Susannes Folksong-Notizen
[1961:] Possibly a parody of 'Four Pence A Day', a British industrial folk song [about child labour and exploitation] sung by Ewan MacColl. (Acc. to Reprint Sing Out 3, 144) -
[1995:] Well, at least Teesdale was new to me [as the subject of a BBC radio programme by J. L.]. I amused myself collecting fragments of an old song and got Jimmie [Ewan MacColl] a job completing it: Fourpence a day, my lads, and verra hard to wark With never a pleasant look from a scruffy-looking Turk His heart it may fail, his conscience may give way And he'll raise us our wages to fivepence a day (Joan Littlewood, Joan's Book 386) -
[1997:] Original?
FOUR PENCE A DAY The ore is waiting in the tubs the snow's upon the fell Canny folk are sleeping yet but lead is reet to sell Come me little washer lad come let's awa We're bound down to slavery for four pence a day It's early in the morning we rise at five o'clock And the little slaves come to the door to knock, knock, knock Come me little washer lad, come let's awa It's very hard to work for four pence a day My father was a miner and lived down in the town Twas hard work and poverty that always kept him down He aimed for me to go to school, but brass he could not pay So i had to go to the washing rake for four pence a day My mother rises out of bed with tears on her cheeks Puts my wallet on my shoulders, which has to serve a week It often fills her great big heart when she unto me does say I never thought you would have worked for four pence a day Fourpence a day, me lads, and very hard to work And never a pleasant look from a gruffy looking Turk His conscience it may fall and his heart it may give way Then he'll raise our wages to nine pence a day
[1997:] While I was waiting for the start of my first university term, I took a job on a building site with a Cambridge firm. We were building the Cambridge University Engineering Laboratories and at the end of the first week I drew twenty quid odd -- including overtime. Twenty quid a week -- four pounds a day -- it seemed a long way from the fourpence a day earned by the lads who did child labour in the mines. It made me think that some of the old industrial ballads are not as true now as they once were. Several times, I've been told that this song is "anti working-class" and "an affront to the dignity of labour." I can only say "Honest, I didn't mean it to be" -- and the lads on the building site loved it. Eric Winter, who liked the song right from the start, wrote the third verse. (Stan Kelly website)
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