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. It is listed as number 1900 in the Roud Folk Song Index.

The song was printed in Britain in 1701, and it traveled to the colonies "almost immediately".

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. —

The song survived in the oral tradition long enough for it to be recorded from traditional singers. Bob Roberts of Dorset, England was recorded singing the song by Peter Kennedy in 1960, whilst Helen Creighton, Edith Fowke and Helen Hartness Flanders recorded several versions in Canada and New England.

The song shares a melody with the American folk hymn "What Wondrous Love Is This" and the Johnny Cash song "Sam Hall".