Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln - From The Ballad of Little Sir Hugh

From The Ballad of Little Sir Hugh

The following text from 1783, describes the murder of Hugh of Lincoln, as it was depicted in a popular ballad.

She's led him in through ae dark door,

And sae has she thro' nine;

She's laid him on a dressing-table,

And stickit him like a swine.

And first came out the thick, thick blood,

And syne came out the thin;

And syne came out the bonny heart's blood;

There was nae mair within.

She's row'd him in a cake o'lead,

Bade him lie still and sleep;

She's thrown him in Our Lady's draw-well

Was fifty fathom deep.

According to the notes by Cecil Sharp on a variant of the Ballad of Little Sir Hugh, the story is as follows:

The events narrated in this ballad were supposed to have taken place in the 13th century. The story is told by a contemporary writer in the Annals of Waverley, under the year 1255. Little Sir Hugh was crucified by the Jews in contempt of Christ with various preliminary tortures. To conceal the act from the Christians, the body was thrown into a running stream, but the water immediately ejected it upon dry land. It was then buried, but was found above ground the next day. As a last resource the body was thrown into a drinking-well; whereupon, the whole place was filled with so brilliant a light and so sweet an odour that it was clear to everybody that there must be something holy in the well. The body was seen floating on the water and, upon its recovery, it was found that the hands and feet were pierced with wounds, the forehead lacerated, etc. The unfortunate Jews were suspected. The King ordered an inquiry. Eighteen Jews confessed, were convicted, and eventually hanged.

Sharp then goes on to make the following observations:

Bishop Percy concludes "the whole charge to be groundless and malicious." Murders of this sort have been imputed to the Jews for seven hundred and fifty years or more; and similar accusations have been made in Russia and other countries of Eastern Europe even in the 19th century and as late as 1883. Child sums up the whole matter by saying, "These pretended child-murders, with their horrible consequences, are only a part of a persecution which, with all its moderation, may be rubricated as the most disgraceful chapter in the history of the human race."

In 1975 the English folk-rock group Steeleye Span recorded a version of "Little Sir Hugh" on their album Commoner's Crown. In the song, the murderer is "a lady gay" "dressed in green".