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My name is Captain Kidd as I sailed, as I sailed,
Oh, my name is Captain Kidd, as I sailed;
My name is Captain Kidd and God's laws I did forbid,
And most wickedly I did as I sailed.
My father taught me well to shun the gates of hell,
But against him I rebelled, as I sailed;
He shoved a bible in my hand, but I left it in the sand,
And I pulled away from land as I sailed.
My name is Captain Kidd as I sailed, as I sailed,
Oh, my name is Captain Kidd, as I sailed;
My name is Captain Kidd and God's laws I did forbid,
And most wickedly I did as I sailed.
I murdered William Moore and I left him in his gore,
Twenty leagues away from shore, as I sailed;
And being crueler still, the gunner I did kill,
All his precious blood did spill, as I sailed.
My name is Captain Kidd as I sailed, as I sailed,
Oh, my name is Captain Kidd, as I sailed;
My name is Captain Kidd and God's laws I did forbid,
And most wickedly I did as I sailed.
I was sick and nigh to death, and I vowed at every breath,
Oh to walk in wisdom's path, as I sailed;
But my repentance lasted not, my vows I soon forgot,
Oh damnation is my lot, as I sailed.
My name is Captain Kidd as I sailed, as I sailed,
Oh, my name is Captain Kidd, as I sailed;
My name is Captain Kidd and God's laws I did forbid,
And most wickedly I did as I sailed.
To the execution dock lay my head upon the block,
Laws no more I'll mock as I sail;
So take warning here and heed to shun bad company,
Or you'll wind up just like me, as I sailed.
My name is Captain Kidd as I sailed, as I sailed,
Oh, my name is Captain Kidd, as I sailed;
My name is Captain Kidd and God's laws I did forbid,
And most wickedly I did as I sailed.
And most wickedly I did as I sailed.
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A variant was collected in 1958 from Freeman Bennett of St. Paul's, NL, by Kenneth Peacock and published as Captain Kidd in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 3, pp.837-839, by The National Museum of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.
Notes: Captain William Kidd [1645?-1701] was a British privateer commissioned by New York and Massachusetts to hunt pirates. He himself turned pirate and killed his gunner, William Moore, during a mutiny attempt. Kenneth Peacock noted that in 1701, during the two weeks that elapsed between Kidd's sentence at the Old Bailey in London and his execution in Wapping, this "goodnight" broadside was circulated throughout London.
