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Andrew Ross

Date 1961
Track ID 46827
Part 1

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1961.88.A6

Original Tape ID

SA1961.088

Summary

In this gruesome ballad, Orkney sailor Andrew Rose is tortured horribly by Captain Rogers onboard the 'Martha Jane': he is savaged by dogs, dragged in the water, beaten, whipped, stabbed with an iron bar, and finally suspended in the air with ropes. When the ship docks at Liverpool, the captain is found guilty of murder and is executed.

Item Notes

16 verses of 4 lines. Seaman Andrew Rose was tortured to death by Captain Henry Rogers between April and June of 1857, as their ship returned from Barbados. When the ship reached Liverpool, Rogers was tried and sentenced to death; his execution on 12th September the same year drew a crowd of tens of thousands.

See:
Greig-Duncan vol. 1, p. 7
'A Ballad History of England from 1588 to the Present Day' (R. Palmer, 1979) pp. 138-139

Item Subject/Person

Rose, Andrew [Ross, Andrew]; Rogers, Henry

Recording Location

County - Orkney

Parish - Birsay and Harray

Island - Orkney Mainland

Item Location

County - Orkney

Non Scottish Item Location

Barbados

Non Scottish Item Location

Barbados (GD)

Language

English, Scots

Genre

Song

Collection

SoSS

Classification

R623 GD6

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good