> Steeleye Span > Songs > Jack Hall

Jack Hall / Sam Hall

[ Roud 369 ; Master title: Jack Hall ; Laws L5 ; Ballad Index LL05 ; VWML SBG/1/2/781 , CJS2/10/1160 ; Wiltshire 29 ; DT SAMHALL , SAMHALL2 ; Mudcat 4760 ; trad.]

Jack Hall is a broadside ballad printed by Birt, London, c. 1833-1851 about the gallows confessions of a chimney sweep turned robber and murderer. Most sleeve notes cited below give Hall’s death as 1701 but according to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography he was executed on 17 December 1707.

Jack Hall is catalogued at Bodleian Ballads as Harding B 15(145a). The song is also known as Sam Hall.

Jack Endacott of Chagford, Devon, sang Jack Hall to Peter Kennedy in October 1954. This recording was included without its first verse on the anthology Fair Game and Foul (The Folk Songs of Britain Volume 7; Caedmon 1961; Topic 1970). The album’s booklet noted:

18th century Britain was, in modern terms, a savage and barbarous world. One of the popular entertainments of the crowd was assembling to witness the public execution of criminals in Tyburn Hill not far from the present day Marble Arch. If the criminal was sufficiently well known, a ballad-maker might be singing about the condemned man’s career and his last moments, even while he was mounting the scaffold. Such was probably the origin of the ballad of the notorious burglar, Jack Hall. The ballad-maker who watched Jack Hall’s execution in 1701 caught the pathos and the bitter fatalism of his man.

Like many a child of that day, Jack was sold for a few shillings to a chimney sweep. The task of apprentice sweeps was to crawl through the twisting, dark tunnels of the chimneys, cleaning as they went. Often these poor lads were caught by falling soot or some obstruction in a dark chimney and suffocated or burned to death. It was not until 19th century writers exposed this scandal and a law was passed against this cruel exploitation of child labour.

Another execution ballad, composed in the same year about the hanging of Captain Kidd, the pirate, has a completely different feeling, though the same tune and stanza form were employed. Later on a popular singer named Ross transformed Jack Hall into the thundering and blasphemous Sam Hall so popular among American ballad singers today used. Indeed, one of the most remarkable phenomena in our folk song history is the incredible flexibility of this Jack Hall or Captain Kidd tradition. It speaks in noble and mystical terms in the white spiritual, Wondrous Love. It opens the canvas on the whole universe in the great New England spiritual, In All the World Below. It acquires a thundering sea roll in the great 18th century ballad, Admiral Benbow. It sounds with plaintive heartbreak in The Wars of Germany. It swings with revolutionary fervour in Aikendrum, Ye Jacobites by Name, The Moderator’s Dream, and The Digger’s Song (1649). Perhaps the best known modern variant is the touching song of the Irish Rebellion, The Praties, They Grow Small.

Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, 1940.
Laws, 167.
Bronson, S. H., Samuel Hall’s Family Tree, Calif. Folklore Quarterly, I, 47-64.

Steve Benbow sang Jack Hall in 1960 in a recording made by Peter Kennedy at Cecil Sharp House, London on the HMV album A Jug of Punch: Broadside Ballads Old and New.

Walter Pardon sang Jack Hall in a recording made at home in Knapton, Norfolk, by Mike Yates on 2 August 1976. It was released in 1982 on his Topic album A Country Life and in 1988 on the Topic anthology It Fell on a Day, a Bonny Summer Day (The Voice of the People Volume 17). A.L. Lloyd and Mike Yates noted:

Of John Hall, Frank Kidson, the pioneer of folksong study, had this to say:—

Jack Hall was a chimney sweep, executed for burglary in 1701. He had been sold when a child to a chimney sweeper for a guinea and was quite a young man when Tyburn claimed him.

In the 1840s a music hall singer, G.W. Ross, revised the song, changing the name to Sam Hall in the process, so that at least two versions of the song exist today. Walter’s tune has also done service with such songs as William Kidd, The Praties They Grow Small, Aikendrum and the hymn Wondrous Love. Another version of Jack Hall, sung by Jack Endacott of Chagford, Devon, can be heard on the record Fair Game and Foul.

Steeleye Span recorded Jack Hall with a tune composed by their singer and guitar player, Bob Johnson, for their 1989 album Tempted and Tried. It was also released as B-side of the single The Fox. They noted:

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.

There are at least three live recordings of Jack Hall with several Steeleye Span line-ups:

Martin Graebe and Shan Cowan sang Tyburn Hill in 2005 on their WildGoose album Parallel Strands. They noted:

Baring-Gould heard this song from Sam Fone of Mary Tavy [VWML SBG/1/2/781] . It is a version of Jack Hall, a song about a burglar executed in 1701. It was included in the repertoire of a singer called Ross in the 1850s and its popularity was such that it became part of the repertoire of many country singers. Sam Fone’s take on it is, though, quite distinct from other collected versions.

Ron Taylor and Jeff Gillett sang Jack Caundle in 2006 on their WildGoose CD Both Shine as One. They noted:

There are many criminals’ good night songs, offering either repentance or defiance from the gallows. In this one, the protagonist keeps up a running commentary beyond the point where this would normally be humanly possible. Collected by Cecil Sharp from William Stokes at Chew Stoke, Somerset in 1907 [VWML CJS2/10/1160] and kindly passed on to Ron by Eddie Upton. We particularly like the ideas on interior design in verse three.

David Gibb and Elly Lucas recorded Sam Hall in 2012 for their debut CD Old Chairs to Mend. Elly Lucas noted:

Another one of those delightful folk songs where the lead character dies and yet somehow manages to continue singing in first person… Distinctly suspicious.

Francy Devine sang Sam Hall on his 2014 album My Father Told Me. He noted:

Breton bombarde player Guénahel Denis once played me his new composition and was surprised when, on its conclusion, I immediately sang Sam Hall. A phrase in his tune reminded me of a song I had never sung other than in joining in the chorus. We performed the song, with Loïc Denis on biniou, at a Howth Singing Circle Burns Nicht Fare Thee Weel session. In recording this version, a name was needed for Guénahel’s tune and we agreed on Le Ramoneur or, in Breton, Skarzhour Chiminalieu.

There are many versions of the song in England, Ireland and North America. Comic Minstrel W.G. Ross supposedly changed it from Jack Hall to Sam Hall in the 1840s. Public hangings took place at Tyburn or, as here, in Cootehill, County Cavan. In mixing English and Irish versions together and, with Guénahel’s composition, the result is something a wee bit different. Marc Jacquier is on guitar and recorded us in Lanester, Lorient.

Pete Coe sang Jack Hall in 2017 on his CD The Man in the Red Van. He noted:

I’ve known this defiant chorus from the gallows for over 50 years so it’s not based on any specific source though versions vary little in words on broadsides and melodies collected by Sharp, Kidson, Hammond and Gardiner. Frank Kidson wrote “Jack Hall was a notorious burglar. He was sold when a child to a chimney sweep for a guinea, and executed in 1701.”
I’ve added phrases of The Rogues March.

Sophie Crawford sang Jack Hall on her 2018 album Silver Pin. She noted:

This is my own variation on the version sung by Steeleye Span that I grew up with. I think it is English.

David Cambridge sang Jack Hall on his 2019 CD Songtales. He noted:

An English broadside from the early 19th century, tells of Jack, a chimney sweep turned highwayman, and his unhappy end at the hands of the hangman at Tyburn Hill. A bad business as far as Jack’s life is concerned, but a rollicking tune to carry the story.

Nick Hart sang Jack Hall on his 2022 CD Nick Hart Sings Ten English Folk Songs. He noted:

From the singing of Walter Pardon, this is perhaps the best example we have of a ‘gallows confessional’. These songs were often quickly tossed off by songwriters in order to be printed in time for the execution of the criminal in question and very few of them seem to have made their way into the oral tradition. The real Jack Hall was indeed sold to a chimney sweep, as a child, before changing his profession to that of a highwayman and burglar. He was hanged for the latter crime in 1707.

Lyrics

Jack Endacott sings Jack Hall

[ My name it is Jack Hall, chimney Sweep, chimney sweep,
O my name it is Jack Hall, chimney sweep.
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 1 die. ]

I have candles lily-white, hanging high, haning high,
1 have candles lily-white, hanging high.
I’ve candles lily-white and I stole them all by night,
But my life will pay for all when I die, when I die,
But my life will pay for all when I die.

I have twenty bullocks in store, that’s no joke, that’s no joke,
I have twenty bullocks in store, that’s no joke.
I’ve twenty bullocks in store, and I’m up for twenty more,
Every rogue shall have his lot, so shall I, so shall I,
Every rogue shall have his lot, so shall I.

I rode up Tedburn Hill in a cart, in a cart,
I rode up Tedburn Hill in a cart,
1 rode up Tedburn Hilt there I stopped and made my will,
But my life will pay for all when I die, when I die,
But my life will pay for all when I die.

I climm-ed up a ladder by the rope, by the rope,
I climm-ed up a ladder by the rope.
I climm-ed up a ladder and the ’angman pulled the rope,
But the devil of the word I spoke coming down, coming down,
But the devil of the word I spoke coming down.

Walter Pardon sings Jack Hall

My name it is Jack Hall, chimney sweep, chimney sweep,
My name it is Jack Hall, chimney sweep.
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.

All on the King’s highway night and day, night and day,
All on the King’s highway night and day,
All on the King’s highway I’ve robbed lords and ladies gay,
And my neck shall pay for all, when I die, when I die.
And my neck shall pay for all, when I die.

I’ve one hundred pounds in store, that’s no joke, that’s no joke,
I’ve one hundred pounds in store, that’s no joke,
I’ve one hundred pounds in store and I’ll rob for hundreds more
And my neck shall pay for all, when I die, when I die.
And my neck shall pay for all, when I die.

At the trial they told me, “You shall die. You shall die.”
At the trial they told me, “You shall die.”
And they flung me into gaol where I’ll drink no more strong ale,
And my neck shall pay for all, when I die, when I die.
And my neck shall pay for all, when I die.

They drove me up Tyburn hill in a cart, in a cart,
They drove me up Tyburn hill in a cart,
They drove me up Tyburn hill, that’s where I made my will.
The best of friends must part; fare you well, fare you well,
The best of friends must part; fare you well.

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 fixed the rope.
But never a word said I coming down, coming down,
But never a word said I coming down.

Steeleye Span sing Jack Hall

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.

Francy Devine sings Sam Hall

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 candles lily white hanging high, hanging high,
I have candles lily white hanging high,
I have candles lily white and I stole them all by night
They shall fill my room with light till I die, till I die,
They shall fill my room with light till I die.

They tell me that in jail I’ll go dry, I’ll go dry,
They tell me that in jail I’ll go dry.
They tell me that in jail I shall drink no small ale
But be hanged if e’er I fail, till I die, till I die,
But be hanged if e’er I fail, till I die.

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.

Sophie Crawford sings Jack Hall

Oh, my name it is Jack Hall, Jack Hall.
Oh, my name it is Jack Hall, Jack Hall.
Oh, 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, that’s not all.
Oh, I’ve twenty pounds in store, 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, they told me in the jail I should die.
Oh, they told me in the jail I should die.
Oh, they told me in the jail that I’d have no more brown ale,
Oh, the ale will never fail more shall I, more shall I,
Oh, the ale will never fail more shall I.

Oh, I rode up Tyburn Hill in a cart.
Oh, I rode up Tyburn Hill in a cart.
Oh, I rode up Tyburn Hill it was 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.
Oh, never a word I spoke, coming down, coming down.
Oh, never a word I spoke, coming down.

(repeat first verse)

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Patrick Montague for correcting the Steeleye Span lyrics.