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Ballad of Alfie Hinds

[David Houlton]

Ballad of Alfie Hinds is a song by David Houlton about the escape king and public hero Alfie Hind, nicknamed ‘The British Houdini’.

Martin Carthy sang the Ballad of Alfie Hinds on the Hullabaloo ABC Television programme broadcast on 16 November 1963. This recording was also included in 2001 on his anthology The Carthy Chronicles. Nigel Schofield noted:

This is the only known recording of this song, written by David Houlton who now lives under the name David Tucker-Williams near Hastings. Echoes of the comic delivery which first established his reputation as a solo singer can be heard in Martin’s performance. There is even a hint of uncertainty about exactly where to pitch the song in terms of tone of delivery.

In the 1950s, Alfie Hinds gained the nickname ‘The British Houdini’ for three headline-grabbing escapes from custody. He was imprisoned in 1953 for a £30,000 robbery, but claimed he was wrongly convicted and used his escapes as publicity for his campaign. He became a hero in the public’s eyes, but was never able fully to clear his name legally, despite winning a libel case against a police officer who published an article implying his guilt. This song maintains the great Broadside tradition of portraying outlaws as amiable, and sometimes penitent rogues, worthy of our sympathy and even admiration—can the Ballad of Ronnie and Reggie be long in arriving…? Turning from the jailed to the jailer…

Lyrics

Martin Carthy sings the Ballad of Alfie Hinds

Now most people, they are willing
Some are young and some are old
To pity poor old Alfie Hinds
The man they cannot hold

Now he blew up a safe in Maples
In nineteen-fifty-three
The Judge says Alf was guilty
But Alf did not agree

So he dived out through a coalhole
In nineteen-fifty-five
And he hopped on a plane to Old Ireland
And there he did survive

But they caught him building houses
In nineteen-fifty-six
And they carted him back to Old England
To pay for all of his tricks

Now, one day at the Old Bailey
He caused a great how-do-you-do
He shoved against two policemen
And locked them in the loo

But they caught him down at Bristol
The papers gave him fame
But after a year the warder yelled
Oh Gawd, he’s gone again

Yes, he disappeared completely
Vanished from the fold
Three cheers for good old Alfie Hinds
The man they cannot hold

But alas on one day in Belfast
They caught him flogging cars
And with guards and chains and tommy-guns
Put Alf back behind bars

Now everyone is wondering
If his story has finally been told
Or will he flit away again
He’s the man they cannot hold