What's the myth about people from Hartlepool called monkeyhangers?

Question

I was asked , on a visit , if I wanted some monkey's blood? It turned out to be raspberry sauce for my icecream cone

Answer 1

During the time of the Napoleonic Wars. A French ship was wrecked just of the coast of the headland of Old Hartlepool.

The only survivor to be washed ashore was a small monkey dressed in a French sailors uniform. The wretched creature had apparently been used for entertainment by the crew of the unfortunate ship.



The people of Hartlepool at the time were largely simple fishing folk and had (probably) never seen a monkey and so they assumed it was a French spy, they promptly took it away for questioning. Unfortunately (for itself) the monkey could neither speak nor understand English and could only gibber agitatedly, which only served to further persuade the locals to the identity of the prisoner as they took this gibbering to be French! Finally the monkey was put on trial, found guilty of spying and of course sentenced to death by hanging. The monkey was finally hung on the fish sands a small stretch of beach below the ancient town wall.

Answer 2

The original story was an invention for the Victorian music hall and it not just Hartlepool who call the red sauce monkeys blood its common all over the north .
The same story comes from Cornwall . It may not be true I would suggest, as I come from Hartlepool and I will 'get done over' if I say any different
Incidentally there is also a baboon at High Felling
I also have a french GF and she does not look .like a monkey and she has been to Hartlepool and survived

Answer 3

The monkey-hanging legend is the most famous story connected with Hartlepool. During the Napoleonic Wars a ship was wrecked off the Hartlepool coast.

During the Napoleonic Wars there was a fear of a French invasion of Britain and much public concern about the possibility of French infiltrators and spies.
Download 'The Monkey Song'


The fishermen of Hartlepool fearing an invasion kept a close watch on the French vessel as it struggled against the storm but when the vessel was severely battered and sunk they turned their attention to the wreckage washed ashore. Among the wreckage lay one wet and sorrowful looking survivor, the ship's pet monkey dressed to amuse in a military style uniform.

The fishermen apparently questioned the monkey and held a beach-based trial. Unfamiliar with what a Frenchman looked like they came to the conclusion that this monkey was a French spy and should be sentenced to death. The unfortunate creature was to die by hanging, with the mast of a fishing boat (a coble) providing a convenient gallows.

Answer 4

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RE:
What's the myth about people from Hartlepool called monkeyhangers?
I was asked , on a visit , if I wanted some monkey's blood? It turned out to be raspberry sauce for my icecream cone

Answer 5

I believe in the Biblical account of creation. Why should I have to agree with any other creation stories out there? Who really wrote Shakespeare's plays? A. Shakespeare B. the Earl of Oxford C. Francis Bacon D. monkeys I happen to believe Shakespeare wrote them. That's where the evidence points, so there is no reason to believe B and C. However, If I had no idea I could still eliminate D as an option. Who really created the universe? A. God B. Allah C. Vishnu D. nobody I happen to believe God made the universe. That's where the evidence points, so there is no reason to believe B and C. However, If I had no idea I could still eliminate D as an option. Any creation story is more credible than evolution.

Answer 6

I believe this stems from the story that during the Napoleonic wars a monkey was washed ashore from a wrecked French ship. Since no-one in Hartlepool had ever seen a Frenchman, they assumed that becasue the monkey couldn't speak English that IT was a Frenchman...so they hanged it.

Answer 7

Monkey Hangers Hartlepool

Answer 8

Hartlepool Monkey Hangers

Answer 9

Because the simple fishing folk thought a boat which came to shore had a French spy on board when it was in fact a monkey. When the monkey couldn't confess it was put to death by hanging. Hence the term "Monkey Hanger's"

Answer 10

I seem to remember it being about a spanish ship going aground there, and the only survivor was a monkey of some kind, it was mistaken for a ship's boy (ie junior member of crew) ... and as a Spanyard (our enemy at the time)... it was hung !

Monkey hangers.

Thans what I heard.