HANGING JOHNNIE
(Halliard Shanty)

They call me Hanging Johnnie-
Away-ay-i-oh!
Because I hang for money-
Oh hang, boys, hang!

Oh first I hanged my mother-
Away-ay-i-oh!
And then I hanged my brother-
Oh hang, boys, hang!

A rope, a beam, a ladder-
Away-ay-i-oh!
I'll hang you all together-
Oh hang, boys, hang!

Notes by CFS:

Both the air and the words of "Hanging Johnnie" (concerning which Mr. John Masefield has a fine descriptive passage) have a curiously haunting qualiy of almost macabre irony which is not found in any other shanty.

It was a general favourite, I think, in most ships, and survived to the end of the sail era.

Was the original "Hanging Johnnie" actually Jack Ketch? It is quite possible, and if so, the date of the shanty may be fixed within a few years.

See thread 72779 for other interpretations of "Hanging Johnny": Hanging Johnny

X:1
T:Hanging Johnnie
C:C. Fox Smith ' A Book of Shanties' p 45
L:1/8
K:Eb
z6zF|G2G F2E|G B2-B2f|c3-c B G|
w:They call me Hang-ing John-nie_ A-way_-ay-i
B3-B (G B)|c2c B2G|F E2-E2E|G3F3|E3-E
w:-oh!_ Be_-cause I hang for mon-ey_ Oh hang, boys, hang!_

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