A Wicked Good Pirate Song

Crannog at the 2008 Michigan Renaissance Festival

We learned "The Ballad of William Kidd" from Crannog's No Band is an Island CD. We purchased it at the Texas Renaissance Festival in 2007 after discovering the group there and enjoying its music. The lead singer's voice is perfect for a pirate, and the lyrics speak to the consequences of sin, though Kidd, who had a commission from England to be a privateer, maintained at his trial that he was innocent.

Listen to a sample of Crannog's rendition of the ballad.

Interestingly, a few months after we purchased the CD, the wreckage of the Armenian ship that Kidd captured, The Quedagh Merchant, was discovered near Catalina Island in the Dominican Republic.

Encyclopedia Brittanica provides a brief bio of Captain Kidd here.

The Ballad of William Kidd

My name was William Kidd when I sailed, when I sailed
My name was William Kidd when I sailed
My name was William Kidd, God's laws I did forbid
And most wickedly I did when I sailed, when I sailed
And most wickedly I did when I sailed

My parents taught me well when I sailed, when I sailed
My parents taught me well when I sailed
My parents taught me well to shun the gates of hell
But against them I rebelled when I sailed, when I sailed
But against them I rebelled when I sailed

I spied three ships from France as I sailed, as I sailed
I spied three ships from France as I sailed
I spied three ships from France, and on them I advanced
And took them all by chance as I sailed, as I sailed
And took them all by chance as I sailed

I spied three ships from Spain as I sailed, as I sailed
I sailed three ships from Spain as I sailed
I sailed three ships from Spain and left them in the main
When the most of them were slain as I sailed, as I sailed
When the most of them were slain as I sailed

I murdered William Moore as I sailed, as I sailed
I murdered William Moore as I sailed
I murdered William Moore, and left him in his gore,
Not so many miles from shore as I sailed, as I sailed
Not so many miles from shore as I sailed

Take a warning now by me: I must die, I must die
Take a warning now by me: I must die
Take a warning now by me and shun bad company
Lest you come to hell with me, I must die, I must die
Lest you come to hell with me, I must die