Hanged I Shall Be- Nellie Richardson (VT) c.1890; Flanders A
[Considering the age of the source informant-- born in 1830, the ballad dates well back into the 1800s. From: Vermont Folksongs and Ballads; Flanders and Brown, 1933. The title, makes no sense as a local title and was probably assigned by the collectors Brown and Flanders.
R. Matteson 2016]
A. "Hang-ed I Shall Be." - Recorded by Mr. Brown, from the singing of Nellie S. Richardson, August, 1930 as remembered from the singing of Mr. James Simpson, born in 1830.
1. 'T was in the town of Oxford
Where I did live and dwell;
'T was in the town of Eaglewood
I run a flour mill.
2. I fell in love with a pretty fair maid
With a dark and rolling eye,
I asked her for to marry me
And her wants I would supply.
3. I went unto her father's house
About nine o'clock at night;
I asked her for to walk with me
And her wedding day app'int.
4. We walked and talked together
'Til we came to level ground.
I drew a club from out the hedge
And knocked the fair maid down.
5. She fell upon her bended knee
And for mercy she did cry.
"Oh, Willie, do not murder me,
For I'm not prepared to die.
Oh, Willie, do not murder me
For I'm not prepared to die!"
6. I heeded not her weeping
But then beat on the more.
The ground for miles around us
Was covered with bloody gore.
The ground for miles around us
Was covered with bloody gore.
7. I seized her by the yellow hair
And dragged her o'er the ground
Until we came to the river,
That flows through Oxford town,
Until we came to the river
That flows through Oxford town.
8. Saying, "Lie there, lie there, my pretty fair maid,
You thought you would be my bride,
You thought we would be married
And unto me be tied.
You thought we would be married
And unto me be tied."
9. I then went home to my mother's house
About twelve o'clock at night.
My mother, who had been dreaming,
Woke up in a terrible fright.
My mother, who had been dreaming,
Woke up in a terrible fright.
10. "Oh, son, oh son, what have you done
That has bloodied all your clothes?''
The answer that I made to her
Was "bleeding from the nose."
The answer that I made to her,
Was "bleeding from the nose."
11. In calling for a candle
To light me up to bed,
Likewise a pocket handkerchief
To tie my aching head,
Likewise a pocket handkerchief
To tie my aching head.
12. In twisting it and turning it
No comfort could I find,
For the flames of Hell before my eyes,
How brightly they did shine!
For the flames of Hell before my eyes
How brightly they did shine!
13. Now all young men and maidens
Take warning unto me;
On the twenty-first of next August
I will hang on yon gallows-tree,
On the twenty-first of next August
I will hang on yon gallows-tree.
14. On the twenty-first of next August
Wilt end my earthly plight,
But it's good enough for any young girl
Who will walk out at night[1];
But it's good enough for any young girl
Who will walk out at night."
1. The inference is possibly found in John Galusha's version also from New England which appears similarly, "Who is fit for a lord or a knight." See also Lily Delorme's NY/VT text. The lines are out-of-place here-- they go with the stanza where bystanders comment on how beautiful the young girl is whose body has just been found.