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Charles Wells & Josephine Grimbley (1999) This
song tells the story of Charles Wells who, in 1876, gave up a promising sea
career to marry his sweetheart, Josephine Grimbley,
whose father insisted that his daughter would not marry a man who would be
away at sea for most of their married life. When he returned to Song Printed in
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John Bunyan (2002) Perhaps
Bedfordshire’s greatest son, John Bunyan was born in 1628 and lived at Elstow. After a mis-spent youth
he became a Christian preacher and for his faith, he spent 12 years in Song Printed in
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Bedford
/ Elstow |
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The B&MK (2008) The
B&MK is a salute to the proposed See
their website at http://www.b-mkwaterway.co.uk/
where the words of this song are reproduced on their ‘Supporters’ page
together with a link to the sound file. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 42 |
†† |
Bedford
/ Aspley Guise / Ridgmont
/ Kempston / Lidlington / Marston
Moretaine / Wootton / Brogborough |
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Man of Clay (2004) B.J. Harfield Forder from Hampshire
together with George & Arthur Keeble and Halley
Stewart, all from Peterborough, founded the first Fletton
brickworks in Bedfordshire in 1897 at Wootton Pillinge and Elstow. George and
Arthur Keeble had already been involved in Fletton brickmaking in |
†† |
Elstow / Stewartby |
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A Working Boatie Man (1986) The Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 38 |
*† |
Leighton
Buzzard |
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Old Granny Smoke-a-Pipe (1986) Granny
Smoke-a-Pipe was a Leighton Buzzard character who reputedly lived to the age
of 103, dying in 1930. She was well known in the town, going from door to
door, selling her needles, pins, haberdashery and tuppenny
packets of snuff – the largest size which could be sold without incurring
tax! She always looked rather unkempt, invariably wore black high-button
boots and was usually seen smoking her clay pipe. She had six in all and when
one became blocked she would bury it in the garden and retrieve the one which
had been there the longest. The action of the soil on the pipe cleaned it
out. |
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Sand (2009) Sand has
been quarried around Leighton Buzzard for many years. The ‘dobbers’ were the men who worked in the sand, shovelling
day after day to excavate it from enormous holes in the earth to be used in
processes like building, glass-making and filtering. At the end of the day,
the dobbers might try to clean themselves up by
removing as much sand as they could from their clothing before walking home
but inevitably, the sand got in everywhere: ears, mouths, hair, pockets and
shoes. Their wives would always have a major job to shake out excess sand
from clothes that were about to be washed. This song is part of a commission
for the Greensand Trust’s Sands Of Time
oral history project. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 59 |
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Dobbing (2010) Dobbers are workers in the sand pits around
Leighton Buzzard. The song outlines the many types of sand to be found
locally and names some of the pits where it has been dug over the years. It
also describes the typical dobber’s ‘uniform’ and
highlights the poor pay that they received for shovelling many tons of sand
by hand. This song is part of a commission for the Greensand Trust’s Sands Of Time
oral history project. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 48 |
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Katherine’s Cross (2001) In the
18th century a cross was erected in Song Printed in
The Fuddler Issue 28 Song Printed in
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Ampthill |
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Queen Catherine (1999) The
marriage of Catherine of |
* |
Ampthill
/ Dunstable |
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Dunstable Downs Midsummer’s Day
Song (2001) In Song Printed in
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* |
Dunstable |
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Dun The Robber (1988) It is
claimed that Dun was the man who gave his name to the town of |
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The Robber, Dun (2003) This
song is the second version of the story of Dun, the man who is claimed to
have given Dunstable its name. The beginning of the story is essentially the
same as that in the song mentioned above but King Henry I’s involvement comes
in the form of an attempt to test the man’s honesty by attaching his gold
ring to a pile (pole) using an iron staple (Dun… staple… got there yet?) and
leaving it for anyone to dare to steal. Dun takes the bait but is tracked
down to his mother’s house in what is now Houghton Regis. The pile and staple
feature on Dunstable’s coat of arms. My thanks to |
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Eleanor Cross (2002) Queen
Eleanor of Castille, wife of Edward I, died in Harby near Lincoln on November 28th, 1290 and the
distraught King had her body transported back to Westminster where she was
buried. A procession of coaches draped in black and pulled by horses in black
harness made its way south during the cold, wet days of the winter. The
journey took 13 days and wherever the coffin stopped overnight, Edward
ordered that a cross was to be erected – Lincoln, Grantham, Stamford, Geddington, Hardingstone, Stony
Stratford, Woburn, Dunstable, St. Albans, Waltham Cross and, in London, at Westcheap and Charing. Some crosses still survive, (Hardingtone, near Northampton – beside the present day
A43, Waltham Cross & Geddington, Northants) but
others have disappeared over the years. The one in Dunstable, for example,
was unfortunately destroyed by Cromwell’s troops in 1643. The original
Charing Cross was destroyed by the Puritans in 1647 as was that at Westcheap (now called Cheapside). This song is
appropriately modal and dirge-like. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 32 |
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The Markyate
Highwayman (1981) Lady
Katherine Ferrers (or de Ferrers), locked in an unhappy
marriage, took to robbing on the highway in Hertfordshire, South Bedfordshire
and Buckinghamshire. Her story was made into two films both entitled ‘The
Wicked Lady’. The Highwayman Hotel at the southern end of Dunstable is named
after this local character. Ferrars Junior School
in Lewsey Road, Luton, is also named in her memory
as her family owned the land in this area. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 28 |
** |
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The Village Lock-Up (2008) Harrold & Clophill both have village lock-ups
on the green (Silsoe’s is tucked away on a
side-road towards Flitton and |
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Harrold / Clophill
/ Silsoe |
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The Ghost of Lady de Grey
(1999) Lady
Elizabeth de Grey was the daughter of the owner of Wrest House, a country
mansion in Silsoe. Her father took a dim view of
his daughter’s elopement with a humble coachman from The George Inn. In a
hasty escape she fell from a carriage and drowned in a lake. Her ghost
returned to The George where her happiest times had been. There are still stories
of ghostly appearances at the hotel which still stands in the village. This
song is also sung by Carolyn
Robson and is recorded on her CD Dawn Chorus, Reiver Records RVRCD03. You can hear the song at her website. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 39 |
* |
Silsoe |
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Easter Song (1984) On
Easter Eve, the Saturday following Good Friday, it is said that in Houghton
Regis, small stone sepulchres were built in the churchyards and men were paid
to watch over them by night. At dusk, boys would go around the parishes with
black flags and torches singing, ‘We fasted in the light for this is the
night’. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 12 |
** |
Houghton
Regis |
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The Statty
Fair (1992) The
statute fair in Luton was the inspiration for this song. The fair was held
around harvest time on Market Hill, where the French Market is sited today
when it visits the town. At the fair, men were hired for work on the land and
girls were hired to go into service. In later days the original significance
of the fair died out and the event was taken over by the funfairs we still
see today. Eventually the full connection with the original fairs was
completely lost when the date was changed to spring. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 23 |
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Luton |
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Straw Plait (1982) Straw
plait is the main constituent of straw hats for which Luton is famous. In the
18th century the finest quality plait in the world came from Leghorn in the
Italian province of Tuscany. During the French wars the supplies of this
plait were cut off and the local plaiters upgraded
from making wholestraw plait to producing
split-straw plait which copied the Leghorn styles and Luton became the centre
of the world’s straw plait industry. In the 19th century plait dealers began
to import cheap Chinese plait and to compete, local plaiters
had to take a cut in wages from 6s 3d to 1s 10½d. The song is from a plaiter’s point of view at this time. A ‘score’ is 20
yards of plait. This song was played on Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 16 |
** |
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Tell Old Charlie Irons (1982) Charles
Irons was Luton’s Town crier at the beginning of the 20th century and he held
the post until his death in 1940. He was also the town’s official bill poster
and keeper of the pound. The phrase ‘Tell Charlie Irons’ was used in the town
to indicate that someone was broadcasting information which was better kept
secret. Major Payne, who appears briefly in the song, was not a major at all
but invariably appeared around the town in military uniform and offered
passers-by a prune from a paper bag which he carried with him! Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 8 |
** |
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Blocker’s In the
early 20th century it became more common for people to have a day out by the
sea each year. Blockers, who worked in the local hat industry, could not
afford this and instead they took a day out at Leagrave
Marsh, the source of the River Lea, a few miles out of Luton at the time.
This excursion earned the place the name of ‘Blocker’s Seaside’. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 7 |
** |
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Let’s Go To The Grand (1984) The
Grand Theatre was opened in Luton’s Waller Street in 1898 by Lily Langtry and
spent its early days presenting music hall and variety theatre acts to the
townspeople. There were also early showings of silent films. It finally
closed its doors in 1957 after a period of rather less wholesome
entertainment and the building was converted into a supermarket before being
demolished to make way for the Arndale Shopping
Centre. A regular performer at The Grand around 1915 was a gentleman who
travelled the country with an 8-ton cathedral organ and he was billed as Max Erard and
His Big Organ. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 11 |
** |
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The Scots Of The Davis Gas
Stove Company (1983) This
song tells the story of racial discrimination in the early 20th century. The
Davis Gas Stove Company moved from Falkirk to Luton in 1907 bringing most of
their workforce with them. They moved into an area off Dallow
Road which came to be known as the ‘Scotch Colony’ and gossip was rife about
all the strange things that were supposed to go on there. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issues 9 and 36 |
** |
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Rough Music (1999) Rough
Music – or charivari – is a cacophonous and not usually rhythmic noise played
on old dustbins, tin cans, oil drums etc. and is used to accompany a number
of events around the world. It is said to ward off evil spirits and is often
used at weddings in some cultures. In Luton at the beginning of the 20th
century it was used to drive out unsavoury characters whom, it was felt,
brought shame on the neighbourhood by their unwholesome way of making a
living! |
* |
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Have You Got A Shilling For The
Gas? (2007) This is
a song about living on a Luton estate in the 1960s and the things that
happened there. The title relates to a common practice amongst householders
of sending their urchins from door to door with two grubby sixpences
(remember them?) and asking for a shilling in exchange to feed their
coin-slot gas meter! Many people seemed incapable of planning ahead and
saving them when they got them in the change from their shopping. The song
refers to ‘The Dump’ which was a bit of wasteland set aside for many years
for a road development, finally built in the late 1970s. The ground was used
to dispose of unwanted items and was probably infested with rats but this
didn’t stop it being a very popular place for the local children to play! A
bit of an oddity, this song owes more to the influence of the likes of George
Formby than to the tradition! Turned out nice again… |
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Brickmaking (1983) Small
Bedfordshire brickworks used to make bricks for the locality using the top
layers of brown Oxford clay or ‘callow’. In the late 19th century vast
deposits of consistent quality clay were found 40 feet below ground firstly
at Peterborough and then in Mid-Bedfordshire. The brickworks which emerged
meant the death knell for all the small works. The larger companies
eventually combined to form The London Brick Company, the largest anywhere in
the world. This song highlights the brickworkers’
plight at the time when the small works were closing. ‘Greys’ are plum
coloured bricks used extensively in South Bedfordshire during the Victorian
period. Something of a ‘greatest hit’, this song was used in a Berkshire
Education history package; by Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 14 |
** †† |
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Fuller’s Earth (1999) Fuller’s
Earth was used for ‘fulling’, a process in the
woollen industry. It is also used for a binding agent in casting sand for
foundry use and in the cosmetics industry. Jealously guarded fuller’s earth
mines were dug 50 feet down through sand as a way to beat poverty in Aspley Guise in the 19th century. Secret locations and
unsafe ground meant that rescue was almost impossible after roof cave-ins,
leaving skeletons to be found during open-cast mining in the 20th century. |
* |
Aspley Guise |
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More Time, Gentlemen, Please
(2006) This
song came about from a snippet in the 2003 CamRA Bedfordshire
Beer Guide, Beer in Beds. According
to the guide, The Weathercock at Aspley
Guise/Woburn Sands used to have the Beds/Bucks county boundary running right
through the middle of it, giving its two bars different licensing hours! I
don’t know if the story is true but it makes an excellent one to use for a
song! Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issues 47 & 54 |
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The Kempston
Poachers (2000) Once of
a respectable family, the Lilley brothers, like so many others at the time, were
victims of the recession in farming in the 1820s. Starvation forced them into
poaching to keep their families alive but they were caught in Bromham Wood. The gamekeeper gave evidence in court that
they had tried to murder him although there was little to substantiate his
claims. The brothers were hanged at Bedford Gaol but even commentators at the
time felt that justice had been rather severe. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 30 |
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Kempston |
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Flitwick
Chalybeate Water (1998) Henry
Stevens, one time bird stuffer, came to Flitwick in
the 1880s and set about bottling and selling the water which sprang to the
surface on Flitwick Moor (now an area of special scientific
interest). Claiming it to have health-giving properties, he finally got his
product mentioned in The Lancet in 1900, extolling its efficacy. He died
shortly afterwards and the company was taken over by R Whites (of lemonade
fame) who ran the works until 1938 when it finally closed. This song is a
Music Hall style lampoon of the product. Song Printed in
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Flitwick |
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The Life & Times Of Henry Claydon, Highwayman (1999) Henry Claydon used The Swan Inn at Flitwick
(now a private house) as a hideout in the 17th century and robbed on the
Watling Street together with his compatriots, William King and Cornelius Fullham. Whilst Fullham was
held in Newgate Prison he gave the names of his
colleagues and they were hanged in London. What happened to Fullham is unknown. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 5 |
* |
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Jump With The Devil (2001) Local
legend says that whilst villagers did not observe the Sabbath, the Devil tried
to steal the church tower but dropped it in the churchyard a short distance
from the church where it still stands today. Another story tells of the Devil
seeing a man playing leapfrog in a field on the Sabbath. Seizing his chance,
the Devil jumped upon his back and dragged him off through the opening ground
to Hell. A stone called ‘The Devil’s Toenail’ marks the spot of ‘The Devil’s
Jumps’. Both stories are combined in this song. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 33 |
†† |
Marston
Moretaine |
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Marston Vale (2001) In 2001,
The Marston Vale Community Forest celebrated its 10th anniversary and this
song was written to commemorate the event. It celebrates the vision and
execution of a project which is restoring an industrially scarred landscape
to an area of natural beauty for the enjoyment of the local and wider
community and as a habitat for wild flora and fauna. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 22 |
†† |
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Bedfordshire Ale (1983) A song
celebrating some of the old names of Bedfordshire brewing and some of the
pubs that have disappeared from the county in the last couple of centuries. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 10 |
** |
Bedford
/ Luton / Dunstable / Biggleswade |
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The Ivel
Navigation (2000) The
River Ivel was ‘canalised’ between Tempsford & Biggleswade in the early 19th century during a period of
‘canal mania’. The new waterway brought coal and timber from coastal ports.
An extension was built to Shefford just in time to
meet competition with the railways, ensuring a short working life. The
proposed Hitchin extension was never built. The song satirises the canal
obsession of the time. This song features in Life & Times’ canal show Where The Working Boats Went. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 13 |
† |
Biggleswade / Tempsford
/ |
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To The Memory Of An Unknown
Female (1992) In 1821 an
unidentified young girl was found murdered in Blackgrove
Wood, near Tilsworth. No-one was brought to justice
although several people thought they knew who had committed the crime. By
public subscription she was buried in the churchyard and her gravestone still
bears the inscription which forms the words of this song. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 45 |
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Tilsworth |
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Tilsworth May Song (1989) –
words anon. In Luton
Museum there are the words to a number of May songs collected from around the
county. Most are little more than a few lines and none have tunes printed
with them. This traditional celebration of May Day had enough verses to allow
it to be turned back into a song. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 20 |
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The Far Wastes of This is
the story of James & Francis Hulatt, Robert
& George Costin, Benjamin Parsons and Dickens Prigmore, all of the Felmersham/Pavenham area. Convicted of sheep stealing, Robert Costin & James Hulatt were
transported to Van Diemen’s Land in April 1825. Some months later Prigmore turned King’s Evidence and Francis Hulatt, Benjamin Parsons and George Costin
were charged with the same sheep stealing offence and transported to Van
Diemen’s Land in August of that year. Prigmore, the
man apparently behind the affair, walked free to rejoin his family. There is
a strange tradition whereby the words of transportation songs are generally
and incongruously fitted to cheery tunes with merry choruses. This song is no
exception. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 21 |
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Felmersham / Pavenham |
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The Witch Of Conger Hill (1994) This
song tells of an old custom in Toddington. It is
said that if you venture up onto Conger Hill on Shrove Tuesday and put your
ear to the ground you will hear an old woman or witch frying her pancakes.
The custom persisted into at least the 1970s when school children were taken
up onto the hill to listen. The practice ceased with the introduction of the
National Curriculum! The tune of this song is used for a dance by The Outside Capering Crew who featured
on the CD Grandson of Morris On. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 19 |
* |
Toddington |
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The Toddington
Tour (1996) A LIVING TRADITION
On an
evening in late July each year local Morris sides meet and dance at each of Toddington’s eight pubs in turn, starting and finishing
at The Sow & Pigs where the evening finishes with music, dancing and
singing in the bar, and this song has become part of the tradition. To join
the revelry see the Redbornstoke Morris website for details of when this
happens (see Links page) Apparently, on a pub crawl of Toddington,
having a pint in each of the pubs was known as ‘The Toddington
Gallon’. Since the closure of The
Nag’s Head, the tour now includes just the seven remaining pubs. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 24 |
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The Toddington
Gallon (2013) A
challenge in the village of Toddington was ‘The Toddington Gallon’, to attempt to visit and drink a pint
in each of the eight pubs before going to the toilet! Whether anyone actually
achieved this, I have no idea. The order of pubs visited was probably chosen
as part of each competitor’s strategy. The route here is the same circular
one as used in The Toddington Tour (see above). The
pubs have been through many changes over the years and the descriptions here
do not reflect one specific point in time. In the late 1990s or early 2000s,
The Nag’s Head closed. In 2011 the Sow & Pigs and The Red Lion closed.
The Bedford Arms served its last pint in early 2012. Does this mean the end
for the challenge? The song stoically suggests otherwise! |
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Plough Monday Song (2000) A LIVING TRADITION
On the
first normal working day for agricultural workers after Christmas, ploughboys
with blackened faces paraded a mock plough around local pubs, singing, begging
for money and accompanied by dancers. An ancient tradition, it was continued
by the ploughboys of Thurleigh, Bedfordshire into
the 20th century. Ampthill, Bedfordshire’s Redbornstoke Morris have revived a
version of this tradition with dancing and a Mummers play which they perform
at The Cross Keys, Pulloxhill, where this song is
usually sung as part of the tradition. To join the revelry see the
Redbornstoke Morris website for details of when this happens (see Links page) Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 15 |
* |
Pulloxhill / Greenfield / Thurleigh |
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The Last Hoffmans
(2009) The
Hoffman kilns worked on a rotative process. Once
alight, they would continue to burn until the kiln ceased production. Although
the song suggests the kilns had burned for 100 years (as some may have done),
the last four surviving Hoffman kilns at Stewartby
were built in the early 1960s. The end of an era came with the closure of the
works in February 2008 after around 130 years’ production, and the pungent
smell of the brick-kilns will no more be experienced in Bedfordshire. In some
ways this is a blessing but in others, it is sad to see this way of life come
to an end. |
†† |
Stewartby |
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The Pits That Scar The Land (2002) There
are a number of issues in this song. In Britain we curse about the pollution
caused by large industries but when the industry dies out we mourn its
passing and often erect a monument in the form of an industrial museum to
commemorate its existence! The brickworks in central Bedfordshire have
largely come and gone and the majority of the air pollution with them. At the
time of writing the song, only seven tall chimneys stood where there was once
a forest of them. Another three were demolished in April 2007, leaving a
final four, of which only three are attached to working kilns. We are also
left with a large number of enormous pits from which the clay was extracted
for 100 years and more. Some of the pits have been used for landfill, often
with waste from London – a fair exchange for the bricks sent there from the
local brickfields? – and others have been largely reclaimed by nature and
turned, by man, into enormous lakes for recreation purposes. Certainly the
view across these areas is now much improved. Another aspect of the passing
of such industries is that over the generations, large communities of
hard-working individuals – many in the brickworks were of Italian descent –
have been built up only to be dispersed, never to return, when the works
closed. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 35 |
†† |
Stewartby / Brogborough |
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Holes and Homes (2002) The
enormous ground workings, factory buildings and kilns of the west mid-Beds.
brickworks rendered that part of the county an eyesore from the end of the
19th century. This music-hall style song is effectively the reverse
perception of ‘If It Wasn’t For The
Houses In Between’. The situation here is witnessed through the eyes of
Bedfordshire people at the time when they saw large parts of their county
being exported! Another possible title for this song was ‘The Holey Ground’. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 27 |
†† |
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Bedfordshire Brickmakers (2007) Centuries
of brickmaking came to an end in February 2008 with the closure of Hanson
Brick’s Stewartby plant. This song celebrates that
with a naming of several of the county’s brickmakers
over the years and the types of clay that they used. Stewartby
will no longer manufacture bricks due to problems conforming with government
emissions targets but is now to become the company’s administration
headquarters. The Fletton brick industry has had an
enormous effect on the county over the years economically and physically.
Prior to the existence of the enormous world-record-sized works in west
Bedfordshire, the companies extracting and making bricks from the gault clay in the east of the county were the largest in
the area. |
†† |
Stewartby / Arlesey
/ Ridgmont / |
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The Riseley
Lads’ Wager (2003) A local story tells of a young man who was proud of his physique. When
a 200lb sack of corn fell from a cart in the village, friends bet Joe Smith
6d that he couldn’t carry it ¼ of a mile up to the mill and deliver it to the
miller himself. Joe took on the bet and carried the sack to the mill. The
miller welcomed him and, expecting Joe to leave the sack for the hoist,
jokingly remarked that he needed it on the top floor of the mill. Joe
obligingly and unflinchingly climbed the 22 steep steps to the topmost floor
and deposited the sack heavily on the floor, shaking the mill’s foundations
in the process. He claimed his 6d and then spent it at a local hostelry,
buying drinks for his friends. The old post mill in the story was demolished
after it was hit by lightning in 1946. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 25 |
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Riseley |
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The Bridge Down The Meadow
(2003) In a field near Gravenhurst is a small bridge that spans the River Hit
(formerly known as the River Clarke and Campton Brook). Beside the bridge
stands an old pollarded ash tree and it was here that
village children used to play up to at least the 1920s and 1930s. In those
days there was less requirement for supervision so as to ensure the
children’s safety and they would often stay there for most of the day in
summer. The bridge holds great sentimental value for the villagers who, on
seeing its slow decay over the years, decided to campaign for the bridge’s
restoration and it was reopened in its restored state in early October 2003.
The bridge is now known as Cow Bridge and this song was commissioned to be
sung on the reopening day at the bridge site. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 26 |
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Gravenhurst |
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Robin Hood of Hexton or The Pegsdon
Siege (2005) In 1811, a group of poachers led
by a desperate man known as The Robin Hood of Hexton,
set out to hunt in woodlands near Pegsdon,
Bedfordshire; a hamlet which sits within a small peninsula that stretches
into Hertfordshire between Barton and Hitchin. When they had completed their
day’s work, they decided to visit the local inn but they were followed by a
group of Bow Street Runners and when they arrived, the men shut themselves
in, refusing to give themselves up. The Bow Street Runners waited patiently
outside until it was clear that the men would stay inside for as long as they
could, whereupon the Runners stacked bales of straw beside the pub’s walls
and set fire to them, allowing smoke to creep into the building. The choking
men knew they had to leave the building and were immediately arrested for
their crime. The landlord appealed for leniency, using the phrase, Live and Let Live. The phrase became associated with the event and the building and
the pub still bears the name to this day. Hexton is
a small village not far from Pegsdon, just over the
Hertfordshire border. Song Printed in
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Pegsdon |
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Lime Burning (2007) Lime Burning has been a common industry around the country. Wherever there
is chalk or limestone, there has probably been lime burning. The south of the
county has a wealth of chalk hidden beneath the soil and it is here, in Totternhoe, that Bedfordshire’s last lime works is still
operating. In former days, before modern health and safety regulations, the
job was done outside in all weathers and the dust from the burnt lime, which
was quicklime, was very caustic. It burnt the skin and if it got into the
eyes it could cause blindness. With added water, the lime became slaked lime
which could be used for building mortar and for spreading on the land but was
prone to catching fire if the quicklime began to slake during transport. The
Enclosure Acts ensured that enormous amounts of lime were required, keeping
the kilns burning constantly. The lime burner’s ‘shed’ in the song is a
rather generous description of the roofed awning that hung over the entrance
to some lime kilns. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 46 |
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Totternhoe |
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Admiral Byng (2007) The song tells the story of Admiral John Byng and his part in the
naval battle to relieve the French blockade of Minorca at the beginning of
the Seven Years’ War in May 1756. His failure to drive away the French, due
to the enemy’s superior firepower and his fleet of antiquated British ships,
resulted in him being used as a scapegoat for the failures of the government
who did not supply him with the ships and equipment he requested. He was
apparently tried by a rigged jury who sentenced him to death and he was
executed by firing squad on the deck of HMS Monarch on March 14th 1757.
According to a Greenwich pensioner in the early 1800s, he bravely met his
fate and is buried in the family vault at Southill
Church. At the time Voltaire wrote in his novel Candide that the execution was an example ‘to encourage the rest’. A group of locals have started a petition to have Byng pardoned
posthumously to mark the 250th anniversary of his death. Apparently an opera,
a play and a ballet are also in the making. A commemorative bottled beer is
produced by Banks & Taylor of Shefford and this
is available exclusively in Southill Post Office.
Byng’s descendants are involved in the current campaign. There are several broadsides on
the subject of Byng’s fate but it appears that the anti-Byng feeling whipped
up at the time means that they generally are not favourable to him. This new
song takes the view that he was poorly treated as many - but unfortunately
not enough - people at the time felt. It, too, marks the 250th anniversary of
his death. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 41 & 50 |
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Southill |
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The Unsuccessful Recruiting
(2001) There are a number of military recruitment songs within the tradition.
In general, as these ‘establishment’ songs were intended as a way of
convincing potential soldiers and sailors that there was a good life ahead
serving the reigning monarch, the recruiting sergeant achieved his goal of
persuading men to enlist for the army or navy. Often the alternative to enlisting was
being press-ganged in any case. In this traditional idiom song the tables are
turned as the recruiting officer tries unsuccessfully to persuade a strong-willed
Wixamtree farmer to enlist. All the reasons given for joining (much the same
as in any other recruiting song) are answered sharply with good reasons
against. |
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Wixamtree
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The Bonelace
Weaver (1984) Lace
weaving was common across Bedfordshire. Some claim it was introduced by Catherine
of Aragon during her stay at Ampthill Castle but there is apparently little
or no real evidence to support this story. The trade was, of course,
susceptible to the fickleness of fashion which, together with machine
manufacture, saw the end of the tradition of home lace making. The term ‘Bonelace’ was coined because the first pins used in
lacemaking were made of animal bone. Ampthill’s
Ladies’ Morris side commemorate this local cottage industry in their name, Bedfordshire Lace. Song Printed in
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The
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The Bedfordshire Clanger (1986) This
local delicacy is similar in concept to the Cornish pasty but goes one stage further.
The pasty gives a complete meal in one package but contains only the first
course! The Bedfordshire Clanger is a suet based pastry with meat at one end
and jam at the other and was the original ‘Ploughman’s Lunch’. Great care
would have to be exercised when meeting the join between the two courses! In
recent years, Gunns bakery of Biggleswade
and Sandy have produced a take-away snack version of the clanger with pork
and apple and this culinary delicacy was celebrated in a television programme
with Rick Stein in 2002.
Towards the end of
2006 it was also reported in a national newspaper supplement that the clanger
is one of our country’s most endangered regional foods. This song features in
a Life & Times school show as an item about regional recipes and
hopefully it will bring it to the attention of the new generation of children
so that their curiosity may be aroused enough to see a revival in its
fortunes. This song is also now used in a short film entitled ‘The
Bedfordshire Clanger’ by Five Feet Films of Dunstable, Beds. See www.thebedfordshireclanger.co.uk |
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Sailor’s Lament (1992) This
song started out as an attempt to try and write a fictional story about Bedfordshire
and the sea! Although some traditional sea songs - with no obvious local
connections - have been collected in Bedfordshire, this is a fairly unlikely
idea, which is exactly why I wanted to write it. Truth, they say, is stranger
than fiction and it turned out that this story was actually very similar to
the true story now retold in the song Charles Wells & Josephine Grimbley but at the time Sailor’s Lament was written I
had not heard the story of Charles Wells. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 6 |
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Christmas 1914 (2006) Whilst
watching a Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 55 |
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We Used To Plait Straw Here As
Well (2007) There
are many industries that have come and gone from Bedfordshire; some large, some
small. Some still hang on by the tiniest of threads. Despite coming right up
to date, this song celebrates many of the things for which county used to be
famous and mourns their passing in a light-hearted style akin to that of the
Music Hall. The industries of old Bedfordshire celebrated include the
brickworks; brewing; aircraft, airship, car, lorry, domestic appliance, lace
and hat manufacturing as well as probably the earliest case of bottling water
for sale. The county was also home to W H Allen who made the engines for the
ill-fated Titanic. Quite why Bedfordshire should be producing ship engines is
difficult to imagine! The refrain should be sung almost as an afterthought
following the verse. Song Printed in
Bedfordshire County Life Magazine Issue 57 |
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Recorded on Charivari (Life & Times) Wixamtree |
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Recorded on Strawplait & Bonelace (Life & Times) Fellside FE043 (1985) |
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Recorded on Where The Working Boats Went (Life
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Recorded on Marston Vale (Life
& Times with the choir of Community Project CD (2009) |
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The Stories Behind
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Abraham Darby (1982) Abraham
Darby arrived in Coalbrookdale in 1708 and founded
the Coalbrookdale Company in 1709 using a rebuilt furnace
which had been left derelict by its previous owner. From the beginning he
used coke as a fuel and revolutionised the iron industry, paving the way for
what we now know as the Industrial Revolution. |
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The Simple Life of a Quaker
(1985) The
Darby family were Quakers, members of the Society of Friends, a strict
religious sect founded by George Fox in the 17th century. At that time
Quakers lived very strict lives based around work, and pleasure was gained
through being industrious and doing something well rather than by spending
time in an ‘unprofitable’ manner. |
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Success to All These Learned
Men (1985) The
ingenuity of the Darby and Reynolds families kept Coalbrookdale
at the centre of world innovation for many years. Abraham Darby II set up new
systems to improve efficiency in his ironworks. William Reynolds was
considered to be one of the most able of the ironmasters of 18th century
Shropshire. |
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Lament For Darby (1985) Abraham Darby
II died in March 1763 and was buried in the Quaker burial ground overlooking Coalbrookdale. A more peaceful spot amidst the hustle and
bustle of the dale would have been difficult to find. |
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Boys of Bedlam (1984) The Madeley Wood furnaces, or Bedlam Furnaces as they were
known, were built right on the banks of the Severn in 1757 by the Madeley Wood Company. Major flooding could have caused a
massive explosion if the water had been allowed to reach the furnaces, The
Great Flood of 1795 being their greatest test. |
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John Wilkinson (1981) – words
anon. John
Wilkinson was one of the most successful of all the ironmasters, owning
ironworks all over the country. He was also one of the most colourful of
characters and it appears that most of his contemporaries did not share the
same view of him that is expressed in this song! |
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A Furnaceman’s
Life (1986) People
were attracted to working in Coalbrookdale by the
comparatively high wages for the time and workers’ housing provided by the Darbys. A grain shortage spawned food riots in 1756 by a
group called ‘The Levellers’ and the Darbys then bought local farms and mills to maintain
local stocks of food. They even bought a public house! John Wilkinson paid
his workers in tokens, exchangeable for goods in his company’s shops. |
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The The Iron
Bridge at Coalbrookdale, the world’s first, was
cast in 1779. The first ribs were put in place on July 2nd of that year and
the bridge was fully opened to traffic in 1781. People came from all over the
country to see it and The Tontine Hotel was built to accommodate visitors.
The partnership building the bridge included the unlikely alliance of Abraham
Darby |
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Colebrook Dale (1981) Coalbrookdale is a strange mixture of industry and
rural landscape. The images in this song are inspired by the painting Coalbrookdale by Night by P. J. de Loutherbourg,
1801. This much-reproduced, dramatic picture of the Bedlam Furnaces was used
for the cover of the LP Shropshire Iron. The original hangs in the |
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The Pride of Englishmen (1985) By the
19th century all the technological advancements achieved in Coalbrookdale had been surpassed by other purpose-built
ironworks around the country. Though no longer the finest works in the
country, the company could look with pride at all the new ironworks which
could not have existed without the ingenuity of the Darby and Reynolds
families. |
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All above (Life & Times) Fellside
FE071 (1989) |
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The Stories Behind
Where The Working Boats Went
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The Duke of Francis Egerton, the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, owned large estates
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Lock Keepers of the Waterways
(2008) The lock
keepers were invaluable on the canals. Their main job was maintenance of the
locks and the surrounding canal but they were sometimes called on to collect
tolls; look after reservoirs and pumps; and police their areas of the canal
for drunken boaters and thieves. Sometimes they assisted in the passage of
boats but were not paid for this. Accounts often seem to suggest they were
cheerful characters, happy to pass the time of day with passing boatmen. All the
lock keepers in the song were genuine people from the latter part of the 19th
century. |
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Roses & Castles (2008) No-one quite knows why the traditional painting on narrowboats always seems to include roses and castles. This song offers one possible explanation. It is said that the boatmen painted the things they saw along the canals but similar traditional scenes are to be found on boats in Holland, Germany & Scandinavia and as far away as Turkey and Bangladesh. There have also been suggested parallels with Romany art. |
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The Row Between The Boaters
(2008) Different
types of narrowboat have been used on the canals as
technology has progressed. Some early wooden, horse-drawn boats, however,
were still being used at the end of the canals’ commercial use in the 20th
century. Steam driven boats were never very popular because of the cargo
space lost to the large engine. Diesel boats – many with the popular Swedish Bolinder single-cylinder engine – were the common form of
canal transport in its later days. baccering – letting the horse work alone,
pulling the boat butty –
an unpowered cargo boat towed behind the main boat |
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Until The Cut Runs Dry (2008) There
are canals all over |
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Where The Working Boats Went
(2008) After a
history of conveying cargoes and then decline in the 1950s which almost saw
the complete abandonment of the canal system, today |
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The Boatmen’s Strike (2013) On
August 13th 1923 the boatmen working for Fellows, Morton & Clayton went
on strike over a proposed 6.5% cut in their meagre wages due to competition
from the railways. The Grand Junction and Oxford Canals at Braunston were blockaded and Ernest Bevin, Harry Gosling
and Sam Brooks of the fledgling TGWU administered the strike which went on
for 14 weeks and won at least some concession on the original swingeing cuts
proposed. The company never made a loss in its history, including during this
time, until the year it finally closed. This song was written for a 90th
anniversary commemoration event beside the canal at Braunston. |
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Recorded on Where The Working Boats Went (Life
& Times) Wixamtree |
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Find the above canal songs at
http://www.waterwaysongs.co.uk/SongMenu.htm |
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·
On a
canal theme, see also THE B&MK, A WORKING BOATIE |
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Graeme Meek