Eight Shillings a Week (1830s)
Come all you bold Britons wherever you be,I pray give attention, and listen to me,
There once were good times, bur they're gone by complete,
For a poor man lives now on eight shillings a week. Such times in Old England there never was seen,
As the present one now-but much better have been,
A poor man's condemn'd and look on like a thief,
And compelled to work for eight shillings a week. Our venerable father remembers the year,
When a man could earn three shillings a day and his beer,
He then could live well, keep his family neat,
But now he must work for eight shillings a week. The nobs of Old England of shameful renown,
Are striving to crush a poor man to the ground,
They'll beat down the wages and starve them complete,
And compel them to work for eight shillings a week. A poor man to labour, believe me 'tis so,
To maintain his family is willing to go
Fither edging or ditching, to plough and to reap,
But how does he live on eight shillings a week ? In the reign of Old George, as you understand,
There was contentment throughout the whole land,
Each poor man could live, and get plenty to eat,
But now he must pine on eight shillings a week. So now to conclude, and finish my song,
May the times be much better before it is long,
May every poor labourer be able to keep
His children and wife on Twelve shillings a week. Notes See Tolpuddle Martyres Article in the Victorian Newspaper The Age 25 Feb 1939 Page 12. A remarkable number of Broadside Ballads from Britain, Scotland and Ireland found their way into Australian newspapers. The above ballad sold on the streets in the 1830s offers a clear example of a ballad with a strong condemnation of hard times and starvation wages visited on working men and women and their families as the British Empire was being built.