(That is Bobbie Darin, the pop crooner who released the single “Mack the Knife” back in 1958. Mom and Dad had purchased the 45 RPM single and played it on the record player that sate on the table in the corner of the dining room in Birmingham, Michigan).
The tune had a remarkable arc in history and drifted through ours yesterday. The version Bobby sang had some weird names in it- “Suki Tawdry,” for example, is an abbreviation for among others. One of those was a stylish pickpocket nick-named Minnie Diver. Her story came up yesterday, since it was a reprise of the anniversary of her execution in London. Her offense was theft, and given our current infatuation with our changing system of justice, it led through two centuries of turmoil to Germany with new tunes and lyrics.
There are shark’s teeth, cement bags, a stabbing and repeated references to flashing cut-throat Macheath, better known in modern times as Mack, the man with the knife. We were more interested in the curious litany of ladies in the sixth verse:
“Suky Tawdry, Jenny Diver
Lotte Lenya, sweet Lucy Brown
Yes, the line forms on the right, dears
Now that Mackheath’s back in town!”
What caught our attention was the way justice was served in the days when professional criminals were arrested, tried and hung for a variety of offenses that now result only in a trip to the police station and speedy release.
The story, or at least part of it, goes back to Jenny Diver in 1700. She was a notorious Irish thief, and was famous in her career after relocating to England. She was the illegitimate daughter of a lady’s maid named Harriet Jones who abandoned her to a series of foster homes where she learned a variety of skills, not all of them legal. On the legitimate side was work as a skilled. seamstress. Eventually, she emigrated to London where she became apprenticed to the leader of a gang of pickpockets. She soon became so skilled as a thief that she became the leader of Murphy’s gang and nicknamed was nicknamed ‘Jenny Diver.’
Jenny was described as attractive, educated and well dressed in clothing she could make herself. She was able to mix among wealthy people without attracting suspicion. One of the facets of her legacy was her technique. She would feign a public illness on the street and rob people unseen while handing over the stolen objects to her accomplices. Her most spectacular ruse was the use of false arms, which enabled her to steal while her hands were seemingly visible in her lap.
She was arrested a couple times- in 1733 and ’38- but used a false name to demonstrate no criminal record. Her punishment was deportation, but she managed to bribe her way into passage back to England. On 10 January 1741, she was arrested for a third time while trying to steal the purse from the pocket of a woman. At trial, she defended both herself and an acccomplice against a charge of theft and unlawful return from overseas. Both were sentenced to death. Due to her notoriety as a famous criminal, she was taken to her execution in a mourning carriage. The day after the one dedicated to Saint Patrick she was executed with 19 other condemned. She dressed appropriately in a black gown, hat and veil, and reportedly met eternity with composure.
That is what caught us up sort. An attempted non-violent theft foiled in progress. Verdict? “Death.”
That was softened in Bobby Darin’s version for the more tender sensibilities of the decade that followed the ost violent conflict in human history. But the frame on which the song was constructed included the nicknames, the prostitutes and the line that forms on the right, Babe.
Her story had intrigue and romance, and became a component of a stage show known as “The Beggars Opera” before being adopted as a subject by German composers Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht in their 1928 production “The Threepenny Opera.” The tune “Mack the Knife” came back to English and life as a pop tune in the mid 1950’s with Louis Armstrong. Financial Times says that “Bobby Darin took the song by the scruff of the neck” and turned it into the swing classic widely known today.
We will keep an eye out for Jenny, just in case her spirit is still roaming about. But living in these times and reading and hearing about how they used to do things is startling, isn’t it?
Copyright 2024 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com