The history of one monument, or how the British executed a monkey for espionage

On the northeast coast of Great Britain is a small port city of Hartpool. This is a boring province where there is absolutely nothing for tourists to do. But if one of the travelers ends up in Hartpool, then he will certainly go to the port. Here is the main attraction of the city - a monument to the monkey. His appearance is associated with an urban legend. Allegedly 200 years ago, local fishermen hung a monkey on the shore, accusing it of spying for hostile France.

England and France, despite their close proximity, very rarely lived in peace. Between countries almost every century there were wars that had varying success. At the beginning of the 19th century, during the era of the Napoleonic Wars, the inhabitants of Foggy Albion, not without reason, feared the invasion of the French army. This forced the islanders to spend huge amounts of money on strengthening the defense of the coast.

Forts and artillery batteries cost the kingdom dearly, and the country gradually plunged into an economic crisis. The French, who made it all happen, were treated with contempt. Not surprisingly, in the English newspapers of that time, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was depicted as a monkey in a uniform.

Just against the backdrop of these events, a colorful urban legend about a monkey appeared. No one knows if this case was real or fictional by the locals. But in neighboring towns, the inhabitants of Hartpool are teased by "monkey hangers." Not a very pleasant nickname, but some are even proud of it.

One day, a French ship crashed against the rocks near Hartpool during a storm. The locals, armed with something, went to its wreckage to capture the enemies who survived the shipwreck. But the raging sea did not leave the French a chance - they all drowned. Searching the water-filled frigate, the British still found one survivor.

At first, the fishermen thought that in the darkness of the hold, a short old man in a military uniform was rushing around in a panic. But it was a monkey dressed as a French naval officer. They treated her like a prisoner of war. The animal was tied up with ropes and taken to Hartpool. There the monkey was given a real interrogation.

It is difficult to say whether the inhabitants of the city actually mistook the primacy for the Frenchman. In the end, only the blind did not see in the press cartoons with monkeys in cocked hats and with sabers. The legend says that they were interrogated seriously, according to all the rules of wartime. Of course, the monkey could not answer the questions put to it. She only mumbled something, but no one in Hartpool knew French, and everyone thought that the prisoner was mocking them.

Therefore, a small military tribunal immediately took place. The monkey was convicted of espionage and sentenced to hang. She was executed right here on the shore, in the presence of a large number of local residents. The monkey case has become an important part of Hartpool's image. The townspeople were constantly teased by this legend, but they quickly ceased to be offended. Moreover, they began to consider this story a part of their identity and be proud of it. Even the city's rugby team is called the Monkeyhangers, that is, the Monkey Hangers.

This legend is more than 200 years old and all this time in Hartpool they are arguing whether it is true or not. Many do not admit the idea that the local fishermen at that time were so dark that they mistook a monkey for a Frenchman. There is another version that makes the participants in this story even less attractive.

Some researchers believe that there was no monkey. But there was a "powder monkey" - that's how the navy in the 19th century called teenagers pouring gunpowder into cannons. That is, the townspeople did not execute an animal, but a French cabin boy. However, this is also just a hypothesis, which cannot be tested. And was there a boy from a wrecked ship? In the archives of the city, where records of less significant events are kept, there is no mention of either a shipwreck or the execution of a spy.

Whatever it was, but the story of the hanged monkey is popular. It influenced the minds of local residents and formed a negative attitude towards the French, which is still felt in these parts today. In 2017, a play about the Hartpool monkey was staged in one of the British theaters. It ridicules irrational xenophobia, which, unfortunately, the world has not yet overcome.