Sam Hall (Cover) by Seth Staton Watkins
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"Sam Hall" is an old folk song about a unrepentant criminal condemned to death for robbing the rich to feed the poor. Before the 1850s, it had been called "Jack Hall", after an infamous English thief, who was hanged in 1707 at Tyburn. Jack Hall's parents sold him as a climbing boy for one guinea, which is why most versions of the song identify Sam or Jack Hall as a chimney sweep. This version, the Irish version from Paddy Reilly, refers not to Tyburn but Cootehill in County Cavan, Ireland.
Lyrics:
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 twenty pounds in store, that's not all, that′s not all
I have twenty pounds in store, that's not all
I have twenty pounds in store and I'll rob for twenty more
For the rich must help the poor, so must I, so must I
For the rich must help the poor, so must I
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
Oh the best of friends must part, so must I, so must I
Oh 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