The Hangman's Song- Brown (MS-AL) c1923 Hudson A
[Not a local title. From Hudson, 1937, No. 19. Also Folksongs of Mississippi 1936; Bronson 52 (where text is incomplete).
R. Matteson 2015]
"The Hangman's Song" - Sung by Mrs. Calvin S. Brown of Miss. (?), between 1923 and 1930. Learned in the "canebrake" region of Alabama.
1. "Hang-a-man, hang-a-man, stop your rope
And wait a little while;
Yonder comes my father,
He's travel'd a many a mile."[1]
2. "Father, dear father, did you come
To bri-i-ng me gold,
Or did you come to see me hang
Upon the willow pole?"
3 "Daughter, dear daughter, I did not come
To bri-i-ng you gold,
But I did come to see you hanged
Upon the willow pole."
[Thus with mother, brother, sister, friend until the lover appears who is similarly addresses but who replies;]
18. "Lover, dear lover, I did come,
To bri-i-ing you gold;
I did not come to see you hanged,
Upon the willow pole."
1. also "travel'd a million a mile"