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The Streets Of Derry
And after morning there comes an evening,
And after evening another day,
And after false love there comes
a true love,
Come listen now to what I say.
My love he is a handsome young man,
As fair as any that the sun shone on,
But how to win him I do not
know,
For now he has a sentence to be hung.
As he walked out through the streets of Derry
I'm sure he stood out right manfully;
He looked more like
a commanding officer
Than a man to die upon the gallow's tree.
"Oh, where's my love, she's so long in coming,
And what detains her so long from me;
Perhaps she thinks
it's a shame, a scandal
For a man to die upon the gallow's tree."
He looked around and he saw her coming,
As she rode swifter than the wind;
She said, "I'll show them
that they cannot hang you,
And I'll crown my love with a bunch of green."
The Streets Of Derry
As he walked on the streets of Derry
He walked so proud and so manfully
He was far more like a commanding
officer
Than a man to die on a gallows tree
The first time he went to climb the ladder
His blooming face began to pale
And this he said: "Is there
no assistance?
Is there no release in the Derry gaol?"
He took one other step on the ladder
His beloved father was standing by
"Come near, come near my beloved
father
And speak one word to me before I die"
The next time he went to climb the ladder
His beloved sister was standing by
"Come near, come near my
beloved sister
And speak one word to me before I die
I wonder what become of my true love
And what has sent her so long from me
Or does she think it a great
dishonour
For to see me die on a gallows tree"
He looked around and he saw her coming
And she was dressed up in woolens fine
And every step as she draws
nearer
was swifter than the wind.
"Come down, come down off that dreary gallows
For I begged your pardon from the king
I'll let them see
that we'll be united
And I'll crown my Johnny with the laurel leaves"
In Sam Henry's Songs of The People it appears in more full version under the
title The Dreary Gallows. It is related to the ballad under the title Hangman, which is the American version of Maid Freed
From The Gallows (Child#75).
These two versions are Irish.
The Streets of Derry
And after morning there comes an evening,
And
after evening another day,
And after false love there comes a true love,
Come listen now to what I say.
My love
he is a handsome young man,
As fair as any that the sun shone on,
But how to win him I do not know,
For now he has
a sentence to be hung.
As he walked out through the streets of Derry
I'm sure he stood out right manfully;
He
looked more like a commanding officer
Than a man to die upon the gallow's tree.
"Oh, where's my love, she's so long
in coming,
And what detains her so long from me;
Perhaps she thinks it's a shame, a scandal
For a man to die upon
the gallow's tree."
He looked around and he saw her coming,
As she rode swifter than the wind;
She said, "I'll
show them that they cannot hang you,
And I'll crown my love with a bunch of green."
a slighter shorter version, this one found
in The Digital Tradition Data
Base .
Again, of Irish origin
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| Rough Trade Records 2006 |
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1. Never In A Million Years
2. I Wish You Well
3. Here's A Health
4. Brockagh Braes
5. Garden Valley
6.
October Winds
7. Bold Jamie
8. The Streets Of Derry
9. This Time
10. The Snows They Melt The
Soonest
11. Walls
12. Grace
Release date UK/Ireland:
27th February 2006
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his official website
Paul accompanies
Cara Dillon on the
stupendous version
of The Streets Of Derry
a complete listing
of all the ballads
collected by
Francis J. Child.
The Streets Of Derry
is #75 in the collection
a huge, huge compilation
of trad. arr. lyrics and music.
a mirror site of the original,
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