page_title: Monkey hanger
section_title: In popular culture
hierarchical_section_title: Monkey hanger / In popular culture
caption_attribution_description: English: "monkey" Hartlepool Marina.
context_page_description: "Monkey hanger" is a colloquial nickname by which people from the town of Hartlepool in north eastern England are sometimes known.
context_section_description: The local football club, Hartlepool United F.C., capitalised on their "Monkey Hangers" nickname by creating a mascot called "H'Angus the Monkey" in 1999. Two of the town's six rugby clubs use variations of the hanging monkey, Hartlepool Rovers crest being a beret wearing monkey hanging from a gibbet, while Hartlepool RFC neckties sport a rugby ball kicking monkey suspended from a rope. One wearer of the monkey suit, Stuart Drummond, unexpectedly became the first directly elected mayor of Hartlepool in 2002 while in the guise of H'Angus, but was forbidden from wearing the costume while in office. A statue of the monkey has been erected on the Headland; another at Hartlepool Marina (formerly in West Hartlepool) also serves to collect coins for a local hospice. Although some Hartlepool residents find the term "monkey hanger" insulting, a large number of residents have embraced the term and celebrate it as an important and unique characteristic of the town; as seen in the 2014 documentary Heart of the Pools.
  The French comic book Le Singe de Hartlepool by Wilfrid Lupano and Jérémie Moreau published in 2012 tells this story.
  The Electric Six song "Unnatural Beauty" from their 2013 album Mustang makes reference to the term Monkey Hanger and its association with Hartlepool with the lyrics:
  Monkey hangers are kids to me
  
  But even monkey hangers have a place to be
  
  A little town on the seaside
  In 2008, a novel based on the legend called The Hartlepool Monkey, written by Sean Longley, was published. The novel tells the story of the monkey, named Jacques LeSinge by the French doctor who discovers him, that was supposedly hanged. In the book, the monkey talks and possesses several other human characteristics.
  The Hartlepool Monkey also featured prominently in the play Bestiary, written by Jim Burke and broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2003.
  In 2014, a documentary was made  about the Hartlepool Monkey and its long-lasting significance to the city and its inhabitants called Heart of The Pools.
  A radio play by Ian Martin, The Hartlepool Spy, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Christmas Day 2018, with a cast including Michael Palin, Vic Reeves, Toby Jones, Gina McKee and Monica Dolan. The Hartlepool monkey is mentioned in Jonathan Coe's novel Middle England (published by Penguin Random House, 2018).
  The Northumbrian singer/songwriter Jez Lowe has a satirical song "The Simian Son" (originally known as "The Monkey's Revenge") that was performed first in 2012.  In it, the grandson of the ill-fated monkey reveals the simian curse under which Hartlepool has been living since the hanging.
caption: Another monkey statue at Hartlepool Marina collects coins for charity.
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