In 1701 a chimney named Jack Hall was hung for burglary and the ballad is much the same as Sam Hall, written by C.W. Ross, a comic minstrel from England in the 1850's.

Now my name is Samuel Hall, Sam Hall
Oh my name is Samuel Hall
Oh my name is Samuel Hall, & I hate you one & all
You're a bunch of muckers all blast your eyes.

Now I killed a man they said, so they said
Oh I killed a man they said, yes they said
I killed a man they said & I left him layin' dead
Caused I bashed his bloody head, blast his eyes.

Now they put me in the quad, in the quad
Oh they put me in the quad
Oh they put me in the quad & they left me there by God
Fastened to a chain & rod, blast their eyes.

Now the preacher he did come, he did come
Oh the preacher he did come, he did come
Oh the preacher he did come & he looked so doggoned glum
As he talked of Kingdom Come, blast his eyes.

And the sheriff he come too, he come too
Oh the sheriff he come too, he come too
Oh the sheriff he come too with his yellow boys & blue
Sayin' Sam, I'll see you through, blast your eyes.

Oh it's up the rope I go, I go
It's up the rope I go, I go
Oh it's up the rope I go while you critters down below
Are sayin' Sam I told you so, blast your eyes.

Oh it's swingin' I must go, I must go
It's a swingin' I must go
It's a swingin' I must go, just because she loved him so
Just because she loved him so, blast her eyes.

I must hang until I'm dead, dead, dead
I must hang until I'm dead
I must hang until dead caused I killed a man, they said
And left him layin' dead, blast his eyes

Another goodnight song,mentioned above is Jack Hall, Captain (Robert) Kidd, another, who was also hung in 1701. Davy Louston a song of sealers & Ye Jacobites By Name also used the same air, (or close).

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HTML line breaks added. -JoeClone 09-Jan-2001