Lyr Req: Execution Songs

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Execution Songs
From: GUEST,Nick Dow
Date: 08 May 23 - 04:11 PM

Finally got to post this.
The night before Larry was Stretched can be found in the repertoire of Frank Harte, or the appendix of Colm O'Lochlain's 'Irish Street Ballads' It is written in English and Cant and was available on Ballad sheets. I am not sure of the date. It had little if anything to do with the list of alleged authors quoted above. The Cant word for gallows is Numbing Chit, not Dublin Chit. For a full list of Cant words try Frances Grose and 'The Dictionary of the vulgar tongue'. Somewhat controversial, and probably historically inaccurate to many degrees, but a good sourcebook for eighteenth and early nineteenth-century slang. Available online, or in paperback.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Execution Songs
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 03 May 23 - 06:04 AM

This is by far my favourite version of 'Grace' which is of course about Kilmainham Jail.      https://youtu.be/UJAzKizrVhI

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Execution Songs
From: GUEST,Jack Campin
Date: 03 May 23 - 04:08 AM

According to a Wikipedia page somewhere, there were a huge number of anti-royalist ballads on the execution of Charles I. But all I can find on the web are the royalist ones. Obviously British historiography has created a memory hole around the Commonwealth but I didn't expect it to be that thorough.

Where are they all?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Execution Songs
From: robomatic
Date: 29 Apr 20 - 07:51 PM

"The Night Before Larry Was Stretched"

sung by Elvis Costello

Oh, the night before Larry was stretched
Well the boys they all paid him a visit
A bit in their sacks too they fetched
For they sweated their duds till they ris' it
For Larry was always the lad
When a boy was condemned to the Squeezer
Would fence all the duds that he had
For to help his poor friend to a sneezer--
-- And warm his ol' gob 'fore he died

Well the boys they came crowding in fast
And they threw all their stools 'round about him
Six glims round his trap-case was placed
For he couldn't be well-waked without them
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When one of them asked, "Could he die
Without having duly repented?"
Said Larry, "That's all in me eye
And first by the clergy invented--
--For to get a fat bit for themselves"

"Oh and I'll be cut up like a pie:
And me nob from me body be parted.
You're in the wrong box, then, says I,
For blast me if they're so hard-hearted

"A chalk on the back of your neck
Is all that Jack Catch dares to give you
Then mind not such trifle's affect
Oh why should the likes of them grieve you?--
--And now boys, come tip us the deck."

Well the cards being called for they played
Until Larry found one of them cheated
A point in his napper was made
For the boy he'd been easily heated

"Oh, hold me the hokey, you thief!
I'll scuttle your knob with me dodle!
You cheat me because I'm in grief
Ah, but soon I'll demolish your noddle--
--And leave you your claret to drink"

Then the clergy came in with his book
And he spoke him so smooth and so civil
Larry tipped him kill-sour look
And he pitched his big wig to the devil

Then sighing he threw back his head
For to get a sweet drop of the bottle
And dutiful sighing he said,
"Oh the hempt 'twill be soon 'round me throttle--
--And choke me poor windpipe to death.

"Oh then sure it's the best way to die
Oh the dead are no better the living
For now when the gallows is high
Our journey is shorter to heaven."

But what harasses Larry the most
And makes his soul poor melancholy
Is he thinks of the time when his ghost
It will come in a sheet to Sweet Molly--
--"Oh sure, it'll kill her alive"

So moving, these last words he spoke
We all vented our tears in a shower
For me own part I thought me heart broke
For to see him cut down like a flower

On his travels we watched him next day
The throttler I thought I could kill him
But Larry not one word did say
Nor change did he come to King William--
--And then did his color grow white.

When he came to the old Dublin Chit
He was tucked up so neat and so pretty
The rumbler jugged off from his feet
And he died with his face to the city

He kicked too, but that was all pride
For soon you might see 'twas all over
Soon after the noose was untied
In darkness we waked him in clover--
--And sent him to take his ground sweat

Oh, the night before Larry was stretched
Well the boys they all paid him a visit
A bit in their sacks too they fetched
For they sweated their duds till they ris' it

For Larry was always the lad
When a boy was condemned to the Squeezer
Would fence all the duds that he had
For to help his poor friend to a sneezer--
--And warm his ol' gob 'fore he died
--And warm his ol' gob 'fore he died

Writer(s): Donal Lunny, Ray Sean, Elvis Costello, Eoghan O'Neill, David Hayes

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Execution Songs
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 29 Apr 20 - 04:27 AM

Not an officially recognised execution but a pretty spectacular state murder, nevertheless - the best of the modern ones IMO
There would have been plenty about The Birmingham Six and The Guildford Four had the "Hang 'em and flog 'em crowd got their way
Jim Carroll

O'Hara, Hughes, McCreesh and Sands by Seamus MacMathunna.

Young Irishmen, I pray attend and listen to the news I'll tell,
For I sing no lay from a bygone day but of brave young men we all knew well,
Young men who died that freedom's light may shine so bright throughout the land,
For no braver men has Ireland seen than O'Hara, Hughes, McCreesh and Sands.

Young Irishmen in Ulster born, with no right to freedom, work or hope,
Oppressed by ruthless, racist laws that break men's minds and wreck men's homes,
And when the bloodhounds came at night to terror strike across the land,
With their tanks and guns, took poor men's sons, O'Hara, Hughes, McCreesh and Sands.

And in the hell of the H-Block cells where tyrants tried to break men's wills,
Where boots and bars leave lifelong scars, those brave men's spirits ne'er did yield
And words of Christ ran in men's minds, who shall lay down his life for his fellow
man The volunteers without dread or fear were O'Hara, Hughes, McCreesh and Sands.

Now for three-score days those brave men lay in duel with Thatcher's tyranny,
And Britain's churchmen came to say that no clergymen their souls could free,
But far and wide, in tears, in pride, all their stories told through foreign lands,
So your voices raise and we'll sing the praise of O'Hara, Hughes, McCreesh and Sands

Ah, but brave men die and slick men lie and weak men turn their heads away,
But short the hour of those in power who truth and the rights of men betray,
For the fight goes on and will ne'er be done while one man's unfree in this fair
land, And in freedoms days we'll sing the praise of O'Hara, Hughes, McCreesh and Sands.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Execution Songs
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 28 Apr 20 - 09:38 PM

Rody McCorley, ___ Barry, Croppy Boy etc. MacPherson's Lament. Chanson de Luis Rielle? Tom Dooley. Long Black Veil. El Paso.

Subject: Lyr Add: Execution of Tim. Kelly
From: cnd
Date: 28 Apr 20 - 09:34 PM

From my previous PDF, p. 44

You muses with me combine,
To aid my wandering quill,
Your help extend and be my friend,
To my defective skill,
Make my doleful words resemble birds,
That fly from shore to shore,
On the gallows high this youth did die,
Tim Kelly is no more.

In the early noon, on the ninth day of June,
In the year of eighty-three.
In his youth and bloom he met his doom,
On the shameful gallows tree,
Delany and Carey, full hard against him swore,
On the gallows high this youth did die,
Tim Kelly is no more.

For those dreadful crimes he was tried three times,
When they twice did disagree
But at the third he spoke those words
Of the murder I am free.
Of Mr, Burke, but grief did lurk,
Beneath his young heart's core,
On the gallows high this youth did die,
Tim Kelly is no more.

His mother tried to save her child,
But sure no one will blame,
For to defend a costly friend,
We all would do the same,
She pressed his hand where he did stand,
While her heart was both sad and sore,
On the gallows high this youth did die,
Tim Kelly is no more.

Upon the court he looked round till some familiar face he found,
And waved a last farewell,
Then kindly bade his friends adieu, as he was hurried from their view,
Back to his dark and dismal cell,
The unlucky day he was led astray,
His friends may well deplore,
On the gallows high, this youth did die,
Tim Kelly is no more.

With His just rod may Heaven's God,
James Carey soon chastise,
And grant this boy eternal joy,
In the realms beyond the skies,
For his youth's sake, compassion take,
We ask you o're and o'er,
On the gallows high, this youth did die,
Tim Kelly is no more.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Execution Songs
From: cnd
Date: 28 Apr 20 - 08:42 PM

There's quite a number of Irish songs and execution songs in that PDF so you may find more interesting songs in there.

Subject: Lyr Add: Trial and Sentence on Tim. Kelly
From: cnd
Date: 28 Apr 20 - 08:37 PM

As printed in this scrapbook, p. 25

You Irishmen throughout this land,
Attention pay to those lines I've penn'd
The subject of my doleful theme
Is that tender youth Tim Kelly.

In Dublin City where he was born,
By base informers he is brought to scorn,
He murdered Mr. Burke they one and all did say
And for cursed blood-money swore his life away

In Green Street course-house he has been tried,
And to the Kilmainham prison he is sent to die,
For the crimes of murder which he deny's,
And declares his innocence before God on high

When the paper it was handed down,
The whole court was silent and not a sound,
When they heard the verdict "guilty"t [sic] the thrill it ran long,
Oh, loving God! the youth, his life is gone.

Oh God you are witness to the noble part,
Of his parents and friends with a broken heart,
Who from their desolate homes to Green-st, did repair
That tender youth's innocence for to declare.

God grant relief to the troubled minds,
Of the sorrowing friends that are left behind,
Tim Kelly he is to meet a dreadful doom,
Cut down like his comrades in their youth and bloom

Now to conclude those doleful lines,
Let us trust in God there's an end to crime,
Good christians [sic] all don't forget to pray
For Tim Kelly's eternal rest upon that fatal day.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Execution Songs
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 23 Apr 20 - 05:02 AM

Amen Dave
Two on a long-long list of examples
Jim

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Execution Songs
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 23 Apr 20 - 04:07 AM

The Ballad of Timothy Evans by Ewan McColl, executed for the crimes of John Christy, Derek Bently by Karl Dallas, executed for the death of a policeman his mate Craig shot.

2 good reasons for not having a death penalty, YOU CANNOT RECTIFY YOUR MISTAKES.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Execution Songs
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 23 Apr 20 - 02:40 AM

One I usually dig out around Halloween, about two Irishmen whose contribution to medical science is very much under-appreciated
I find it sings far better than most broadsides I have ever come across, probably due to the feller who gave it to me

BURKE AND HARE
William Burke it is my name I stand condemned alone.
I left my native Ireland In the county of Tyrone.
And o'er to Scotland I did sail, Employment for to find;
No thought of cruel murder Was then into my mind.

At Edinburgh trade was slack, No work there could I find;
And so I took the road again, To Glasgow was inclined;
But stopping at the West-port To find refreshment there,
0 cursed be the evil hour I met with William Hare!

With flattering words he greeted me And said good fortune smiled;
He treated me to food and drink And I was soon beguiled;
He said:"There's riches to be had, And fortune's to be made,
For atomists have need of us. So join me in that trade.

Hare he kept a lodging-house Therein a man had died,
His death went unreported And of burial was denied
We put the dead man in a cart And through the streets did ride.
And Robert Knox,the atomist, The dead man he did buy.

To rob the new dug graves by night It was not our intent;
To be taken by the nightwatch Or by spies was not our bent.
The plan belonged to William Hare And so the plot was laid,
He said that "murder's safer Than the resurrection trade."

Two women they were in the plot The wife of William Hare,
The other called McDougal, And travellers they did sanre;
They lured them to the lodging house And when they'd drunken deep,
Hare and me, we smothered them As they lay fast asleep.

At first in fear and dread I was But later grew more bold,
In nine short months we killed fifteen And then their bodies sold.
The doctors did not question us, But quickly paid our fee,
The price they paid,it prospered us, Both William Hare and me.

But soon our crimes they were found out In jail we were confined,
And cruel guilt it tore my heart And much despairs my mind;
And Hare, who first ensnared me And led me far astray
Has turned King’s evidence on me And sworn my life away

Daniel Defoe wrote about the 'goodnight songs' in one of his 'journey' journals (I've never been able to remember which one)
He claimed they got their name because of the practice of the 'audiences' at public hangings shouting out "Goodnight" in unison as the noose tightened around the condemned's neck
He described how the hack would visit Newgate shortly before an execution took place touting for business, would write out his/her "last true confession", make a song of it to be sold 'on the big day' and give some of the provceeds to a family member (wife maybe)
After ploughing through all the broadside collections I could lay my hands on, I find the vast majority unsingable doggerel, 'veritable dunghill's' as the man said - Child new his stuff

Regarding the above song; we once visited a relative of Pat's in Edinburgh, a cousin who is/was an armature local historian
She took us to a curtch outside te ciry which still had it's 'mort-safe' - a huge iron box laid over a newly-dug grave to stop it from being raided for corpses
Travellets like The Stewarts had dozens of stories about 'The Burkers' which they told to children to keep thim in line
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Execution Songs
From: Ebbie
Date: 22 Apr 20 - 11:14 PM

One of the most chilling songs I have heard is Steve Earle's 'Ellis, Unit One'.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Execution Songs
From: RTim
Date: 22 Apr 20 - 10:19 PM

My version of The Old Baby Farmer learned from my old friend Dave Williams....

Tim Radford

https://soundcloud.com/tim-radford/the-old-baby-farmer

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Execution Songs
From: RTim
Date: 22 Apr 20 - 10:14 PM

The Old Baby Farmer.....a true story.

Tim Radford

Mrs DYER, THE BABY FARMER
"The old baby farmer has been executed" Amelia Dyer
(570 murdered Doris Marmon, drowned baby
(probably others) at Old Court Caversham, Reading
20/May/1896 & hung 10th June (JP) - ROUD#2347 –

The Old baby farmer the wretched Mrs Dyer
At the Old Bailey her wages is paid
In times long ago we'd made a big fire
And roasted so nicely that wicked old jade.

The old baby farmer has been executed
It's quite time she was put out of the way
She was a bad woman it is not disputed
Not a word in her favor could anyone say.
Poor girls what fall from the straight path of virtue
What could they do with a child in their arms
The fault they commited they could never undo
So the baby was sent to a cruel baby farm

It seems rather hard to run down a woman
But that one was hardly a woman at all
To get a fine living in a way so in human
Carousing in luxury on poor girls downfall.
To all these sad crimes there must be an ending
Secrets like these for ever can't last
Say as you like there is no defending
The horrible tales we have heard in the past.

What did she think as she stood on the gallows
Poor little victims in from of her eyes.
Her heart if she had one it must have been callous
The rope round her neck now how quickly time flies.
Down through the trap door quickly disappearing
The old baby farmer to eternity home
The sound of her own death knell she'll be hearing
Maybe she'll be sent to a poor baby farm.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Execution Songs
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 22 Apr 20 - 08:58 PM

cnd - the Roud Index lists De Kilmainham Minit, which I assume is the same as the Minuet V26641 with first line "When to see Luke's last jig we agreed". The source is given as a chapbook "Luke Caffrey's Gost [sic]; to which are added.. (British Library 11622.df.34.(35)) [c1803-1808]", printed by W.Goggin, Limerick


Mick

Subject: Lyr Add: Luke Caffrey's Ghost
From: cnd
Date: 22 Apr 20 - 08:17 PM

That sheet also has songs titled "Luke Caffrey's Ghost," "Mrs. Coffey," "De Night Before Larry Was Stretch'd" (lyrics available on Mudcat), "Larry Coffey, or Larry's Stiff," and "Larry's Ghost," which I can transcribe if you'd like

Subject: Lyr Add: The Kilmainham Minuet
From: cnd
Date: 22 Apr 20 - 08:12 PM

As printed in "Dublin Slang Songs, with Music," Dublin Historical Record, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Sep., 1938), pp. 75-93

Passages printed in italics in the songs are to be spoken in the "Newgate Cant" or "Slang Style"

9/8 time, "Not too fast," with a 1/8th note pickup

I

When to see Luke's last jig we agreed,
we tip'd all our gripes in a tangle,
and mounted our trotters wid speed
To squint at de snub as he'd dangle;
For he was de smart on de gap,
He boozled de bulldog and pinners
And when dat he mill'd a fat slap,
He merily melted de winners
To snack wid de boys of de pad.

II

In a giffee we blink'd at de spud,
Where de quod ids glum phiz did exhibit;
Wid a facer we coddled our blood,
For de wind id blows cold from de gibbett;
De boy he had travell'd afore,
Like ratlers we after him peg'd it;
For to miss us would grieve him full sore,
Bekase why, as a favour he begg'd it,
We'd tip him de fives 'fore his det.

III

When we came to de man-trap and saw
Poor Luke look so blue in de gabbard,
To save him I taut I could draw
Me toaster from out of de scabbard:
"Oh! Luky," sis I, " do you see!
Be de iron and steel in me daddles,
If I taut I could once set you free,
De scarlets should smoke in deir saddles
Your gullet to save from de noose!

IV

"Your soul! I'd fight blood to de eyes,
You know it, I would to content you;
But foul play I always dispise
Dat's for one to fall upon twenty!"
Sis he, "'Tis me fate for to die,
I know'd id when I was committed;
But yet, if de slang you run sly,
De trotler may still be outwitted,
And I scout again on de lay.

V

"When I dance tuxt de ert and de skies,
De clargy may bleat for de struggler;
But when on de ground your friend lies,
Oh! tip me a snig in de jugler!
Oh! you know dat id is me last hope,
As de surgints of otomy tell us,
Dat when I'm cut down from de rope
You'll bring back de puff to me bellows
And set me once more on me pins!"

VI

He finish'd dis speech wid a sigh
We saw de poor fellow was funking;
De drizzle stole down from his eye,
Tho' we taut he had got better spunk in.
Wid a tip of de slang* we reply'd,
And a blinker dat nobody noted;
De clargy stept down from his side,
And de gabbard from under him floated;
Oh be de hoky,
Id was den dat me port-royal run cold!

VII

Pads foremost he div'd, and den round
He caper'd de Kilmainham Minit;
But soon, when he lay on de ground,
Our bisness we taut to begin id.
Wid de stiff to a shebeen we hied,
But det had shut fast every grinder;
His brain-box hung all a-one-side,
And no distiller's pig could be blinder--
But dat is what we all cum to.

VIII

His grief-stricken partner came in,
From tipping de trotler a dusting.
Her stuff-shop was up to her chin,
Like a cram'd fowl wid tinderness busting.
We lent him a snig, as he said,
On de jugler, 'tis here** dat de mark is;
But soon as we found him quite ded,
In de dust-case we bundled his carcase,
And gave him a bloody long lease
Of de sanctified sod in de Ospital-fields, your soul!

* The singer, at this part, is to put the forefinger of his right hand on his nose. (Note on the broadsheet, second edition.

** Here the singer is to point the forefinger of his right hand to his neck. (Note on the broadsheet, second edition).

Notes:

Verse II. The first half of this verse in Walsh's Ireland Sixty Years Ago (p. 87) is as follows:

Along de sweet Coombe den we go,
Slap dash tro de Poddle we lark it,
But when dat we come to de Row
Oh, dere was no meat in de market.

The boys evidently expected to find the gallows erected at the upper end of Patrick Street near the Poddle (now Dean Street).

Verses IV, 8; VIII, 2. Where the engraved edition has trotler (hangman) the printed second edition has scrag-boy.

Verse V, 3-9. Before the invention of the drop, death by hanging was a slow process of suffocation. It was commonly believed, apparently with justification, that if the body were promptly cut down, animation could be restored by phlebotomy, i.e. cutting a vein ("a snig in de jugler"), thus causing the blood to start flowing again.

Verse VII, 9. This line is here shortened to make it scan. In the original prose version it reads: But dat, you know, is what we must all cum to.

Verse VIII, 10. " Ospital Fields," i.e. the burial ground at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham. In the second edition the prose following line 8 is as follows:
And gave him a barb'rous long Protestant lease of de sanctified sod yonder beyant, dere, in Bloody Finglas, your soul! Dat's for 999 annums, be de murd' ring Hemp Act passed in the last Sessions, you know.

The Act referred to seems to be 17 & 18 Geo. III, c. 49 (an Act for the relief of his Majesty's subjects of this kingdom professing the popish religion) passed in 1778. Sect. I gave to Catholics who had taken an oath of allegiance the same rights as Protestants to take leases of land for any period up to 999 years. From 1703 Catholics had been restricted to leases of 31 years.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Execution Songs
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 21 Apr 20 - 11:26 AM

One of the shortest songs I know is an execution song:

    "Hangman, hangman slacken the...aarrrgghhh!"




Sorry,
DC

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Execution Songs
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 21 Apr 20 - 10:57 AM

Sorry that's a bit ambiguous. I have the books, but not those ballads.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Execution Songs
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 21 Apr 20 - 10:57 AM

I've got most of the Mercier books including 2 that purport to be 3rd volumes in sets but can't find them.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Execution Songs
From: Pat deVerse
Date: 21 Apr 20 - 08:03 AM

Thanks for the links. I have the Ballad of Joe Brady. I often sing it myself. I also have the Ballad of Dan Curley. Michael Fagan's song is the on the link you sent me. Tom Caffrety was also hanged in 1883, but I have never found a song about him. I was sure that there was a song about Timothy Kelly as he was the youngest Invincible to be hanged at Kilmainham.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Execution Songs
From: Murpholly
Date: 20 Apr 20 - 04:54 PM

There are a number of songs relating to the executions of 1916 "rebels" especially Grace.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Execution Songs
From: cnd
Date: 20 Apr 20 - 03:17 PM

Ah, shoot, my links got all messed up. Should be:

1: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/30104293.pdf
2: http://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/BrdExMiF.html
3: http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv36282
4: https://m.facebook.com/InvinciblesReintermentCommittee/posts/343876932805450

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Execution Songs
From: cnd
Date: 20 Apr 20 - 03:14 PM

For The Kilmainham Minuet, see , page 5. I can type it out here later in case the PDF goes away but it's also got the tune there.

The second you're probably looking is probably this: - that site gives several links to known sources


I couldn't find much about the Timothy Kelly song in a quick search, but I did see this which is probably(?) the song you're asking for, but sadly not online: http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv36282

Also didn't find much about Joseph Heffernan, but archive.org wasn't cooperating with me

You may be interested in The Ballad of Joe Brady, which you can read more about here:


If nothing else comes up, ask again in about two weeks. I'm interested in finding more out about these myself

Subject: Lyr Req: Execution Songs
From: Pat deVerse
Date: 20 Apr 20 - 02:47 PM

I wonder if anyone can help here? I'm looking for the words to a number of execution songs, all related to Kilmainham Gaol. The first is 'The Kilmainham Minuet', which I have heard of, but do not have the words. The next three songs I saw the words of in Volume three of a Book of Irish Ballads (now long out of print) by Mercier Press. At least I'm nearly certain that is where they were. The songs were 'The Ballad of Michael Fagan, The Ballad of Timothy Kelly (two of the Invincibles executed at Kilmainham in 1883). The third song refers to a man called Joseph Heffernan from Westmeath, also hanged for murder in 1910 (He was the last man to be hanged at the Gaol.

If anyone can help or put me in the right direction, I'd be very grateful.