Leadbelly (film) and a drunken friend are playing around with a gun, and Leadbelly accidentally shoots him. He is thrown in prison where he is forced to work in a chain gang. When he tries to escape, he is caught and put in a box. His father arrives and tries to bail Leadbelly out, but fails. Before leaving, he manages to convince the warden to get Leadbelly a twelve-string acoustic guitar. After getting the new guitar, he plays a song for Governor Pat Neff who reassures Leadbelly he will be set free. After he leaves prison, he returns to Fannin Street, sees
When Jones' Ale was New (boat man), all local occupations to do with the coal trade. A text of the song was published in "Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England" by Robert Bell and James Henry Dixon, in 1857. 46 versions have been collected from 24 English counties, 2 from Scotland and 6 from the USA. At least one version was collected in Australia, and a parody published in "The Australasian" newspaper in 1912. Recordings by the Suffolk singer Spud Bailey, the Sussex singers Bob and Ron Copper, the Shropshire singer Fred Jordan, and the Norfolk singer Walter Pardon, are available