992. Hangman, Slack On the Line (Child 95) - (Traditional)

"The Maid Freed From the Gallows" is one of the most popular of the English and Scottish ballads collected by Francis James Child. There are thousands of versions of this song about a girl who has committed a crime, the nature of which is never revealed, and is waiting for somebody to come and pay a bribe in time to free her from the hangman. The song is also widely known throughout Europe, with fifty versions in Finland alone.

The version known as "The Briery Bush", "Red Rosy Bush" or "Prickle Holly Bush", is unusual in that it has a chorus - as if the song is not repetitive enough already! In America the song is usually known as "Hangman, Hangman." It was recorded by Lead Belly under the name "Gallis Pole" and has since been recorded by many singers in many different ways. Some notable examples are George London, Casey Anderson, Burl Ives, John Jacob Niles, Peggy Seeger, Steeleye Span, Judy Collins, Jean Ritchie (1955), Odetta (1961), The Kingston Trio (1961),The Limeliters (1963), A. L. Lloyd (1964), Almeda Riddle (1965), Peter, Paul and Mary (1965), Martin Carthy (1981), Nic Jones (2001) and, of course, Led Zeppelin.

This is the fifth version of this song I have put on my channel, perhaps my least favourite of the versions I sing, which may explain why I've left it so late to put it up.

You can see my other versions of the song as follows:

Prickle Holly Bush: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WVnlBQ5A_8
The Briery Bush: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcwpIhUvoT8
Hangman, Hangman (Odetta version): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkl_blHdWaU
The Maid Freed From the Gallows (John Jacob Niles.version): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtEMUEqM9TI

You can watch a playlist of my renditions of the Child ballads:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=B2D0D5657EA394E4

For lyrics and chords of my songs see my website: http://www.raymondcrooke.com

Category:

Music

Tags:

• folk
• song
• ballad
• maid
• freed
• from
• gallows
• leadbelly
• odetta
• john
• jacob
• niles
• limeliters
• kingston
• trio

[Doca]

The guitar is so deceiving in this one, uplifting even, a stark contrast to the lyrics.

I love your Maid freed from the gallows version, could you give me the tab for that version or post the chords?

Hope that isn't too much trouble, I simply can't find them anywhere else.

[raymondcrooke]

@Doca As it says in the information panel above, lyrics and chords of all my songs can be found on my website (see link above). Click on "My Folk Songs", then "The Child Ballads" and you'll find it in numerical order - No. 95. The lyrics of all the versions I sing are there. Just click on the correct title and you'll find it.

[musicchains]

interesting version...

[raymondcrooke]

This is the fifth of several versions I know. Not my favourite one, though.

[garibelon]

Such a *G*R*E*A*T* rendition!

Crowned with stars... :)

All the best

gari

[raymondcrooke]

Thanks for your beautiful video response, Gari. You do it very well.

[raymondcrooke]

It's certainly not as repetitive as all the other versions!

[TimMcMullen]

I always enjoy your renditions, but I must admit that I am partial to the Smothers Brothers' version of this piece: "Hangman, hangman, slack your rope; Slack it for awh...achhhhh!"

[raymondcrooke]

Thanks. I prefer the other versions though.

[UncleVRoy]

Great SONG THANKS FOr Sharing!