Origins: Hang Me From a Gooseberry Tree

Subject: hang me from a gooseberry tree
From:
Date: 15 Mar 97 - 04:10 PM

please do you have any knowledge of the sheet music, lyrics or notes for this song? It starts, " an irishman, a scotsman and a hebrew, were to be hanged down texas way."

Subject: RE: hang me from a gooseberry tree
From:
Date: 18 Mar 97 - 10:16 AM

I learned a version of this song many years ago, so long that I can no longer remember where it came from but the lyrics were as follows:

An Englishman, a Welshman and a Hebrew
They were dsentenced to be hanged down Texas way
And they each wre asked to choose a tree to swing from
And they started with the Welshman right away

So the Welshman chose a pear tree and was happy
The Englishman said "Any tree will do"
So they Chose for him an apple tree to swing from
When suddenly these words came from the Jew

"Hang me please from my favourite tree"
And the judge said "What tree will it be?"
"It's the tree I love best, it's my dying request
Hang me please from a gooseberry tree"

Then the juidge said "But surely you know
That a gooseberry tree's awfully low"
"Oh all right then" says Mose. "I will wait til it grows
"Hang me please from a gooseberry tree"

The last section is to the tune of "In the shade of the old apple tree"

---

The lyrics in this post were added to the Digital Tradition October 1998. -Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hang me from a gooseberry tree
From: GUEST,Poor old me
Date: 13 Nov 11 - 07:12 PM

I remember this being sung as follows:

An Englishman, a Scotsman and an Hebrew
For sheep stealing, was sentenced to be hung down Texas way
And according to the proper local custom,
Were asked upon which tree they wished to pass away

The Englishman said "Its the oak tree for me"
The Scotsman said "Any tree will do"
So on a cottonwood they put his lights out
Then they turned around to ask the Jew

He said "Hang me please from my favourite tree"
"Oh", they said "and what might that be"?
He said "You all know that tree, it's the dearest to me
Hang me please from the gooseberry tree"

"But" they said "everyone knows
That the gooseberry tree grows too low"
"No matter" says Mose, "I can wait till it grows
Hang me please from the gooseberry tree"


Of course my memory may not be perfect and I certainly can't remember who the singer was, though he was a regular, I think he was a Londoner.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hang me from a gooseberry tree
From: GUEST,999
Date: 13 Nov 11 - 07:15 PM

Digital Tradition Mirror

Hang Me From a Gooseberry Tree

Hang Me From a Gooseberry Tree

An Englishman, a Welshman and a Hebrew
They were sentenced to be hanged down Texas way
And they each wre asked to choose a tree to swing from
And they started with the Welshman right away

So the Welshman chose a pear tree and was happy
The Englishman said "Any tree will do"
So they chose for him an apple tree to swing from
When suddenly these words came from the Jew

"Hang me please from my favourite tree"
And the judge said "What tree will it be?"
"It's the tree I love best, it's my dying request
Hang me please from a gooseberry tree"

Then the judge said "But surely you know
That a gooseberry tree's awfully low"
"Oh all right then" says Mose
"I will wait til it grows

"Hang me please from a gooseberry tree"


I learned a version of this song many years ago, so long that
I can no longer remember where it came from but these were
the lyrics. The last line is to the tune of "In the shade of
the old apple tree" AZ

AZ
OCT98
Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hang me from a gooseberry tree
From: GUEST,Malcolm Storey
Date: 13 Nov 11 - 08:05 PM

Derek Elliott of the Barnsley (and now Whitby) Elliotts used to sing the song.

It may be on one of their early recordings or the Yorkshire Relish album.

Either way Derek or more probably Dorothy may be able to help.

Google them and see!

Subject: Lyr Add: THE ENGLISHMAN, IRISHMAN, AND SCOTCHMAN
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 16 Nov 11 - 02:58 PM

From Tony Pastor's Book of Six Hundred Comic Songs and Speeches by Tony Pastor (New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, 1867), page 63:


THE ENGLISHMAN, IRISHMAN, AND SCOTCHMAN;
Or, Dearly You must pay for your Mutton,
As sung by Tony Pastor.

Air—"Yankee Volunteers."

As an Englishman, an Irishman,
And a Scotchman, too, one day,
Were going along together,
And one of them did say—
"We are all very hungry,
And I see, on yonder hill,
A lot of little baa-lambs,
Let's take one and have a fill."

The notion was agreed on—
To the fields they went together;
There being a lot to choose from,
They picked a fine wether.
One held the head, the other the legs,
The other drew his knife;
To keep them three from starving,
They took away his life.

They soon made up a fire,
And the sheep began to cook;
They were only after eating it,
When the farmer the whole lot took.
Says he, "For this you shall dearly pay,
For cutting that sheep's wizen!"
So like a shot he caught the lot,
And whacked them off to prison.

Next day before the old judge
The whole of them was took;
The jury found them "Guilty,"
And the judge looked into a book—
Said he, "This is a case for hanging!"
The black cap put on his head;
"John Bull, Paddy, and Sawney,
You must be swung up till you're dead.

"But I will be merciful to you,
Since you have not long to live,
You all seem very sorry,
And this wish to you I'll give—
To choose your place for hanging,
Since you are away from home;
So anywhere you like to name,
You are all welcome."

Air—"Brave Old Oak."

Then the Englishman spoke: "I'll choose the oak,
The pride of my native land;
On an oak-tree you may hang up me,
Since us three you're going to disband."
"All right," says the judge, "away you may trudge,
Away back to your cell;
To-morrow morn, as true as you're born,
On the bough of an oak you shall dwell—
Yes, you shall croak on the bough of an oak,
But sorry I am to see such a glutton;
You all had your fill, and the poor baa-lamb did kill,
So dearly must pay for your mutton."

Air—"Bonny Dundee."

Then up spoke poor Scotty, of Scotland he spoke:
"On Scotland's highest mountain let my neck be broke;
Let me breathe my last moments in air pure and free—
Oh, give me some snuff, and in peace I will die."
"All right," says the judge, "that favor I'll grant;
Take him away—let him not snuff want;
Let him breathe his last moments in air pure and free"—
They did for ten minutes, and skewed up Scotty.

Air—" Erin go Bragh!"

"Musha agra," says poor Paddy, "if I'm afther dying,
On a gooseberry-bush I'd like to be swung."
"On a gooseberry-bush?" says the judge, while on Paddy eyeing,
"Sure there is not one high enough for you to be hung."
"Hold hard," says Paddy, "don't be in a flurry—
There isn't one high enough, sure every one knows;
But as for the hanging, faith I'm in no hurry—
If it pleases your honor, I'll wait till it grows!"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hang me from a gooseberry tree
From: GUEST,SteveG
Date: 16 Nov 11 - 05:23 PM

This Englishman, Irishman and Scotchman song was sung this side of the pond in the 1860s by Sam Collins (died in 1865) and also by George Ware. Quite a few of the later broadside printers gave it but I haven't seen anything earlier than the 1860s. Such and Fortey both in London, Pearson in Manchester, Sanderson in Edinburgh and the Poet's Box in Glasgow and in Dundee. I don't know who wrote it and it's not in Kilgarriff. Pastor was well-known for ripping off British songs but that doesn't mean he did it with this one necessarily. By the 1840s songs were flying back and forth across the Atlantic within weeks of first appearing.

The metre of Gooseberry Tree doesn't seem to match that of any of the 4 tunes in the other.

As it says above, the last bit goes to the chorus of 'In the shade of the old apple tree' so I presume the other verses use the tune of the verse part of that song also. This tune is 1905 so a reasonable presumption is 'Gooseberry Tree' is a much later rewrite of 'Englishman, Irishman'.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hang me from a gooseberry tree
From: GUEST
Date: 18 May 12 - 08:22 AM

Oh a scotsman an irishman and a hebrew,
they were sentenced to be hanged down Texas Way,
So the judge said to each man, i'll grant a favour,
i will hang you from your own sweet favourite tree.
So the scotsman chose pear tree and died happily,
the irishman said any tree will doooo,
so upon an apple tree they knocked his lights out,
and presently these words came from the jew.

Chorus. Won't you hang me from a gooseberry tree,
it's the tree that is dearest to me,
it's my dying request,
and it's the tree i love best,
hang me please from a gooseberry tree,

oh no, said the judge, oh no no,
for that gooseberry tree is too low,
Oh that's alright said Mo,
ah can wait till it grows,
hang me please from a gooseberry tree.


Enjoy, this was my late Father's party piece, hence all 9 of us family members learned and loved it too, we still sing it when reminiscing. Great!!
Fran Lundie. Glasgow.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hang me from a gooseberry tree
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 18 May 12 - 12:00 PM

I've recently seen it on a broadside attributed to Arthur Lloyd.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hang me from a gooseberry tree
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Feb 16 - 09:38 PM

Thank you everyone for your responses. I have enjoyed reading them. My father would sing a song at family gatherings and these were the words he sang:

A Scotchman, An Irishman and a Hebrew
Were sentenced to be hung down Texas way
The Scotchman they hung him from an Elm tree and he died happy,
The Irishman said any tree will do
So they hung him from an Oak tree and put his lights out
Then these famous words came calling from the Jew

Won't you hang me from my favourite tree
Said the Judge, Oh what tree might that be?
Well it's my dying request and the one that I like best
Won't you hang me from a gooseberry tree

Said the Judge, Oh but surely you know
That a gooseberry tree is far too low
Well if you don't mind said Moe,
I'll wait till it grows to the size of an old apple tree.

From Katarena Williams New Zealand

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hang me from a gooseberry tree
From: GUEST,Doreen Sands
Date: 18 Apr 18 - 05:59 PM

An English man a Scotsman and a Hebrew were sentenced to be hung down Texas way
They each could choose a tree they wished to die on and they started with the Scotsman right away
The Scotsman chose a fir tree and died happy
The Englishman said any tree will do, so on an apple tree they put his lights out, when
Suddenly these words came from the Jew
Hang me please on a gooseberry tree, it’s the tree I have long wished to be
It’s the tree I like best, it’s my dying request,
Hang me please on a gooseberry tree.
The judge said but surely you know
The gooseberry tree is too low
The Jew says I know, I will wait till it grows
Hang me please on a gooseberry tree.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hang me from a gooseberry tree
From: GUEST,johnmc
Date: 19 Apr 18 - 05:53 AM

I heard this at a session and found it comical.
However, I would only be amused now if it was sung by a Jewish person.
The first two are defined by nationality - why not the third ?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hang me from a gooseberry tree
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 19 Apr 18 - 09:39 AM

If you look back to the presumed original you'll see it was the proverbial Englishman, Irishman, Scotchman.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hang me from a gooseberry tree
From: Paul Burke
Date: 19 Apr 18 - 09:41 PM

The racist stereotype joke in which the stereotypical butt has the last laugh. There are quite a few of these: one that springs to mind is the Indian doctors in deep discussion: "It is whump I say!" "No, it is whomp, I tell you!" (use a Peter Sellers travesty of an Indian accent). A passing colleage hears them, and interjects, "I think the word you are looking for is "womb". The two doctors look at each other, and finally one of them says (slowly for effect), "Madam, did you ever hear an elephant fart?"

That the Gooseberry tree song arose out of racist sterotypes is undeniable. Whether the song itself is racist I leave to those debating the current political situation. Though I'll perhaps venture to remind them that racism is indivisible- there's only one racism and you can't have one without all the others.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hang me from a gooseberry tree
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 20 Apr 18 - 09:24 AM

Anyone care to define 'racism'? For instance are there positive, neutral and negative examples, or is it all negative?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hang me from a gooseberry tree
From: GUEST,paperback
Date: 20 Apr 18 - 02:10 PM

It's not all negative, for example, the dog racism of the Welsh Corgis, Old English Sheepdogs, Scottish Terriers, and Irish Wolfhounds, doesn't interfere with their play at the park. The human races, on the other hand, well, they may find themselves outlived by their canine counterparts.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hang me from a gooseberry tree
From: GUEST,Mike Yates
Date: 20 Apr 18 - 03:20 PM

South-East English Gypsy Joe Jones used to tell this as a short tale, rather than sing it as a song with verses.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hang me from a gooseberry tree
From: Paul Burke
Date: 21 Apr 18 - 05:18 PM

"Racism" is simple. It is the assumption by the racist that a person's character, behaviour, abilities and (or in every case) intelligence are dictated by the group to which they belong, as perceived by the racist.

Virtually everybody is racist to some degree, about some groups of people. It helps to be aware of this, and reflect on it, and remember the problem is not how you see it, but how they see it. To them, you are the problem. Much of the time it's pretty harmless- negative reactions to Brummies, Scousers, Norvern Mankies, Kerrymen etc. seldom spill over into genocide. Other times it's hydrogen bomb dangerous- US slavery, South African apartheid, I'm sure you can think of examples yourself.

Sorry to preach. Mild, friendly racism can be good fun, there was an Englishman, a Yorkshireman and a human. But the BBC retransmitted Enoch Powell's infamous speech recently (bumsuckers) and racism is a dangerous joke just now.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hang me from a gooseberry tree
From: GUEST,paperback
Date: 21 Apr 18 - 11:52 PM

"U.S. slavery"

Of the fifty states, eleven are named after an individual person. Of those eleven, seven are named in honor of European monarchs: the two Carolinas, the two Virginias, Maryland, Louisiana and Georgia. -wikipedia

“The Ancestral Footstep”: a bloody footprint left on the threshold of a English manor house - Nathaniel Hawthorne,

who also wrote after visiting the Rebel lines and seeing masses of troops with shouldered muskets, pondered, when will this obscene European style war end: "Not in this generation, I fear, nor in the next, nor till the Millennium; and even that blessed epoch, as the prophecies seem to intimate, will advance to the sound of the trumpet."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Hang me from a gooseberry tree
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 Apr 18 - 12:48 AM

I didn't find any listing for this song in the Traditional Ballad Index. I found two Roud numbers for this song, and I'm wondering why:

Roud 212942

Roud 13626 - Jim Carroll collected it from Walter Pardon

Any comments on the song, Jim?

Subject: RE: Origins: Hang Me From a Gooseberry Tree
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 22 Apr 18 - 10:52 AM

Joe,
There isn't a Roud number 212942. Currently they only go up to 5 digits. What you have there could possibly be a serial number used to denote each entry.

Subject: RE: Origins: Hang Me From a Gooseberry Tree
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 05:52 AM

An Englishman a Scotsman & a Hebrew were sentanced to be hung down Texas way.
The judge said I will grant you all one favour on which old tree would you like to pass away.
The scotsman choose the pear tree & died happy.
The englishman said any old tree will do soon the old oak they put his lights out.
When suddenly these words came from the jew,hang me please on the gooseberry tree it's the tree that is dearest to me it's my dying request it's the tree I love best hang me please on the gooseberry tree.
Said the judge to old mose dont you know that the gooseberry trees much to low.
I dont care said old mose I can wait til it grows to the size of the old apple tree.

Subject: RE: Origins: Hang Me From a Gooseberry Tree
From: Richard Mellish
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 09:25 AM

Paul Burke said
> "Racism" is simple. It is the assumption by the racist that a person's character, behaviour, abilities and (or in every case) intelligence are dictated by the group to which they belong, as perceived by the racist."

I'll go along with that definition. And since it has been raised, let me put in my three ha'p'orth. One sometimes sees references to "black so-and-so" such as "black literature". Though such references are surely intended to be positive, they come across to me as racist. "Black literature" implies that an author's skin colour (and regardless of whether that author is from Britain, USA, Nigeria, South Africa, Jamaica, Australia, etc) implies something about the author's writings.

Subject: RE: Origins: Hang Me From a Gooseberry Tree
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Apr 20 - 09:31 PM

My uncle used to always sing this song when he was a bit tiddly think it brings for me very fond memories of my uncle never considered it in any way racist seems there are a few versions of the words the first one is nearer to what he sang

Subject: RE: Origins: Hang Me From a Gooseberry Tree
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 26 Apr 20 - 03:27 AM

As has been pointed out Walter Pardon also sang it - not very often because he felt slightly uneasy about its contents
Jim Carroll