Hull, Hell and Halifax

[jfish1936]

An old saying:

"From Hull, Hell and Halifax,

"Good Lord, deliver us"

 

Now Hell is obvious.

Halifax was the home of the Halifax Gibbett, where those unfortunate enough to be caught with stolen cloth were beheaded by machine;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Gibbet

But what did Hull do to be linked up with these?

[Lockjaw]

http://www.yorkshirefolksong.net/song_database/Occupational/The_Dalesmans_Litany.86.aspx

[wobblybob50]

Obviously jfish you have never been to Hull!

The only differance between Hell and Hull is a differant vowel. Both places Im not too bothered about visiting lol

[max]

Mother from Hull, partner from Halifax, where does that leave me?

[wobblybob50]

Halifax is a nice old fashioned town loads of character.

[shanes teeth]

Mother from Hull, partner from Halifax, where does that leave me?

 

On the road to hell?

[Plain Talker]

I always thought that Hull's link in this saying was the maritime link, as Hull was one of the ports where the men who had been press-ganged into the navy would be taken to be sent to sea.

 

However, googling it brings up this:-

 

From Hell, Hull, and Halifax may the Good Lord deliver us!

 

Part of the Thieves' Litany. In use from the sixteenth to the seventeenth century, it would be recited when two thieves parted ways, in place of goodbye.

 

It makes reference to the thieves' three main occupational hazards.

 

Hell: The Inferno, Purgatory, the underworld. Where wicked men are punished untill Judgement Day.

Hull: The infamous Hull Gaol. Not a very nice place.

Halifax: The notorious Halifax gibbet. Designed to swiftly despatch wrongdoers off to Hell. (See above.)

 

With the reformation of the prison system and the abolition of the death penalty in Great Britain, this phrase has become obsolete. Only one of the featured hazards remains fully operational, and the existence of that is highly debatable.

Hmm interesting!

 

---------- Post added 22-03-2013 at 18:18 ----------

 

OOH further googling brings up this 18th century poem (1709):-

 

There is a proverb and a prayer withall,

That we may not to three strange places fall;

From Hull, from Hell, from Halifax, 'tis this,

From all these three, Good Lord, deliver us.

This praying proverb's meaning to set down,

Men do not wish deliverance from the town;

The town's named Kingston, Hull's the furious river;

And from Halifax's dangers, I say, Lord, deliver.

At Halifax, the law so sharp doth deal,

That whoso more than 13 pence doth steal;

They have a gyn that wondrous, quick and well,

Sends thieves all headless unto Heaven or Hell.

From Hell each man says Lord, deliver me.

Because from Hell can no redemption be.

Men may escape from Hull and Halifax,

But sure in Hell, there is not heaier tax.

Let each one for themselves in this agree,

And pray – from Hell, Good Lord, deliver me