Jarvis the Coachman

DESCRIPTION: Jarvis the coachman is hired at night by some men to go to a gibbet where a man is hanging. They hoist Jarvis up the gibbet to release, they say, the hanging man, but steal Jarvis's horses and coach and leave him hanging. Finally Jarvis is rescued
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1820 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 c.18(158))
KEYWORDS: robbery rescue trick execution
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Williams-FolkSongsOfTheUpperThames, pp. 258-259, "Jarvis the Coachman" (1 text) (also Williams-Wiltshire-WSRO Wt 359)
Roud #1312
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.18(158)[some words clipped], "Jarvis the Coachman's Happy Deliverance from the Gibbet" ("O my name is Jarvis, well known") , J. Pitts (London), 1802-1819; also Johnson Ballads 2590, Harding B 16(117b), "Jarvis the Coachman's Happy Deliverance from the Gibbet"
NOTES [19 words]: The last two lines of most verses: "But, had I known their design, The Devil should have drove them, not me." - BS
Last updated in version 2.6
File: WT258

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