That Time When Hartlepool Hanged a Monkey

 On the coast of northeastern England, lies the town of Hartlepool, and from this large town in County Durham comes a humorous legend about a monkey. The legend dates back to the early 19th century, during the Napoleonic Wars, an era marked by extreme fear and caution and suspicion of a possible French invasion.

According to the story, on a stormy night, a French ship was found sunk off the coast of Hartlepool. Amidst the wreckage, the townspeople found a lone survivor – the ship's monkey, dressed in a short military uniform, presumably for the amusement of the crew. The people of Hartlepool were unfamiliar with monkeys and had never encountered a Frenchman before. However, he had seen British cartoons that depicted the French as monkey-like creatures with tails and claws.

Given his limited exposure to different cultures, the townspeople concluded that the survivor was a French soldier, possibly even a spy. They controlled the monkey's limbs, brought him to the city square and began the interrogation.

The city leaders bombarded the monkey with questions: Where is Napoleon? What are the French planning? Could an attack be imminent? Nevertheless, the monkey responded by screaming and babbling in a language that the townspeople could not understand. They assumed it was French. The monkey's inability to communicate in English further added to the frustration of Hartlepool residents.

After a lengthy interrogation of the poor monkey, local residents held a formal hearing and ultimately determined the creature's guilt as a French spy. This serious conviction led to death sentence. A gallows was hastily made at the city square and the monkey was hanged.

Thus ends the story of the Hartlepool monkey. But the question is whether this story is rooted in truth?

Some people believe that the Hartlepoolians killed not an actual monkey but a small boy, about 12 to 14 years old. Young boys of such age were often employed in warships to carry gunpowder from the ship's hold to the cannons and were known as 'powderers'. Monkeys'. They were usually chosen for the job because of their ability to move quickly and easily in the limited space between decks. It is possible that the townspeople captured such a young boy from a sinking French ship and hanged him, mistaking him for a spy.

The story's origins date back to 1855, when Victorian entertainer Ned Corwan created a song about it, which was performed in Hartlepool. Furthermore, there is little historical evidence to support that the event occurred. During the Napoleonic Wars, the period in which this incident allegedly occurred, only 14 ships were sunk in the Hartlepool Bay area. There were no French ships.

Nevertheless, there exists a large number of believers. “Of course it did,” said Stuart Drummond, who was mayor of Hartlepool three times. "This is too bizarre a story to be made up, so there must be some element of truth to it."

Despite this, the story found fertile ground in West Hartlepool, a rising industrial town adjacent to the traditional fishing port of Old Hartlepool. The newcomers' perception was that people in the old town were less intellectually inclined, people who might accidentally hang a monkey. Over time, the towns merged and the story became synonymous with the whole of Hartlepool.

As the years passed, what was initially taken as an insult by the townspeople became a source of joy and pride. Hartlepool residents proudly adopted the nickname "Monkey Hanger". In 1999, Hartlepool United Football Club adopted a monkey as their mascot, and named it H'Angus the Monkey. Similarly, the local rugby union team, Hartlepool Rovers, are known as the Monkeyhangers. In 2007, a statue of the monkey was erected in Hartlepool Marina, also acting as a receptacle to collect coins for a local hospice. The legend has also inspired numerous plays, films, documentaries and literary works.