[After] 9th April 1812: Song titled “Forster’s Mill," Huddersfield vicinity

Come all ye croppers stout and bold,
Let your faith grow stronger still,
Oh, the cropper lads in the county of York
Broke the shears at Forster’s mill.
The wind it blew,
The sparks they flew,
Which alarmed the town full soon
And out of bed poor people did creep
And ran by the light of the moon;
Around and around they all did stand,
And solemnly did swear,
Neither bucket, nor kit nor any such thing
Should be of assistance there.

The lyrics to this song commemorate the Luddite attack on Joseph Foster's Mill at Horbury on 9th April 1812, and are recorded in  Peel (1968, p.120) with a slightly different title viz 'Forster's Mill'. In contemporary versions of the song, the lyrics differ slightly.


There are a couple of versions of 'Foster's Mill' on the internet:


Swan Arcade's superb version from their 1976 album 'Matchless':



Bill Price's version from his 1972 LP 'The Fine Old Yorkshire Gentleman':