The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #13984   Message #130166
Posted By: Susanne (skw)
31-Oct-99 - 06:21 PM
Thread Name: Chords Req: Let Ramensky Go - Ballad of WWI Eng
Subject: Lyr Add: LET RAMENSKY GO (Roddy MacMillan)^^
Here you are. As you can see from the first of the notes, there is another song, written by Norman Buchan, which I don't have.

Chorus:
Alley-ee alley-ay alley-oo alley-oh
Open up your prison gates and let Ramensky go

There was a lad in Glesga town, Ramensky was his name
Johnny didnae know it then but he was set for fame

Now Johnny was a gentle lad, there was only one thing wrong
He had an itch to strike a twitch and trouble came along
He did a wee bit job or two, he blew them open wide
But they caught him and they tried him and they bunged him right inside

And when they let him out he said he'd do his best but then
He yielded tae temptation and they bunged him in again
Now Johnny made the headlines, entertained the boys below
When he climbed up tae the prison roof and gave a one-man show

But when the war was raging the brass-hats had a plan
Tae purloin some information, but they couldnae find a man
So they nobbled John in prison, asked if he would take a chance
Then they dropped him in a parachute beyond the coast of France

Then Johnny was a hero, they shook him by the hand
For stealing secret documents frae the German High Command
So Johnny was rewarded for the job he did sae well
They granted him a pardon frae the prison and the cell

But Johnny was in error when he tried his hand once more
For they caught him at a blastin', and it wasnae worth the score

The jury pled for mercy, but the judge's voice was heard
Ten years without remission, and that's my final word
Ten years, my lord, that's far too long, wee Johnny cried in vain
For if you send me up for ten I'll never come out again

Oh give me another chance, my lord, I'm tellin' you no lie
But if you send me up for ten I'll sicken and I'll die

Now Peterhead's a fortress, its walls are thick and stout
But it couldnae hold wee Johnny when he felt like walking out
Five times he took a powder, he left them in a fix
And every day they sweat and pray in case he makes it six

[1959:] Probably no figure is better known in Scotland to-day than Johnny Ramensky. And it is undoubtedly true that almost all people, regardless of the rights or wrongs of his case, felt some sympathy for the man who detested prison so strongly that he broke out of Scotland's strongest jail five times. This is the aspect that affected me, certainly, "There are nae horizons in a twenty-foot cell". (Norman Buchan about The Ballad of Johnny Ramensky, by himself, to the tune of Jamie Foyers, Weekly Scotsman, July 15)

[1963:] Written by Roddy Macmillan about the five escapes from Peterhead jail of Ramensky the safe-breaker, who was 'employed' during World War II as a cracksman-commando to break safes in enemy territory, given a free pardon at the end of the war and subsequently jailed again for safe-breaking. His escapes were spectacular, his freedom short-lived, but many people thought, perhaps sentimentally, that he should have been given another pardon. (Notes 'Edinburgh Folk Festival, vol. 2')

[1996:] [Photo of] 'Gentle' Johnny Ramensky, master safe blower and prison escapee after a release celebration at his Eglinton Street home. In the war he was released from prison to go behind enemy lines, crack safes and steal German war secrets. (Glasgow. The People's Story, ed. by Paul Harris, no 212)

^^