A Brief History of Whiskey in the Jar

Whiskey in the Jar was not first sung by and very much not written by Metallica. It has a very long history going back to the 1700s where it was written as part of an opera called the beggar's Opera by John Gray.

It is based on a folk story about a man named Patrick Fleming, who was executed in 1650. There was a dark ballad written in Patrick's name at the time that is said to have inspired John Gray.

There was an earlier version that was said to have been heard by Gray, and he only rewrote it for his opera, “Beggar's Opera.”

The song moved to America in the colonial period and became a favorite in the pubs as an irreverent send-up toward the British Authority.

A more modern form showed up in the 1850s called the sporting hero, or Whiskey in the Jar. The song spread back to Ireland at this time and was popularized by folk singers at the time.

The song was written down by a collector of folk songs named Coln ó Lochlainn. He heard his mother singing the song.

The dong first became widely known in the 1960s after being recorded by The Dubliners and getting radio play. The band was also touring a lot at the time.

It was also recorded in 1962 by The Highwaymen. And by Thin Lizzy in 1973. Re-record by The Dubliners in the early 1990s.

The song became a worldwide hit in 1998 when recorded by Metallica, for which they won a Grammy in 2000. The video for the song became very popular and played on music video shows and stations for years.

Note: the earliest recorded versions were in the 1950s by several different artists, but rewritten by The Dubliners in the most modern form.

Side note: Landlords in the 1700s were rather hated by most people, and those that robbed them were seen as folk heroes.