1728
Tyburn Tree
| Tune: | Greensleeves |
| Lyrics: | John Gay |
Since laws were made, for every degree,
To curb vice in others, as well as me,
I wonder we han’t better company
Upon Tyburn tree.
But gold from law can take out the sting;
And if rich men, like us, were to swing,
’Twould thin the land, such numbers to string
Upon Tyburn tree.
This short song from John Gay’s phenomenally popular Beggar’s Opera – to the tune of ‘Greensleeves’ – is an eternal protest: the rich and powerful go unpunished for greater crimes than those for which they hang the poor. But it was also a direct attack on the corrupt First Minister, Robert Walpole, who actually had to sit in the audience and listen to it.
| Cause: | Equal Rights |
| Theme: | Political Process | Rights |
| Addressed to: | Social Elite | Political Elite |
| Target of Protest: | Aristocracy |
| Proposal/Solution: | Prosecution | Honesty |
Hear a solo rendition by historian Freyja Cox Jensen