Hi there Rhodie,
I am attaching a copy of the video of the song we did at Tolpuddle open mic on Saturday just gone. It's not a very good reproduction and the balance is all wrong, but it will do until I can get a 'studio' recording to you.
We did not use the information you sent us because it did not fit well in the places where we wanted to use it. So - 'My wife and my child and my homeland' was preferred to 'my Harriet, son George and my homeland'.
Much of the song involves speculation about how a man like James would have felt about his situation and how it impacted on him emotionally. He was a principled man who stayed in Dorset when it may have been easier to move and went into a poor house when he felt that he was being a burden on his family.
Me and the lyricist, Pete, met for the first time on Saturday and we also met some of James's distant relatives at the graveside. I have sent them copies of the words and the video link. I hope that the song will move you as much as it has moved us in writing it.
It's a pity that it wasn't performed in a quiet 'concert' setting - but it will be performed again so I could try another vid of it.
My wife Belinda is playing the drum - though you can hardly hear her - and the last six lines are a precis of George Loveless's speech in the dock.
Here's the link:
https://youtu.be/yk8XJxFQVIQIt won't let me do an attachment for the words - sorry. So here they are:
The Martyr
Come sit down beside me whilst I tell you a tale
Of injustice and cruelty and how men prevail
But first I must pause whilst I gather my thoughts
For the scars they run deep and still haunt me
James Hammetts my name and I toiled on the land
"Ploughing fields", "thrashing hay", "digging ditches"
For 7 shillings a week from sunrise till sunset
Wasn't nearly enough for to cover the debt...
Then machinery started replacing the men
Times were hard and about to get harder...
Landowner squire Frampton was vicious and mean
Cut their pay, make them work, for six shillings..
A wage of despair and it cut to the quick
Delivering to us yet another sharp kick
So a meeting was convened for all of the men
Days were dark but about to get darker...
Well beneath the old sycamore we each swore an oath
The Lovelesses, Standfields, and Brines
To each other stay loyal is what we then pledged
Unlawful assembly is what they alleged
Found rule books of the union in a box it was said
Nights were long and about to get longer....
We were trapped and found guilty by a jury of fools
Send um down, Hang um high, Show no mercy...
Seven years of hard labour down in New South Wales
We were feared as tomorrow Leviathan sails
We were fettered in iron and in chains we were led
Seas were rough but about to get rougher...
Australia left scars burning deep in my soul
Whip him hard, make him pay, he's a rebel...
Though my flesh was now weak yet my spirit stayed strong
There were rumour's that London was righting its wrong
And the voice of the people had shouted out loud
Oh so loud, I swear I could hear them...
The Dockside at Plymouth was a sight to behold
My wife, and my child and my homeland...
Now the quality of mercy from within us doth stem
I forgave those that wronged me I'm bigger than them
But for now I must rest, there are struggles ahead
Dusk falls but a new dawn is rising.
God is our guide! No swords we draw.
We kindle not war's battle fires:
By reason, union, justice and law,
We claim the birthright of our sires:
We raise the watchword Liberty:
We will, we will, we will be free!
Best wishes
Nietzsche
