Mad Martins
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Madhouse Martin
Lyrics
That I am sent to put a torch to this vile den of raging sin:
The clergy ignored my warnings and epistles at each turn,
So here’s fuel to their fire; burn, York Minster, burn.
One hundred pounds was offered for my apprehension there,
So I with grace of God to Hexham did repair;
But I was caught and I was taken, and now I stand here, accused;
My faith remains unshaken, my liberty abused.
I’ve been a tanner, a sailor, a rover, and a dreamer;
A despiser of the clergy and a bold pamphleteer:
God is my witness; God is in my dreams;
Let God be my judge, not you unholy fiends.
I’m mad as a hatter and the clergy’s getting fatter;
Arson my arse, I’ll burn you up the bum:
I’m Jonathan Martin, Madhouse Martin;
God grant me the strength to blow you all to Kingdom Come.
The clergy have departed, from the path the saints once trod;
That I deemed it just for them to feel the mighty wrath of God:
Their faith they have laid waste, their yearning souls to sell;
That I deemed it just to let them taste the burning coals of Hell.
You can lock me up in bedlam and throw away the key,
But there’s no asylum built can hold this bold incendiary:
I have this burning dream, to raze London to the ground;
With an armed host and God’s blessing, to London I’d be bound.
My heart is an inferno and my belly is a-flame;
Too fierce to be quenched, by the salt sea in my veins:
When the walls are closing in, God will still remember me;
Confined but judged not guilty, due to insanity.
I’ve been a tanner, a sailor, a rover, and a dreamer;
A despiser of the clergy and a bold pamphleteer:
God is my witness; God is in my dreams;
Let God be my judge, not you unholy fiends.
I’m mad as a hatter and the clergy’s getting fatter;
Arson my arse, I’ll burn you up the bum:
I’m Jonathan Martin, Madhouse Martin;
God grant me the strength, to blow you all to Kingdom Come;
God grant me the strength, to blow you all to Kingdom Come;
God grant me strength.
(Lyrics & Music: Gary Miller)
© 2017 Whippet Records
Copyright Control MCPS/PRS
Additional Text
A week after his appearance at the City Assizes at the Guildhall, Jonathan Martin appeared at the County Assizes at the Castle in York, on Monday 30th March 1829, to face two indictments, one for arson and one for felonious stealing, to which he pled "not guilty". His trial began the following morning and Jonathan was delighted by the noise and confusion amongst the excited crowd that filled the court. Jonathan was being tried for his life. Arson was still a capital offence in 1829 and emotions were high regarding his destruction of the Minster. His actions were never in dispute, the outcome hinged on determining whether he was sane or insane.
The following verdict on Jonathan Martin at his trial at the assizes was printed in The General Gaol Delivery of 1829: -
“Not Guilty, but the Jury having found specially that he was insane at the time of the commission of the offence with which he stood charged and having acquitted him on account of such insanity. To be covered and delivered by the Sheriff of the said County to the Sheriffs of the City of York and County of the same City, from whence he was removed to the said County of York (being the next adjoining County thereto) to take his trial for the said offence, and to be kept in strict custody of the Gaol of the same City and County of the same City until His Majesty’s Pleasure shall be known.”
(Christopher John Nested, Deputy Clerk of the Assizes in the said County)
Meanwhile, an appeal was begun to raise funds for the repair of the Minster. Timber and lead salvaged from the fire were sold off and made into countless souvenir items, such as snuff, powder and patch boxes, tea caddies and other similar objects. Each souvenir bore a small metal medal recording the date and place of the fire. The money needed came in quickly, with a large sum raised by a committee of local gentlemen, but the Dean, William Cockburn, was accused of serious financial mismanagement and misappropriation of the funds. When Jonathan Martin was found not guilty of setting fire to the Minster on grounds of insanity, whilst repairs were still being carried out, an angry workman scratched the following inscription on a window:
“York Minster burnt February 2nd 1829 by that Damned Jonathan Martin – he ought to have been hanged but anyhow he got right well damned by the Citizens of York.”
Background - The Minster in Ruins After the Fire, unknown.
Foreground (left) - William Cockburn, Dean of York (1823–1858), unknown.
Foreground (left) - William Cockburn, Dean of York (1823–1858), unknown.
Foreground - Jonathan Martin, the Lunatic, who set York Minster on fire [engraving after a portrait by Edward Lindley], Unknown.
William Cockburn, Dean of York, unknown.
Inset: York Minster burnt February 2nd 1829 by that Damned Jonathan Martin – he ought to have been hanged but anyhow he got right well damned by the Citizens of York [inscribed verse], anon., 1829.
Inset: York Minster burnt February 2nd 1829 by that Damned Jonathan Martin – he ought to have been hanged but anyhow he got right well damned by the Citizens of York [inscribed verse], anon., 1829.
Recording Credits
Video Clips
'Madhouse Martin' live at the Premiere of
'Mad Martins: The Story of the Martin Brothers'
The City Theatre, Durham, England, 5th October 2019
'Mad Martins: The Story of the Martin Brothers'
The City Theatre, Durham, England, 5th October 2019
Gary Miller performing 'Madhouse Martin' solo,
live at The Cockpit, Pickering, North Yorkshire, England,
on 15th August 2019.
live at The Cockpit, Pickering, North Yorkshire, England,
on 15th August 2019.