Jack/Sam Hall

Today's song is Jack Hall, an 18th-century English ballad about a bitterly unrepentant criminal collected in the Roud Folk Song Index. The song, also known is Sam Hall, is based on a real-life figure. Jack Hall was sold as a climbing boy to a chimney sweep for a single guinea. The unfortunate youth became an infamous thief and highwayman. He was arrested in 1707, along with Stephen Bunce and Dick Low for the burglary of the house of Captain Guyon near Stephney. All three were convicted and hanged at Tyburn on December 7th, 1707. The song was known as Jack Hall primarily up until the 1850s, when the English comic minstrel CW Ross popularized the song as Sam Hall. The song has been locally adapted in Ireland and the United States. Folk music historians have noted similarities between this piece and the song Captain Kidd.

The following video shows the Dubliners with their rendition of Sam Hall, which adapts the song to Ireland by changing the place of the hanging to Cootehill, in County Cavan.

Steeleye Span has recorded a folk-rock version of the song under the original name Jack Hall, found here.

The song's lyrics are as follows. Note that in the original, the name was "Jack Hall", and the hanging place was Tyburn Hill, rather than Cootehill.

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 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

Tyburn hill, where the real Jack Hall was hanged, is a small village now engulfed in present-day London, named for the Tyburn stream, which is now paved over. The village was the central site of capital punishment in England for centuries, being the place where the Crown executed many criminals, traitors, and religious dissidents up until 1783.

Executions began there as early as 1196, when populist leader William 'the Bearded' Fitz Osborn was hanged there. William Osborn was a fiery preacher who roused the poor of London in a movement against the city's rich, gathering weapons throughout the city and amassing a large following. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Hubert Walter, fearing an insurrection, sent men to arrest William. The preacher fled into the nearby church of Saint Mary le Bow, attempting to use it not as a sanctuary, but as a fortress. The church was a poor choice, as most of William's followers refused to defend it by force, and the building was set on fire by the Archbishop's men, who wounded William in the stomach as he emerged from the burning structure. William was convicted, dragged naked by horse to Tyburn, and hanged.

A hanging at the Tyburn Tree

Tyburn continued to be used as an execution site for the better part of the millennium. The leaders of the Catholic/Populist Pilgrimage of Grace uprising were hanged there in 1537, among many other Catholic martyrs over the years. Also notable was the hanging of Oliver Cromwell, John Bradshaw, and Henry Ireton, who were dug up from the grave and hanged as punishment for their roles in beheading King Charles I. By 1571, the site was so frequently used that a special gibbet known as the Tyburn Tree was built there to enable mass executions (in some cases, as many as twenty-four people hanged simultaneously). The Tyburn Tree stood in the middle of the road way, providing a landmark on the way to London, a warning to criminals, and a steady source of cadavers for anatomists. Executions at Tyburn proved a public spectacle, bringing crowds numbering in the thousands. Such a spectacle would have been the last sight of the historic Jack Hall.

The song has been adapted in American form. In this version, Sam Hall is no longer a burglar, but a convicted murderer. The song comes across as less wistful than the English version, and more spiteful. There is no mention of 'the rich must help the poor' or any other attempt to endear Sam Hall as a Robin Hood like figure or social bandit. Any endearment that the Sam Hall in the American version gets comes only from his abrasive, defiant attitude to death. The song can be found here, arranged by Johnny Cash.

The lyrics to this version are as follows. Note that in some versions, the singer says, "damn your hide", instead of "damn your eyes". Other variations include replacing "and I hate you one and all" with "and you're a bunch of fuckers all" or other insults. 

Well, my name it is Sam Hall, Sam Hall.
Yes, my name it is Sam Hall; it is Sam Hall.
My name it is Sam Hall an' I hate you, one and all.
An' 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.
I killed a man, they said an' I smashed in his head.
An' I left him layin' dead,
Damn his eyes.

But a-swingin', I must go; I must go.
A-swingin', I must go; I must go.
A-swingin', I must go while you critters down below,
Yell up: "Sam, I told you so."
Well, 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 an' I hollered, right out loud:
"Hey there Molly, ain't you proud?
"Damn your eyes."

Then the Sherriff, he came to; he came to.
Ah, yeah, the Sherriff, he came to; he came to.
The Sherriff, he come to an he said: "Sam, how are you?"
An I said: "Well, Sherriff, how are you,
"Damn your eyes."

My name is Samuel, Samuel.
My name is Samuel, Samuel.
My name is Samuel, an' I'll see you all in hell.
An' I'll see you all in hell,
Damn your eyes. 

The song is also known in the US Air Force as the hilariously uncouth marching song "Sammy Small". Lyrics and a beautifully rendered recording can be found here. In addition to this rendition, there is a Vietnam War version of Sammy Small which has decidedly anti-war lyrics.