The story of Tom Dooley

The song begins with these words

Throughout history

There have been many songs written about the eternal triangle

This next one tells the story of a Mr. Grayson, a beautiful woman

And a condemned man named Tom Dooley...

When the sun rises tomorrow, Tom Dooley... must hang...

• Brutal Murder
• Dooley was sent for trial in Statesville
• I didn’t harm a hair
• The Johnny Rivers version

Brutal Murder

Stabbing

Tom Dula and Anne Melton were lovers, Anne was known as a very jealous woman and when she found out that Tom had another lover and possibly even fiancée namely ‘Laura Foster’ she planned and brutally murdered her using a large knife, the murder was particularly brutal and resulted in many reports of it in the New York Times.

The fact that the murder was so brutal and so widely reported the national interest in the trial was enormous.

The trial and subsequent arrest of Melton came about because of certain comments made by her, and it was these comments that led to the discovery of Laura foster body.

After a statement made by Dula, Laura Melton was acquitted and in fact died insane a few years later she was a very troubled and jealous woman and it is thought it was this insane jealousy that finally instigated her death.

Dooley was sent for trial in Statesville

Hanging

Tom Dula name was commonly pronounced Dooley as the part of the country where he came from often pronounced a final ‘a’ as a ‘y’ Dula was arrested in Wilkes County but was sent to Statesville after he appealed he could not get a fair trial in Wilkes County,

He was given a new trial in Statesville and was convicted and hanged on May 1, 1868 for the murder of his fiancée Anne Melton as he stood on the gallows he made a statement to the effect that he was innocent but still deserved his punishment, and this led to much speculation that it was, in fact, Anne Melton who was the murderer.

I didn’t harm a hair

H.M.V

On the gallows, Dula reportedly stated, "Gentlemen, do you see this hand? I didn’t harm a hair on that girl’s head."

The ballad ’Tom Dooley’ written by A local poet named Thomas Land was probably first sung shortly after the execution and is still commonly sung in North Carolina.

Hang down your head Tom Dooley
Hang down you head and die.
I met her on a mountain
There I took her life
Met her on a mountain
Stabbed her with my knife

The song was first recorded by Grayson and Whitter in 1929 by The Victor Talking Machine Company and was well know at the time, in 1958 the song was re-recorded by ‘The Kingston Brothers’ in the states and sold over six million copies, in the UK it was given a skiffle slant and became a hit for ‘The Lonnie Donegan Trio’

The Johnny Rivers version

So in a way when the lyrics say ’Poor boy you’re bound to die’ in a way it's not true, he might have died but his name will live on forever

I apologize if you now find yourself humming this tune all day.

The True Story Behind the Legend That Was Dick Turpin

Turpin stocked his butcher's shop with stolen cattle

A Penny dreadful

This is the story of a famous highwayman Richard Turpin more famously known as Dick Turpin

Dick was born in 1705 in Thackstead Essex, at the ‘Blue Bell Inn’ later to be known as ‘The Rose and Crown’ he was the son of a farmer and occasional Innkeeper of the ‘Rose and Crown Inn’ John Turpin’

When he was old enough he opened a butcher's shop stocked with sheep, lamb, and cattle he stole from the surrounding countryside, not quite the legitimate way of stocking up your shop, but he got away with it for a while.

He was eventually caught in the act of helping himself to two oxen but escaped into the countryside that he knew so very well.

So bang went his butchers shop, with the thought of "You win some you loose some" he next tried his hand at smuggling but this venture proved just as much a failure as his rustling, (This guy really ought to get a proper job) by this time if you ask most people about Dick, he was thought of as the romantic loan masked highwayman who would hold up the stagecoaches, robbing the occupants and kissing the women, but in fact it was a member a gang for most of his criminal career

Dick had joined the Gregory Gang this was later to be known as The Essex Gang, roaming the countryside and robbing farmhouses, the gang would often torture and terrorize the occupants.

The unfounded romantic side of Turpin

Jumping a tollgate

A good example of how wrong the romantic side of Turpin was when he and the gang heard of a lonely widow woman in Loughton Essex who was rumoured to have stashed away the princely sum of £700 refused to say where it was, he and the gang held her to an open fire until screaming she revealed her hiding place, robbing isolated farmhouses proved to be profitable and became the gang's speciality.

It was only towards the end of Turpin’s criminal career that he concentrated on highway robbery, before then he and the Essex gang were responsible for many of the robberies in the surrounding counties using torture as the main method of intimidation to persuade victims to part with their money.

The London Evening Post would regularly feature accounts of Dick Turpin and the Essex gang and in 1735 The King offered a reward of £50 for the capture dead or alive for any of the gang members.

Black Bess and the 200-mile ride from London to York

Holding up a coach

Soon some gang members were captured but each time Dick Turpin managed to escape and continued his exploits, which by now included murder, a story of Turpin riding 200 miles on his horse ‘Black Bess’ from London to York was romanticized by the Victorian novelist William Harrison almost 100 years after Turpin’s death.

More gang members were arrested in 1735 and little is seen of him for a period between 1735 and 1737 he was then seen with two other men and began his robbing once more, attempting to escape yet another trap, Turpin shot and killed one of his fellow members some say it was an accident other say he shot him to divert his would-be captors.

Discovered by a letter he wrote to his Brother-in-law

Murder

Under the assumed name of John Palmer Dick Turpin was arrested and imprisoned in York Castle, he was tried for horse theft and his true identity was reviled by a letter he wrote to his brother-in-law On 22 March 1739 Dick Turpin was found guilty and was sentenced to death; he was executed aged 34 on 7 April 1739

The legend of Dick Turpin was very much romanticized in ballads and later in the 18th and 19th century as the dashing young masked highwayman who all the women loved to be robbed by, was very far from the truth indeed.

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table Fact or Folklore

There are many accounts of the birth of Arthur

king Arthur

In post-Roman Britain around the Sixth century, (this date varies in many manuscripts) was the legendary British leader King named Arthur.

King Arthur was a legend of his time leading the defense of Britain against Saxon invaders as all legendary figures beyond a certain time in medieval history and romances, the history of Britain is a mixture of fact and folklore.

The Historical existence of King Arthur is debated and disputed by modern historians, The first narrative account of Arthur’s life is found in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Latin work Historia Regum Britanniae, whether you read Latin or not I think you could probably work out the translation as the History of the Kings of Britain, this work, was completed around 1138, and is a rather romantic account of The British kings of that time.

The conquests of Norway, Denmark and Gaul

The Lady of Shalott

Arthur’s father, Uther Pendragon and his magician advisor Merlin were the subjects of many accounts, ballad and stories, the birth of Arthur also has many explanations, one of the most popular is that Uther was disguised by Merlin as his enemy Gorlois, he then sleeps with Gorlois’s wife Igerna in the Tintagel Castle near the village of the same name in Cornwall England.

Igerna gives birth to Arthur and on Uther’s death; the fifteen-year-old Arthur succeeds his father as the King of Britain.
Arthurs many battles is described in ‘Historia Brittonum’ the last battle described is the battle of Bath.

The Superman of his day?

Arthur and Guinevere

King Arthur then defeats the Picts and Scots and creates the Arthurian empire, according to the manuscript, Ireland, Iceland and the Orkney Islands are the next to fall at the hands of Arthur. After a period of relative peace, the urge to expand his Empire takes over again and so the conquests of Norway, Denmark and Gaul are the next to be added.

For all you historian out there you will know, that at that time Gaul was held by the Roman Empire this leads to further battle and confrontations between Arthur and the Roman Empire defeating the Roman emperor Lucius before returning home to England.

Arthur is depicted as a fearless warrior and protector of Britain, killing many enemies and slaying Dragons not to mention rescuing maidens in distress (The Superman of his day?)

Most of us know of Arthur, Lancelot and his son Sir Galahad, and The Lady Guinevere, but there were many other characters that founded the legend surrounding Camelot, the Round Table, and the Holy Grail.

The code of chivalry,

The round Table

We are not sure how many Knights of the Round Table there were but their fame is still well known today according to Sir Thomas Malory the code of chivalry, the knights vowed

• To never do outrage nor murder

• Always to flee treason

• To by no means be cruel but to give mercy unto him who asks for mercy

• To always do ladies, gentlewomen, and widows succor

• To never force ladies, gentlewomen or widows

• Not to take up battles in wrongful quarrels for love or worldly goods

Is it all romance, fact or fiction? You will have to make your own mind up as to where you stand.

Robin Hood and His Band of Merry Men

The King used England to finance his many wars

From the film

The year is 1195 and the king of England is Richard Cœur de Lion, or Richard the Lionheart.

His reputation as a great military crusaders leader and warrior is spread far and wide, scoring considerable victories against the Muslim and Arab leader Saladin

While the king is fighting in the crusader wars, his brother Prince John has taken his place in England.

Richard I, was a busy king, also ruling as The Duke of Normandy, The Duke of Aquitaine, The Duke of Gascony, Lord of Ireland, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany.

He didn’t spend much time in England and use it mainly as a tax purse to finance his many crusades in other far-off lands.

Prince John, who has had his eye on the throne for many years, was pleased to use his brother’s absence to take the throne and rule England as his own.

Prince John had many who supported him, including the evil Sheriff of Nottingham and the notable Sir Guy of Gisbourne, but he also had many that opposed him and were firm supporters of King Richard, among those supporters was one Robin of Loxley the Earl of Huntington.

Sherwood Forest became his home

Little John & Robin Hood

Robin was a brilliant archer and a very popular man so when Prince John Sent Sir guy to turf Robin out of his home and to strip him of all his wealth and titles, he fled to live as an outlaw in the Forest of Nottingham Sherwood, there he formed over time, a small band of followers.

Some of the characters who were members of Robin's band later became as well know as Robin himself these included Little John, Friar Tuck, Allan a Dale, Will Scarlet and Much the Miller.

It was very common to wear hoods in those days and Robin soon became known as Robin the Hood.

The champion of the people

The injustice and tyranny of Prince John soon drove Robin Hood to quickly become the champion of the people and was portrayed as the fearless outlaw leading his band of "merry men" against the tyranny of Prince John, Robins main goal was to regain his land and title and in this end robbed many of the supporters of Prince John and with the money fed the poor who were taxed to the hilt by Prince.

Poaching the King’s deer and robbing the rich to give to the poor soon gave Robin Hood a wide circle of supporters and gave to build the legend that was Robin Hood and his band of ‘merry men’ all dressed in green to help them meld into the green Sherwood Forest.

Told and re-told over six hundred years

Robin was a fine archer

The Story about the adventures of Robin Hood has been told and re-told for over six hundred years and has invariably changed many times, in this period of England’s history.

Not too many people could read or write and consequently very little was written down about the exploits of this well-known outlaw, instead, people learnt about Robin and his band through the ballads and songs of the many wandering minstrels.

And songwriters being songwriters mixed truth and fiction.
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding through the glen
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, with his band of men
Feared by the bad, loved by the good
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, Robin Hood

He called the greatest archers to a tavern on the green
They vowed to help the people of the King
They handled all the trouble on the English country scene
And still found plenty of time to sing

Chorus

He came to Sherwood Forest with a feather in his cap
A fighter never looking for a fight
His bow was always ready and he kept his arrows sharp
He used them to fight for what was right

And back to the Chorus again. All together now, robin hood robin hood

The romantic story of Robin avoiding capture until the return of King Richard from the Crusades gaining a full pardon and the restoration of Robin’s lands is one of the many.

Folk Hero's

Robin Hood
King Arthur
Dick Turpin
Guy Fawkes
Richard the Lionheart and more coming soon