Combe Gibbet [poem set to music]
Channel: tobydarling
Date: 07/04/2023

Combe Gibbet

Em Am Dm G
George Broomham and his lover Dorothy
Am Em F
Swaying high on the bare Ridgeway
Em Am Dm G
Hung for killing Martha and Robert
F G Am
Caught in the act on the Downs one day

Bb C Am Dm
Seen from the bushes by old Mad Thomas
Eb Bb Dm
Sentenced to death in '97
Bb C Am Dm
Gibbetted as a harsh warning to others
Bb C D7
That murder never leads to heaven

Now sheep graze in this lonely place
There's a plaque for paras trained in the war
Down the hill the remains of a Long Barrow
Kites and buzzards scouring the chalky floor

Five years back I walked from Faccombe to here
Then on to Buttermere and Sugglestone Down
Threatened by bulls on a hot June afternoon
Welcomed back by a distant church bells sound

G Em Am D
I was alone and afraid on that stark stone track
Dm C Dm
As though George and Dorothy were on my tail
Eb Bb F Cm
And Martha and Robert were begging me to save them
Bb C D7
And Thomas watching me all along the trail


TJD
5/4/2023