{"id":643,"date":"2013-07-28T15:44:07","date_gmt":"2013-07-28T19:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thejovialcrew.com\/?page_id=643"},"modified":"2020-06-26T08:26:21","modified_gmt":"2020-06-26T12:26:21","slug":"captain-kidd","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thejovialcrew.com\/?page_id=643","title":{"rendered":"Captain Kidd"},"content":{"rendered":"

While William Kidd <\/a>has a reputation for cruelty and viciousness, which is largely due to official and folk-song propaganda (some of the songs not even getting his name correct or even heaping on the charges above and beyond what had been leveled against Kidd in court). \u00a0Kidd had maintained that he had been hired as a privateer to hunt down some people who had pulled a scam on the King of England and several compatriots which would have been damagingly scandalous had it come to light; thus, Kidd was framed, and evidence discovered not too long ago <\/a>proves this point. \u00a0Kidd was hanged, in any event, on 23 May 1701.<\/p>\n

The song is one of several that opportunistic composers of broadside ballads saw an opportunity to jump on.\u00a0 The words to the below version are more or less from about 1700 but the melody commonly used is from the contemporaneous broadside ballad “Admiral Benbow”.\u00a0 Recall that it was quite common to write new words to a commonly recognized melody, or to borrow a tune that fit the meter of the newly composed lyrics.<\/p>\n

Jos. Morneault<\/p>\n

\"William<\/a>

William Kidd<\/p><\/div>\n

\"511S9DH09YL__SY346_PJlook-inside-v2,TopRight,1,0_SH20_\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Oh, my name is Captain Kidd, as I sailed, as I sailed<\/i><\/b>
\nMy name is Captian Kidd, as I sailed<\/i><\/b>
\nMy name is Captian Kidd, God’s laws I did forbid
\nAnd most wickedly I did, as I sailed, as I sailed<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

My parents taught me well, as I sailed, as I sailed<\/i><\/b>
\nMy parents taught me well, as I sailed<\/i><\/b>
\nMy parents taught me well to shun the gates of Hell
\nBut against them I rebelled, as I sailed, as I sailed
\n<\/i><\/b>
\nWell, I murdered William Moore, as I sailed, as I sailed<\/i><\/b>
\nI murdered William Moore, as I sailed<\/i><\/b>
\nI murdered William Moore and I left him in his gore
\nForty leagues from shore, as I sailed, as I sailed<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

And being cruel still, as I sailed, as I sailed<\/i><\/b>
\nAnd being cruel still, as I sailed<\/i><\/b>
\nAnd being cruel still the gunner I did kill
\nAnd his precious blood did spill, as I sailed, as I sailed<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Well, my repentance lasted not, as I sailed, as I sailed<\/i><\/b>
\nMy repentance lasted not, as I sailed<\/i><\/b>
\nMy repentance lasted not, my vows I soon forgot
\nDamnation was my lot, as I sailed, as I sailed<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

To execution dock I must go, I must go<\/i><\/b>
\nTo execution dock I must go<\/i><\/b>
\nTo execution dock, lay my head upon the block
\nAnd no more the laws I’ll mock, as I sail, as I sail<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Oh, my name is Captain Kidd, as I sailed, as I sailed<\/i><\/b>
\nMy name is Captian Kidd, as I sailed<\/i><\/b>
\nMy name is Captian Kidd, God’s laws I did forbid
\nAnd most wickedly I did, as I sailed, as I sailed<\/i><\/b>
\n
\n<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While William Kidd has a reputation for cruelty and viciousness, which is largely due to official and folk-song propaganda (some of the songs not even getting his name correct or even heaping on the charges above and beyond what had been leveled against Kidd in court). \u00a0Kidd had maintained that he had been hired as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":21,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-643","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejovialcrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejovialcrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejovialcrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejovialcrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejovialcrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=643"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/thejovialcrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5475,"href":"https:\/\/thejovialcrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/643\/revisions\/5475"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejovialcrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejovialcrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}