#mytownmonday #hartlepool:The Hartlepool Monkey.

My home town of Hartlepool, may not be famous for a great deal of things, but it certainly has an infamous reputation due to the legendary tale of Hartlepool residents hanging a monkey, believing it to be a French spy. The veracity of the story is questionable, of course, but it’s still a hell of a yarn.

Wiki say:

‘Hartlepool is known for allegedly executing a monkey during the Napoleonic Wars. According to legend, fishermen from Hartlepool watched a French warship founder off the coast, and the only survivor was a monkey, which was dressed in French military uniform, presumably to amuse the officers on the ship. The fishermen assumed that this must be what Frenchmen looked like and, after a brief trial, summarily executed the monkey.’

And there is this cracking song by the late, great folk singer Vin Garbutt.