The Maid Freed from the Gallows
Encyclopedia
"The Maid Freed from the Gallows" is one of many titles of a centuries-old folk song
about a condemned maiden pleading for someone to buy her freedom from the executioner
. In the collection of ballads compiled by Francis James Child
, it is indexed as Child Ballad number 95; eleven variants, some fragmentary, are indexed as 95A to 95K. The ballad existed in a number of folkloric variants from many different countries, and has been remade in a variety of formats. It was recorded in 1939 as "The Gallis Pole" by folk singer Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter
, but the most famous version was the 1970 arrangement
of the Fred Gerlach version by English
rock
band Led Zeppelin
, which was entitled "Gallows Pole" on the album
Led Zeppelin III
.
(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. She may curse all those who failed her.
The typical refrain would be:
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 maid's honor, perhaps by proof of her innocence or fidelity. Such an interpretation would explain why a number of variations of the song have the maid (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 maid'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:
by pirates; or, she has stolen something from her employer. Other instances tell of her having lost a treasured golden ball, or indicate that she is being hanged for fornication
.
The most extensive version is not a song at all, but a fairy story titled "The Golden Ball", collected by Joseph Jacobs
in More English Fairy Tales. It encompasses the theme of the song. The story focuses more on the exploits of the fiancé who must recover a golden ball in order to save his love from the noose; the incident resembles The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was
. Other fairy tales in the English language, telling the story more fully, always retell some variant on the heroine being hanged for losing an object of gold.
In the Bob Dylan song "Seven Curses", the maiden is not the one to be hanged but her father, for stealing a stallion. The woman offers to buy her father's freedom from the judge, who responds: "gold will never free your father/ the price my dear is you instead". The maiden pays the judge's terrible price but wakes the next morning to find that her father has been hanged regardless.
. Some fifty versions have been reported in Finland
, where it is well known as Lunastettava neito. It is titled Den Bortsålda in Sweden
, and Die Losgekaufte in German
. A Lithuania
n version has the maid asking relatives to ransom her with their best animals or belongings (sword, house, crown, ring etc.). The maiden curses her relatives who refuse to give up their property, and blesses her fiancé, who does ransom her.
In a Hungarian version called "Feher Anna," collected by Béla Bartók
in his study The Hungarian Folk Song, Anna's brother Lazlo is imprisoned for stealing horses. Anna sleeps with Judge Horvat to free him, but is unsuccessful in sparing his life. She regales the judge with 13 curses.
Francis James Child
found the English version "defective and distorted", in that, in most cases, the narrative rationale had been lost and only the ransoming sequence remained. Numerous European variants explain the reason for the ransom: the heroine has been captured by pirates. Of the texts he prints, one (95F) had "degenerated" into a children's game, while others had survived as part of a Northern English cante-fable, The Golden Ball (or Key). Child describes additional examples from the Faroe Islands
, Iceland
, Russia
, and Slovenia
. Several of these feature a man being ransom
ed by a woman.
The theme of delaying one's execution while awaiting rescue by relatives appears with a similar structure in the classic fairy tale "Bluebeard
" by Charles Perrault
in 1697 (translated into English in 1729).
Legendary folksinger
Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter, who also popularized such songs as "Cotton Fields
" and "Midnight Special
" first recorded "The Gallis Pole" in the 1930s, and set the stage for the song's popularity today. Lead Belly's rendition, available through Folkways music and recently re-released by the Library of Congress
, differs from more familiar recordings in several notable ways. The Lead Belly version is performed on acoustic twelve string guitar
, and following an introductory phrase reminiscent of the vocal melody, Lead Belly launches into a furious fingerpicking pattern. His haunting, shrill tenor
delivers the lyrical counterpoint, and his story is punctuated with spoken-word, as he "interrupts his song to discourse on its theme".
recorded a thematically similar "Seven Curses" in 1963 during the sessions for his Freewheelin'
album. The song tells a similar story, but from the point of view of the condemned's daughter. Dylan's song has been recorded by many artists. The definitive folk version of the song is probably that by Nic Jones
recorded as 'Prickly Bush' which he performed live and is featured on the 'Unearthed' album. The song has also been played by Spiers & Boden.
recorded the song for their album Led Zeppelin III
in 1970. The album is a shift in style for the band towards acoustic material, influenced by a holiday Jimmy Page
and Robert Plant
took to the Bron-Yr-Aur
cottage in the Welsh countryside.
Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page
adapted the song from a version by Fred Gerlach. On the album the track was credited "Traditional: Arranged by Page and Plant".
"Gallows Pole" begins as a simple acoustic guitar rhythm; mandolin is added in, then electric bass guitar shortly afterwards, and then banjo and drums simultaneously join in. The instrumentation builds up to a crescendo, increasing in tempo as the song progresses. The acoustic guitar chord progression (in standard tuning) is simple with a riff based on variations of the open A chord and the chords D and G occurring in the verse. Page played banjo, six and 12 string acoustic guitar and electric guitar (a Gibson Les Paul
), while John Paul Jones
played mandolin and bass.
Page has stated that, similar to the song "Battle of Evermore" which was included on their fourth album
, the song emerged spontaneously when he started experimenting with Jones' mandolin, an instrument he had never before played. "I just picked it up and started moving my fingers around until the chords sounded right, which is the same way I work on compositions when the guitar's in different tunings."
Led Zeppelin would perform the song a few times live during Led Zeppelin concerts
in 1971. Singer Plant would sometimes also include lyrics in live performances of the Led Zeppelin song "Trampled Under Foot
" in 1975.
The Led Zeppelin version of the song is unique in that, despite the bribes, which the hangman accepts, he still carries out the execution.
As in the Dylan "Seven Curses" and many other renditions, the Led Zeppelin version is based on a variant in which the convict is male. This is evident when the convict's brother addresses the convict as "brother" rather than "sister" in the line, "Brother, I brought you some silver, yeah."
later recorded a version of this song for their 1994 release No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded
. They also released this track as a single. The song was performed regularly on the subsequent tour and featured a hurdy gurdy
.
In 2005, Robert Plant and his band Strange Sensation
performed the song on the television show Soundstage. The performance was released the following year on the DVD Soundstage: Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation
.
A few lines of the song are sung by a woman strumming a guitar in a 1949 John Wayne
movie, The Fighting Kentuckian
. The song is chronologically appropriate to the film, which is set in 1818.
The song has been recorded by numerous other artists, including Odetta
, Great Big Sea
, The Kingston Trio
, Peter, Paul and Mary
, Nic Jones
, Almeda Riddle
, Uriah Heep
, the Pine Valley Cosmonauts
, Alvin Youngblood Hart
, Steeleye Span
, and The Merry Wives Of Windsor.
American folk singer John Jacob Niles
recorded a version under the title "The Hangman"; the song was featured in the Harmony Korine
film Mister Lonely
.
Spiers and Boden
recorded two variations: "Derry Gaol
" and "Prickle Eye Bush". The latter was also recorded with Bellowhead
.
Jasper Carrott
performed a comedy version in which the narrator is hanged before he can finish the first verse.
German folk metal
band In Extremo
has a version of this song called "Der Galgen".
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
about a condemned maiden pleading for someone to buy her freedom from the executioner
Executioner
A judicial executioner is a person who carries out a death sentence ordered by the state or other legal authority, which was known in feudal terminology as high justice.-Scope and job:...
. In the collection of ballads compiled by Francis James Child
Francis James Child
Francis James Child was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, best known today for his collection of folk songs known as the Child Ballads. Child was Boylston professor of rhetoric and oratory at Harvard University, where he produced influential editions of English poetry...
, it is indexed as Child Ballad number 95; eleven variants, some fragmentary, are indexed as 95A to 95K. The ballad existed in a number of folkloric variants from many different countries, and has been remade in a variety of formats. It was recorded in 1939 as "The Gallis Pole" by folk singer Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter
Leadbelly
Huddie William Ledbetter was an iconic American folk and blues musician, notable for his strong vocals, his virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the songbook of folk standards he introduced....
, but the most famous version was the 1970 arrangement
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
of the Fred Gerlach version by English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
, which was entitled "Gallows Pole" on the album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
Led Zeppelin III
Led Zeppelin III
Led Zeppelin III is the third studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was recorded between January and July 1970 and released on 5 October 1970 by Atlantic Records. Composed largely at a remote cottage in Wales known as Bron-Yr-Aur, this work represented a maturing of the band's...
.
Synopsis
Although it exists in many forms, all versions recount a similar story. A maid (a young woman) about to be hangedHanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
(for unknown reasons) pleads with the hangman
Executioner
A judicial executioner is a person who carries out a death sentence ordered by the state or other legal authority, which was known in feudal terminology as high justice.-Scope and job:...
, or judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
, to wait for the arrival of someone who may bribe
Bribery
Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or...
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
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
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. 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 maid's honor, perhaps by proof of her innocence or fidelity. Such an interpretation would explain why a number of variations of the song have the maid (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 maid'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.
Variants
In some versions, the protagonist is male. This appears to be more prevalent in the United States, where hanging of women was uncommon. The crime for which the protagonist faces hanging is occasionally mentioned. The woman may be being held for ransomRansom
Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...
by pirates; or, she has stolen something from her employer. Other instances tell of her having lost a treasured golden ball, or indicate that she is being hanged for fornication
Fornication
Fornication typically refers to consensual sexual intercourse between two people not married to each other. For many people, the term carries a moral or religious association, but the significance of sexual acts to which the term is applied varies between religions, societies and cultures. The...
.
The most extensive version is not a song at all, but a fairy story titled "The Golden Ball", collected by Joseph Jacobs
Joseph Jacobs
Joseph Jacobs was a folklorist, literary critic and historian. His works included contributions to the Jewish Encyclopaedia, translations of European works, and critical editions of early English literature...
in More English Fairy Tales. It encompasses the theme of the song. The story focuses more on the exploits of the fiancé who must recover a golden ball in order to save his love from the noose; the incident resembles The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was
The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was
The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was or The Story of a Boy Who Went Forth to Learn Fear is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. It is tale number 4 in the collection...
. Other fairy tales in the English language, telling the story more fully, always retell some variant on the heroine being hanged for losing an object of gold.
In the Bob Dylan song "Seven Curses", the maiden is not the one to be hanged but her father, for stealing a stallion. The woman offers to buy her father's freedom from the judge, who responds: "gold will never free your father/ the price my dear is you instead". The maiden pays the judge's terrible price but wakes the next morning to find that her father has been hanged regardless.
Origin
The song likely originated in a language other than EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. Some fifty versions have been reported in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, where it is well known as Lunastettava neito. It is titled Den Bortsålda in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, and Die Losgekaufte in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. A Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n version has the maid asking relatives to ransom her with their best animals or belongings (sword, house, crown, ring etc.). The maiden curses her relatives who refuse to give up their property, and blesses her fiancé, who does ransom her.
In a Hungarian version called "Feher Anna," collected by Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
in his study The Hungarian Folk Song, Anna's brother Lazlo is imprisoned for stealing horses. Anna sleeps with Judge Horvat to free him, but is unsuccessful in sparing his life. She regales the judge with 13 curses.
Francis James Child
Francis James Child
Francis James Child was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, best known today for his collection of folk songs known as the Child Ballads. Child was Boylston professor of rhetoric and oratory at Harvard University, where he produced influential editions of English poetry...
found the English version "defective and distorted", in that, in most cases, the narrative rationale had been lost and only the ransoming sequence remained. Numerous European variants explain the reason for the ransom: the heroine has been captured by pirates. Of the texts he prints, one (95F) had "degenerated" into a children's game, while others had survived as part of a Northern English cante-fable, The Golden Ball (or Key). Child describes additional examples from the Faroe Islands
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
, Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, and Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
. Several of these feature a man being ransom
Ransom
Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...
ed by a woman.
The theme of delaying one's execution while awaiting rescue by relatives appears with a similar structure in the classic fairy tale "Bluebeard
Bluebeard
"Bluebeard" is a French literary folktale written by Charles Perrault and is one of eight tales by the author first published by Barbin in Paris in January 1697 in Histoires ou Contes du temps passé. The tale tells the story of a violent nobleman in the habit of murdering his wives and the...
" by Charles Perrault
Charles Perrault
Charles Perrault was a French author who laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from pre-existing folk tales. The best known include Le Petit Chaperon rouge , Cendrillon , Le Chat Botté and La Barbe bleue...
in 1697 (translated into English in 1729).
Lead Belly version
Folksinger
----Folksinger is an album by folk singer-songwriter Phranc, released in 1985.Phranc's first solo LP fused elements of her punk rock past with acoustic folk music...
Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter, who also popularized such songs as "Cotton Fields
Cotton Fields
"Cotton Fields" is a song written by blues musician Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly who made the first recording of the song in 1940.-Early versions:...
" and "Midnight Special
Midnight Special (song)
"Midnight Special" is a traditional folk song thought to have originated among prisoners in the American South. The title comes from the refrain which refers to the Midnight Special and its "ever-loving light" ....
" first recorded "The Gallis Pole" in the 1930s, and set the stage for the song's popularity today. Lead Belly's rendition, available through Folkways music and recently re-released by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
, differs from more familiar recordings in several notable ways. The Lead Belly version is performed on acoustic twelve string guitar
Twelve string guitar
The twelve-string guitar is an acoustic or electric guitar with 12 strings in 6 courses, which produces a richer, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar...
, and following an introductory phrase reminiscent of the vocal melody, Lead Belly launches into a furious fingerpicking pattern. His haunting, shrill tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
delivers the lyrical counterpoint, and his story is punctuated with spoken-word, as he "interrupts his song to discourse on its theme".
Judy Collins and Bob Dylan versions
Judy Collins performed the song "Anathea" throughout 1963 (including a rendition at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival), credited to Neil Roth and Lydia Wood. It is thematically similar to the Hungarian "Feher Anna" cited above, even to the detail of the name of the brother (Lazlo). It appeared on her third album, released in early 1964. Dayle Stanley's folk album "A Child Of Hollow Times," from roughly this era, included an uncredited version of this song ("of Greek origin"), under the name "Ana Thea." Bob DylanBob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
recorded a thematically similar "Seven Curses" in 1963 during the sessions for his Freewheelin'
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released in May 1963 by Columbia Records. Whereas his debut album Bob Dylan had contained only two original songs, Freewheelin initiated the process of writing contemporary words to traditional melodies....
album. The song tells a similar story, but from the point of view of the condemned's daughter. Dylan's song has been recorded by many artists. The definitive folk version of the song is probably that by Nic Jones
Nic Jones
Nicolas Paul "Nic" Jones is an English folk singer, fingerstyle guitarist and fiddle player whose professional career spanned the years 1964-1982. He recorded five solo albums, and was a frequent guest performer.-Biography:...
recorded as 'Prickly Bush' which he performed live and is featured on the 'Unearthed' album. The song has also been played by Spiers & Boden.
Led Zeppelin version
This plotline is followed in perhaps the most familiar version today. English band Led ZeppelinLed Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
recorded the song for their album Led Zeppelin III
Led Zeppelin III
Led Zeppelin III is the third studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was recorded between January and July 1970 and released on 5 October 1970 by Atlantic Records. Composed largely at a remote cottage in Wales known as Bron-Yr-Aur, this work represented a maturing of the band's...
in 1970. The album is a shift in style for the band towards acoustic material, influenced by a holiday Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
and Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
took to the Bron-Yr-Aur
Bron-Yr-Aur
Bron-Yr-Aur , sometimes misspelled as Bron-Y-Aur, is an 18th century cottage in South Snowdonia, Wales, best known for its association with the English rock band Led Zeppelin....
cottage in the Welsh countryside.
Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
adapted the song from a version by Fred Gerlach. On the album the track was credited "Traditional: Arranged by Page and Plant".
"Gallows Pole" begins as a simple acoustic guitar rhythm; mandolin is added in, then electric bass guitar shortly afterwards, and then banjo and drums simultaneously join in. The instrumentation builds up to a crescendo, increasing in tempo as the song progresses. The acoustic guitar chord progression (in standard tuning) is simple with a riff based on variations of the open A chord and the chords D and G occurring in the verse. Page played banjo, six and 12 string acoustic guitar and electric guitar (a Gibson Les Paul
Gibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and the late jazz guitarist and electronics inventor Les Paul. In 1950, with the introduction of the Fender Telecaster to the musical market, electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction, Gibson...
), while John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones (musician)
John Paul Jones is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. Best known as the bassist, mandolinist, and keyboardist for English rock band Led Zeppelin, Jones has since developed a solo career and has gained even more respect as both a musician and a...
played mandolin and bass.
Page has stated that, similar to the song "Battle of Evermore" which was included on their fourth album
Led Zeppelin IV
The fourth album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin was released on 8 November 1971. No title is printed on the album, so it is generally referred to as Led Zeppelin IV, following the naming standard used by the band's first three studio albums...
, the song emerged spontaneously when he started experimenting with Jones' mandolin, an instrument he had never before played. "I just picked it up and started moving my fingers around until the chords sounded right, which is the same way I work on compositions when the guitar's in different tunings."
Led Zeppelin would perform the song a few times live during Led Zeppelin concerts
Led Zeppelin concerts
From September 1968 through the summer of 1980, English rock group Led Zeppelin were one of the world's most popular live music attractions, performing hundreds of sold-out concerts around the world.-History:...
in 1971. Singer Plant would sometimes also include lyrics in live performances of the Led Zeppelin song "Trampled Under Foot
Trampled Under Foot
"Trampled Under Foot" is a song by English rock group Led Zeppelin, featured on their 1975 album Physical Graffiti.-Overview:The song was written by Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, and evolved out of a jam session in 1972...
" in 1975.
The Led Zeppelin version of the song is unique in that, despite the bribes, which the hangman accepts, he still carries out the execution.
As in the Dylan "Seven Curses" and many other renditions, the Led Zeppelin version is based on a variant in which the convict is male. This is evident when the convict's brother addresses the convict as "brother" rather than "sister" in the line, "Brother, I brought you some silver, yeah."
Personnel
- Robert PlantRobert PlantRobert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
: lead vocals - Jimmy PageJimmy PageJames Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
: six and twelve string acoustic guitars, electric guitar, banjo - John Paul JonesJohn Paul Jones (musician)John Paul Jones is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. Best known as the bassist, mandolinist, and keyboardist for English rock band Led Zeppelin, Jones has since developed a solo career and has gained even more respect as both a musician and a...
: bass guitar, mandolin - John BonhamJohn BonhamJohn Henry Bonham was an English musician and songwriter, best known as the drummer of Led Zeppelin. Bonham was esteemed for his speed, power, fast right foot, distinctive sound, and "feel" for the groove...
: drums
Other versions
Led Zeppelin members Page and PlantPage and Plant
Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, both formerly of English hard rock band Led Zeppelin, recorded and toured in the mid-1990s under the title Page and Plant. The pair re-united in 1994 and, after recording a highly successful first album, they embarked on a world tour. They then recorded a second album,...
later recorded a version of this song for their 1994 release No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded
No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded
No Quarter is a live album by Page and Plant, both formerly of English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was released by Atlantic Records on 14 October 1994. The long awaited reunion between Page and Plant occurred on a 90 minute "UnLedded" MTV project, recorded in Morocco, Wales, and London, which rated...
. They also released this track as a single. The song was performed regularly on the subsequent tour and featured a hurdy gurdy
Hurdy gurdy
The hurdy gurdy or hurdy-gurdy is a stringed musical instrument that produces sound by a crank-turned rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to a violin...
.
In 2005, Robert Plant and his band Strange Sensation
Strange Sensation
The Strange Sensation is Robert Plant's backing band, formed during his nine year break from solo recording. After 1993's Fate of Nations, Plant teamed up with former Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page to form Page and Plant...
performed the song on the television show Soundstage. The performance was released the following year on the DVD Soundstage: Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation
Soundstage: Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation
Soundstage: Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation is the first live DVD by Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation, featuring a performance filmed for the Soundstage television series in Chicago on September 16, 2005, in addition to bonus features from prior to the founding of the Strange Sensation...
.
A few lines of the song are sung by a woman strumming a guitar in a 1949 John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
movie, The Fighting Kentuckian
The Fighting Kentuckian
The Fighting Kentuckian American comedy action film starring John Wayne and Oliver Hardy. The movie was written and directed by George Waggner and made by Republic Pictures...
. The song is chronologically appropriate to the film, which is set in 1818.
The song has been recorded by numerous other artists, including Odetta
Odetta
Odetta Holmes, known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals...
, Great Big Sea
Great Big Sea
Great Big Sea is a Canadian folk-rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year-old Irish, English, and French heritage...
, The Kingston Trio
The Kingston Trio
The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and Nick Reynolds...
, Peter, Paul and Mary
Peter, Paul and Mary
Peter, Paul and Mary were an American folk-singing trio whose nearly 50-year career began with their rise to become a paradigm for 1960s folk music. The trio was composed of Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey and Mary Travers...
, Nic Jones
Nic Jones
Nicolas Paul "Nic" Jones is an English folk singer, fingerstyle guitarist and fiddle player whose professional career spanned the years 1964-1982. He recorded five solo albums, and was a frequent guest performer.-Biography:...
, Almeda Riddle
Almeda Riddle
Almeda Riddle was an American folk singer.Born and raised in Cleburne County, Arkansas, she learned music from her father, a fiddler and singing teacher. She collected and sang traditional ballads throughout her life, usually unaccompanied...
, Uriah Heep
Uriah Heep (band)
Uriah Heep are an English rock band formed in London in 1969 and regarded as a seminal classic hard rock act of the 1970s. Uriah Heep's progressive/art rock/heavy metal fusion's distinctive features have always been massive keyboards sound, strong vocal harmonies and David Byron's operatic vocals...
, the Pine Valley Cosmonauts
Pine Valley Cosmonauts
-History:The group was initiated by Jon Langford as a covers group, with a constantly shifting repertory and cast of backing members. The name was first used for Langford's 1995 album of Johnny Cash cover songs...
, Alvin Youngblood Hart
Alvin Youngblood Hart
Alvin Youngblood Hart is a Grammy Award-winning American musician.-Career:Born in Oakland California, Hart had family connections with Carroll County, Mississippi, and spent time there in his childhood, hearing his relatives stories of Charlie Patton, "being around these people who were there when...
, Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span are an English folk-rock band, formed in 1969 and remaining active today. Along with Fairport Convention they are amongst the best known acts of the British folk revival, and were among the most commercially successful, thanks to their hit singles "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat"....
, and The Merry Wives Of Windsor.
American folk singer John Jacob Niles
John Jacob Niles
John Jacob Niles was an American composer, singer, and collector of traditional ballads. Called the "Dean of American Balladeers", Niles was an important influence on the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, with Joan Baez, Burl Ives, and Peter, Paul and Mary, among others,...
recorded a version under the title "The Hangman"; the song was featured in the Harmony Korine
Harmony Korine
The story is told from the perspective of a young man suffering from untreated schizophrenia, played by Ewen Bremner, as he tries to understand his deteriorating world. Julien's abusive father is played by Werner Herzog...
film Mister Lonely
Mister Lonely
Mister Lonely is a 2007 comedy-drama film directed by Harmony Korine, and co-written with his brother Avi Korine.-Plot:A young American man living in Paris scratches out a living as a Michael Jackson look-alike, dancing on the streets, public parks, tourist spots and trade shows. During a show in...
.
Spiers and Boden
Spiers and Boden
Spiers and Boden are an English folk duo. John Spiers plays melodeon and concertina, while Jon Boden sings and plays fiddle and guitar while stamping the rhythm on a stomp box.-Biography:...
recorded two variations: "Derry Gaol
Derry Gaol
Derry Gaol, also known as Londonderry Gaol, refers to one of several gaols constructed consecutively in Derry, Northern Ireland...
" and "Prickle Eye Bush". The latter was also recorded with Bellowhead
Bellowhead
Bellowhead are an English contemporary folk band originally brought together by John Spiers and Jon Boden. The eleven-piece band plays traditional dance tunes, folk songs and shanties, with arrangements drawing inspiration from a wide diversity of musical styles and influences...
.
Jasper Carrott
Jasper Carrott
Jasper Carrott OBE is a British comedian, actor, television presenter and personality.-Early life:...
performed a comedy version in which the narrator is hanged before he can finish the first verse.
German folk metal
Folk metal
Folk metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. As the name suggests, the genre is a fusion of heavy metal with traditional folk music...
band In Extremo
In Extremo
In Extremo is a German medieval metal band originating from Berlin. The band's musical style combines metal with medieval traditional songs, blending the sound of the standard rock/metal instruments with historical instruments...
has a version of this song called "Der Galgen".
Names
In addition to "The Maid Freed from the Gallows", "The Prickly Bush" and the more recent "Gallows Pole", variations of the song have been recorded or reported under more than a dozen names. These include:- "The Gallis Pole"
- "The Gallows Tree" (Bert JanschBert JanschHerbert "Bert" Jansch was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s, as an acoustic guitarist, as well as a singer-songwriter...
) - "The Prickilie Bush"
- "Hangman"
- "Hangman, Slacken"
- "Hangman, Slack on the Line"
- "Gallows"
- "Freed from the Gallows"
- "Maid Saved"
- "By a Lover Saved"
- "Down by the Green Willow Tree"
- "Girl to be Hanged for Stealing a Comb"
- "Ropeman"
- "Ropeman's Ballad"
- "Prickle Holly Bush"
- "Derry GaolDerry GaolDerry Gaol, also known as Londonderry Gaol, refers to one of several gaols constructed consecutively in Derry, Northern Ireland...
" - "Hold Your Hands, Old Man"
- "Old Rabbit, the Voodoo"
- "The Briery Bush"
- "The Golden Ball"
- "Mama, Did You Bring Any Silver?"
- "Prickle-Eye Bush (BellowheadBellowheadBellowhead are an English contemporary folk band originally brought together by John Spiers and Jon Boden. The eleven-piece band plays traditional dance tunes, folk songs and shanties, with arrangements drawing inspiration from a wide diversity of musical styles and influences...
and Spiers and BodenSpiers and BodenSpiers and Boden are an English folk duo. John Spiers plays melodeon and concertina, while Jon Boden sings and plays fiddle and guitar while stamping the rhythm on a stomp box.-Biography:...
) - "The Sycamore Tree"
See also
- The Child ballad "GeordieGeordie (ballad)-Synopsis:The "Geordie" of the title is taken for a crime, to hang; it may be rebellion, murder, horse-stealing, or poaching deer. His wife goes to appeal for his life, sometimes refusing offers to marry her, once widowed, along the way....
" also features a rescue from the gallows by a payment. - The song Hallowed Be Thy NameHallowed Be Thy Name"Hallowed Be Thy Name" is a song written by Steve Harris for the 1982 Iron Maiden album The Number of The Beast.The song includes 2 guitar solos: the first is played by Dave Murray,and second was played by Adrian Smith from 1982 until 1988.From 1990, second solo is played by Janick Gers...
, originally interpreted by English heavy metal band Iron MaidenIron MaidenIron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
, which describes the feelings of the condemned just before the execution and gives an interpretation about life after deathLife After DeathLife After Death is the second and final studio album by American rapper The Notorious B.I.G., released March 25, 1997 on Bad Boy Records. A double album, it was released posthumously following his death on March 9, 1997 and serves as his final studio album...
. The execution, as mentioned in the song, takes place at Gallows Pole
Further reading
- Eleanor Long, "The Maid" and "The Hangman": Myth and Tradition in a Popular Ballad (University of California PressUniversity of California PressUniversity of California Press, also known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish books and papers for the faculty of the University of California, established 25 years earlier in 1868...
[Folklore Studies: 21], 1971, xiii+170 pp.) ISBN 0520091442. - Eleanor Long, Child 95 "The maid freed from the gallows": a geographical-historical study. 1968.
- Led Zeppelin: Dazed and Confused: The Stories Behind Every Song, by Chris Welch, ISBN 1-56025-818-7.
- The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, by Dave Lewis, ISBN 0-7119-3528-9.
External links
Lyrics available at Wikisource:- The Maid Freed From the Gallows several variants
- Song facts on variants
- The Maid Freed From the Gallows, with commentary