These articles provide comment and analysis on topics of interest to labour historians. They are typically signed.
Our series on labour history and song continues with a Ewan MacColl classic on access to the land that still resonates today, as Hazel Perry remarks The Manchester RamblerEwan MacColl (Ewan McColl, 1932) I can’t remember the first time I heard The Manchester Rambler however, I did hear it many times when attending the ninetieth anniversary celebrations of the Kinder Scout Mass Trespass in Hayfield … Continue reading In tune: The Manchester Rambler
Jim Connell is best known as the writer of The Red Flag, but his poem The Old Poacher’s Song, set to music and performed by Francis Devine, harks back to the rural Irish radicalism of his youth, says Mike Mecham. The Old Poacher’s Song Francis Devine (Jim Connell, 1900) Irish socialist Jim Connell (1852-1929) is best known as the writer of The Red Flag, an … Continue reading In tune: The Old Poacher’s Song
The Redskins were some way to the left of their Red Wedge contemporaries in the mid 1980s, writes Keith Flett. But even now they are a firm pub favourite. Keep on Keepin OnThe Redskins (Martin Hewes, Chris Dean, Nick King 1986) The Redskins were a short lived rock to soul band in the mid-1980s. They were often to be found playing benefit gigs with the … Continue reading In tune: Keep on Keepin On
Continuing our series of songs in labour history, Keith Laybourn discusses a protest ballad performed throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first by some of the biggest names in American music. ‘I Dreamed, I Saw Joe Hill Last Night’ is often known as ‘The Ballad of Joe Hill’. I first came across this ballad in the 1960s through a combination of events. From the … Continue reading In tune: The Ballad of Joe Hill
Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs provides a lesson in the origins of capitalism, writes Quentin Outram. Heigh-Ho*Dwarfs Chorus (Larry Morey and Frank Churchill, 1937) ‘Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it’s home from work we go’ sing the seven dwarfs as they walk over a fallen log on their way home, tired but cheerful. But there is something odd; in fact several things are a bit … Continue reading In tune: Heigh-Ho
There could hardly be a series on songs in labour history without reference to the Strawbs. But, asks Mark Crail, was this a celebration or a condemnation of trade unions? Part of the Union The Strawbs (Richard Hudson and John Ford, 1973) There is nothing subtle about Part of the Union. From it’s opening ‘Now I’m a union man / Amazed at what I am’ … Continue reading In tune: Part of the Union
A song commemorating the Luddite attack on Foster’s Mill survives only in fragments but helps provide an insight into community solidarity in this early period of labour history, writes Joe Stanley. Foster’s MillBill Price (traditional) Most labour historians will be familiar with West Riding Luddism in 1812. E.P. Thompson paid particular attention to the movement, and stressed its political undertones, in chapter 14 of The … Continue reading In tune: Foster’s Mill
In the third of our continuing series on labour history in song, Constance Bantman shares Massilia Sound System’s take on deindustrialization and gentrification in Marseille. Des MétallosMassilia Sound System (Massilia Sound System, 1995) Trust the famously political Marseillais reggae band Massilia Sound System to write a song dissecting the deindustrialization and gentrification of France’s second largest city and make a joyful banger out of it. … Continue reading In tune: Des Métallos
In the second of our ‘In tune’ series on music and labour history, ballad singer Jennifer Reid introduces a song about a travelling loom engineer – and a young woman in need of his services – that is guaranteed to make you smile. The Bury New LoomJennifer Reid (traditional) I once sang The Bury New Loom for an event at Manchester International Festival in collaboration … Continue reading In tune: The Bury New Loom
Opening a website series on songs associated with labour history, John McIlroy looks at ‘The Working Class in Twentieth-Century Song: A Fan’s Notes[1]’ arguing that researching the genealogy of songs, finding new ones, rediscovering old ones, exploring the cultural ambience in which they were created and performed is part of the folklorist’s mission and the historian’s brief. Find out more about this series. IntroductionThe Great … Continue reading The Working Class in Twentieth-Century Song: A Fan’s Notes
Society for the Study of Labour History 