Whiskey in the Jar

“Whiskey in the Jar,”  a song about a notorious Irish highwayman Patrick Fleming who was hanged in 1650, has become Ireland’s oldest most beloved song a true rebel air that stirs the passions. How “Whiskey in the Jar” became a hit for performers like Phil Lynott, Metallica, and also for the Grateful Dead, The Dubliners, and Shane MacGowan is one great untold story. Fleming was no hero. He murdered, robbed, and maimed rich and poor alike, including women and children before being hunted down. He made a legendary escape from his death cell by scrambling up a chimney but was eventually recaptured. In death, he acquired a heroic air and many poems were written about him. One, in particular, became the basis for one of the most loved ballads of all time. “Whiskey in the Jar,” tells the tale of a highway robber betrayed by his lover, Molly, and ending up in a ball and chain in prison. Historian Alan Lomax says songs of highwaymen attacking the agents of the crown were very popular with Irish and British peasants.  The folk of 17th-century Britain liked and admired their local highwaymen; and in Ireland (or Scotland) where the gentlemen of the roads robbed English landlords, they were regarded as national patriots. Such feelings inspired this rollicking ballad