well as one mixed text, M, probably a combination of this with "Ten Thousand Miles Away from Home (A Wild and Reckless Hobo; The Railroad Bum)" [Laws H2])
Chappell-FSRA 15, "Maid Freed from the Gallows" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #34}
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 35-42, (no general title; one version is listed as "Hangman, Slack on the Line") (3 texts plus 3 excerpts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #10}
Hudson 17, pp. 111-114, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (4 texts plus an excerpt and mention of 1 more; the "D" text is mixed with floating verses from prison songs)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 284, (no title) (1 text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 196-200, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (2 texts plus an excerpt, with local titles "The Hangman's Son" and "Hangman, Hold Your Rope"; 2 tunes on pp. 408-409) {Bronson's #37, #38}
Brewster 17, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 295-300, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (4 texts)
Wyman-Brockway I, p. 44, "The Hangman's Song" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #35}
Fuson, pp. 113-114, "The Hangman's Song" (1 text, with an introductory verse related to "In the Pines," ending "I have done no hanging crime")
Cambiaire, pp. 15-16, "The Hangman's Song" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 131, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (4 texts)
Warner 105, "Hang Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 86-87, "Jimmy Loud"; pp. 88-90, "Hangman" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
SharpAp 28, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (11 texts, most of which appear to be fragments though it's often hard to tell with this song, 11 tunes){Bronson's #30, #33, #9, #42, #6, #25, #58, #31, #39, #32, #15}
Sharp-100E 17, "The Briery Bush" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #49}
Broadwood/Maitland, pp. 112-113, "The Prickly Bush" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Reeves-Sharp 61, "Maid Freed from the Gallows" (2 texts)
Niles 39, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 14, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #30}
Sandburg, p. 72, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #23}; p. 385, "Hangman" (1 short text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #64}
Scott-BoA, pp. 14-15, "The Sycamore Tree"; pp. 207-208, "Hangman, Slack on the Line" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 282-383, "Prickle-holly Bush" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 139-141, "[Hangman, Slack Up Your Rope]" (2 texts, 2 tunes) {second tune is Bronson's #36, with differences}
Ritchie-Southern, p. 27, "The Hangman Song" (1 text, 1 tune) {approximately Bronson's #36, but Bronson's transcription, from recording, is noticeably different}
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 822-824, "The Hangman's Tree" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #23}
TBB 5, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows (The Hangman's Tree)" (1 text)
LPound-ABS, 13, pp. 31-33, "The Hangman's Song" (1 text)
JHCox 18, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (7 texts)
JHCoxIIA, #9, pp. 38-39, "Slack Your Rope" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #27}
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 41-42 "Hangman, Hangman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Rorrer, p. 74, "The Highwayman" (1 text, with a significant mixture of unrelated material from songs such as "The Roving Gambler"); p. 80, "Hangman, Hangman, Slack the Rope" (1 text, a fairly normal American variant)
Darling-NAS, pp. 69-71, "The Hangman"; "Gallows Pole" (2 texts, the first "modernized" by Darling)
Silber-FSWB, p. 211, "The Gallows Pole" (1 text)
DT 95, HANGMN1* HANGMAN2*
ADDITIONAL: Katherine Briggs, _A Dictionary of British Folk-Tales in the English Language_, Part A: Folk Narratives, 1970 (I use the 1971 Routledge paperback that combines volumes A.1 and A.2), volume A.2, pp. 567-568, "The Three Golden Balls" (1 text)
Roud #144
RECORDINGS:
James "Iron Head" Baker, "Young Maid Saved from the Gallows" (AFS 204 A2, 1934)
Bentley Ball, "Gallows Tree" (Columbia A3084, 1920)
Roy Harvey, Jess Johnston & the West Virginia Ramblers, "John Hardy Blues" (Champion 16281, 1931; on StuffDreams1) [see NOTES]
Fred Hewett, "The Prickle Holly-Bush" (on Voice03)
Harry Jackson, "The Hangman's Song" (on HJackson1) (in this version the true love pays the hangman to ensure that the hanging will take place)
Lead Belly, "The Gallis Pole" (Musicraft 227, rec. 1939)
A. L. Lloyd, "The Prickly Bush" (on ESFB1, ESFB2)
Walter Lucas & the people of Sixpenny Handley, Dorset, "The Prickle Holly Bush" (on Lomax41, LomaxCD1741) {Bronson's #20}
[Asa] Martin & [Bob] Roberts, "Hang Down Your Head and Cry" (Conqueror 8207, 1933) [see NOTES]
Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, "The Highwayman" (a heavily modified version; Columbia 15160-D, 1926; on CPoole03); "Hangman, Hangman, Slack the Rope" (a more normal version; Columbia 15385-D, 1929; rec. 1928)
Almeda Riddle, "Hangman Tree" (on LomaxCD1705)
Jean Ritchie, "Hangman" (on JRitchie01) {Bronson's #36?}
Julia Scaddon, "The Prickelly Bush [The Pricketty Bush]" (on FSB4, FSBBAL1)
Sarah Anne Tuck, "The Pricketty Bush (The Maid Freed from the Gallows)" (on FSBBAL1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Gallows" [Laws L11] (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Golden Ball
The Prickilie Bush
The Gallows Pole
Granny and the Golden Ball
NOTES: This very popular ballad is identical in plot with "Gallows" [Laws L11], and lumping editors will lump them; individual collections should be checked carefully.
Scarborough notes that southern Blacks turned this song into drama -- in a rather depressing way: The magical ball could be used to turn a Black girl into a pretty White.
The "golden ball" of some versions appears to have a complex history. Katherine Briggs, British Folktales (originally published in 1970 as A Dictionary of British Folk-Tales), revised 1977 (I use the 1977 Pantheon paperback edition), pp. 28-31, has a tale which is clearly a version of Grimm #4, "A Tale About the Boy Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was," in which the boy seeks a golden ball which his love has lost. She is to be hung for the loss; he arrives just in time to save her. This is evidently a conflation of two separate tales; Briggs, p. 31, points to Tristram E. Coffin's article "The Golden Ball and the Hangman's Tree," on pp. 23-28 of Folklore International (1967) has an explanation of how they were combined.
For the folktale of "The Golden Ball" itself, see another Briggs publication, Katherine Briggs, A Dictionary of British Folk-Tales in the English Language, Part A: Folk Narratives, 1970 (I use the 1971 Routledge paperback that combines volumes A.1 and A.2), volume 1, pp. 280-282, "The Golden Ball." - RBW
The Martin & Roberts recording is a weird mishmosh: one verse that sounds like it's from the "Ten Thousand Miles Away from Home" family, one from this song, 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.
The Roy Harvey, recording, meanwhile, is equally weird; the tune is from "John Hardy," all right, but the lyrics are "Maid Freed from the Gallows." Don't ask me what's going on. - PJS
Traditional Ballad Index: Gallows [Laws L11]
DESCRIPTION: A young man is to be hanged. His family and a clergyman contrive a few minutes delay by each asking for a last word. Just before the boy is to be hanged, his true love arrives with a royal pardon and he is saved
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Barry, Ecksotm, Smyth)
KEYWORDS: execution reprieve
FOUND IN: US(NE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Laws L11, "Gallows"
Bronson 95, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (68 versions, but the last four, given in an appendix, are this song)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 389-393, 483, "The Gallows Tree" (2 texts plus a fragment, 2 tunes); p. 483 (1 tune) {Bronson's #67, #68; the tune in the addenda is Bronson's #66}
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 15-41, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (8 texts plus a fragment, 8 tunes, but of the texts, only "A," "B1," and "B2" are 'The Maid Freed" [Child 95]; the remaining six are "Gallows") {G=Bronson's #65}
Kennedy 316, "Derry Gaol" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H705, p. 132, "The Dreary Gallows" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 109-112, "Gallows" (3 texts plus 1 fragment, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 27, "Sweet Ann O'Neill" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 571, HANGMAN4
ADDITIONAL: Eleanor R. Long, "'Derry Gaol,''" article published 1966 in _Jahrbuch fur Volksleidfordchung_; republished (with translations of the non-English analogs) on pp. 175-203 of Norm Cohen, editor, _All This for a Song_, Southern Folklife Collection, 2009
Roud #896
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (Child 95)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Streets of Derry
NOTES: Kennedy, following Barry, speculates that this was based on an incident during the 1798 Irish rebellion. The only real supporting evidence is a reference to King George (which, for all it directly proves, could date it to the 1916 rebellion; in any case, Britain had a King named George every year from 1714 to 1839), and in any case the reference to King George in not found in many versions, where it is the Queen who offers the pardon.
Barry et all state unequivocally that the song is Irish. This is likely enough, but there are only a handful of Irish collections (Sam Henry's, and Sarah Makem sang it); the rest are all North American. It's just possible that the song originated in North America and crossed back.
All agree that this was inspired by "The Maid Freed from the Gallows," but the form clearly makes it a separate ballad.
Peter Kennedy lists the Sam Henry version of this piece as from 1924, but it was not published until 1937. - RBW
Folk Index: Hangman[,Hangman] [Ch 95/Sh 28/Me I-A10]
Rt - Maid Freed From the Gallows; Anathea; Highwayman; Ransomed Soldier
At - Miller's Daughter
Pound, Louise (ed.) / American Ballads and Songs, Scribner, Sof (1972/1922), p 31/# 13 [1910s] (Hangman Song)
Sandburg, Carl (ed.) / American Songbag, Harcourt, Sof (1955/1928), p385
Scott, John Anthony (ed.) / Ballad of America, Grosset & Dunlap, Bk (1967), p 14 (Sycamore Tree)
Scott, John Anthony (ed.) / Ballad of America, Grosset & Dunlap, Bk (1967), p207 [1930s] (Hangman, Slack on the Line)
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p136 (Gallows Tree)
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p137 [1940s]
Lloyd, A. L. & Isabel Arete de Ramon y Rivera (eds.) / Folk Songs of the, Oak, Sof (1966), # 29 (Gallows Tree)
Lynn, Frank (ed.) / Songs for Swingin' Housemothers, Fearon, Sof (1963/1961), p224
Sing Out Reprints, Sing Out, Sof, 2, p62 (1960) (Gallows Pole)
Leisy, James F. (ed.) / Hootenanny Tonight!, Gold Medal Books, sof (1964), p 59
Luboff, Norman; and Win Stracke (eds.) / Songs of Man, Prentice-Hall, Bk (1966), p 64
Botkin, Benjamin / A Treasury of American Folklore, Crown, Bk (1944), p822 (Hangman Tree)
Silverman, Jerry / Folk Guitar - Folk Song, Scarborough Book, Sof (1983/1977), p 72 (Gallows Pole)
Leisy, James F. (ed.) / Folk Song Abecedary, Bonanza, Bk (1966), p153
Abe and Malka. Mandelblatt, Abe & Malka A. / 100 Guitar Accompanyments, Amsco, Sof (1974), p167 (Gallows Pole)
Anderson, Casey. Casey Anderson Sings Folk Songs, Forum Circle FCS-9108, LP (1960), trk# A.01 (Gallows Pole)
Art and Paul. Hangin', Drinkin' and Stuff, Columbia CL 1702, LP (1962), trk# 11
Black, Hazel K.. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p118/# 18F [1916/07/21] (Hangman's Tree)
Blanton, Mrs. J. D.. Morris, Alton C. / Folksongs of Florida, Univ. Florida, Bk (1950), p295/#163A [1934-39] (Hangman Tree)
Brady, Pete; and the Blazers. Murder Ballads, ABC Paramount ABC 310, LP (196?), trk# B.05 (Hangman's Knot)
Broudy, Saul. Cowboy Songs, National Geographic 07786, LP (1976), trk# B.09
Camacho, Steve. Folk and Other Songs, Cook 1127, LP (1962), trk# B.05 (Gallows Pole)
Causey, Della. Morris, Alton C. / Folksongs of Florida, Univ. Florida, Bk (1950), p298/#163D [1934-39] (Girl Who Freed Her Lover)
Cosnor, Mae. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p115/# 18A [1915/10] (Hangman's Tree)
Crow, Nancy. Moore, Ethel & Chauncey (ed.) / Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwest, Univ. of Okla, Bk (1964), p 74/# 27A [1940s] (Hangman Tree)
Drain, Mary. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p146/# 24E [1942/01/29]
Driftwood, Jimmie. Wilderness Road and Jimmy Driftwood, RCA (Victor) LPM 1994, LP (1959), trk# B.03 (Slack Your Rope (Hangman))
Hall, Jeannie Pendleton. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p144/# 24C [1930/01/02]
Harn, Julia. Morris, Alton C. / Folksongs of Florida, Univ. Florida, Bk (1950), p298/#163C [1934-39]
Hood, Flora. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p117/# 18E [1916] (Hangman's Tree)
Johnson, Nora. McNeil, W. K. (ed.) / Southern Folk Ballads, Vol 1, August House, Sof (1987), p 86 [1935/04] (Jimmy Loud)
Kingston Trio. Make Way, Capitol T 1474, LP (1961), trk# B.01
Koerner, Ray and Glover. Blues, Rags and Hollers, Elektra EKL 240, LP (1963), trk# A.04
Lead Belly. Lomax, John & Alan Lomax (eds.) / Leadbelly. A Collection of World Famou, Folkways, sof (1959), p60 (Gallis Pole)
Lead Belly. Leadbelly; The Library of Congress Recordings, Elektra EKL 301-302, LP (1965), trk# F.01 [1933-42] (Mama, Did You Bring Me Any Silver)
Limeliters. Fourteen 14K Folk Songs, RCA (Victor) LSP 2671, LP (1963), trk# B.05
McCord, May Kennedy. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p145/# 24D [1938/05/16]
McDonald, Mrs. H. L.. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p147/# 24F [1942/02/10]
Mitchell Trio. Chad Mitchell Trio Arrives!, Colpix CP 411, LP (1964), trk# B.05 (Gallows Tree)
Neaves, Glen; and the Virginia Mountain Boys. Country Bluegrass from Southwest Virginia, Folkways FA 3830, LP (1974), trk# B.06
Niles, John Jacob. Best of John Jacob Niles, Tradition S 2055, LP (196?), trk# A.01
Niles, John Jacob. American Folk and Gambling Songs, Camden CaL 219, LP (1956), trk# A.05 (Maid Freed From the Gallows)
Odetta. Odetta at Carnegie Hall, Vanguard VRS 9076, LP (1961), trk# A.04 (Gallows Pole)
Odetta. Okun, Milt (ed.) / Something to Sing About, MacMillan, Bk (1968), p101 (Gallows Pole)
Parrish, Lessie. McIntosh, David S. / Folk Songs and Singing Games of the Illinois Ozarks, SIU Press, Bk (1974), p 39 [1937/11/12] (My Golden Ball)
Paugh, Mrs. H. S.. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p117/# 18D [1915/08/28] (Hangman's Tree)
Peter, Paul & Mary. See What Tomorrow Brings, Warner WS 1615, LP (1965), trk# B.01
Pine Mountain Settlement School Children. Wells, Evelyn Kendrick (ed.) / The Ballad Tree, Ronald, Bk (1950), p115 [1916]
Reynolds, Nick. Latest 101 Hootenanny Folk Song Favorites, Modern World Library No. 28, Fol (1963), p35
Riddle, Almeda. Traditional Music at Newport, 1964, Part 2, Vanguard VSD7 9183, LP (1965), trk# B.06
Riddle, Almeda. Bad Man Ballads, Prestige International INT 25009, LP (196?), trk# 4 [1959/10] (Hangman Tree)
Riddle, Almeda. Southern Journey. Vol. 5: Bad Man Ballads, Rounder 1705, CD (1997), trk# 6 [1959/10] (Hangman Tree)
Ritchie, Jean. O Love Is Teasin', Elektra 60402-1-U, LP (1957), trk# 2.10 (Hangman Song)
Ritchie, Jean. Best of Jean Ritchie, Prestige International INT 13003, LP (196?), trk# 13
Ritchie, Jean. British Traditional Ballads in the Southern Mountains (Vol. 1), Folkways FA 2301, LP (1961), trk# 3
Ritchie, Jean. Ritchie, Jean / Singing Family of the Cumberlands, Oak, sof (1955), p139
Roth, Kevin. High on a Mountain, Folk Tradition R 003(103), LP (1983), trk# A.02
Russell, Linda. Good Old Colony Days, Prairie Smoke PS 001, LP (1984), trk# B.07
Russo, Mike. Mike Russo, Arhoolie 4003, LP (1969), trk# A.03 (Gallis Pole)
Seeger, Peggy. Folksongs and Ballads, Riverside RLP 12-655, LP (1959), trk# 6
Shiflett, Robert. Abrahams, Roger; & George Foss / Anglo-American Folksong Style, Prentice-Hall, Sof (1968), 3-2 [1962]
Simmons, Ruth. Morris, Alton C. / Folksongs of Florida, Univ. Florida, Bk (1950), p296/#163B [1934-39] (Sycamore Tree)
Smothers Brothers. Two Sides of the Smothers Brothers, Mercury MG 20675, LP (196?), trk# A.02
Steele, Warren C.. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p116/# 18B [1917/01] (Hangman's Tree)
Stowe, Mrs. I. L.. Owens, William A. (ed.) / Texas Folk Songs. 2nd edition, SMU Press, Bk (1976/1950), p 27 [1938] (Hangman's Rope)
Unidentified Singer (West Virginia). Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p118/# 18G [1921] (By a Lover Saved)
Unknown Singers. Solomon, Jack & Olivia (eds.) / Sweet Bunch of Daisies, Colonial Press, Bk (1991), p 41 [1960ca]
Walker Family. I Kind of Believe It's A Gift, Meriweather Meri 1001-2, LP (198?), trk# 4.06 [1977]
Walker Family. McNeil, W. K. (ed.) / Southern Folk Ballads, Vol 1, August House, Sof (1987), p 88 [1977]
Wilson, Ella. Niles, John Jacob / Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, Bramhall House, Bk (1961), p219/N 39A [1936/06]
Wrinkle, Melvin. Rackensack. Volume 1, Rimrock LP 278, LP (1972), trk# B.08 (Slack Your Rope (Hangman))
Hangman, Hold Your Rope [Ch 95/Me I-A10]
The Maid Freed From the Gallows [Ch 95/Sh 28/Me I-A10]
Rt - Prickle Holly Bush ; Derry Gaol ; Hangman[, Hangman] ; Gallows ; Old Rabbit, the Voodoo
At - Freed from the Gallows ; By a Lover Saved ; Maid Saved ; Down by the Green Willow Tree ; Girl to be Hanged for Stealing a Comb ; Ropeman/Ropeman's Ballad
Sandburg, Carl (ed.) / American Songbag, Harcourt, Sof (1955/1928), p 72
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p132 [1770ca]
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p134 [1860s]
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p295
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p296 (Golden Ball)
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p298
Leach, MacEdward / The Heritage Book of Ballads, Heritage, Bk (1967), p 24
Leach, MacEdward / The Heritage Book of Ballads, Heritage, Bk (1967), p 27 (Golden Ball)
Boone, Sina. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p213/# 28J [1918/09/28]
Bowyer, Molly E.. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p214/# 28K [1918/06/10]
Buckner, Sarah. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p208/# 28B [1916/09/19]
Caldwell, Nell. Cox, John Harrington(ed.) / Traditional Ballads Mainly from West Virgini, WPA, Bk (1939), 9 [1928ca] (Slack Your Rope (Hangman))
Callahan, Clara. Scarborough, Dorothy(ed.) / A Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1966/1937), p197,408 [1930] (Hangman's Son)
Chambliss, Emma B. (Baird). Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p144/# 24B [1929/09/22]
Chisholm, N. B.. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p210/# 28Da [1916/09/27]
Donald, Laura Virginia (V.). Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p212/# 28G [1918/06/06]
Gibson, Addie. Scarborough, Dorothy(ed.) / A Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1966/1937), p200 [1930]
Hess, Carrie. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p116/# 18C [1916/08/08] (Down by the Green Willow Tree)
Jones, Laurel. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p213/# 28I [1918/09/17]
Keeton, Orilla. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p209/# 28C [1916/09/26]
Knight, Cecil R.. Scarborough, Dorothy(ed.) / A Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1966/1937), p199,409 [1930] (Hangman, Hold Your Rope)
Lewis, William. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p143/# 24A [1927/10/04] (Hold Your Hands, Old Man
Meiniker, Mrs. F.. Thompson, Harold W.(ed.) / Body, Boots & Britches, Dover, Bk (1962/1939), p397 [1930s]
Mitchell, Effie. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p213/# 28H [1918/09/12]
Niles, John Jacob. Folk Festival at Newport. Vol. 3, Vanguard VRS 9064, LP (1959), trk# A.06
Paul, Bertha. Reeves, James (ed.) / Idiom of the People, Norton, Sof (1958), p153/# 61 [1908]
Riddle, Almeda. Abrahams, Roger D.(ed.) / A Singer and Her Songs. Almeda Riddle's Book o, Louisiana State U. Press, Bk (1970), p110 [1964-67] (Hangman on the Gallows Tree)
Short, Mary Anne. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p211/# 28E [1917/08/20]
Singleton, Augusta. Niles, John Jacob / Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, Bramhall House, Bk (1961), p221/N 39B [1909/07] (Granny and the Golden Ball)
Sloan, Alice. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p212/# 28F [1917/05/06]
Smith, Betty. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p210/# 28Db [1916/09/27]
Stockton, T. Jeff. Sharp, Cecil & Maude Karpeles (eds.) / Eighty English Folk Songs from th, MIT Press, Sof (1968), p 35 [1917ca]
Stockton, T. Jeff. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p208/# 28A [1916/09/04]
Whisenhunt, Mrs. M. E.. Moore, Ethel & Chauncey (ed.) / Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwest, Univ. of Okla, Bk (1964), p 76/# 27B [1940s] (Rasel Pole)
Prickle Holly Bush [Ch 95]
Rt - Maid Freed From the Gallows
Collins, Judy. Maid Of Constant Sorrow, Elektra EKLS 209/7209, LP (1961), trk# A.02 (Prickilie Bush)
Cook, Judy. Far from the Lowlands, Cook CEI-JC02-0005, CD (2000), trk# 16
Dobson, Bonnie. She's Like a Swallow, Prestige Folklore FL 14015, LP (1963), trk# A.05
Hellman, Neal. Hellman, Neal / Dulcimer Songbook, Oak, Sof (1977), p53
Lloyd, A. L. (Bert). English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) Vol. 3, Washington WLP 717, LP (1961/1956), trk# A.02 (Prickly Bush)
Lucas, Walter. World Library of Folk and Primitive Music. Vol 1. England, Rounder 1741, CD (1998), trk# 25 [1951]
Scadden, Julia. Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 4. The Child Ballads, I, Caedmon TC 1145, LP (1961), trk# B.10 [1950s] (Prickelly Bush)
Us - Maid Freed From the Gallows
Hangman, Slack on the Line [Ch 95]
Us - Hangman[, Hangman]
The Hangman Song [Ch 95/Me I-A10]
Us - Hangman[, Hangman]
Hangman Tree [Ch 95/Me I-A10]
Us - Hangman[, Hangman]
Hangman's Knot [Ch 95]
Child Collection: Child Ballad 095: The Maid Freed From the Gallows
Child --Artist --Title --Album --Year --Length ---Have
095 A.L. Lloyd The Prickly Bush English & Scottish Folk Ballads [1964] 1964 No
095 A.L. Lloyd The Prickly Bush English & Scottish Folk Ballads [1996] 1996 3:30 Yes
095 A.L. Lloyd The Prickly Bush (The Maid Freed from the Gallows) The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) - Vol. 2 1956 3:51 Yes
095 A.L. Lloyd The Prickly Bush (The Maid Freed from the Gallows) The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) - Vol. 3 [Reissue] 196? No
095 A.L. Lloyd The Prickly Bush Bramble Briars & Beams of the Sun 2011 No
095 Almeda Riddle Hangman The John Quincy Wolf Folklore Collection - Ozark Folksongs 3:24 Yes
095 Almeda Riddle Hangman Tree Southern Journey Vol. 5 - Bad Man Ballads 1997 5:25 Yes
095 Almeda Riddle Hangman, Slacken The John Quincy Wolf Folklore Collection - Ozark Folksongs 2:25 Yes
095 Almeda Riddle The Gallows Tree The John Quincy Wolf Folklore Collection - Ozark Folksongs 5:32 Yes
095 Almeda Riddle The Hangman Traditional Music at Newport, 1964, Part 2 1965 No
095 American Female Singer The Maid to the Gallows The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
095 Andrew Rowan Summers The Hangman's Tree The Lady Gay 1954 No
095 Andrew Rowan Summers The Hangman's Tree Asch Recordings, 1939-1945, Vol. 2 1967 No
095 Art & Paul Hangman Hangin', Drinkin' and Stuff 1961 2:37 Yes
095 Asa Martin The Highwayman Meeting's a Pleasure - Folksongs of the Upper South, Vol. 1 & 2 2006 No
095 Bascom Lamar Lunsford Lord Joshuay Music from South Turkey Creek 1976 1:38 Yes
095 Belles of Bedlam Prickle Holly Bush Who's Your Sire? 2004 No
095 Bellowhead Prickle-Eye Bush E.P.Onymous 2005 5:08 Yes
095 Bellowhead Prickle Eye Bush Live at Celtic Connections 2005 2005 5:37 Yes
095 Bellowhead Prickle-Eye Bush BBC Proms 2008 Folk Day 2008 5:15 Yes
095 Bellowhead Prickle-Eye Bush Live Shepherds Bush Empire 2009 No
095 Bentley Ball The Gallows Tree The Gallows Tree + Bangum and the Boar 1920 No
095 Bert Jansch Gallows Tree Young Man Blues: Live in Glasgow 1962-1964 1998 2:01 Yes
095 Bill Whiting Prickle Holly Bush (1) Terry Yarnell Collection 1970-1973 :23 Yes
095 Bill Whiting Prickle Holly Bush (2) Terry Yarnell Collection 1970-1973 3:20 Yes
095 Bob Keefe Slack Your Rope Hangman Wandering Thru the Roots - A Solitary Journey Through the Roots of Folk Music 2010
No
095 Bonnie Dobson The Prickle Holly Bush She's Like a Swallow and Other Folk Songs 1960 3:55 Yes
095 Bradley Browning Maid Freed from the Gallows The Library of Congress No
095 Burl Ives The Gallows Tree The Spoken Arts Treasury of American Ballads and Folk Songs 1970 2:10 Yes
095 Carl Peterson The Prickly Bush Drifting with Michener 2006 No
095 Carl Sandburg The Maid Freed from the Gallows Carl Sandburg sings his American Songbag 1967 3:17 Yes
095 Casey Anderson The Gallows Pole Casey Sings Out 196? No
095 Casey Anderson The Hangman Song Casey Anderson Sings Folk Songs 196? No
095 Charlie Poole The Highwayman The Legend of Charlie Poole, Vol. 3 - Original Recordings 1926-1930 1998 No
095 Charlie Poole & The North Carolina Ramblers The Highwayman You Ain't Talkin' to Me - Charlie Poole and the Roots of Country Music 2005 No
095 Charlie Poole & The North Carolina Ramblers & The Highlanders The Highwayman Charlie Poole & The North Carolina Ramblers & The Highlanders 2004 3:17 Yes
095 Chris Timson & Anne Gregson Hangman Peaceful Harbour 1996 3:06 Yes
095 Dan Dutton Hangman Pull, Pick, Pluck 2004 3:44 Yes
095 David Jones & Bill Shute The Prickly Bush Widdecombe Fair 2003 4:37 Yes
095 David LaFleur Hangman Shepherd's Pie 2007 2:34 Yes
095 Deirdre Murtha James Derry Irish Songs from Old New England - Traditional Irish-American Songs from the Flanders Ballad Collection 2003 No
095 Directing Hand Hangman Bells for Augustin Lesage 2005 6:01 Yes
095 Dorris Henderson & John Renbourn Hangman There You Go 1999 2:19 Yes
095 Drinkers Drouth The Prickly Bush When the Kye Comes Hame 1982 4:09 Yes
095 Drinkers Drouth & Davy Steele The Prickly Bush A Tribute 2001 4:25 Yes
095 Elizabeth LaPrelle Hangman Lizard in the Spring - Old Songs & Ballads 2007 2:38 Yes
095 Emily Weygang & Ben Harker Maid Freed from the Gallows Emily Weygang and Ben Harker 2003 No
095 Ewan MacColl The Prickle Holly Bush [English] The Long Harvest, Vol. 6 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1967 4:30 Yes
095 Finbar & Eddie Furey The Prickly Bush The Lonesome Boatman 1969 3:57 Yes
095 Finbar & Eddie Furey The Prickly Bush The Dawning of the Day [1998] 1998 3:56 Yes
095 Finbar & Eddie Furey The Prickly Bush The Best of Finbar & Eddie Furey 1991 3:59 Yes
095 Finbar & Eddie Furey The Prickly Bush The Collection 2002 No
095 Fire & Ice High Gallows Tree Midwinter Fires 1994 4:18 Yes
095 Frank Proffitt Hang Man (The Maid Freed from the Gallows) Bolamkin - Frank Proffitt - 1 1987 No
095 Frank Proffitt Hangman The Warner Collection, Vol. 2 - Nothing Seems Better to Me: The Music of Frank Proffitt and North Carolina 2001 2:19 Yes
095 Frank Proffitt Jr. The Maid Freed from the Gallows Kickin' Up Dust 1992 No
095 Fred Gerlach Gallis Pole Classic Folk Music from Smithsonian Folkways 2004 4:45 Yes
095 Fred Gerlach Gallows Pole Twelve-String Guitar - Folk Songs and Blues 1962 3:44 Yes
095 Fred Hewett The Prickle Holly Bush The Song Carriers - Part 7 1965 3:26 Yes
095 Fred Hewett The Prickle Holly-Bush The Voice of the People, Vol. 3: O'Er His Grave the Grass Grew Green - Tragic Ballads 1998 3:34 Yes
095 Fred Hewett The Prickle 'Olly Bush (The Maid Freed from the Gallows) Three Maidens A-Milking - Songs from Hampshire 1985 No
095 Fred Hewett The Prickle-Holly Bush BBC Recordings No
095 Fred Hewett The Prickle-Holly Bush Songs and Southern Breezes - Country Singers from Hampshire and Sussex 1973 3:30 Yes
095 Garibelon The Prickly Bush <website> 2007 3:57 Yes
095 Garland (Jack) South The Hangman Song Singing About It - Folk Song in Southern Indiana By George List - Accompanying Cassette 1991 No
095 Garmarna Den Bortsålda (Sold Away) Vittrad (Crumbling Away) 1994 4:22 Yes
095 Gertrude Thurston The Maid Saved from the Gallows The Library of Congress No
095 Glen Neaves & The Virginia Mountain Boys Hangman (Song) Ballad Country Bluegrass from Southwest Virginia 1974 3:08 Yes
095 Great Big Sea Gallows Pole Safe Upon the Shore 2010 2:57 Yes
095 Ha Ha Tonka Hangman Buckle in the Bible Belt 2007 1:34 Yes
095 Hank Hangman <website> 2009 2:47 Yes
095 Hans Maul Die Losgekaufte Volksballaden Und Erzähllieder, Ein Repertorium Unserer Tonaufnahmen 1975 3:48 Yes
095 Harry Jackson The Hangman's Song The Cowboy, His Songs, Ballads and Brag Talk 1961 No
095 Helmi Brenner Den Bortsålda Den Medeltida Balladen (The Medieval Ballad) - Folk Songs in Sweden 1995 3:03 Yes
095 Hex Prickle Hollybush Sleep When You're Dead 2006 5:06 Yes
095 Hobart Smith Hangman, Swing Your Rope Blue Ridge Legacy 2001 3:25 Yes
095 Huddie (Leadbelly) Ledbetter Gallows Pole (1) The Mary Elizabeth Barnicle-Tillman Cadle Collection No
095 Huddie (Leadbelly) Ledbetter Gallows Pole (2) The Mary Elizabeth Barnicle-Tillman Cadle Collection No
095 Huddie (Leadbelly) Ledbetter Maid Freed from the Gallows The Mary Elizabeth Barnicle-Tillman Cadle Collection No
095 Huddie (Leadbelly) Ledbetter Maid Freed from the Gallows The Library of Congress No
095 Huddie (Leadbelly) Ledbetter Mama Did You Bring Me Any Silver The Library of Congress No
095 In Extremo Der Galgen Weckt Die Toten! 1998 3:33 Yes
095 In Extremo Galgen Die Verrückten Sind in Der Stadt 1999 1:28 Yes
095 J.E. Mainer Highway Man The Legendary J.E. Mainer, Vol. 10 - the Good Old Rebel 1970 2:26 Yes
095 James (Iron Head) Baker Young Maid Saved from the Gallows The Library of Congress No
095 Jane Monroe Maid Freed from the Gallows The Library of Congress No
095 Jean Jenkins Slack Your Rope, Hangman The Wife of Usher's Well - Mountain Ballads 1976 No
095 Jean Ritchie Hangman Ballads from Her Appalachian Family Tradition 2003 2:00 Yes
095 Jean Ritchie Hangman British Traditional Ballads in the Southern Mountains - Child Ballads, Vol 1 1961 2:02 Yes
095 Jean Ritchie The Hangman Song O Love Is Teasin' - Anglo-American Mountain Balladry 1985 No
095 Jean Ritchie The Hangman Song Field Trip 2002 1:54 Yes
095 Jean Ritchie The Hangman Song Mountain Hearth and Home 2004 1:40 Yes
095 Jean Ritchie The Hangman Song Kentucky Mountain Songs 1954 No
095 Jean Ritchie The Hangman Song Songs of Her Kentucky Mountain Family 1957 1:40 Yes
095 Jim Causley The Pricklie Bush Song Links 2 - A Celebration of English Traditional Songs and Their American Variants 2005 2:43 Yes
095 Jim Causley The Pricklie Bush Fruits of the Earth 2005 4:16 Yes
095 Jimmie Driftwood Slack Your Rope The Wilderness Road 1959 2:23 Yes
095 Jimmie Driftwood Slack Your Rope Americana 1991 No
095 Jimmy Page & Robert Plant Gallows Pole Gallows Pole 1994 4:11 Yes
095 Jimmy Page & Robert Plant Gallows Pole Bandits - Music from the MGM Motion Picture 2001 4:11 Yes
095 Jimmy Page & Robert Plant Gallows Pole The Very Best of MTV Unplugged 2002 4:13 Yes
095 Jimmy Page & Robert Plant Gallows Pole Simple Truth 1995 5:14 Yes
095 Jimmy Page & Robert Plant Gallows Pole No Quarter - Jimmy Page & Robert Plant Unledded 2004 4:09 Yes
095 Joe Keenan Hangman, Hold Your Rope There Were 3 Crows - Stories and Songs for All 2004 No
095 John Jacob Niles The Hangman The Ballads of John Jacob Niles 1960 3:05 Yes
095 John Jacob Niles The Hangman American Folk and Gambling Songs 1956 3:27 Yes
095 John Jacob Niles The Hangman, or the Maid Freed from the Gallows Folk Festival at Newport 1959, Vol. 3 1959 3:43 Yes
095 John Jacob Niles The Hangman, or the Maid Freed from the Gallows The Newport Folk Festival 1959 2001 3:46 Yes
095 John Jacob Niles The Hangman, Or, the Maid Freed from the Gallows Folk Song and Minstrelsy 1961 3:49 Yes
095 John Jacob Niles The Maid Freed from the Gallows My Precarious Life in the Public Domain [Folk Balladeer] 2006 3:45 Yes
095 John Jacob Niles The Maid Freed from the Gallows Folk Song America, Vol. 1 - A 20th Century Revival 1994 3:48 Yes
095 John Jacob Niles The Maid Freed from the Gallows Child Ballads 2008 No
095 John Spiers & Jon Boden Prickle Eye Bush Bellow 2003 4:36 Yes
095 John Spiers & Jon Boden Prickle Eye Bush Tönder Festival 2003 2003 4:36 Yes
095 John Spiers & Jon Boden Prickle Eye Bush BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2005 2005 4:38 Yes
095 Jon Boden Derry Gaol A Folk Song a Day - August 2010 3:09 Yes
095 Jon Boden Prickle-Eye Bush A Folk Song a Day - October 2010 3:16 Yes
095 Jon Langford & The Pine Valley Cosmonauts Gallows Pole The Executioner's Last Songs, Vol. 2 & 3 2003 5:00 Yes
095 Jonathan, David & Elvert Hangman Jonathan, David & Elbert 1964 2:47 Yes
095 Josephine Oniyama The Gallows Pole Beautiful Star - The Songs of Odetta 2009 4:00 Yes
095 Judy Collins The Prickili Bush Folk Festival at the Exodus 1960 3:16 Yes
095 Judy Collins The Prickilie Bush Maids & Golden Apples [A Maid of Constant Sorrow + Golden Apples of the Sun] 2001 3:29 Yes
095 Judy Cook The Prickle Holly Bush Far from the Lowlands 2000 3:52 Yes
095 Julia Scaddon The Prickelly Bush (The Maid Freed from the Gallows) The Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 4: The Child Ballads 1 1961 1:47 Yes
095 Julie Felix The Gallows Pole The Third Album 1966 No
095 Julie Felix The Gallows Pole First, Second & Third - The Complete Three Decca LP's 1964-1966 2008 2:02 Yes
095 Kathy Cowan The Gallows Tree The Red-Haired Man's Wife 1990 4:08 Yes
095 Keith Knight The Gallis Pole Hammer Thru the Silence 1998 6:00 Yes
095 Kevin Roth Hangman High on a Mountain - A Dulcimer Solo Album 1983 No
095 Koerner, Ray & Glover Hangman Blues, Rags & Hollers 1999 2:32 Yes
095 Koerner, Ray & Glover Hangman Crossroads - White Blues in the 1960s - The Jac Holzman Years 1984 No
095 Lead Belly Mama, Did You Bring Any Silver? Gwine Dig a Hole to Put the Devil In 1991 No
095 Lead Belly Mama, Did You Bring Me Any Silver Leadbelly - the Library of Congress Recordings 1965 No
095 Lead Belly Gallis Pole Bourgeois Blues: Lead Belly Legacy, Vol. 2 1997 2:47 Yes
095 Lead Belly Gallis Pole The Corner of Bleecker and the Blues 2002 3:12 Yes
095 Lead Belly Gallis Pole Classic African-American Ballads from Smithsonian Folkways 2006 No
095 Lead Belly The Gallis Pole Easy Rider 1999 3:01 Yes
095 Lead Belly The Gallis Pole The Tradition Masters 2002 No
095 Lead Belly The Gallis Pole In the Shadow of the Gallows Pole 1996 3:12 Yes
095 Lead Belly The Gallis Pole Absolutely the Best 2000 3:11 Yes
095 Lead Belly The Gallows Pole Alan Lomax Popular Songbook 2003 6:24 Yes
095 Lead Belly Gallis Pole The Roots of Led Zeppelin 2009 No
095 Lead Belly The Gallis Pole Complete Recorded Works 1939-1947 in Chronological Order, Vol. 1 1994 3:02 Yes
095 Lead Belly The Gallis Pole Complete Recorded Works 1939-1947 in Chronological Order, Vol. 6 1997 2:51 Yes
095 Lead Belly The Maid Freed from the Gallows The Remaining Library of Congress Recordings, Vol. 2 - 1935 2005 1:28 Yes
095 Lead Belly The Gallis Pole The Definitive Lead Belly 2009 2:46 Yes
095 Led Zeppelin Gallows Pole Led Zeppelin III 1994 4:58 Yes
095 Led Zeppelin Gallows Pole Greatest Hits 2008 No
095 Liam's Fancy Prickleye Bush Storysongs for the Eminence Faire 2008 No
095 Linda Russell Hangman The Good Old Colony Days - 18th Century Folk Music 1984 No
095 Liz Getz Hangman Liz Getz Sings 1965 3:19 Yes
095 Luka's Night Out The Pricklie Bush The Full English 2009 No
095 Mark Automaton The Prickilie Bush A Peck of Dirt 2003 No
095 Mark T. The Gallows Pole What's It All About? 1983 No
095 Mark T. The Gallow's Pole The Garden of Love 1992 No
095 Mary Humphreys & Anahata Maid Freed from the Gallows (Prickleye Bush) Floating Verses 2005 No
095 Mel, Mel & Julian Hangman Ethnic/Shmethnic 2002 2:31 Yes
095 Melvin Wrinkle Slack Your Rope, Hangman The Rackensack, Vol. 1 1972 No
095 Melvin Wrinkle Slack Your Rope, Hangman The Rackensack 2006 No
095 Mickey Miller Hangman Mickey Miller Sings American Folk Songs 1959 2:08 Yes
095 Mike Russo The Gallis Pole Mike Russo 1969 No
095 Mr. Robie Maid Freed from the Gallows The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
095 Mrs. Ellen M. Sullivan Lord James The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
095 Mrs. Julia Scadden The Maid Freed from the Gallows BBC Recordings No
095 Mrs. Laura McDonald The Hangman The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection 2:18 Yes
095 Mrs. Pearl Brewer Hangman, Hangman The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection 4:07 Yes
095 Nadia Cattouse Gallow's Pole Songs from ABC Television's “Hallelujah” 1966 No
095 Nic Jones The Prickly Bush Unearthed 2001 3:43 Yes
095 O.B. Campbell Freed from the Gallows The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection 2:05 Yes
095 Odetta Gallows Pole Ballad for Americans and Other American Ballads + Odetta at Carnegie Hall 2002 2:37 Yes
095 Odetta Gallows Tree (Gallows Pole) Absolutely the Best 2000 2:50 Yes
095 Odetta Gallows Tree (Gallows Pole) The Tradition Masters 2002 2:50 Yes
095 Odetta Gallows Tree (Gallows Pole) The Essential Odetta 1990 2:37 Yes
095 Odetta Gallows Tree (Gallows Pole) At the Gate of Horn 1998 2:51 Yes
095 Odetta Gallows Tree Beginner's Guide to Folk Music 2003 No
095 Ollie Gilbert Hang Me, Oh Hang Me The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection 2:43 Yes
095 Peggy Seeger Hangman Love Call Me Home 2005 3:53 Yes
095 Peggy Seeger Hangman Folksongs and Ballads 1958 No
095 Peggy Seeger Hangman [American] The Long Harvest, Vol. 6 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1967 2:58 Yes
095 Peggy Seeger The Prickle Holly Bush (Missouri version) The Song Carriers - Part 7 1965 3:02 Yes
095 Peggy Seeger Hangman Three Score and Ten - 70th Birthday Celebration at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London 2007 4:33 Yes
095 Penny & Jean Hangman, Hangman Two for the Road 1960 3:13 Yes
095 Pete Astor Hangman Hal's Eggs 2005 4:17 Yes
095 Pete Castle Hangman Rambling Robin 1982 6:24 Yes
095 Peter, Paul & Mary Hangman See What Tomorrow Brings 1965 2:50 Yes
095 Petter A. Naessan Hangman <website> 2007 2:49 Yes
095 Pickin' On Gallows Pole Pickin' on Led Zeppelin, Vol. 2: A Bluegrass Tribute 2003 4:37 Yes
095 Proper Job Prickle Eye Bush In the Fog 2006 3:57 Yes
095 Ray Driscoll The Prickelie Bush The Gwilym Davies Collection No
095 Ray Driscoll Prickelie Bush Wild, Wild Berry - The Songs of Ray Driscoll 2008 No
095 Raymond Crooke Hangman, Hangman <website> 2007 2:43 Yes
095 Raymond Crooke Hangman, Slack on the Line <website> 2007- 2:59 Yes
095 Raymond Crooke The Briery Bush <website> 2007 3:16 Yes
095 Raymond Crooke The Maid Freed from the Gallows <website> 2007- 4:02 Yes
095 Raymond Crooke The Prickle Holly Bush <website> 2007 5:06 Yes
095 Red Tail Ring Hangman Middlewest Chant 2011 No
095 Rex Noble The Hangman <website> 2009 5:26 Yes
095 Rita Emerson Ropeman The Gwilym Davies Collection No
095 Roger McGuinn The Gallows Pole Folk Den Podcast 1995- 2:43 Yes
095 Roger McGuinn The Gallows Pole The Folk Den Project - 1995-2005 2005 2:45 Yes
095 Rootdogs Gallows Pole Rootdogs Live 2007 8:52 Yes
095 Roxanne & Dan Keding Prickilie Bush From Far & Near 1980 3:58 Yes
095 Roy Harvey, Jess Johnston & The West Virginia Ramblers John Hardy Blues The Stuff That Dreams Are Made of - Super Rarities & Unissued Gems of the 1920s & '30s 2006 3:18 Yes
095 Rubus Golden Ball Nine Witch Knots 2008 3:22 Yes
095 Sam Osterloh Hangman The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection 2:56 Yes
095 Sandra Kerr Prickle Holly Bush Poetry and Song, Vol. 2 1967 No
095 Sandy & Caroline Paton Joshuay New Harmony 1987 3:17 Yes
095 Sarah Anne Tuck & Julia Scaddon + Charlie Lucas & Village Chorus The Prickly Bush + The Pricketty Bush The Baffled Knight - The Classic Ballads 2 1976 No
095 Sarah Anne Tuck + Julia Scaddon The Pricketty Bush (The Maid Freed from the Gallows) Classic Ballads of Britain & Ireland - Folk Songs of England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales, Vol 1 2000 1:46 Yes
095 Sarah Gunning Hangman Meeting's a Pleasure - Folksongs of the Upper South, Vol. 1 & 2 2006 No
095 Saul Broudy Hangman Hangman Cowboy Songs 1976 No
095 Sidney Luther Streets of Derry The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
095 South Wind Hangman Every Now & Then 2004 2:36 Yes
095 Spiers & Boden Prickle-Eye Bush The Works 2011 4:23 Yes
095 Steeleye Span The Prickly Bush Time [CD] 1996 6:03 Yes
095 Steve Camacho Gallows Pole Folk and Other Songs 1962 No
095 Susan Herrod Hangman The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection 2:22 Yes
095 Susie Phaidi Oig (Mrs. Cunningham) The Weary Gallows Old British Ballads of Donegal and Derry - Traditional Singers Collected By Hugh Shields 1972 No
095 Tangle Eye Hangman Alan Lomax's Southern Journey Remixed 2004 5:24 Yes
095 Ted Keen The Prickly Bush BBC Recordings No
095 Telynor Hangman Telynor 2 1990 No
095 Tempest Hangman The Double-Cross 2006 2:14 Yes
095 The Chad Mitchell Trio Gallows Tree The Chad Mitchell Trio Arrives! 2000 No
095 The Dickel Brothers The Highway Man The Dickel Brothers Vol. 2 2000 No
095 The Dolmen Gallow Tree Dolmen Folk 2006 6:18 Yes
095 The Druids The Prickly Bush Burnt Offering 1970 5:07 Yes
095 The Folk Four Hangman A Sound of Their Own 1965 3:24 Yes
095 The Folksinger & Niamh Niamh and the Hangman, or the Maid Freed from the Gallows <website> 2008- 4:27 Yes
095 The Fureys The Prickly Bush The Irish Folk Collection - Vol. 2 2001 3:58 Yes
095 The Fureys The Prickly Bush The Spanish Cloak - Best of The Fureys 2000 3:58 Yes
095 The Gallows Singers Hangman Folk Festival at Syracuse 1963 2:32 Yes
095 The Kerries The Gallows Tree The Kerries 1967 No
095 The Kingston Trio Hangman Make Way + Goin' Places 1992 2:49 Yes
095 The Kingston Trio Hangman The Guard Years 1997 2:50 Yes
095 The Limeliters Hangman, Hangman 36 All-Time Greatest Hits 1997 2:38 Yes
095 The Merry Wives of Windsor Prickle Holly Bush Here's to the Men 2005 2:46 Yes
095 The Possum Hunters The Highwayman In the Pines 1968 No
095 The Singing Milkmaids Hangman On the Wash 2005 No
095 The Smothers Brothers Hangman Sibling Rivalry - The Best of the Smothers Brothers 1995 1:24 Yes
095 The Southcoasters Hangman Encore 1.0 2001 No
095 The Spectral Light and Moonshine Firefly Snakeoil Jamboree Gallows Pole Burning Mills 2004 3:49 Yes
095 The Stairwell Sisters Hangman Tree Get Off Your Money 2008 3:32 Yes
095 The Walker Family Hangman I Kind of Believe It's a Gift: Field Recordings of Traditional Music from Southcentral Kentucky 1977 4:04 Yes
095 The Watersons The Prickle-Holly Bush The Carthy Chronicles 2001 5:31 Yes
095 The Watersons The Prickle-Holly Bush Mighty River of Song 2004 4:41 Yes
095 The Watersons The Prickle-Holly Bush Green Fields 1998 4:41 Yes
095 The Watersons Prickle Holly Bush BBC Live Recordings 1982-1987 1987 5:08 Yes
095 The Watersons The Prickle-Holly Bush Essential 2011 4:04 Yes
095 The Woodbine & Ivy Band + Jackie Oates Derry Gaol The Woodbine & Ivy Band 2011 6:13 Yes
095 Tia Blake Hangman Folksongs & Ballads 1971 No
095 Tim Eriksen The Maid Freed from the Gallows Song Links 2 - A Celebration of English Traditional Songs and Their American Variants 2005 4:07 Yes
095 Tim Eriksen The Gallows Tree Soul of the January Hills 2010 2:55 Yes
095 Tom Speirs The Maid Freed from the Gallows BBC Recordings No
095 Tommy Makem The Prickly Holly Bush Tommy Makem's Christmas 1995 3:26 Yes
095 Tony Cooke Gallows Tree Folk Music 2005 3:42 Yes
095 Ula Kapała Hangman Minstrel's Song 1997 2:06 Yes
095 Ula Kapała Hangman Live Minstrels 2000 No
095 Unknown Singer Maid to the Gallows The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
095 Vernon Allen Ropes-I-Man, Ropes-I-Man, Hold Your Rope Voices from the Dust Bowl 1940-1941 4:27 Yes
095 Walter `Charlie' Lucas The Prickle Holly Bush BBC Recordings No
095 Walter Lucas & Villagers The Prickle Holly Bush World Library of Folk and Primitive Music, Vol. 1 - England 1998 1:49 Yes
095 William Butler The Prickly Briar (1) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
095 William Butler The Prickly Briar (2) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
095 William Titchener Maid to the Gallows The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
Excerpt from The British Traditional Ballad in North America
by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America
95. THE MAID FREED FROM THE GALLOWS
Texts: American Speech, I, 247 / Anderson, Coll Bids Sgs, 48 / Barry, Brit Bids Me, 206, 381 / Belden, Mo F-S, XV, 66 / Boletin Latino Americano de Musica, V, 281 / Botkin, Treasry Am F-L, 822 / Brown Coll / Bull U SC# 162, # 10 / Cambiaire, Ea Tenn Wstn Va Mt Bids, 15 / Chappell, F-S Rnke Alb, 35 / Child, V, 296 / Cox, F-S South, 115; Cox, Trd Bid W Va, 29 / Cox, W. Va. School Journal and Educator, XLV, 297 / Davis, Trd Bid Va, 360 / Downes and Siegmeister, Treasry Am Sg, 44 / Duncan, No Hamilton Cnty, 77 / Eddy, Bids Sgs Ohio, 62 / Flanders, New Gn Mt Sgstr, 118 / Fuson, Bids Ky Hghlds, 1 13 / Gardner and Chickering, Bids Sgs So Mich, 146 / Grapurchat, East Radford (Va.) State Teachers College, 8 25 '32 / Haun, Cocke Cnty, 99 / Henry, Beech Mt F-S, 18 / Henry, F-S So Hghlds, 96 / Hummel, Oz F-S I Hudson, F-S Miss, in / Hudson, F-T Miss, 19 / Hudson, Spec Miss F-L, #15 / Jeckyll,7a^w SgStry, 58 / JAFL, XIX, 22; XXI, 56; XXVI, 175; XXVII, 64; XXX!, 319; XXXIX, 105;XLII, 272; XLVIII, 312; LVI, 242 IJFSS, V, 231 / Kittredge, Cambridge Ed. Child 95 Blds, xxv / Kolb, Treasry F-S, i6/Lomax, Cowboy Sgs Frntr Bids, 159 (another song)/ Mason, Cannon Cnty, 20 / Minish Mss. / Morris, F-S Fla, 444 / Musical Quarterly, II, i I4ff. / N.J. Journal of Education, XV, #6, #7 / Ozark Life, VI, #2 / Owens, "studies Tex F-S, 26 / Parsons, F-T Andres Is, 152 / Parsons, F~L Sea Is, 189 / Perry, Carter Cnty, 154, 304 / Randolph, Oz F-S, I, 143 / Sandburg, Am Sgbag, 72 / Scarborough, On Trail N F-S, 35ff. / Scarborough, Sngctchr So Hghlds, 196 / SharpC, Eng F-S So Aplchns, 4^24 / Sharp K, Eng F-S So Aplchns, 1, 208 / Reed Smith, SC Bids, 144 (see Chapter VIII also) / Smith and Rufty, Am Anth Old Wrld Bids, 37 / SFLQ, II, 71 / Speculum, XVI, #2, 236 / Thomas, Devil's Ditties, 164 / Thompson, Bdy Bts Bnchs, 397 / Va FLS Bull, #s 26, 8 10 / Wyman and Brockway, Lnsme Tunes, 44.
Local Titles: By a Lover Saved, Down By the Green Willow Tree, Hangman Hold Your Rope, Hold Your Hands Old Man, O Judges, The Gallows Tree, The Gallis Pole, The Gallant Tree, The Golden Ball, The Hangman (Hangerman, Hangsman), The Hangman's Son, The Hangman's Song, The Hangman's Tree, The Maid (Girl) Freed from the Gallows, The Scarlet Tree, The Sycamore Tree, The True Love Freed from the Gallows, True Love.
Story Types: A: A girl, at the gallows, is about to be hung. She requests the hangman to stop the proceedings as she sees a member of the family (usually the father) coming. She asks her father if he has gold or fee, etc. to set her free. He says he has not; he has come to see her hung. This sequence of questions and answers goes on through the girl's relations (usually mother, brother, sister; sometimes, uncle, grandmother, cousin, etc.) until the sweetheart comes and replies that he has brought the fee to free her. In a few texts he has a knife to cut the rope.
Examples: Barry (I), Davis (A), Smith (A).
B: The sequence of events is similar to that of Type A, but an offense of which the girl is guilty is hinted at. This usually connects with golden ball- virginity legend.
Examples: Barry (II), Davis (K), SharpK (B).
C: The usual story is told, but the sex of the prisoner is male.
Examples: Belden, Davis (E), Randolph (D).
D: Dr. Maurice Gallagher of the Romance Language Department at the University of Pennsylvania recalls having heard a text sung in Texas in 1916 in which a man waited in vain for the usual rescue and was eventually hung.
No examples.
E: The story is the same as that of Type A, except the fate of the girl is uncertain and there is a touching plea to the lover in the last four lines.
Examples: Eddy (A).
F: There are a few texts where badman ballads have taken over the Maid Freed from the Gallows motif. In one, a man sees his sweetheart through a train window (probably with another man), commits murder, and is sentenced to hang. In another, a similar, but not identical situation exists, and the girl rescues her lover from the gallows. In the third, the conventional "Fve killed no man, robbed no train, and done no hanging crime" prefaces the ballad.
Examples (in order): Hudson, F-S Miss (D); Henry, F-S So Hghlds (E); Fuson.
G: This type contains stanzas directed by the girl at the Saviour, who does not answer, complaining that her golden lands will be taken when she is in Eternity and that no one loves her. The true-love, Edward, appears. She says, and he-repeats, that he has no gold; nevertheless, he loves her and will set her free. The lovers then forgive the parents, but hope the brother is hung.
Examples: Haun.
Discussion: There are detailed discussions of the history of this ballad in Reed Smith, SC Bids, Chapter VIII and in Scarborough, On Trail N F-S, 35 ff. Consult also Erich PohTs article in FFC, $105, 1265. Child, II, 346ff. and Sager, Mod Phil, XXVII, I29ff. discuss the whole European tradition and the German parallels respectively Child, II, 346 expressing the opinion that the English versions are all "defective and distorted". See Child, IV, 482 for further references. Also consult NTFLQ, II, 139 for an Italian version beginning "Sailors do not drown me" and SFLQ, V, 25 for a discussion of a Rumanian analogue.
In Europe the song invariably centers about some variation of a theme concerning a girl's capture by corsairs or a hero's imprisonment. In Britain and America the antecedent action, if mentioned at all, ties up with a crime the conventional loss of a golden ball, key, or comb, possibly representing virginity. See Broadwood, JFSS, V, 231; Kittredge, JAFL, XXX, 319; Scarborough, of. cit., 38. Belden, Mo F-S, 66 notes this song's importance in the study of ballad origins. Many of the forces of variation have worked on it, although its incremental repetition (see Kittredge's edition of Child's Ballads, xxv) has served to keep the framework intact.
The American story types, usually with a hangman (Child G) instead of a judge, are large in number, although the structure of the song has remained amazingly constant. Type A tells the usual British story, and Type B seems to illustrate the manner in which a ballad can contact popular tale (see Child G, H). The Type C "sex reversal" is most likely a sentimental mitigation of the tragedy. If so, in Duncan, No Hamilton Cnty, B this change in mood is carried one step farther. There the mother rescues her son, because mother love is stronger than "sweetheart love". See Duncan, op. cit., 76. Such "sex reversals" are the rule in the Slavic countries and in America occur most often in the South. Type D does not follow the tradition of the story and in its failure to reverse the progression possesses a dramatically weak conclusion, while Type E (which could result in Type D if reconstructed by the folk) is simply incomplete. The Type F degenerations ally themselves with the Lomax, Cowboy Sgs Frntr Bids, text which is a curious adaption of The Maid Freed from the Gallows motif to the life of the West called Bow Down Tour Head an' Cry. Type F is discussed in some detail by Barry and Henry in the latter's F-S So Hghlds, See also Morris, F-S Fla, 449, D version. Type G, which allies itself with the Scottish Child I text in the lack of gold and the curse on the brother, is treated at length by Haun in Cocke Cnty, 31. The Thompson, Bdy Bts JSrtchs, 397 text shows some affinities with this story type.
The story itself has taken a number of forms in America. It is, particularly with negroes, popular as a drama (Davis, ?rd Sid Fa, 361, Scarborough, op. A 9 39; Reed Smith, op. cit., 85 ff.) and is also found as a children's game (Davis, op. cit., 361; JAFL, XXX, 319; Botkin, Am Play Party Sg, 62; Smith, op. cit., 88 ff. See also Child F). It exists as a prose tale in the United States and West Indies and upon occasion has been developed as a cante-fable. (See Smith, op. cit., Chapter VIII). These stories vary widely. Parsons, F-2" Andros Is, 152 prints a cante-f able where a girl goes away to school, falls in love against her stepmother's wish, is falsely accused of theft, and is sentenced to hang. Beckwith, PMLA, XXXIX, 475 prints a Jamaica version in which an engaged princess breaks a family rule and is to be hung. Her future husband comes with a great chariot, smashes the gallows, and rescues her. (For more Jamaican texts, see Jeckyll, Jamcn Sg Stry, 58 ff.) And Mary Owen, Voodoo Tales, 185 ff. found the song material used as a part of a Missouri story of a negro girl with a magic golden ball that made her white. Barry, Brit Bids Me, 2103 disputes the idea that the cante-fable and game stages are the last steps in the song's deterioration, and Russell Ames (JAFL, LVI, 242) discusses Leadbelly's version which the latter has developed from cante-fables.
Barry, op. cit., Sgff. prints three secondary versions of this song from Maine. Hudson, F-S Miss, 113 maintains his E version, which contains a borrowed stanza at the end, to be a parody. The text is fragmentary, however.
For studies relating this ballad to negro songs, see Reed Smith, SC Bids, Chapter. VIII and Musical Quarterly, II, H4ff
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The Maid Freed from the Gallows From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"The Gallows Tree" redirects here. For a tree used for execution by hanging, see Gallows tree.
"The Golden Ball" redirects here. For the English socialite, see The Golden Ball (dandy). For other uses, see Golden Ball (disambiguation).
"The Sycamore Tree" redirects here. For other uses, see Sycamore (disambiguation).
"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.[1] 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.
Synopsis
Although it exists in many forms, all versions recount a similar story. A maiden (a young unmarried woman) about to be hanged (for unknown reasons) pleads with the hangman, or judge, to wait for the arrival of someone who may bribe him. The first person (or people) to arrive, who may include the father, mother, brother, and sister, have brought nothing and often have come to see her hanged. The last person to arrive, often her true love, has brought the gold to save her.[1] Although the traditional versions do not resolve the fate of the condemned one way or the other[citation needed], it may be presumed that the bribe would succeed. She may[clarification needed] curse all those who failed her.
The typical refrain would be:
"Hangman, hangman, hangman / slack your rope awhile.
I think I see my father / ridin’ many a mile.
Father, did you bring any silver? / father, did you bring any gold,
Or did you come to see me / hangin’ from the gallows pole?"
"No, I didn’t bring any silver, / no I didn’t bring any gold.
I just come to see you / hangin’ from the gallows pole."
It has been suggested that the reference to "gold" may not mean actual gold for a bribe, but may instead stand for the symbolic restoration of the maiden's honor, perhaps by proof of her virginity or fidelity.[2][3] Such an interpretation would explain why a number of variations of the song have the maiden (or a male condemned) asking whether their visitors had brought them gold or paid their fee. In at least one version, the reply comes that "I haven't brought you gold / But I have paid your fee."[4]
The song is also known as "The Prickly Bush", a title derived from the oft-used refrain lamenting the maiden's situation by likening it to being caught in briery bush, wherein the brier prickles her heart. In versions carrying this theme, the typical refrain may add:
O the prickly bush, the prickly bush,
It pricked my heart full sore;
If ever I get out of the prickly bush,
I'll never get in any more.
[edit] VariantsIn some versions, the protagonist is male. This appears to be more prevalent in the United States, where hanging of women was uncommon.[3] 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,[5][6] or indicate that she is being hanged for fornication[citation needed].
The most extensive version is not a song at all, but a fairy story titled "The Golden Ball", collected by Joseph Jacobs in More English Fairy Tales. It encompasses the theme of the song. The story focuses more on the exploits of the fiancé who must recover a golden ball in order to save his love from the noose; the incident resembles The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was.[7] Other fairy tales in the English language, telling the story more fully, always retell some variant on the heroine being hanged for losing an object of gold.[8]
In the Bob Dylan song "Seven Curses", the maiden is not the one to be hanged but her father, for stealing a stallion. The woman offers to buy her father's freedom from the judge, who responds: "gold will never free your father/ the price my dear is you instead". The maiden pays the judge's terrible price but wakes the next morning to find that her father has been hanged regardless.
[edit] OriginThe song likely originated in a language other than English[citation needed]. Some fifty versions have been reported in Finland,[9] where it is well known as Lunastettava neito. It is titled Den Bortsålda in Sweden, and Die Losgekaufte in German. A Lithuanian version has the maid asking relatives to ransom her with their best animals or belongings (sword, house, crown, ring etc.). The maiden curses her relatives who refuse to give up their property, and blesses her fiancé, who does ransom her.[10]
In a Hungarian version called "Feher Anna," collected by Béla Bartók in his study The Hungarian Folk Song, Anna's brother Lazlo is imprisoned for stealing horses. Anna sleeps with Judge Horvat to free him, but is unsuccessful in sparing his life. She regales the judge with 13 curses.
Francis James Child found the English version "defective and distorted", in that, in most cases, the narrative rationale had been lost and only the ransoming sequence remained. Numerous European variants explain the reason for the ransom: the heroine has been captured by pirates.[11] Of the texts he prints, one (95F) had "degenerated" into a children's game, while others had survived as part of a Northern English cante-fable, The Golden Ball (or Key).[11] Child describes additional examples from the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Russia, and Slovenia. Several of these feature a man being ransomed by a woman.[11]
The theme of delaying one's execution while awaiting rescue by relatives appears with a similar structure in the classic fairy tale "Bluebeard" by Charles Perrault in 1697[12] (translated into English in 1729).
"Gallows Pole" and the era of recorded music
Lead Belly version
"In the Shadow of the Gallows Pole", a Lead Belly album featuring the song as "The Gallis Pole".Legendary folksinger Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter, who also popularized such songs as "Cotton Fields" and "Midnight Special" first recorded "The Gallis Pole" in the 1930s, and set the stage for the song's popularity today.[citation needed] Lead Belly's rendition, available through Folkways music and recently re-released by the Library of Congress, differs from more familiar recordings in several notable ways.[citation needed] The Lead Belly version is performed on acoustic twelve string guitar, and following an introductory phrase reminiscent of the vocal melody, Lead Belly launches into a furious fingerpicking pattern.[citation needed] His haunting, shrill tenor delivers the lyrical counterpoint, and his story is punctuated with spoken-word, as he "interrupts his song to discourse on its theme".[13]
Judy Collins and Bob Dylan versions
Judy Collins performed the song "Anathea" throughout 1963 (including a rendition at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival), credited to Neil Roth and Lydia Wood. It is thematically similar to the Hungarian "Feher Anna" cited above, even to the detail of the name of the brother (Lazlo). It appeared on her third album, released in early 1964. Dayle Stanley's folk album "A Child Of Hollow Times," from roughly this era, included an uncredited version of this song ("of Greek origin"), under the name "Ana Thea." Bob Dylan recorded a thematically similar "Seven Curses" in 1963 during the sessions for his Freewheelin' album. The song tells a similar story, but from the point of view of the condemned's daughter. Dylan's song has been recorded by many artists. The definitive folk version of the song is probably that by Nic Jones recorded as 'Prickly Bush' which he performed live and is featured on the 'Unearthed' album. The song has also been played by Spiers & Boden.
Led Zeppelin version "Gallows Pole"
Song by Led Zeppelin from the album Led Zeppelin III
Released October 5, 1970
Recorded May - August 1970
Genre Folk rock
Length 4:56
Label Atlantic Records
Writer trad. arr. Jimmy Page, Robert Plant
Producer Jimmy Page
Led Zeppelin III track listing
"Out on the Tiles"
(5) "Gallows Pole"
(6) "Tangerine"
This plotline is followed in perhaps the most familiar version today. English band Led Zeppelin recorded the song for their album Led Zeppelin III in 1970. 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.[14] Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page adapted the song from a version by Fred Gerlach.[14] On the album the track was credited "Traditional: Arranged by Page and Plant".
"Gallows Pole" begins as a simple acoustic guitar rhythm; mandolin is added in, then electric bass guitar shortly afterwards, and then banjo and drums simultaneously join in. The instrumentation builds up to a crescendo, increasing in tempo as the song progresses. The acoustic guitar chord progression (in standard tuning) is simple with a riff based on variations of the open A chord and the chords D and G occurring in the verse. Page played banjo, six and 12 string acoustic guitar and electric guitar (a Gibson Les Paul), while John Paul Jones played mandolin and bass.[14]
Page has stated that, similar to the song "Battle of Evermore" which was included on their fourth album, the song emerged spontaneously when he started experimenting with Jones' mandolin, an instrument he had never before played. "I just picked it up and started moving my fingers around until the chords sounded right, which is the same way I work on compositions when the guitar's in different tunings."[15]
Led Zeppelin would perform the song a few times live during Led Zeppelin concerts in 1971.[14] Singer Plant would sometimes also include lyrics in live performances of the Led Zeppelin song "Trampled Under Foot" in 1975.
In the Led Zeppelin version of the song, despite the bribes which the hangman accepts, he still carries out the execution.
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, and your sister warmed my soul,
But now I laugh and pull so hard to see you swinging on the Gallows Pole
As in the Dylan "Seven Curses" and many other renditions, the Led Zeppelin version is based on a variant in which the convict is male. This is evident when the convict's brother addresses the convict as "brother" rather than "sister" in the line, "Brother, I brought you some silver, yeah."
Personnel
Robert Plant: lead vocals
Jimmy Page: six and twelve string acoustic guitars, electric guitar, banjo
John Paul Jones: bass guitar, mandolin
John Bonham: drums
"Gallows Pole" single released by Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant.[edit] Other versionsLed 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.
In 2005, Robert Plant and his band Strange Sensation performed the song on the television show Soundstage. The performance was released the following year on the DVD Soundstage: Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation.
A few lines of the song are sung by a woman strumming a guitar in a 1949 John Wayne movie, The Fighting Kentuckian. The song is chronologically appropriate to the film, which is set in 1818.
The song has been recorded by numerous other artists, including Odetta, Lead Belly, Great Big Sea, The Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul and Mary, Nic Jones, Almeda Riddle, Uriah Heep, the Pine Valley Cosmonauts, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Steeleye Span, The Merry Wives Of Windsor and Neil Young.
American folk singer John Jacob Niles recorded a version under the title "The Hangman"; the song was featured in the Harmony Korine film Mister Lonely.
The Watersons recorded the song as "The Prickle Holly Bush" on their 1981 album "Green Fields" and frequently included it in their live performances.
Spiers and Boden recorded two variations: "Derry Gaol" and "Prickle Eye Bush". The latter was also recorded with Bellowhead.
Jasper Carrott performed a comedy version in which the narrator is hanged before he can finish the first verse.
German folk metal band In Extremo has a version of this song called "Der Galgen".
In Literature
The 1951 Shirley Jackson novel Hangsaman takes its name from the folk song, and draws on its theme of a female protagonist seeking rescue from peril--in this case of a spiritual, existential or psychological nature.
Names
In addition to "The Maid Freed from the Gallows", "The Prickly Bush" and the more recent "Gallows Pole", variations of the song have been recorded or reported under more than a dozen names.[16] These include:
"The Gallis Pole"
"The Gallows Tree" (Bert Jansch)
"The Prickilie Bush"
"Hangman"
"Hangman, Slacken"[4]
"Hangman, Slack on the Line"[17]
"Gallows"
"Freed from the Gallows"
"Maid Saved"
"By a Lover Saved"
"Down by the Green Willow Tree"
"Girl to be Hanged for Stealing a Comb"
"Ropeman"
"Ropeman's Ballad"
"Prickle Holly Bush"
"Derry Gaol"
"Hold Your Hands, Old Man"[4]
"Old Rabbit, the Voodoo"
"The Briery Bush"[18]
"The Golden Ball"
"Mama, Did You Bring Any Silver?"
"Prickle-Eye Bush (Bellowhead and Spiers and Boden)
"The Sycamore Tree"[19]
See also
The Child ballad "Geordie" also features a rescue from the gallows by a payment.
The song "Hallowed Be Thy Name", originally interpreted by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, describes the feelings of a condemned just before the execution and briefly gives an interpretation about life after death. The way of execution, as mentioned in the song, is represented through the motif "Gallows Pole".
References
1.^ a b Francis James Child, English and Scottish Popular Ballads, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows"
2.^ Steeleye Span - Time.
3.^ a b The Prickilie Bush.
4.^ a b c Wolf Folklore Collection: Hangman, Slacken (The Maid Freed From the Gallows; Hold Your Hands, Old Man).
5.^ GarryGillard.net
6.^ More English Fairy Tales: The Golden Ball.
7.^ Jacobs, Joseph, ed. "The Golden Ball" More English Fairy Tales. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1894.
8.^ Tristram P. Coffin, "The Golden Ball and the Hangman's Tree" p 23-4 D. K. Wilgus, Folklore International: essay in traditional literature, belief and custom in honor of Wayland Debs Hand, Folklore Associates, Inc. Hatboro PA 1967
9.^ A Peck Of Dirt - Mark Automaton.
10.^ Folkinfo - topic.
11.^ a b c Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v 2, p 346-50, Dover Publications, New York 1965.
12.^ Bluebeard.
13.^ Richard Mercer Dorson, American Folklore (1959) p. 196.
14.^ a b c d Dave Lewis (1994), The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, Omnibus Press, ISBN 0-7119-3528-9.
15.^ Dave Schulps, Interview with Jimmy Page, Trouser Press, October 1977.
16.^ Folk Music Index - M to Maid N.
17.^ The Ballad of America, John Anthony Scott pages 207-208
18.^ Lesley Nelson-Burns "The Briery Bush"
19.^ The Ballad of America, John Anthony Scott pages.14-15
Further reading
Eleanor Long, "The Maid" and "The Hangman": Myth and Tradition in a Popular Ballad (University of California Press [Folklore Studies: 21], 1971, xiii+170 pp.) ISBN 0-520-09144-2.
Eleanor Long, Child 95 "The maid freed from the gallows": a geographical-historical study. 1968.
Led Zeppelin: Dazed and Confused: The Stories Behind Every Song, by Chris Welch, ISBN 1-56025-818-7.
The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, by Dave Lewis, ISBN 0-7119-3528-9.
External links
Lyrics available at Wikisource- Wikisource has original text related to this article: Gallows Pole
The Maid Freed From the Gallows several variants
Song facts on variants
The Maid Freed From the Gallows, with commentary
Review: 'The Maid' and 'The Hangman' by Eleanor Long
Review by: E. B. Lyle
Folklore, Vol. 83, No. 2 (Summer, 1972), pp. 169-170
'THE MAID' AND 'THE HANGMAN'
By ELEANOR LONG. University of California Press. Pp. 170. Price: $6.75.
THIS is a study of Child ballad No. 95, which Professor Child calls The Maid Freed from the Gallows. The author, however, prefers to employ the title The Gallows Tree, pointing out that the protagonist may be a man. Since the ballad 'focusing as it does upon release from execution by payment of a ransom, is bound to no sexual preference' (p. 62), she is disinclined to follow those critics who have seen the ballad as containing symbolic hints that the 'crime' for which execution is threatened is loss of a girl's virginity. Nevertheless, she gives careful consideration to the occurrences of possible symbolic material, particularly a prickly bush and a golden ball, but finds that their use in other contexts does not support the speculations they have given rise to in this ballad. These speculations seem merely to serve as a distraction from the powerful theme of the love of a husband, wife or lover proving stronger than parental love, which finds early expression in the story of Alcestis who dies in place of her husband Admetus when his father and mother refuse the chance to ransom his life with their own.
Dr Long points out the dangers inherent in taking short-cuts by selecting variants that tend to support a preconceived theory, and shows that valid conclusions can be drawn only after painstaking attention has been paid to verbal detail in the full range of available texts. Her analysis of 250 textual variants and io8 tunes from the English-speaking areas makes this book a most worth-while complement to the studies already available of the tradition of this ballad in mainland Europe. The ballad in English has its closest parallel in an Eastern European form, and the author suggests that it was brought to Britain by gipsies and was perhaps translated from Romany into English in the seventeenth century.
E. B. LYLE
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Folk Trax: MAID FREED FROM THE GALLOWS, THE
"Hold up your hand, dear Judge" Ch: "O the Prickle Holly Bush that pricks my heart so sore" - CHILD #95 - ROUD#144 - SUMNER BM 1888 - BROADWOOD ECS 1893 pp112-113 Sumner Somerset/ Buckinghamsh "The Prickly Bush" - GREIG-DUNCAN 2 p222 1v/m - BROADWOOD ECS 1893 pp112-113 from Sumner BM/ Buckinghamsh "The Prickly Bush" - SHARP-MARSON FSS 5 pp54-55 Mrs Overd, Langport, Somerset "The Briery Bush" - Sel Ed 2 pp4-5 - Novello School Series 5 - SHARP-KARPELES CSC 1974 pp118-121 Mrs Overd, Langport 1909/ Mrs Betsy Pike, Somerton, Somerset 1906 1v/m/ Wm Major, Flamborough, Yorksh 1910 1v/m ("O the Prickerly Bush") - JFSS 19 pp228-38 (notes & related cante-fable & singing game) - JFSS 35 p304 - UDAL DF 1922 pp323-4 Procs of Dorset Field Club 27 1906 Herbert Pentin (c) "The Prickly Bush" - WILLIAMS FSUT 1923 pp281-3 #498 Robert Little, South Marston, Wiltsh & Tim Fox, Bampton, Oxfordsh 1v/ch/ #218 Charles Tanner, Bampton, Oxfordsh 5dv/ch (w/o) "The Prickly Brier" - REEVES IOP 1958 pp153-5 Miss Bertha Paul: Langport, Somerset 1908 (w/o) - REEVES EC 1960 pp184-5 2var Gardiner: Hampsh 1907 & Hammond: Marlborough, Wiltsh 1908 (w/o) "Prickty Bush" - PURSLOW WS 1968 p95 Gardiner: Charles Chivers, Basingstoke, Hampsh 1906 "The Prickly Bush" - COPPER SSB 1973 pp282-3 Fred Hewett, Mapledurwell Hampsh 1959 "Prickle-Holly Bush" - PALMER EBECS 1979 #60 pp113-4 Mike Yates: Bill Whiting, Longcot, Berksh 1972 ("Oh slack thy horse cried George") --- SHARP FSSA1917/32 #28 (vol 1 208-14) 11 var: T.Jeff Stockton, Flag Pond, Tenn 1916/ Mrs Sarah Buckner, Black Mountain, NC 1916 Mrs Orilla Keeton, Mount Fair, Va 1916/ N.B.Chisholm & Mrs Betty Smith, Woodridge, Va 1916/ Mrs Mary Anne Short, Pine Mt, Harlan Co., Ky 11917/ Miss Alice Sloan, Barbourville, Knox Co., Ky 19117/ Mrs Laura Donald, Dewey, Va 1918/ Mrs Effie Michell, Burnsville, NC 1918/ Mrs Laurel Jones, Burnsville 1918/ Mrs Sina Boone, Shoal Crek, Burnsville 1918/ Mrs Molly E.Bowyer, Villamont, Va 1918 - FUSON BKH 1930 pp113-4 Lizzie Dills, Ky (w/o) "The Hangman's Song" ("Through the pines (x2) - where the sun never shines") - HUDSON FSM 1936 pp111-114 Jessie Harvey/ Lois Womble, Mi (w/o) "The Girl FFTG"/ Ala (w/o) "The Hangman's Song" ("I went down to the old depot as the train was passing by")/ Mrs Flora Stafford Swetnam Mi (w/o) "The Hangman's Song" - HENRY FSSH 1938 pp93-8 Cora Clark, NC 1929/ Mary Riddle, NC 2v (w/o)/ Laura Ferrara, NJ 3v (w/o)/ Hettie Twiggs, NC 1931 (w/o)/ Mrs Calvina S Brown, Ala (w/o)/ James Taylor, Va (w/o)/ Wilma Clark, Mi (w/o)/ T D Clark, Mi (w/o)/ Mrs Flora Stafford Swetnam, Mi (w/o) "The Hangman's Song" - FLANDERS-BROWN-BARRY NGMS 1939 p117 - BELDEN Mo 1940 p66 - RANDOLPH OFS 1 pp143-8 Wm Lewis, Mi 1927/ Mrs Emma Baird Chambliss, Mi 1929 1v (w/o)/ Mrs Jeannie Pendleton Hall, Tex 1930 (w/o)/ Mrs May Kennedy McCord, Mi 1938/ Mary Drain, Ark 1942/ Mrs H L McDonald, Ark 1942 "Hold your hands old man" - COFFIN-RENWICK BBNA 1950 p243 - BROWN NC 1952 2 p143 - WARNER TAFS 1984 #105 pp268-9 Frank Proffitt, Watuga Co, NC 1960 8v/m "Hang Man" - McINTOSH FSSGIO pp39-41 Mrs Lessie Parrish, Ill 1937 "My Golden Ball" - Cf DAUGHTER ELLEN (Children's Ring Game with relations) -- Various Versions CASS-30-0528 - "Charlie" (Walter) LUCAS (hurdlemaker) rec by Francis Collinson, Sixpenny Handley, Wiltsh 1949: RPL 9497 (78) "The Prickle Holly Bush"/ rec by PK at "Village Barn Dance" March 1951: 7T-008/ COLUMBIA SL-206 1952/ 502/ Marjorie WESTBURY (soprano), John RUNGE (tenor) & choir of The Red Maids School Bristol in an arrangement by Francis Collinson of Lucas's song rec 31/3/55: RPL 21750 - Ted KEEN rec by Seamus Ennis, North Marston, Bletchley, Buckinghamsh, 25/6/52: RPL 18140 "Prickle-lie Bush" - Sarah Ann TUCK & Julia SCADDON rec by PK, Chideock, Dorset 1952: CAEDMON TC-1145/ TOPIC 12-T-160/RPL 18694 (Mrs E BARNES & Sarah Ann TUCK 1952: talk bef)/ 502 "The Prickelly Bush" - Fred HEWETT rec by Bob Copper, Mapledurwell, Hampsh 1955: RPL 21859/ 426/ TOPIC 12-T-317 1977/TSCD-653 1998 (Tragic Ballads)/ ARGO ZDA-71 "The Prickle Holly Bush" - George "Pop" MAYNARD (frag) rec by PK, Copthorne, Sussex 1956: 279 "Prickle Thorny Bush" - A L Lloyd: RIVERSIDE RLP-12-623 1956 (coll by Fuller-Maitland, Somerset) - Steve BENBOW (voc/gtr) with Vic PITT (bass) rec by PK, London Jan 1959 RTR-0494/ 091 "Slack your rope, hangman" (from Leadbelly) - Ewan McCOLL & Peggy SEEGER: ARGO ZDA-71 1967 (Hewett & Ky) - Mrs Cunningham (Susie Phaidi Oig), rec by Hugh Shields, Teelin, Co Donegal: LEADER LEA-4055 1968 "The Weary Gallows" - Finbar & Eddie FUREY: TRANSATLANTIC TRA-191 1969 - DRUIDS (Group): ARGO ZFB- 22 1970 - WATERSONS: TOPIC 12-TS-415 1981 coll in Berksh by Mike Yates) "Slack your rope, hangman": on Radio 2: 30/9/87: CASS- 0404/ rec Farnham Folk Day on Radio 2: 4/1/83 CASS-15-0788 --- Bascom Lamar LUNSFORD rec 1949 (unacc & with gtr) & Bradley BROWNING rec by Alan & Elizabeth Lomax, Arjay, Kentucky 1937: RPL 13795 (Lib of Congress) "Hangman's Tree" - Jean RITCHIE (unacc) rec New York Sept 1950: RPL 16043/ (voc/ dulc): COLLECTOR CLE-1201 1956 "The Hangman" - Jean JENKINS (unacc) rec by PK, London 2/4/57: 915 - ODETTA (with gtr) rec USA: TRADITION TLP-1025 1958 "The Gallows Tree" (from Leadbelly) - ORIGINAL RIVERSIDERS Skiffle Group rec by PK, London 1958: RPL LP 24159 "The Gallows Pole" - Almeda RIDDLE rec by Alan Lomax, Arkansas 1959: ROUNDER CD-1705 1997 "Hangman Tree" - KINGSTON TRIO: EMI T-1474 1961- Frank PROFFITT rec by Frank & Anne Warner 1960 9v learnt from Nancy Prather, father's sister: 931/ APPLESEED APR-CD-036 2000 "Hangman" - LEADBELLY: TRANSATLANTIC XTRA- 1126/ ISLAND FOLK 101 (boxed set) 1975 - John Jacob NILES: VANGUARD SRL-7624 1965 "The Hangman" - Jimmy DRIFTWOOD (voc/ gtr/ auto harp): RCA Victor LSP-1994 1959 - LED ZEPPELIN III (WE-421) /CASS-60-0812 - Frank PROFITT Jr (unacc): CLOUDLANDS (Tenn) CLC-008 1992 CASS-1356- Hobart SMITH (voc with gtr) rec Saltville, Va 1942/ AFS 8723 B1/ ROUNDER 11661-1799-2-2001 --- Swedish Version: "Den Bortsalda" RELP-5004
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The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21).
Volume II. The End of the Middle Ages.
XVII. Ballads.
§ 8. The Maid Freed from the Gallows; The Making of Ballads; General Outlines of Ballad Progress.
A ballad known in English as The Maid Freed from the Gallows still has an astonishing vogue throughout Europe; in Finland, alone, there are fifty versions of it. Now and then, a narrative has been prefixed to explain the situation; but, usually, the situation stands for itself and is, beyond all doubt, original. The setting, of course, varies; now the girl is to be drowned, or carried off by pirates, now, as in the English version, she faces death on the gallows. Who will save her? She appeals to a series of relations, all of whom refuse to interfere, until a climax is reached, say with the true-love, who is ready to part with all he has and is, so as to save her life. For each of the relatives there is the same stanza of request, the same stanza of refusal, the increments being mere change from father to mother, to brother, to sister and so on, till, with the truelove, refusal turns to triumphant consent. The cardinal facts in this ballad are, first, the ease with which it can be sung to any length, so long as names of relatives hold out, with no artistic effort of composition, after the initial stanzas have once been given, and, second, and most significant fact, the actual use of it for dance and mimetic game in one of the English versions, in a Faroe version and in sundered groups like the Danish and the Magyar. Not only is the connection of dance and ballad firmly established, but, as Kittredge points out, the making of ballads in a throng becomes a perfectly intelligible and even necessary process. Of course, few ballads can remain in this initial stage. They are submitted to oral tradition, and are sung as stories rather than presented as action. More than this, a whole narrative, often a definite occurrence, historical or legendary, or even, it may be, a late form of some old classical tale, will find its way into the ballad structure and so be handed down in the traditional way. The epic process changes this ballad structure, however, only so far as the narrative demands; there is a succession, rather than a juxtaposition, of events, smoother progress, disuse of the refrain, pruning of repetition, and, above all, a desire for better aesthetic values. Otherwise the narrative complies with the rules of its form. The ballad remains anonymous, objective, simple. From the mass of stories drifting along the same traditionary stream, other details may join the old situation or the borrowed tale, and make a narrative out of it which has counterparts in popular ballads all over the world. A new event, as in Scottish ballads like Captain Car, falls easily into the traditional form, and finds half of its phrases, even some of its stanzas, made to hand. The versions, again, may vary with place and time, but not in any premeditated way. The stamp of popular simplicity remains; the old formulas, commonplaces, epithets, traditional in balladry, occur without fear of restraint by the poet or of exchange for “heightened” speech; the ballad may resemble literary poems in its matter, but never in its structure and style. Short or long, old or new, it shuns metaphor and all striving for figurative effect. It is simple in the sense that there is no play of fancy in epithet, phrase or word, or in the arrangement of words and phrases. It is not simple in all senses, because it has its own easily recognised style—that ballad “slang” oftener mentioned than known. It adheres, when it can, to dialogue; it is free from sentiment; and its modifications are due to a tendency working on purely traditional lines. The change can often be seen in a single ballad, where the main situation, choral and dramatic, has been furnished with opening and concluding verses of a purely narrative type. A possible explanation which reverses this process, which assumes the detachable epic details to be original and the choral verses to be an addition, and a redaction to fit the story for dance or game, is not to be considered for a moment. A mass of evidence, partly derived from the study of European ballads at large, partly drawn from the stores of ethnological material, puts such a plea out of court. 15
We may thus state with confidence the general outlines of ballad progress. What gave the ballad its existence as a poetic species was a choral, dramatic presentation. 8 Refrain of the throng, and improvisation by various singers, leant heavily, as all primitive poetry teaches us, on repetition. To advance the action, this repetition became incremental, a peculiarity of ballads which is radically different from the repetition by variation in Old English verse and from the “thought-rime,” or parallelismus membrorum, established by Lowth for Hebrew poetry. The rhythmic form into which the ballad verse naturally ran is that four-accent couplet known all over the world and in every age, as Usener has pointed out, in popular song. With the refrain, this couplet formed a quatrain; in later and longer ballads, as also in some of the short “situation” ballads, the refrain is replaced by a second and fourth line, constituents of the regular stanza, which may be an actual substitution for the refrain, or else are simply the three-accent portion of the old septenarius, a conclusion which merely sets us hunting for the popular sources of the septenar. However this may be, the question is not vital. Given the structure, the form, of choral and dramatic balladry, one now reckons with its predominant epic contents, due to a process common in the poetry of all races. It is at this point that a regrettable confusion occurs: the sources of actual, recorded ballads, their narrative origins, whether historic, legendary, romantic or mythical, are confounded with the sources of the ballad itself, of the poetic species as a whole. The narrative element in our ballads is, of course, the most obvious mark for grouping them and comparing them with the popular verse of other lands; but to account for English balladry as a whole, we have to rely on the foregoing analysis of its constituent parts. Analysis of theme is misleading for the larger question. For example, there is nothing in Celtic tradition which exactly corresponds to the English popular ballad; such cases as the Lord Randal versions in Irish and Welsh must be due, as E. G. Cox points out, to importation. But there are hundreds of points in narrative, situation, motive and what not, where English ballads may touch Celtic tale or song. How far these points of contact concern the origin of a given ballad is to be determined in the individual case. On a different plane entirely stands the ballad itself as a poetic species—a form of wonderful definiteness and stability, flourishing at one time with great vigour in the Germanic and other continental races, and showing such vitality in survival as to retain its hold upon English and Scottish tradition for at least five hundred years. 16
Note 8. Any study of ultimate origins would have to reckon with old ritual and the survival of myth, sources that have been proved of late for the St. George plays in England and for the beginnings of medieval drama throughout Europe. [ back ]
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The Reverend Lamar Roberts and the Mediation of Oral Tradition
by John Minton
Source: The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 108, No. 427 (Winter, 1995), pp. 3-37
Reverend Lamar Roberts of Todd Springs, Texas. Born at Todd Springs on 3 April, 1919, the great-grandson of slaves, Lamar Roberts was crippled by polio as a child.
Reverend Roberts's own musical relatives were likewise receptive to the eclectic influences of electronic media. "I never could play no kind of music [musical instrument]," he admitted:
But I had uncles, they could play any s ongt hey ever h eard. But t hey d one passed on. Theyu sed
to havea songa bout,I don'tk noww ho putt he recordo ut, "TheH ighwaymant"h eyc alledi t.
I had an uncle who could play that song with guitar and, uh, that fiddle and all that what's
supposedto be in there,y ou couldt ell wherei t comei n at, but he couldp layi t in a wayt hat
he didn't even not never have to have a fiddle with it. He could play it and sing.
iM: "The Highwayman," was that the one, "Hangman, hangman slack your rope"?
LR: That's it! That's it! ... I never did learn to sing that too well, but I remember the song!
The song, disseminated on commercial 78s by Charlie Poole and the North
Carolina Ramblers, is a crossing of the British import "The Maid Freed from
the Gallows" (Child 95) and the indigenous blues ballad "The Coon Can Game"
(Laws I 4), a hybrid typical of this era in Southern recording.2
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Maybelle Poovey, A study of The Maid Freed from the Gallows
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“Fehrer Anna” is a very, very old folk song about a young woman whose brother has been condemned to death for stealing a horse. Desperate to free him, she sleeps with the sentencing judge, only to find out in the morning that the judge has gone ahead and carried out the death sentence. In retaliation, she hurls curses at him, damning him to a fate worse than death. In 1924, Bartók – who also became a renowned collector and scholar of folk songs — included the ballad in his collection entitled Hungarian Folk Songs, translated to English and published in the United States in 1931.
In subsequent popular English versions and recordings, the name “Feher Anna” is translated as “Anathea” although the name of her brother, Lazlo, remains intact:
Lazlo Feher stole a stallion,
Stole him from the misty mountain
And they chased him and they caught him,
And in iron chains they bound him.
Word was brought to Anathea
That her brother was in prison.
“Bring me gold and six fine horses,
I will buy my brothers freedom.”
“Judge, oh, judge, please spare my brother,
I will give you gold and silver.”
“I don’t want your gold and silver,
All I want are your sweet favours.”
These are the lyrics that Judy Collins used when, in 1963, she began singing “Anathea” during her live performances. She recorded the song on her third album that same year. Also later that same year, during the recording sessions for The Times They Are A-Changin’, Bob Dylan recorded a version of the song under the title “Seven Curses,” changing up the lyrics a bit.
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Elidor and The Golden Ball
This story was first collected by the medieval chronicler Geraldus Cambrensis, and tells of how a young boy lived for a time in the fairy kingdon, until the day he tried to steal one of their belongings. This version is from Joseph Jacob's More Celtic Fairy Tales, 1892.
In the days of Henry Beauclerc of England there was a little lad named Elidore, who was being brought up to be a cleric. Day after day he would trudge from his mother's house, and she was a widow, up to the monks' Scriptorium. There he would learn his A B C's, to read it and to write. But he was a lazy little rogue was this Elidore, and as fast as he learned to write one letter, he forgot another; so it was very little progress he was making.
Now when the good monks saw this they remembered the saying of the Book "Spare the rod and spoil the child," and whenever Elidore forgot a letter they tried to make him remember it with the rod. At first they used it seldom and lightly, but Elidore was not a boy to be driven, and the more they thwacked him the less he learned: so the thwackings became more frequent and more severe, til Elidore could not stand any longer. So one day when he was twelve years old he upped with them and offed with him into the great forest near St. David's.
There for two long days and nights he wandered about eating nothing but hips and haws. At last he found himself at the mouth of a cave, at the side of a river, and there he sank down, all tired and exhausted. Suddenly two little pigmies appeared to him and said "Come with us, and we will lead you into a land full of games and sports: "So Elidore raised himself and went with these two; at first through an underground passage all in the dark, but soon they came out into a most beautiful country, with rivers and meadows, woods and plains, as pleasant as can be; only this there was curious about it, that the sun never shone and clouds were always over the sky, so that neither sun was seen by day, nor moon and stars at night."
The two little men led Elidore before their king, who asked why and whence he came. Elidore told him, and the king said : "Thou shalt attend on my son," and waved him away. So for a long time Elidore waited on the king's son, and joined in all the games and sports of the little men.
They were little, but they were not dwarfs, for all their limbs were of suitable size one with another. Their hair was fair, and hung upon their shoulders like that of women. They had little horses, about the size of greyhounds; and did not eat flesh, fowl, or fish, but lived on milk flavoured with saffron. And as they had such curious ways, so they had strange thoughts. No oath took they, but never a lie they spoke. They would jeer and scoff at men for their struggles, lying, and treachery. Yet though they were so good they worshipped none, unless you might say they were worshippers of Truth.
After a time Elidore began to long to see boys and men of his own size, and he begged permission to go and visit his mother. So the King gave him permission: so the little men led him along the passage, and guided him through the forest, till he came near his mother's cottage, and when he entered, was not she rejoiced to see her dear son again? " Where have you been? What have you done?" she cried ; and he had to tell her all that had happened to him. She begged of him to stay with her, but he had promised the King to go back. And soon he returned, after making his mother promise not to tell where he was, or with whom.
Henceforth Elidore lived, partly with the little men, and partly with his mother. Now one day, when he was with his mother, be told her of the yellow balls they used in their play, and which she felt sure must be of gold. So she begged of him that the next time he came back to her he would bring with him one of these balls. When the time came for him to go back to his mother again, he did not wait for the little men to guide him back, as he now knew the road. But seizing one of the yellow balls with which he used to play, he rushed home through the passage.
Now as he got near his mother's house he seemed to hear tiny footsteps behind him, and he rushed up to the door as quickly as he could. Just as he reached it his foot slipped, and he fell down, and the ball rolled out of his hand, just to the feet of his mother. At that moment two little men rushed forward, seized the ball and ran away, making faces, and spitting at the boy as they passed him. Elidore remained with his mother for a time; but he missed the play and games of the little men, and determined to go back to them. But when he came to where the cave had been, near the river where the under-ground passage commenced, he could not find it again, and though he searched again and again in the years to come, he could not get back to that fair country. So after a time he went back to the monastery, and became in due course a monk. And men used to come and seek him out, and ask him what had happened to him when he was in the Land of the Little Men. Nor could he ever speak of that happy time without shedding tears.
Now it happened once, when this Elidore was old, that David, Bishop of St. David's, came to visit his monastery and ask him about the manners and customs of the little men, and above all, he was curious to know what language they spoke ; and Elidore told him some of their words. When they asked for water, they would say : Udor udorum; and when they wanted salt, they would say : Hapru udorum. And from this, the Bishop, who was a learned man, discovered that they spoke some sort of Greek. For Udor is Greek for Water, and Hap for Salt.
Hence we know that the Britons came from Troy, being descendants from Brito, son of Priam, King of Troy.
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TALE I.
ELIDOR, OB THE GOLDEN BALL.
There befell in the parts of Gower and Swansey, in Wales, a thing not unworthy to be remembered, which Elidor, the priest, most firmly related to have happened to him. For when he already reckoned the twelfth year of puerile innocence, (because, as Solomon saith, the root of learning is bitter, and the fruit sweet,) the boy, addicted to letters, that he might avoid discipline, and the frequent stripes of his preceptor, hid himself, a fugitive, in the hollow bank of a certain river: and, when he had now lurked there two days, continually fasting, there appeared to him two little men, as it were of pygmy stature, saying: If thou wilt come with us, we will lead thee into a land full of sports and delights: he assenting, and rising up, followed them, leading the way, through a road, at first, subterraneous and dark, into a most beautiful country, very much enibellished with rivers and meads, woods and plains, nevertheless obscure, and not brightened with the open light of the sun. All the days there were as if cloudy, and the nights most hideous by the absence of moon and stars. The boy was brought to the king, and presented to him before the court of the realm, and, when he had a long time beheld him, with the admiration of all, he, at length, recommending, assigned him to his son, a boy he had. Now the men were of very small stature, but, for their size, very well shaped: all yellowhaired, and with luxuriant locks flowing down their shoulders in the manner of a woman. They had horses fit for their own height, with greyhounds conformable in size. They ate neither flesh, nor fish, using, for the most part milky food, and things made with saffron in the manner of a pudding. There were no oaths among them; for they detested nothing so much as lies. As often as they returned from the upper hemisphere, they reproached our ambitions, infidelities, and inconstancies. There was no religious worship among them openly; being only, it seemed, chief lovers and worshippers of truth. Now the boy was wont frequently to ascend to our hemisphere, sometimes by the way by which he had come, sometimes by another; at first with others, and
afterward by himself. He only committed himself to his mother, declaring to her the mode of the country, and the nature and condition of the people. Admonished, therefore, by his mother, that he would sometimes bring to her a present of the gold with which that country abounded, the golden ball with which the kings son had been accustomed to play, snatching it from him in the game, he, speedily hastening, carried to his mother, by the usual way; and, when he had now come to his fathers house, yet not without a train of that people, he hastened to enter, his foot stuck in the threshold, and so, falling within the house, where his mother was sitting, two pygmies following his foot-step, seized the ball which had fallen out of his hand, and, in going out, threw spit, contempt and derision upon the boy. He, verily, rising, and come to himself, was confounded with the wonderful shame of the deed, and, when, very much cursing and detesting the counsels of his mother, he prepared to return by the road he had been accustomed to, he came to the descent of the river, and subterraneous passage, no entrance appeared to him*.
• Girald Barry, Itinerarium Cambria, a Pouelo, Londini, 1586, 8vo. p. 129
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Analogues:
Sager, Die Losgekaufte. Modern Philology XXVII (1929)
Iivar Kemppinen, Lunastettava neito (1959)
Brewster, A Rumanian Analogue of The Maid Freed from the Gallows
Erich Pohl, Die deutche Volksballade. in FFC #105
Analogues of this song turn up all over Europe, at least 50 examples having been found in Finland. The following is a quote from an abstract of a paper, Lithuanian Folk Songs About Setting Free And Their Parallels In The Ballads Of European Nations, by Auðra Zubavièiûtë:
"..the international ballad, that is known by name Lunastettava neito in Finland, Den Bårtsalda in Sweden, The Maid Freed from the Gallows in England, Die Losgekaufte in German. The Finnish scientist Iivar Kempinen inserted Lithuanian folk songs about setting free in his book Lunastettava neito (1957) like variants of the international ballad. Ballad's main motive is girl's setting free from captivity. The ballad's content narrates about the young maiden, who is in captivity. She asks her father, mother, sister, brother, fiancé to ransom her with best animals (cow, sheep, bull etc.) or things (sword, house, crown, ring etc.). Nobody will part with their property; only girl's beloved ransoms her. The maiden curses all her relatives and blesses her fiancé."