The Gallent Tree- Brown (OH-GA) 1939 Eddy A
[From Ballads and Songs from Ohio, Eddy, 1939.
R. Matteson 2015]
Eddy: I am indebted to Mrs. Brown's granddaughter, Miss Ida Harris, for this Georgia version of "The Maid Freed From the Gallows." Before moving to Canton in 1926, this negro family lived in Sanderville, Georgia."
The Gallent Tree- Sung by "Ma Jane" Brown, Canton, Ohio, 1939; Eddy A.
"Oh, slacken the rope, oh, slacken the rope,
Oh, slacken it for a while;
I think I see my mother comin'
About five hundred miles.
Mother, did you come to bring me gold,
Or come to pay me free,
Or did you come to see me hung
Upon the gallent tree?"
"I did not come to bring thee gold,
Or come to pay thee free,
But I just come to see thee hung
Upon the gallent tree."
(In the next three verses the girl calls to her father, brother, and sister.)
"Oh, slacken the rope, oh, slacken the rope,
Oh, slacken it for a while,
I think I see my darlin' comin'
About five hundred miles.
Oh, darlin', did you come to bring me gold,
Or come to pay me free,
Or did you com to see me hung
Upon the gallent tree?
Darlin', I stretch my hand to thee,
No other help I know,
If thou withdraw thyself from me,
Oh, whither shall I go?"