THE FETTLERS
Photograph © Stan Laundon
The Teesside Fettlers - Adrian Beadnell, Stewart McFarlane MBE, Bob Skingle and Stan Gee - singing "The Hartlepool Monkey" at the Nursery Inn Folk Club in Hartlepool on Sunday, May 11th. "The Hartlepool Monkey" appears on the Teesside Fettlers CD "Noting The Changes" and can be bought directly from their website.
Written by Alan Wilkinson
Do you want to hear the song?
Press the monkey to hear it!
It happened in old Hartlepool about the time of France
The Emperor Napoleon was leading us a dance
Sailing down the coast came a British man of war
The captain's pet monkey was washed upon the shore
The Lord Mayor of Hartlepool was walking on the shore
When he came across a funny site he'd never seen before
There was this little fellow sitting on the sand
Holding up a 'nana in his tiny 'airy hand
Chorus
Old folks, young folks, every one and each
Come and see the Frenchie that's landed on the beach
He's great long arms and great long tail, he's covered all in hair
We think that he's a spy so we'll hang him in the square
The Lord Mayor told the town clerk who hurried to the shore
There was a little man where he had been before
Now a crowd had gathered round because it was the funniest sight
Since the timber yard had burnt down the previous Friday night
Chorus
Then Constable Parsons he comes upon the scene
He takes out his note book and he licks his pencil clean
Causing a disturbance is a serious offence
Anything you say may be used in evidence
Chorus
But when that little man spoke a funny thing was heard
Constable Parsons couldn't understand a word
The reason for his puzzlement, the clerk could plainly see
The little man's a foreigner from way across the sea
The little man's a spy the angry crowd did roar
Sent by Napoleon to our native shore
So they grabbed that little fellow by his long hairy tail
Gave him to the copper who put him in the jail
Chorus
They hung that little fellow from a gallows in the town
A rope all round his neck, his tail all hanging down
A lesson to Napoleon to make himself a rule
Not to send his hairy spies to old Hartlepool
Old folks, young folks, every one and each
Come and see the Frenchie that's landed on the beach
He's great long arms and great long tail, he's covered all in hair
We thought he was a spy so we've hung him in the square
With acknowledgement and thanks to Alan
Wilkinson, Stewart McFarlane MBE and the Teesside Fettlers for the use
of this song.
The lyrics have changed somewhat since they were originally written.
If
you would like to see them, and to read what Alan Wilkinson says about them, click
here!
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