Annotation:Hangman's Noose (2)

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HANGMAN'S NOOSE [2]. AKA and see "Hangman's Rope." Irish, Hornpipe. G Major/Mixolydian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Composed by Ballycastle, County Antrim, piper and fiddler Frank McCollam, who composed the well-known hornpipe "Home Ruler (The)", with which he often paired this tune. The tune was inspired by the tale of a felon from Bushmills, named John McNaughton, who in 1761 was convicted of murdering his lover and sentenced to hang. The execution was dully carried out, but when McNaughton dropped the rope snapped, leaving him dazed by alive. Legend has it that McNaughton was offered a pardon, but declined it saying that he could not bear the though of spending the remainder of his life being known as Half hanged McNaughton'.

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