11th September 1812: Song by Charles Milnes "You Heroes of England", Halifax

Charles Milnes, "You Heroes of England", Halifax

You Heroes of England who wish to have a trade

Be true to each other and be not afraid

Tho' the Bayonet is fixed they can do no good

As long as we keep up the Rules of General Ludd

As we have begun we are like to proceed

Till from all those Tvrants we do get freed

For this heavy yoke no longer can we bear

And those who have not felt it ought to have a share.

And then they can feel for anothers woe

For he that never knew sorrow, sorrow doth not know

But there is Cartwright and Atkinson also

And to shew them justice sorrow they shall know.

Though he does boast of the deeds he has done

Yet out of our presence like a Thief he Does run

It is the Laws of England to stand in our defence

If he comes in our presence him we’ll recompence.

On Friday 11th September 1812, a West Riding Special Constable, Joseph Taylor, was working undercover as a spy in Halifax, and was handed the lyrics to a song written by a man called Charles Milnes. Taylor was trying to gain the confidence of Milnes and another man, William Blakeborough, who he knew had stolen lead around the town, for use in casting bullets.

Late Spring or Summer 1812: Song entitled "Hunting a Loaf", Derbyshire

HUNTING A 

LOAF.

GOOD people I pray give ear unto what I say,
And pray do not call it sedition,
For these great men of late they have crack’d my pate,
I’m wounded in a woeful condition.

Fal lal de ral, &c.

For Derby it's true, and Nottingham too,
Poor men to the jail they've been taking,
They say that Ned Ludd as I understood,
A thousand wide frames has been breaking.

Fal lal, &c.

Now is it not bad there’s no work to be had,
The poor to be starv’d in their station;
And if they do steal they’re strait sent to the jail,
And they're hang’d by the laws of the nation.

Fal lal, &c.

Since this time last year I’ve been very queer,
And I’ve had a sad national cross;
I’ve been up and down, from town unto town,
With a shilling to buy a big loaf.

Fal lal, &c.

The first that I met was Sir Francis Burdett,
He told me he’d been in the Tower;
I told him my mind a big loaf was to find,
He said you must ask them in power.

Fal lal, &c.

Then I thought it was time to speak to the prime
Master Perceval would take my part,
But a Liverpool man soon ended the plan,
With a pistol he shot through his heart.

Fal lal, &c.

Then I thought he’d a chance on a rope for to dance,
Some people would think very pretty;
But he lost all his fun thro’ the country he'd run,
And he found it in fair London city.

Fal lal, &c.

Now ending my journey I’ll sit down with my friends,
And I’ll drink a good health to the poor;
With a glass of good ale I have told you my tale,
And I’ll look for a big loaf no more.

Fal lal, &tc.

[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':

February 1812: Song "The Cropper's Song", Huddersfield area

The Cropper’s Song

Come, cropper lads of high renown,
Who love to drink good ale that’s brown,
And strike each haughty tyrant down,
With hatchet, pike, and gun!
Oh, the cropper lads for me,
The gallant lads for me,
Who with lusty stroke,
The shear frames broke,
The cropper lads for me!

What though the specials still advance,
And soldiers nightly round us prance;
The cropper lads still lead the dance,
With hatchet, pike, and gun!
Oh, the cropper lads for me,
The gallant lads for me,
Who with lusty stroke
The shear frames broke,
The cropper lads for me!

And night by night when all is still
And the moon is hid behind the hill,
We forward march to do our will
With hatchet, pike, and gun!
Oh, the cropper lads for me,
The gallant lads for me,
Who with lusty stroke
The shear frames broke,
The cropper lads for me!

Great Enoch still shall lead the van.
Stop him who dare! stop him who can!
Press forward every gallant man
With hatchet, pike, and gun!
Oh, the cropper lads for me,
The gallant lads for me,
Who with lusty stroke
The shear frames broke,
The cropper lads for me!

According to the Folklorist & Journalist Frank Peel, this song was written by the Luddite John Walker, who first sung it at a meeting of the Liversedge and Huddersfield Croppers at the Shears Inn in Liversedge some time in February 1812, just prior to the commencement of direct action in the area.

There are many versions of the Cropper Lads available on the internet. Here are a selection of the best:

Simon Vaughan for Trad2Mad 2010:



Ruth Price & Sadie Greenwood (daughters of Bill Price, see below) at Whitby Folk Week 2008:



A barnstorming version by Mawkin Causley at Kirkby Fleetham Big Birthday Bash 2009



Blackstone Edge's version in Dewsbury from last year:



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

27th January 1812: Song 'General Ludd's Triumph', Nottinghamshire

General Ludd’s Triumph

Tune “Poor Jack”

Chant no more your old rhymes about bold Robin Hood,
His feats I but little admire
I will sing the Achievements of General Ludd
Now the Hero of Nottinghamshire
Brave Ludd was to measures of violence unused
Till his sufferings became so severe
That at last to defend his own Interest he rous’d
And for the great work did prepare


Now by force unsubdued, and by threats undismay’d
Death itself can’t his ardour repress
The presence of Armies can’t make him afraid
Nor impede his career of success
Whilst the news of his conquests is spread far and near
How his Enemies take the alarm
His courage, his fortitude, strikes them with fear
For they dread his Omnipotent Arm!


The guilty may fear, but no vengeance he aims
At the honest man’s life or Estate
His wrath is entirely confined to wide frames
And to those that old prices abate
These Engines of mischief were sentenced to die
By unanimous vote of the Trade
And Ludd who can all opposition defy
Was the grand Executioner made


And when in the work of destruction employed
He himself to no method confines
By fire, and by water he gets them destroyed
For the Elements aid his designs
Whether guarded by Soldiers along the Highway
Or closely secured in the room
He shivers them up both by night and by day
And nothing can soften their doom


He may censure great Ludd’s disrespect for the Laws
Who ne'er for a moment reflects
That foul Imposition alone was the cause
Which produced these unhappy effects
Let the haughty no longer the humble oppress
Then shall Ludd sheath his conquering Sword
His grievances instantly meet with redress
Then peace will be quickly restored


Let the wise and the great lend their aid and advice
Nor e’er their assistance withdraw
Till full fashioned work at the old fashion’d price
Is established by Custom and Law
Then the Trade when this ardorus contest is o’er
Shall raise in full splendor it’s head
And colting, and cutting, and squaring no more
Shall deprive honest workmen of bread.

The ballad 'General Ludd's Triumph' is a good illustration of the rhetoric and concerns of Nottinghamshire Luddism, and makes for an interesting contrast with other 'Luddite song', principally the songs of West Yorkshire Luddism which will be featured in due course. It is not clear exactly when the song was written, but a transcription of the lyrics appears in the Home Office papers at HO 42/119, dated 27th January 1812, so it was clearly composed prior to that date. The Burnley band Chumbawamba are well known for their version of this song, and it can be heard here.

1810s: Song “The Hand-loom Weavers’ Lament.” Lancashire

Kevin Binfield includes this song in his excellent book 'Writings of the Luddites'. He uses it as an example of folk song which illustrated the distress suffered by the weavers in the period of Lancashire Luddism. The wages of a Lancashire Weaver had declined from 25 Shillings in 1800 to 14 Shillings in 1811. Binfield dates the song roughly the 1810 decade, sometime after 1807 and the American Embargo Act and the collapse in trade with South America and changing to include the exile and death of Napoleon Bonaparte. Binfield also points out that the references to 'old prices' may have meant the song was influential to another well-known song which was yet-to-emerge. The song is sung to the tune of 'A Hunting We Will Go'.

The Hand-loom Weavers’ Lament

You gentlemen and tradesmen, that ride about at will,
Look down on these poor people, it s enough to make you crill;
Look down on these poor people, as you ride up and down,
I think there is a God above will bring your pride quite down.

Chorus
You tyrants of England, your race may soon be run,
You may be brought unto account for what you’ve sorely done

You pull down our wages, shamefully to tell;
You go into the markets, and say you cannot sell;
And when that we do ask you when these bad times will mend
You quickly give an answer, "When the wars are at an end."

When we look on our poor children, it grieves our hearts full sore,
Their clothing it is worn to rags, while we can get no more,
With little in their bellies, they to work must go,
Whilst yours do dress as manky as monkeys in a show.

You go to church on Sundays, I'm sure it's nought but pride,
There can be no religion where humanity's thrown aside,
If there be a place in heaven, as there is in the Exchange,
Our poor souls must not come near there, like lost sheep they must range.

With the choicest of strong dainties your tables overspread,
With good ale and strong brandy, to make your faces red;
You call d a set of visitors—it is your whole delight—
And you lay your heads together to make our faces white.

You say that Bonyparty he's been the spoil of all,
And that we have got reason to pray for his downfall;
Now Bonyparty’s dead and gone, and it is plainly shown
That we have bigger tyrants in Boneys of our own.

And now, my lads, for to conclude, it’s time to make an end;
Let s see if we can form a plan that these bad times may mend;
Then give us our old prices, as we have had before,
And we can live in happiness, and rub off the old score.

'The Luddite Lament' - BBC Radio 4, Thursday 19th May, 11.30 a.m.

This coming Thursday (19th May) on BBC Radio 4, folk singer John Tams will be exploring the story of the Luddites through their songs. The 30-minute programme will be broadcast at 11.30 a.m., and it will remain available afterwards (until 2099!) via this page.

We plan to review this programme in due course.