This is another folksong from Joan Mills and Michael Raven’s collection of radical 19th century protest ballads from the West Midlands, sung and recorded by the folk group Saga, and published as part of an album to accompany the folksong collection of the same name, The Jolly Machine, edited by Michael Raven. The Chartists were a radical working and lower middle class movement demanding democracy, calling for votes for all working men, equal electoral districts, annual parliaments and the payment of MPs, amongst others. Some historians have seen them as an early counterpart to the Labour party. Others have pointed out that it was broader movement, with some Chartists supporting free trade rather than socialism. At its height, some of the very radical Chartists called for the abolition of parliament and its replacement by a House of Trades, in which some thing like the TUC would govern Britain. It’s utopian, but it would have been far better than the situation today when, a few years ago, it was estimated that 77 per cent of MPs are millionaires, managing directors, CEOs and senior staff. While the poor, the working class and their champions have been forced out of politics by middle class Thatherites ingratiating themselves with the elite.
Here’s the sheet music.
The short description of the ballad on page 24 states:
‘The Social and political discontent of the early 19th century led to the Chartist movement. The aims of their six points were political but it was hope that universal suffrage and other political reforms would result in great social equality. The Chartists were active in the Potteries and the movement’s song “The Chartists’ Anthem” achieved a wide popularity. It is presented here to the tune “Johnny O’Breadislie”.
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