Captain Kidd (song)

"The Ballad of Captain Kidd" (or simply, "Captain Kidd") is an English song about Captain William Kidd, who was executed for piracy in London on May 23, 1701.[1] The song was printed in Britain in 1701, and it traveled to the colonies "almost immediately".[2]

Captain Kidd burying the Bible (1837)

Washington Irving's 1824 work Tales of a Traveller makes mention of the song:

"There 's a fine old song about him, all to the tune of —
My name is Captain Kidd,
As I sailed, as I sailed—
And then it tells all about how he gained the Devil's good graces by burying the Bible :
I had the Bible in my hand,
As I sailed, as I sailed,
And I buried it in the sand
As I sailed. —

Selected recordings

In Mormonism

The song was reportedly a childhood favorite of Mormonism founder Joseph Smith.[3] In 1830, the song was adapted into an official church hymn, retitled as "How Precious is the Name" and featuring new lyrics.[3]

The song was adapted for the TV science fiction series The Expanse as "The Ballad of Captain Ashford", a song the character Klaes Ashford (played by David Strathairn) sings bits of throughout the fourth season (initially to his infant daughter; the last stanza as he's being put out an airlock to his death).

References
  1. "The Ballad of Captain Kidd (traditional)". Cantaria Folk Song Archive. Archived from the original on 8 May 2014.
  2. Kidd, David. "Captain Kidd Music". Archived from the original on 27 June 2014.
  3. Huggins, Ronald V. (2003). "From Captain Kidd's Treasure Ghost to the Angel Moroni: Changing Dramatis Personae in Early Mormonism" (PDF). Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. 36 (4).

Bibliography
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