traditional • arr:any artist
This song, or rather "these songs", can verified be tracked back to two separate incidents in the early 1700s. Jack Hall, a chimney sweep, was hung at Tyburn, London, UK (some say Cootehill, but this is in Ireland) for theft "from the rich to the poor" in 1701. Captain William Kidd was executed for piracy in London on the 23rd of May 1707, maybe as a result of a frame-up, being the last person to be hung at Execution Dock, Wapping on the river Thames. These incidents have been mixed, tangled and have by oral tradition briefly ended up in 3 divisions of gallows songs: English, Irish and American.
🇬🇧The English shanty versions, still best known as "The Ballad of Captain Kidd" in UK, has seldom crossed the borders. Originally it had some twenty verses; here it's cut down to the three most common ones.
🇮🇪The Irish versions have harsher words and usually carry no regrets, using a different structure and more pleasent harmonies.
🇺🇸The American versions is what migrated into USA, and grew a holy crop of slur and insults. Probably Donald Trump's ancestors brought it with them.
These days, executions were public spectacles which could attract crowds of thousands. I've read or heard a story - I don't remember where or when - that a bottle of booze was smuggled into Jack Hall's cell the night before the dawn execution, and he went drunk as a skunk to the gallows condemning both the audience and the executioners the best/worse he could. If this is not true ... it's a damned clever lie.
Scottish actor and singer William Gribbon Ross (1819 – 1881) adapted "Jack Hall" in the 1840s and changed the name to "Sam Hall" for unknown reasons, introducing the swearing "Damn your eyes!", this in London.
Technically, the first printed version was "Jack Hall" in the large collection "Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy" (1719), first recording ever was a single by Tex Ritter in March 1935, followed by "My Name it is Sam Hall", Carl Sandburg in 1937 and Canadian born Oscar Brand on "Bawdy Songs and Backroom Ballads vol.1" in 1955. In 1966, Johnny Cash recorded an infamous version for his "The Ballads of the True West, Vol.2". A drunkard is usually best performed by a sober actor, but in this case I really think he was shitfaced.
I think we'll stop here. The origins of the different tunes are impossible to decide. You can trace it back to "Frog Went A-Courting" as well as "Ye Jacobites by Name", but they are not originals, either. It's Celtic, that's it: read my introduction to "The Water Is Wide". After all; making such issues an academic dispute about who did what, when and why is a massive waste of time. I have chosen the most rude version for chord's example. Pick up your own flippin' version ya muckers, fuckers, buggers, muggers, critters and bastards, and damn yer eyes!
oh my name is Captain Kidd as I sailed • as I sailed
oh my name is Captain Kidd as I sailed
oh my name is William Kidd
many wicked things I did
and the law I did forbid as I sailed
oh I murdered William Moore as I sailed • as I sailed
oh I murdered William Moore as I sailed
oh I murdered William Moore
and I left him in his gore
forty leagues from the shore as I sailed
so to Execution Dock I must go • I must go
oh to Execution Dock I must go
go to Execution Dock
put my head upon the block
and no more the law I’ll mock as I sail
oh my name it is Sam Hall : chimney sweep • chimney sweep
oh my name it is Sam Hall : chimney sweep
oh my name it is Sam Hall and I've robbed both great and small
and my neck will pay for all when I die • when I die
and my neck will pay for all when I die
I have twenty pounds in store : that's not all • that's not all
I have twenty pounds in store : that's not all
I have twenty pounds in store and I'll rob for twenty more
for the rich must help the poor : so must I • so must I
for the rich must help the poor : so must I
oh they took me to Cootehill in a cart • in a cart
oh they took me to Cootehill in a cart
oh they took me to Cootehill where I stopped to make my will
saying the best of friends must part : so must I • so must I
saying the best of friends must part : so must I
up the ladder I did grope : that's no joke • that's no joke
up the ladder I did grope : that's no joke
up the ladder I did grope and the hangman pulled the rope
and ne'er a word I spoke tumbling down • tumbling down
and ne'er a word I spoke tumbling down
oh my name it was Sam Hall : chimney sweep • chimney sweep
oh my name it was Sam Hall : chimney sweep
oh my name it was Sam Hall and I robbed both great and small
and my neck have payed for all when I died • when I died
and my neck have payed for all when I died
well my name it is Sam Hall • it is Sam Hall
yes my name it is Sam Hall • it is Sam Hall
my name it is Sam Hall and I hate you one and all
I hate you one and all : damn your eyes!
I killed a man they said • so they said
I killed a man they said • so they said
yeah I shot him through the head just to fill his mind with lead
and I left him there for dead : damn his eyes!
to the gallows I must go • I must go
a-swinging I must go oh oh
while you critters down below thinks it's just a bloody show
yelling «Sam: I told you so!» : damn your eyes!
I saw Molly in the crowd • in the crowd
I saw Molly in the crowd • in the crowd
I saw Molly in the crowd and I hollered right out loud
«Hey there Molly: ain't you proud? damn your eyes!»
where's the preacher comin' from? • comin' from?
where's the preacher comin' from? • comin' from?
he looks so bloody glum as he talkes of kingdom come
he can kiss my ruddy bum : damn his eyes!
the Sherriff he came too • he came too
yeah the Sherriff he came too • he came too
with his bonny boys in blue saying «Sam: we'll see you through!»
he can take a flying flu : damn his eyes!
my name is Samuel • Samuel!
my name is Samuel • Samuel!
my name is Samuel and I'll see you all in hell
yes I'll see you all in hell : damn your eyes!
... my name is Samuel Hall : you bastards...critters...whores...fu[!]
Paddy Reilly (1939 -) is one of Ireland's best folk artists ever. His career spanned a generation as a solo balladeer, then continued as a prominent member of The Dubliners. Both his studio recording and live performances of the song reside on the top of my ranking, even though it belongs to the "mellow" versions. He retired in 2005.
Cornelis Vreeswijk (1937–1987) was a Dutch born/Swedish troubadour, who never bothered to claim citizenship after once being rejected for lack of ability in writing Swedish! In 1964 he adapted this song, naming it "Mördar-Anders". You don't even have to understand Swedish to applaude the thrilling up-tempo version with his very special guitar technique and excited vocal.
For the following CHORD section, fullscreen/horizontal mobile is recommended.
Chords in brackets may be omitted.
G [Cadd9] G well my name it is Sam Hall it is Sam Hall ... G7 [E7 A7sus4]...D...D7 yes my name it is Sam Hall it is Sam Hall G G7 C A7 my name it is Sam Hall and I hate you one and all G Dsus4 D G I hate you one and all damn your eyes G #¤&! my name is Samuel Hall you bastards critters whores fuchh
