Sir Hugh - Commentary

Commentary

The song has been found in England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada and the USA. It was still popular in the early nineteenth century. The title "Sir Hugh" or more commonly "Little Sir Hugh" should actually be called "Little Saint Hugh" since this is based on the story of Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln, the little is used to stop confusion with another saint of the same name Saint Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln. Whilst it would appear that Hugh had mearly fallen down a well whilst searching for his ball, because the well was located on Jewish property, stories of ritual killing soon developed and 70 Jews were arrested, 18 were hung for refusing to take part in the trial, the remainder were pardoned.

In medieval times such frightful anti-Semitic tales were common. Jews had been expelled from England in 1290, and did not return until 1658. It seems unlikely that crude propaganda would be deliberately concocted and spread in the late 17th century, since Britain had become a refuge for persecuted religious minorities. There is a tale that in 1255 a boy was kidnapped by Jews, and crucified. His body was found in a well, and many Jews were convicted and hanged for the crime. This ghastly story appears in Annals of Waverley.

The artist and poet Matthew Paris (fl. c 1217 - 1259) has a Latin fragment of this ballad in his Chronicle. Thomas Percy's Reliques (1783) has a version from Scotland. David Herd (1776) had a version, and so did Robert Jameison (1806).

The idea of a corpse speaking (sending thoughts) to the living occurs in the ballad The Murder of Maria Marten, The Cruel Mother (Child 20) and in The Unquiet Grave (Child 78). Gruesome killings are quite common in Child ballads.