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about

A song by Dave about the Leicester murderer, James Cook, who was the last person in England to be gibbeted in 1832'

lyrics

1. Now James Cook did murder most foul we know,
To avoid paying the money he owed,
Though he claimed it was done in self defence
He had to get rid of the evidence.

2. Sliced up the body into bits,
In a vain attempt to get rid of it,
Worked through the night and did conspire
To burn the body in the fire,

Take the thing away, take the thing away,
We don’t want it here in Saffron Lane
Don’t care how many years it’s stood,
It’s lowering the tone of the neighbourhood
Dripping all that flesh and blood,
I’m sure there’s somewhere they can find,
Out of sight and out of mind
Don’t want it here spoiling the view,
After all this is 1832.

3. For 3 nights he worked at his grisly deed,
But underestimated the time he’d need,
Acting all like butter won’t melt,
But soon the neighbours a rat they smelt

4, Horseflesh he said is making the smell,
Went to see a bloke with a dog to sell,
Decided the dog not to my fancy
Had to burn the meat to avoid it going rancid

Take the thing away, take the thing away,
We don’t want it here in Saffron Lane

5.We all know he so nearly got away
Took a coach, for a ship to Americay
But Officer Cummins was quick off the mark
Caught up with him as he was about to embark

6. Now we all loved the hanging without a doubt,
6. Now we all loved the hanging, of that there’s not a doubt,
We took all the kids, they had a great day out,
But as for the gibbeting, we’re really not so sure
Don’t do it here, do it elsewhere.

credits

from Legends of Leicester & Leicestershire Vol. III, released December 22, 2022
Dave Taylor - guitar and vocal.

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all rights reserved

tags

about

Steve Cartwright Leicester, UK

I am a singer/songwriter (of considerable repute), a poet and an artist and I’ve been around for centuries. I write great songs and you’ll find they span a variety of styles and cover a very wide range of topics. My poems (like my songs) are designed to inform and challenge and to make you laugh and cry. ... more

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