Based on a true historical event. The irony in V3, line 1, is that the then 16-year-old Thomas Hardy was a horrified onlooker, and Elizabeth in fact became immortalised as the character Tess in his novel ‘Tess of the d’Ubervilles’ in 1891. Hardy was profoundly impressed by Elizabeth's dignified conduct as she approached the gallows.
LYRICS & VOCAL MELODY: DonnaMarilyn
MUSIC & VOCALS: AI (Suno)
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The Ballad of Elizabeth Martha Brown, hanged for murder, August 9, 1856, Dorchester, UK. Facts source: The Proceedings of the Old Bailey – London’s Central Criminal Court, 1674-1913.
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V1
‘T’is true I took a wee axe to his head
He’d come home full of ale, and he’d whipped me
The wicked young man I’d so foolishly wed
Had toyed with another in our marriage bed
Oh, many the ways he had tricked me
V2
Humble of birth, a mere servant was I
A minnow in life’s meaner shallows
But bidding farewells, I held my head high
And when the time came, I looked Death in the eye
And strode like a queen to the gallows
V3
My name will never hold pride of place
No gawkers watched out of pity
I stood in the rain, a statue of grace
Coarse linen hood pressing wet on my face
Though sentenced, I didn’t feel guilty
V4
Hangman made certain my dress was well bound
With a heavy black strap at the ankles
It would have offended that virtuous crowd
Had any exposure of legs been allowed
If skirts billowed up while I dangled
V5 (repeat V2)
Humble of birth, a mere servant was I
A minnow in life’s meaner shallows
But bidding farewells, I held my head high
And when the time came I looked Death in the eye
And strode like a queen to the gallows
Oh, when the time came, I looked Death in the eye
And strode like a queen to the gallows
© 2021-2025 Donna Devine
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