The New Hangman’s Reel

Said the prisoner to the hangman,
“Soon you’ll lay me down to rest,
When I’m dangling from the gallows,
And I take my final breath.
“Hangman I’ve no need for supper,
When dessert would be my death,
So as one man to another,
Instead I make this last request.

“Hangman, hangman, bring me a fiddle
Hangman, hangman, any’ll do
Hangman, hangman, if I’m dying
Let me play you one last tune.

Hangman, Hangman
If you please
Hangman, Hangman
Set me free”

Well he started to fiddlin’, and folks started joinin’ in
And hardly a minute in, a dance was called
And as he was fiddlin’, he started smilin’
And when the dance ended, he was gone
That’s how he got away, he managed to slip away,
While everybody played the Hangman’s Reel
And that’s why they say, even now today
They call the tune he played the Hangman’s Reel

© Jack Dwyer Music 2019