The tale I tell , You may know well, It's also a tale of the Sea, of Ben and Jeff, who is a little bit deaf, and of how the Monkey legend came to be. I remember it all, T'was near the town wall,When the ground was as hard as a brick, Two council workers, Niether of them shirkers,and their Gaffer,a tall man called Dick. They started to dig, When an outgoing Brig, capsized and went down with all hands,what was left of the craft, was a little liferaft which came to rest on Hartlepool sands.
There hanging on was a Gibbon,Thats a Monkey to me and to you, Then Dick gave a shout,He was'nt gaffer for nowt,"Cor blimey it's one of the crew" So hard working Jeff, who's a little bit deaf, Very quickly jumped from his trench,On his brow sweat glistened,Then as he listened, said "Dick, I think this bloke is French !"
" By the look of his size,He's one of those spies" said Dick who stood six foot three, "If he is by heck, I'll wring his little neck" then Ben said "No leave him to me",So they all lent a hand, And got him to the land, The poor Monkey was shaking with fright, Then Jeff wiped his brow,said "What's to do now ?" Ben said "Let's do this thing right"
"Aye let's do it propper,and send for a Copper,with this problem we really cant cope", So the Monkey was nabbed, I'ts collar was grabbed, Round it's neck they slipped a small rope, Then without much thought, They dragged it to court, which was less than a quarter mile, But the Judge in a tizzy,said "I'm really busy, You'll have to come back in a while".
When at last ushered in, To pay for his sins,The Monkey was fast losing hope, It surely can't be, they must set it free, But Jeff held on to the rope, The old Hartlepool Judge, from the law wouldn't budge, and called for evidence to be put, The Monkey never replied, It just sat and sighed, so Dick gave it a clout with his foot.
It flew off the ground,and danced all around, The old Judge, quite appaled said "I'm Danged", The council worker Jeff, who's a little bit deaf, mis-heard him, He thought he said "Hanged", Quick justice he sought, and ran from the court, to that place they now call the Croft, There on a tree over looking the sea, The Monkey was Hanged from aloft.
They shall never be spared, cause one fellow mis-heard, The stigma of a Town that drops
clangers, Time has already shown, It will always be known as Hartlepool,
the town of the Monkey Hangers. |
