@zekenzoey: His motive was both. Although, I don't know if he quite "dies with honour" as durham red says. He was fooling around with his best friend’s wife, after all.
Ya, his friend was not at home when he was fooling around with his wife. That would be strange, and he’d hardly die to not let out the secret of a threesome. She only wears the veil at night when she secretly visits his grave.
This song is a traditional, and the lyrics are pretty straightforward, but I find it more interesting than, say, something by Radiohead. I really like Radiohead, but sometimes these old songs are just haunting, although lyrically simple. They are like a window into a different time. People wouldn’t let themselves die over something like this today. We (hopefully) also wouldn’t convict, and hang somebody, on such flimsy evidence either. The belief in an afterlife was much stronger then apparently. He dies knowing that he did the right thing, and they put him to death knowing that if they screwed up it will all be ok in heaven. There’s also an element of him punishing himself here, like Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull, but much more severe. It really is an interesting song to think about.
@zekenzoey: His motive was both. Although, I don't know if he quite "dies with honour" as durham red says. He was fooling around with his best friend’s wife, after all. Ya, his friend was not at home when he was fooling around with his wife. That would be strange, and he’d hardly die to not let out the secret of a threesome. She only wears the veil at night when she secretly visits his grave.
This song is a traditional, and the lyrics are pretty straightforward, but I find it more interesting than, say, something by Radiohead. I really like Radiohead, but sometimes these old songs are just haunting, although lyrically simple. They are like a window into a different time. People wouldn’t let themselves die over something like this today. We (hopefully) also wouldn’t convict, and hang somebody, on such flimsy evidence either. The belief in an afterlife was much stronger then apparently. He dies knowing that he did the right thing, and they put him to death knowing that if they screwed up it will all be ok in heaven. There’s also an element of him punishing himself here, like Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull, but much more severe. It really is an interesting song to think about.