REQ: "Damn Their Hides" or "Damn Your Hide." An oldie.

[nancy g.]

"John J." wrote:

> I know some of the lyrics, but would like the rest.
> My father used to sing this to me. It concerned a man
> imprisoned and due to hang. It is the condemned man
> who reflects on his visitors and acquaintances.

The phrase is actually "damn your eyes" or "damn their eyes",
or at least that's the way I've always heard it, and this
set of lyrics found on the Web confirms that:

Oh my name is Samuel Small, Samuel Small
Oh my name is Samuel Small
And I hate you one and all
You're a gang of muckers all
Damn your eyes

Oh I killed a man they said, so they said
Yes, I killed a man they said
For I cracked him on the head
And I left him there for dead
Damn his eyes

So they put me in the quad, in the quad
Yes they put me in the quad
With a chain and iron rod
And they left me there, by God
Damn their eyes

And the parson he did come, he did come
And the parson he did come
And he looked so - - - glum
With his talk of kingdom come
Damn his eyes

And the sheriff he came too, he came too
And the sheriff he came too
With his boys all dressed in blue
They're a gang o' muckers too
Damn their eyes

So it's up the rope ye go, up ye go
So it's up the rope ye go
With your friends all down below
Saying, "Sam, I told you so"
Damn their eyes

Saw my Nellie in the crowd, in the crowd
Saw my Nellie in the crowd
And I hollered right out loud,
"Needn't look so - - - proud
Damn yer eyes"

So this'll be my knell, be my knell
So this'll be my knell
Hope to - - - you go to hell
Hope to - - - you sizzle well
Damn your eyes

There's a bit of the history of this song in the
Folk Music Dictionary, found at this URL:

http://www.cgrg.ohio-state.edu/~spencer/FF/S.html

It says the following:

In 1701, a man named Jack Hall was executed in England for burglary.
In the same year, William Kidd was executed for piracy. Before long,
there were broadsides ( goodnight ballads) about them, one called
"Jack Hall" and the other "Captain Kidd" (often called "Robert Kidd"
in the lyrics), both with the same tune and structure. Musicologist
Bronson, Bertrand said that it's "difficult to say which song got
the start of the other." The Jack Hall story (in which he's a chimney
sweep) also came to be called "Sam Hall" from the mid-19th-century
British music hall, according to Kidson, Frank.

The tune and structure of Hall/Kidd proved so popular that it led to
the ballads "Admiral Benbow" and "Admiral Byng", and also songs about
seafarers Paul Jones and Lord Nelson. In an 1835 sacred harp book,
there's a hymn with the title and tune of "Captain Kidd", though the
lyrics have nothing to do with piracy. The tune and lyrical structure
were adapted by Burns, Robert for his song "Ye Jacobites by Name", and
the Scottish song "My Love's in Germany" (aka "Germany Thomas") is
a close cousin, as are many others. Jack Hall apparently turned to Sam
in the popular mid-19th century music hall version, though he might have
appeared earlier (some songbooks even say that the music hall version
was the original).

Of the two main versions of the hanged Hall still around, Sam is in one
something of the Robin Hood figure that he was in the original:

"I've got twenty pounds in store, that's no lie, that's no lie, (2x)
I've got twenty pounds in store, and I'll rob for twenty more,
For the rich must help the poor, so must I, so must I."

In the other variant, Sam is an unrepentant man of steel as the noose
tightens:

"The parson he did come, he did come.
Oh, the parson he did come, and he looked so goddamned glum,
Well, he can kiss my bloody bum, (alt: "As he talked of Kingdom Come")
You're a bunch of muckers all - damn your eyes!"

There's another version of the lyrics and a midi file of the song
available at this URL:

http://contemplator.com/folk3/samhall.html

[John J.]

I know some of the lyrics, but would like the rest. My father used to
sing this to me. It concerned a man imprisoned and due to hang. It
is the condemned man who reflects on his visitors and acquaintances.

Well, the parson, he did come, he did come, oh he did come.
Well, the parson he did come with his talk of kingdom come.
And it sounds so awful glum
Damn his hide, damn his hide, damn his hide.

Well, the sheriff, he came too, he came too, oh he came too.
Well the sheriff he came too, with his boys in billy blue.
Saying "Sam, we know you're through."
Damn their hides, damn their hides, damn their hides.

There'll be Nellie in the crowd, in the crowd, in the crowd.
There'll be Nellie in the crowd with her head held high and proud.
And I'll say to her out loud:
"Damn your hide, damn your hide, damn your hide."

[John J.]

Much obliged, Nancy. Thanks for the hard work.

John

On Thu, 11 May 2000 21:07:46 -0400, "nancy g." <nan...@tiac.net>
wrote:

>"John J." wrote:
>
>> I know some of the lyrics, but would like the rest.
>> My father used to sing this to me. It concerned a man
>> imprisoned and due to hang. It is the condemned man
>> who reflects on his visitors and acquaintances.
>
>

[John J.]

Thanks for the hard work, Nancy. I'm listening to the midi right now.
Fantastic! I can hear my father singing along.