The Hangman And The Papist
Strawbs Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

The village square stands quiet
The curfew still enforced
The streets are even clear of dogs and whores
Like some evil bird-of-prey
The scaffold spreads its wings
The people build their fires and bolt their doors

The mayor is giving dinner to the officers' wives
His eldest son is learning how to fawn
The barrick block is hushed and tense
The soldiers drawing lots
Who will be the hangman in the dawn?

The lot falls on a young man
Who has served for but a year
His home is in the village close nearby
He shivers at the thought of what
He's forced to do next day
He wonders who it is who has to die?

And the full moon casts a cold light
On the gloomy prison walls
The papist walks his cell
He cannot sleep
He hears the waiting gallows creaking
Just beyond that door
He prays for he has no more tears to weep

The day begins to break
A muffled drums begins to sound
A crowd begins to gather in the square
The presence of the hangman
In his terrifying mask
Weighs heavy on the minds of all those there
The colonel reads the sentence
Which the papist knows by heart:
He has failed to show alliegence to the king
His crime is thus with God himself
And in his name he must hang
The papist, head held high
Says not a thing

The jailer binds his hands
And puts his blindfold to his eyes
He leads him through the door before the crowd
The hangman sees his victim
And the blood drains from his face:
He sees his younger brother standing proud
The hangman tries to protest
But is ordered to proceed
His trembling hands begin to take the strain
His eyes are blind with streaming tears
And he cries for all to hear:

Forgive me God we hang him in thy name!
Forgive me God we hang him in thy name!
Forgive me God we hang him in thy name!




Oh please forgive me God we hang him in thy name!
Forgive me God we hang him in thy name!

Overall Meaning

The Hangman and the Papist is a powerful and poignant song about the senseless brutality of capital punishment during a time of political and religious conflict. The opening verses paint a bleak picture of a small village under curfew, gripped by fear and anticipating a public execution. The solemn imagery of the scaffold representing an evil bird of prey with its wings spread and the people barricading themselves in their homes reinforce the somber mood. The contrast with the mayor's family hosting a dinner party and the soldiers drawing lots to determine who will be the hangman the next day is stark.


The song then shifts focus to the papist, a Catholic who has been imprisoned for failing to show allegiance to the king. The haunting image of him walking his cell and hearing the waiting gallows creaking conveys his imminent death. As the day of the execution dawns, the colonel reads out the sentence before the gathered crowd. The papist, resolute and dignified, says nothing. The emotional climax of the song comes when the hangman is ordered to proceed with the execution of the papist, only to discover that his victim is his younger brother. The hangman's anguished cries for forgiveness from God, despite the fact that he is executing his own flesh and blood, is a poignant critique of the dehumanizing effects of authority, politics, and religion.


Line by Line Meaning

The village square stands quiet
The village square is silent and still


The curfew still enforced
Curfew is still in place


The streets are even clear of dogs and whores
Even the streets are free of people and animals


Like some evil bird-of-prey
The scaffold symbolizes death and destruction


The scaffold spreads its wings
The scaffold appears ominous and threatening


The people build their fires and bolt their doors
The people are preparing for the execution


The mayor is giving dinner to the officers' wives
The mayor is entertaining the wives of the officers


His eldest son is learning how to fawn
The mayor's son is learning how to flatter and be subservient


The barrick block is hushed and tense
The military barracks are solemn and tense


The soldiers drawing lots
The soldiers are deciding who will be the hangman


Who will be the hangman in the dawn?
The soldiers are deciding who will execute the prisoner at dawn?


The lot falls on a young man
The young soldier has been chosen to be the hangman


Who has served for but a year
The young soldier is inexperienced


His home is in the village close nearby
The young soldier comes from the same village


He shivers at the thought of what
The young soldier is afraid of what he has to do


He's forced to do next day
The young soldier is obligated to execute the prisoner


He wonders who it is who has to die?
The young soldier wonders who the prisoner is


And the full moon casts a cold light
The full moon illuminates the prison


On the gloomy prison walls
The prison walls are dull and dismal


The papist walks his cell
The prisoner paces in his cell


He cannot sleep
The prisoner is unable to sleep


He hears the waiting gallows creaking
The prisoner hears the gallows creaking in anticipation


Just beyond that door
The gallows are outside his prison door


He prays for he has no more tears to weep
The prisoner prays because he has no more tears to cry


The day begins to break
The dawn is approaching


A muffled drums begins to sound
The sound of drums signals the execution


A crowd begins to gather in the square
A crowd is assembling in the village square


The presence of the hangman
The hangman's presence is unsettling


In his terrifying mask
The hangman is wearing a frightening mask


Weighs heavy on the minds of all those there
The hangman's presence is distressing to everyone


The colonel reads the sentence
The colonel announces the prisoner's sentence


Which the papist knows by heart:
The prisoner is already familiar with his sentence


He has failed to show alliegence to the king
The prisoner is accused of disloyalty to the king


His crime is thus with God himself
The prisoner's crime is also a sin against God himself


And in his name he must hang
The prisoner is condemned to hang in God's name


The papist, head held high
The prisoner remains dignified and proud


Says not a thing
The prisoner maintains his silence


The jailer binds his hands
The jailer restrains the prisoner's hands


And puts his blindfold to his eyes
The jailer covers the prisoner's eyes with a blindfold


He leads him through the door before the crowd
The jailer takes the prisoner out to face the crowd


The hangman sees his victim
The hangman realizes who he is about to hang


And the blood drains from his face:
The hangman turns pale and appears terrified


He sees his younger brother standing proud
The prisoner is the hangman's younger brother


The hangman tries to protest
The hangman tries to refuse to hang his own brother


But is ordered to proceed
The hangman is commanded to continue with the execution


His trembling hands begin to take the strain
The hangman's hands shake as he prepares to hang his brother


His eyes are blind with streaming tears
The hangman's eyes are blinded by tears


And he cries for all to hear:
The hangman weeps openly and loudly


Forgive me God we hang him in thy name!
The hangman begs for forgiveness from God for executing his own brother




Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: COUSINS

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Song not found
Comments from YouTube:

Joshua Patterson

This was the song that introduced me to the Strawbs! Totally epic!

Ian Jenkins

Known this song for more than 40 years - still fantastic. BTW, it's 'in thy name' at the end.

Chris Ibison

Yep, me too! And you're right - it is 'in thy name' at the end! More than 40 years? Well, the same is true of me. But fantastic, goose bumping songs like this do not come along every day (not these days anyway).

Steven Done

First heard this song 50 years ago and thought it was great then and still do . Straws are excellent !

kayfabe 58

The first song that I ever heard that convinced me of the strawbs greatness

Keith Coleman

Great lyrics - 'the street is even clear of dogs and whores'...'his eldest son is learning how to fawn'... and the music.

Jennifer Strachan

Such poignant lyrics
I bought this Album in the 70’s and even now it pains me to listen to the words 😪

Alpha Go

Rick Wakeman seriously rocks

Graham Turner

A reminder of what a great bass player John Ford was - and is.

Ken Jarvis

Strawbs is one of the best bands ever!

More Comments

More Versions