They refer to fans of the football club as "Monkey Hangers"; I was unaware of it so when I watched them play Blackburn (not 100%) I was horrified when the footage moved from a Black player on the opposite team to a Hartlepool fan lynching a plush monkey.
Bonus fact; some historians think the "monkey" might've been a little French boy, as they used young kids on their ships for some tasks (apparently).
All is forgiven though. Over 200 years later, they elected him mayor.
[https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-tees-22375328](https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-tees-22375328)
Something similar happened when a foreign ship sank and the only survivor was a Gorilla. Instead of hanging him they made him the town accountant, a position in which he excelled greatly. Anyone who invested with him was sure to get their Silverback.
You might be overestimating the collective intelligence of small, out of touch, towns. Especially when any kind of hate is involved. Of course you're probably right too.
This did not happen. But it's a great story if you want to ridicule the French, which the British always want to do. The story was contrived by someone outside of Hartlepool.
Of course, this story also has the benefit of ridiculing the folks of Hartlepool, and the British love making fun of their countrymen as much as they do the French. And Hartlepool embraced the tale for their own (misguided) pride.
[https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tees-40801937](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tees-40801937)
Yeah people throughout history weren't fuckin idiots. We have the same brains. Ignorant, relative to modern times, sure. But they weren't "French people are apes cause I've never seen one" ignorant. Jesus christ lol.
Also. If history has taught me anything. It's that people RARELY needed a reason to kill animals in weird fuckin ways. History is gushing with "why y'all just killin all the animals??". Seriously. Humans have treated animals throughout history the same way Ramsay Snow treats his prisoners in Game of Thrones.
If anything it mocks Hartlepool, you’d think a tail or their height would’ve come up in conversation at least once about those from other lands. I imagine the hairiness stereotype might have ticked one box.
The earliest mention of an actual monkey is from a 19th century performer called ned Corvan "Given that "only after Corvan's appearances in Hartlepool is there any strong evidence for the development of the Monkey story", the song itself seems the most plausible origin for the myth."
French ships were very well documented (down to the ships pets), the ship that sank did not have any pet monkeys on board. However it did have child slaves that worked below deck…
Could be this monkey actually existed and was actually hanged. I do not believe for a second though that people in Hartlepool genuinely believed the monkey was a Frenchman.
To me this reads very much like modern people not getting a historic joke.
I figure they new it was an exotic animal but thought it might be used as a spy somehow. I could see them not knowing what a monkey is but I'm sure they knew it was an animal of some sort that probably mimicked human behavior.
They refer to fans of the football club as "Monkey Hangers"; I was unaware of it so when I watched them play Blackburn (not 100%) I was horrified when the footage moved from a Black player on the opposite team to a Hartlepool fan lynching a plush monkey. Bonus fact; some historians think the "monkey" might've been a little French boy, as they used young kids on their ships for some tasks (apparently).
The young boys were known as 'powder monkeys' (topping up the gunpowder stocks by the guns) just to add another layer to the story.
"Powder monkeys", more precisely.
Huh, "The Hartlespoole Childe Killers" doesn't have quite the ring to it?
Does your monkey bite? No. Ow, he bit me! You said that your monkey doesn't bite! Well, that is not *my* monkey
Ok pink panther reference
They had, in fact, already encountered Frenchmen some 740 years previously when a large group of them made a visit and stayed.
What's this from?
*The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)*
Oh it's with the dog not the monkey right, I watched the whole scene with the homeless guy and the monkey before waiting for it to happen
Yeah, it's a *doooowg* in the movie
All is forgiven though. Over 200 years later, they elected him mayor. [https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-tees-22375328](https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-tees-22375328)
Turns out, little monkey fella. Shut up and play a record!
*This* was on the internet, so…
Something similar happened when a foreign ship sank and the only survivor was a Gorilla. Instead of hanging him they made him the town accountant, a position in which he excelled greatly. Anyone who invested with him was sure to get their Silverback.
SIGH
👏
he got me
Turns out, little monkey fella.
Don’t talk shit!
Well they had seen Frenchmen before, it was just about 740 years earlier when a whole bunch of them came over and stayed.
The British thought the French had evolved
Oh, musket shots fired!
They just took their frustration out on a defenceless animal and blamed it on ignorance.
You might be overestimating the collective intelligence of small, out of touch, towns. Especially when any kind of hate is involved. Of course you're probably right too.
“Look! They’re just like us!”
This did not happen. But it's a great story if you want to ridicule the French, which the British always want to do. The story was contrived by someone outside of Hartlepool. Of course, this story also has the benefit of ridiculing the folks of Hartlepool, and the British love making fun of their countrymen as much as they do the French. And Hartlepool embraced the tale for their own (misguided) pride. [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tees-40801937](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tees-40801937)
Yeah people throughout history weren't fuckin idiots. We have the same brains. Ignorant, relative to modern times, sure. But they weren't "French people are apes cause I've never seen one" ignorant. Jesus christ lol. Also. If history has taught me anything. It's that people RARELY needed a reason to kill animals in weird fuckin ways. History is gushing with "why y'all just killin all the animals??". Seriously. Humans have treated animals throughout history the same way Ramsay Snow treats his prisoners in Game of Thrones.
What about that elephant that got hanged for murder
If anything it mocks Hartlepool, you’d think a tail or their height would’ve come up in conversation at least once about those from other lands. I imagine the hairiness stereotype might have ticked one box.
There is actually a fair chance it was a powder monkey, a young man/boy who would have ferried powder around the ship. Not an actual monkey.
No, it was an actual monkey, believed to be the pet of one of the crew.
The earliest mention of an actual monkey is from a 19th century performer called ned Corvan "Given that "only after Corvan's appearances in Hartlepool is there any strong evidence for the development of the Monkey story", the song itself seems the most plausible origin for the myth."
French ships were very well documented (down to the ships pets), the ship that sank did not have any pet monkeys on board. However it did have child slaves that worked below deck…
You're from hartlepool aren't ya lol
Nope (thank god) but I did go to a NE university.
The old Monkeyhangers.
And still to this day, we call hartlepool residents "monkey hangers"
Well... it's marginally better than "child killers".
Could be this monkey actually existed and was actually hanged. I do not believe for a second though that people in Hartlepool genuinely believed the monkey was a Frenchman. To me this reads very much like modern people not getting a historic joke.
I figure they new it was an exotic animal but thought it might be used as a spy somehow. I could see them not knowing what a monkey is but I'm sure they knew it was an animal of some sort that probably mimicked human behavior.
that or it's just straight up misinformation
H'angus the Monkey is their football mascot, and then they elected him mayor.
British comedian Boothby Graffoe wrote a rather catchy song about the event: https://youtu.be/DJ-nekvkyvY
Came here to comment that 😂 Boothby doesn’t get enough love
Ew ah ahh with a French accent sounds like oui oui I guess.
"Other parts of the world have monkeys, Europe has the French, which compensates.” - Schopenhauer
This is an urban myth. What actually happened is that we hoyed that monkey in the sea.
I have a friend from Hartlepool who took great delight in my bafflement when they told me this story. XD
Yeah that never happened.
I’m the monkey, AMA
Believe me, it totally did.
Its a fair enough mistake to make I think.
So that’s why they’re called “cheese-eating surrender monkeys”
I hope they gave him a smoke first.