Jack Hall / Sam Hall

[ Roud 369 ; Laws L5 ; Ballad Index LL05 ; words trad., music Bob Johnson]

This is an old broadside ballad printed by Birt, London, c. 1833-1851 about the gallows confessions of a chimney sweep turned robber and murderer. It is catalogued at Bodleian Ballads as Harding B 15(145a). The song is also known as Sam Hall.

Steeleye Span recorded Jack Hall with a tune composed by their singer and guitar player, Bob Johnson, for their album Tempted and Tried. It was also released as B-side of the single The Fox. The album's sleeve notes commented:

Jack Hall, who had been sold to a chimney sweep fur a guinea, was executed for burglary at Tyburn (Marble Arch) in 1701 … the passage of time and the oral tradition made a hero out of a loser.

At least three live recordings of Jack Hall with several Steeleye Span line-ups are or were available:

from the Beck Theatre on September 16, 1989 on the video A 20th Anniversary Celebration,
from St. David's Hall, Cardiff on December 6, 1994 on the video 25 Live: The Classic Twenty Fifth Anniversary Tour Concert,
and from 1994 on the CD Steeleye Span in Concert.

Lyrics

Oh, my name it is Jack Hall, Jack Hall.
Oh, my name it is Jack Hall, Jack Hall.
My name it is Jack Hall
And I've robbed both great and small.
And my neck shall pay for all, when I die, when I die.
And my neck shall pay for all, when I die.

Oh, I've twenty pounds in store and that's not all.
Oh, I've twenty pounds in store and that's not all.
Oh, I've twenty pounds in store
And I'd kill for twenty more.
And my neck shall pay for all, when I die, when I die.
And my neck shall pay for all, when I die.

Oh, I rode up Tyburn Hill in a cart.
Oh, I rode up Tyburn Hill in a cart.
Oh, I rode up Tyburn Hill
And 'twas there I made my will,
Saying, “The best of friends must part, so farewell, so farewell.”
Saying, “The best of friends must part, so farewell.”

Up the ladder I did grope, that's no joke.
Up the ladder I did grope, that's no joke.
Up the ladder I did grope
And the hangman spread his rope.
But never a word I spoke, coming down, coming down.
But never a word I spoke, coming down.

Acknowledgements and Links

Thanks to Patrick Montague for correcting the lyrics.

See also the thread Origins: Sam Hall at the Mudcat Café.