Hangman- Hall (AR-TX) pre1930 Randolph C
[My title. From: Randolph, Ozark Folksongs, I, 1946, P. 144(C).
R. Matteson 2015]
C. [Hangman] Contributed by Mrs. Jeannie Pendleton Hall, Fort Worth, Texas, Jan. 2, 1930. Mrs. Hall learned the song many years ago in the Arkansas hill country.
Hangman, hangman, slack your rope,
Slack it for awhile,
Yonder comes my brother
A-walking many a mile.
Brother, brother, have you brought me some gold?
The gold for to pay my fine?
Or have you come for to see me hung,
Hung on the gallows line?
Brother, brother, I've brought you no gold,
No gold for to pay your fine,
But I have come to to see you hung,
Hung on the gallows line.
This is repeated in groups of three stanzas for mother, father, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles and so on. All make the same reply, until the "true love," arrives. The final stanza runs:
True love, true love, you are best of all,
With gold I'll pay my fine,
Instead of dead I'll soon be wed,
And the hangman can keep his line!