Richard "Dick"  Turpin  Born: 1705 * The Old Post Cottage, Hempstead Baptised: 21 Sept 1705 Hempstead Died: 7 Apr 1739 + Saturday, Blue Boar, Castle Gate, York. .  Buried: St. Georges Churchyard, York. Occupation: Highwayman & Horse Thief Comments: Hanged at York

THE TURPIN STORY By the time he was 30 he had committed crimes of murder and highway robbery and a reward of £200 was being offered for his capture. Turpin fled the country and went into hiding in Holland. When he returned to England, he headed north, where he was unknown, posing as a horse dealer under his mother’s maiden name of Palmer. But his freedom was short-lived. On 2 October 1738, he was arrested over a relatively minor incident. He was sent to jail because he could not afford to pay bail. During investigations, evidence of his horse-stealing was discovered and he was transferred to the Debtor’s Prison which now forms part of York Castle Museum. Here his true identity was finally discovered and, on Saturday 7 April 1739, Turpin was hung on the York Tyburn which now forms part of York Racecourse. BLACK BESS Billy in his recent live shows when talking about The Unwelcome Guest refers to Turpin's horse, Black Bess. However, Black Bess never really existed. She was created, almost 100 years after Turpin's death, in 1834 by Harrison Ainsworth in his famous novel 'Rockwood' Take the Dick Turpin Quiz    Another Turpin Song

Notes: Close, I think!
 

   C  Cmaj9  Am  F   D   G  C5 G5

e:-0----0----0---1---2---3--x---x|
B:-1----1----2---1---3---3--1---x|
G:-0----0----3---2---2---0--0---0|
D:-2----0----3---3---0---0--2---0|
A:-3----2----0---3-------2-------|
E:-0----x--------1-------3-------|
 

Chords:

C  Cmaj9 Am  F  C
C                 Cmaj9  Am       F            C
To the rich man's bright lodges I ride in this wind
C                Cmaj9  Am     D           G
On my good horse I call you my shiny Black Bess
C                Cmaj9 Am
To the playhouse of    fortune
F                  C
To take the bright silver
C           Cmaj9 Am         F C5  G5 C
And gold you have taken from somebody else
C        Cmaj9  Am         F            C
And as we go riding in the damp fogy midnight
C          Cmaj9   Am             D            G
You, snort, my good pony, and you give me your best
C                 Cmaj9  Am       F               C
For you know, and I know, good horse, 'mongst the rich ones
C           Cmaj9 Am         F C5  G5 C
How oftimes we go there an unwelcome guest

Repeat pattern

I've never took food from the widows and orphans
And never a hard working man I oppressed
So take your pace easy,
For home soon like lighting
We soon will be riding, my shiny Black Bess

No fat rich man's pony can ever overtake you
And there's not a rider from the east to the west
Could hold you a light
In this dark mist and midnight
When the potbellied thieves
Chase their unwelcome guest

I don't know good horse
As we trot in this dark here
That robing the rich is for worse or for best
They take it by stealing and lying and gambling
And I take it my way, my shiny Black Bess

I treat horses good and I'm friendly to strangers
I ride and your running makes my guns talk all the best
And the rangers and deputies
Are hired by the rich man
To catch me and hang me, my shining Black Bess

Yes, they'll catch me napping one day
And they'll kill me
And then I'll be gone but that won't be my end
For my guns and my saddle will always be filled
By unwelcome travelers and other brave men

And they'll take the money and spread it out equal
Just like the Bible and the prophets suggest
But the men that go riding to help these poor workers
The rich will cut down like an unwelcome guest