"The Maid Freed from the Gallows" is one of many titles of a centuries-old folk song about a condemned maiden pleading for someone to buy her freedom from the executioner. In the collection of ballads compiled by Francis James Child in the late 19th century, it is indexed as Child Ballad number 95; 11 variants, some fragmentary, are indexed as 95A to 95K. In the Roud Folk Song Index it is number 144. The ballad exists in a number of folkloric variants, from many different countries, and has been remade in a variety of formats. For example, it was recorded in 1939 as "The Gallis Pole" by folk singer Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter, and - the most famous version - in 1970 as "Gallows Pole", an arrangement of the Fred Gerlach version by English rock band Led Zeppelin, on the album Led Zeppelin III.
There are many versions, all of which recount a similar story. A maiden (a young unmarried woman) or man is about to be hanged (in many variants, for unknown reasons) pleads with the hangman, or judge, to wait for the arrival of someone who may bribe him. Typically, the first person (or people) to arrive, who may include the condemned person's parent or sibling, has brought nothing and often has come to see them hanged. The last person to arrive, often their true love, has brought the gold, silver, or some other valuable to save them. Although the traditional versions do not resolve the fate of the condemned one way or the other, it may be presumed that the bribe would succeed. Depending on the version, the condemned may curse all those who failed them.
lo , lo, lo
Lazlo Feher stole a stallion,
Stole him from the misty mountain,
And they chased him and they caught him,
And in iron chains they bound him.
Word was brought to Anathea
That her brother was in prison.
"Bring me gold and six fine horses,
I will buy my brother's freedom."
"Judge, O Judge, please spare my brother,
I will give you gold and silver."
"I don't want your gold and silver,
All I want are your sweet favours."
"Anathea, O my sister,
Are you mad with grief and sorrow?
He will rob you of your flower,
And he'll hang me from the gallows."
Anathea did not heed him,
Straightway to the judge went running...
In his golden bed at midnight,
There she heard the gallows groaning.
"Cursed be that judge so cruel,
Thirteen years may he lie bleeding!
Thirteen doctors cannot cure him,
Thirteen shelves of drugs can't heal him.
"Anathea, Anathea,
Don't go out into the forest;
There among the green pines standing,
You will find your brother hanging."