Captain Kidd (song)

Updated on Nov 17, 2023

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"The Ballad of Captain Kidd" (or simply, "Captain Kidd") is an English song about Captain William Kidd, who was executed for piracy in London on May 23, 1701.

The song was printed in Britain in 1701, and it traveled to the colonies "almost immediately".

Washington Irving's 1824 work Tales of a Traveller makes mention of the song:

"There 's a fine old song about him, all to the tune of — And then it tells all about how he gained the Devil's good graces by burying the Bible :

Selected recordings

Captain Kidd by Eddie Trinkett and Howie Mitchell on Golden Ring: A Gathering of Friends for Making Music CD-16 1996

Ye Jacobites by Name by Owen Hand on I loved a Lass Transatlantic 1966 re-released with Something New by Pier Records 1999 as PIERCD 502.

Captain Kidd by Waterson: Carthy on Fishes and Fine Yellow Sand. 2004, Topic Records TSCD542

Captain Kidd by Tempest on The Double Cross 2006, Magna Carta Records.

Sam Hall by May Kennedy McCord 1960, and by Roy "Wrinkle" Winkler, 1969, Max Hunter song collection.

Captain Kidd by Hughie Jones on Maritime Miscellany, FECD258, Fellside Recordings Ltd., PO Box 40, Workington, Cumbria CA14 3GJ UK, www.fellside.com.

References

Captain Kidd (song) Wikipedia

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