John Gould, the hangman- Bristol (WI) 1966 Abrahams
[My title. From: Child Ballads in the West Indies: Familiar Fabulations, Creole Performances by Roger D. Abrahams; Journal of Folklore Research, Vol. 24, No. 2 (May - Aug., 1987), pp. 107-134. This version was collected from Nora Bristol, Georgetown, St. Vincent, April 11, 1966.
R. Matteson 2015]
I can think of no better way of illustrating this point than to give a version of the ballad "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (Child 95)[33] as recorded from an old woman performing in a nine-night on St. Vincent.
Nora Bristol was regarded as a strange and amusing character by the people of Richland Park, where she and I were living in 1966. In telling this story about a man saved by an "old-time love," she was casting humorous light on her own place in the community. She was known to be an old lady on the prowl, one who no longer had anyone living with her and who would lament this state in a humorous manner whenever given license to do so. Consequently, she was to be found at wakes and in the middle of Carnival and other nonsensical occasions.
As in two of the versions of Matty Glow and Garoleen, the performance begins with a singing of some of the stanzas from the song, as a way to gain the floor, get the specific story and its song before the audience, and organize the crowd to sing along, thus encouraging the hearers to listen.
John Gould, John Gould
Will you brought any gold and silver?
I just in time to see you hang,
Hang, hang, you mus' be hang'.
Oh, no, oh, no, oh, I don't brought any golds,
And likewise silver, too;
I jus' in time to see you hang,
Hang, hang, you mus' be hang'.
Well, there is a man have a girl, good-looking girl. An' de girl get tobo [troubles, usually referring to filaria] and chiggers an' yaws. Dey de girl [with so much wrong with her now, so he] don't want de girl again, de girl was she courtin' to; 'e don't want de girl again. E make up wid a nex' one. An' e do something wrong. An' e going to hang him. Hang, they're going to hang 'im. Dey got him up, going out. E start to cry, start to sing an' cry:
Mother, mother, have you brought any golds
An' likewise silver, too,
For to take my body from the shame of the world
From this gallows pole?
Oh, no, oh, no, oh, I don't brought you a golds,
Or likewise silver, too;
I just in time to see you hang,
Hang, hang, you mus' be hang'.
E [John Gould, the hangman] t'row de rope up. E [the man] see e sister coming down:
John Gould, John Gould,
Will you slack you chain for awhile?
I see my dear sister coming
Down from so many mile.
Sister, sister, have you brought any golds
An' likewise silver, too.
For to take my body from the shame of de world
From dis gallows pole?
Oh, no, oh, no, I don't brought any golds
An' likewise silver, too.
I jus' in time to see you hang,
Hang, hang, you mus' be hang'.
See brother coming down. They tying de rope up, seeing the brother coming down:
John Gould, John Gould
Will you slack you chain for awhile?
Oh, I see my brother coming
For so many a mile.
Brother, brother, have you brought any golds,
An' likewise silver, too,
For to take my body for de shame of de world
From dis gallows pole?
Oh, no, oh, no, I don't brought any a golds
An' likewise silver, too.
I jus' in time to see you hang,
Hang, hang, you mus' be hang.
E see e sweetheart e lover daily to e heart coming down. T'ought he done rescue when e see 'is sweetheart e love daily to e heart coming now:
John Gould, John Gould,
Will you slack your chain for awhile?
I see my dear sweetheart coming down
From so many mile.
Sweetheart, sweetheart, have you any a golds,
An' likewise silver, too,
For to take my body from the shame of the world
From this gallows pole.
Oh, no, oh, no, I don't bring any golds
An' likewise silver, too.
I jus' in time to see you hang
Hang, hang, you mus' be hang.
They haul de rope up. The old time girl he don't want to see at all now coming. Start, e say then:
John Gould, John Gould,
Will you slack your chain for awhile?
I see my dear old time coming down
From so many mile.
Old time, old time, have you brought any a golds
An' likewise silver, too?
Oh, yes, oh, yes,
Yes, I brought plenty of golds,
An' silver likewise too.
I jus' in time to see you done come down,
Come down, you mus' come down.
There is de girl he did not want to see. An' de girl taking off de gallows an' carry home, de girl, an' he married de girl. An' he did not want to see her can' de first girl he was courting to. When you have two piece of fresh wood put on de fire, the fire can' catch without the dry piece of firewood. Out de firewood to put de fresh piece of wood inside de fire dey. Befo' catch. But
two [fresh] piece have to have fire [already] there to catch.[34]
Footnotes:
33. For the standard study of this ballad, see Eleanor Long's "The Maid" and "The Hangman": Myth and Tradition in a Popular Ballad (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1972). The male protagonist, as here, is far from unusual, as she demonstrates.
34. Collected from Nora Bristol, Georgetown, St. Vincent, April 11, 1966.