Intro
C G C G C Am C G C F G
Verse
C G
"Fareweel, ye dungeons dark and strang
C Am
Fareweel, fareweel", said he
C G
"MacPherson's time will no' be lang
C F G
Alow the gallows tree"
Chorus
C G
Sae rantingly, sae wantonly
C Am
Sae dauntingly gaed he
C G
He played a tune and he danced it aroon'
C F G
Alow the gallows tree
Verse
C G
"It was by a woman's treacherous hand
C Am
That I was condemned tae dee
C G
Aboon a ledge at a windae she stood
C F G
And a blanket she threw o'er me"
Chorus
C G
Sae rantingly, sae wantonly
C Am
Sae dauntingly gaed he
C G
He played a tune and he danced it aroon'
C F G
Alow the gallows tree
Verse
C G
"Untie these bands frae aff o' my hands
C Am
And gie tae me my sword
C G
There's no a man in a' Scotland
C F G
But I'll brave him at his word"
Chorus
C G
Sae rantingly, sae wantonly
C Am
Sae dauntingly gaed he
C G
He played a tune and he danced it aroon'
C F G
Alow the gallows tree
Verse
C G
"Well, there's some come here tae see me hang
C Am
And some tae buy my fiddle
C G
But afore that I dae part wi' her
C F G
I'd brak' her through the middle"
Chorus
C G
Sae rantingly, sae wantonly
C Am
Sae dauntingly gaed he
C G
He played a tune and he danced it aroon'
C F G
Alow the gallows tree
Verse
C G
Well, he took his fiddle into both of his hands
C Am
And he brak' it o'er a stane
C G
Said, "Nae ither hands shall play on thee
C F G
When I am deid and gane"
Chorus
C G
Sae rantingly, sae wantonly
C Am
Sae dauntingly gaed he
C G
He played a tune and he danced it aroon'
C F G
Alow the gallows tree
Verse
C G
"Och, little did my mother think
C Am
When first she cradled me
C G
That I would turn a roving boy
C F G
And die on the gallows tree"
Chorus
C G
Sae rantingly, sae wantonly
C Am
Sae dauntingly gaed he
C G
He played a tune and he danced it aroon'
C F G
Alow the gallows tree
Verse
C G
The reprieve it was coming o'er the Brig o' Banff
C Am
Tae set MacPherson free
C G
But they put the knock tae quarter past four
C F G
And they hanged him tae the tree
Chorus
C G
Sae rantingly, sae wantonly
C Am
Sae dauntingly gaed he
C G
He played a tune and he danced it aroon'
C F G
Alow the gallows tree