Gallows Pole - Synopsis

Synopsis

Although it exists in many forms, all versions recount a similar story. A maiden (a young unmarried woman) about to be hanged (for unknown reasons) pleads with the hangman, or judge, to wait for the arrival of someone who may bribe him. The first person (or people) to arrive, who may include the father, mother, brother, and sister, have brought nothing and often have come to see her hanged. The last person to arrive, often her true love, has brought the gold to save her. Although the traditional versions do not resolve the fate of the condemned one way or the other, it may be presumed that the bribe would succeed. Depending on the version, she may curse all those who failed her.

The typical refrain would be:

"Hangman, hangman, hangman / slack your rope awhile.

I think I see my father / ridin’ many a mile.

Father, did you bring any silver? / father, did you bring any gold,

Or did you come to see me / hangin’ from the gallows pole?"

"No, I didn’t bring any silver, / no I didn’t bring any gold.

I just come to see you / hangin’ from the gallows pole."

It has been suggested that the reference to "gold" may not mean actual gold for a bribe, but may instead stand for the symbolic restoration of the maiden's honor, perhaps by proof of her virginity or fidelity. Such an interpretation would explain why a number of variations of the song have the maiden (or a male condemned) asking whether their visitors had brought them gold or paid their fee. In at least one version, the reply comes that "I haven't brought you gold / But I have paid your fee."

The song is also known as "The Prickly Bush", a title derived from the oft-used refrain lamenting the maiden's situation by likening it to being caught in briery bush, wherein the brier prickles her heart. In versions carrying this theme, the typical refrain may add:

O the prickly bush, the prickly bush,

It pricked my heart full sore;

If ever I get out of the prickly bush,

I'll never get in any more.