The Ballad of Leeds Town Hall.
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munki
- Posts: 929
- Joined: Thu 25 Jan, 2007 5:16 am
Come listen to my tragedy, good people young & old,It's of a dreadful story, to you I will unfold,Concerning a young gentleman, Willaim was his name,Killed by his deceitful girl, whose lover did take the blame.The judge began his verdict, saying 'I believe what I am told.'Your confession means you'll meet your end. May God take pity on your soul.'At Armley Jail tonight you'll hang, upon the gallows high'For the killing of young William, on the stroke of twelve you'll die'So to the cells this man was led, his punishment to awaitAnd there he sat, with head held high, preparing for his fate.'At Armley Jail tonight I'll hang, upon the gallows high'That she may live, my love so fair, on the stroke of twelve I'll die'.In her grief the doleful girl did climb the clocktower tall,And looked about until upon the jail her eyes did fall.'And now the chimes they do strike twelve, so quick I'll end my life, 'For I no longer wish to live, less he be by my side'.The Judge still sits in Leeds Town Hall, & God He sits on high.The poor girl's broken bones, under cold crossed-roads they lie.And if the chimes again strike twelve, 'tis said her bones will rise,And walk the steps of Leeds Town Hall, again until sunrise.
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'Are we surprised that men perish, when monuments themselves decay? For death comes even to stones and the names they bear.' - Ausonius.
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munki
- Posts: 929
- Joined: Thu 25 Jan, 2007 5:16 am
In 1888, a fire in a storeroom at the Town Hall destroyed all court records from the years 1863 to 1869. Until recently, we have had no records of the crimes tried & punished in the Town Hall courts.During the restoration of the Tiled Hall in the Library (which used to be the Newsroom), a pamphlet was discovered, published in a limited run by a Miss Olive O'Grady-Burt in 1923, called 'Murder Ballads of Old Leeds'. In her introduction, Miss O'Grady-Burt states...'I suppose my interest in murder ballads was first awakened in my infancy & on my mother's knee. My mother had a happy disposition. She never lamented hard work or poverty, but she did love sad songs. Perhaps they took the place of the complaining of other women. Mother believed in rocking her babies to sleep, singing to them in a clear, untrained voice. But she seldom chose conventional lullabies. The songs I remember her singing were such mournful ballads as 'Maggie Rivers' and 'The Ship That Never Returned'. My favourite of these songs, I do my best to record for you here, though it is sadly many years now since I have heard her blessed voice'.One of those ballads, revealed for you above, is the long-lost Ballad of Leeds Town Hall, which will finally be sung again on Light Night, Friday October 12th, by a cracking bunch of young musicians, the Folk Theatre Partisans, on a musical tour of the darker side of the Town Hall. See the cells, the courtrooms, the view from the Clocktower, & find out once & for all why the clock never strikes midnight. Tickets are free, but due to limited space, you need to call me in advance on 0113 2478234.www.lightnight.co.uk
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'Are we surprised that men perish, when monuments themselves decay? For death comes even to stones and the names they bear.' - Ausonius.
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farbank
- Posts: 128
- Joined: Mon 25 Jun, 2007 12:37 pm
The first execution at Armley prison wasn't until 1864.This was when the West Riding Assizes were transferred from Wakefield to Leeds.I should have said 'executions' really, because two men were hung that day on 10th.Sept. Both hangings were outside the prison gates, on the field there. And both very 'public'.Joseph Myers aged 44yrs. from Sheffield, for the murder of his wife . By stabbing her with a pair of scissors. And 20yr.old James Sargisson, for beating a man to death with a fence post, for his watch. Near Rotherham.These were the only public hangings held at Leeds. And the executioner was a Thomas Askern. After this, there were no more executions at Armley, until 1875.So Munki, the missing documents (1866-9), only missed two such events.