The Fire People
Gideon Davies held the line
A wise Welshman in troubled times
He was blinded by a copper spill
With a fiddle and bow he walked the hills
He
said, I don’t believe to arms is right
But this blind man has seen the light
In Merthyr town there will come a fight
But let the Union be our saviour
Sun Heron came from county Clare
Or Wexford, Mayo who knows where
She begged her way from ship to shore
At Gideons side she would beg no more
She said, the hunger drove me from my land
Now in Merthyr town there will be a stand
Its bread or blood for the workingman
But let the Union be our saviour
Dic Penderyn took his name
from the Beacon town from whence he came
an honest man who believed in right
but Gideon told him not to fight
He said, a charter is the only way
And the masters all will have their day
But Powder and shot is not the way
Let the Union be our saviour
The cry went out and the soldiers came
From garrison towns they made their way
To Merthyr for an English King
But an ambush sent them back again
The rioters fought neath a flag of red
and Left many a soldier boy lying dead
with the masters shivering in their beds
tis blood for honest labour
When the fighting stopped in Merthyr town
The rioters stood on taken ground
But Penderyn sat in a Cardiff jail
And the masters had someone to blame
Many witnesses they all did swear
Dic Penderyn was not there
But the hanging judge he did not care
Now the lord must be his saviour
No London hangman could be found
So a novice came from Worcester Town
He placed the rope and the trap was pulled
Penderyn dropped from where he stood
Iniquity
o’ Lord he cried
But the masters cannot turn the tide
Let justice from my spirit rise
And let the union be our saviour
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Narration
read by Roy Noble
please note - The narration
tracks are between 2 and 9mb in size and will take a
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Introduction
listen
Alexander
Cordell died in Wales in 1997 at the age of 83. He
was an Englishman whose much traveled life eventually
brought him to live and work in Abergavenny. As a
writer he became instantly fascinated by the unique industrial
heritage and history of the people and places in the
South Wales area. The
songs you are about to hear are based on five novels
written by Alexander Cordell. The novels are set in
and around South Wales during the early nineteenth
century and are based on historical facts and real
events. Cordell’s fictional
characters bring history to life through their individual
stories and their participation in these dramatic
events that took place at the beginning of the industrial
revolution. The
Fire People
listen
We are in the ‘Iron Town’ of Merthyr
in the year 1831. Merthyr has grown within 2 short
years from a rural valley with a population of
around 3,000 into a sprawling industrial town with
an estimated population of 40,000. Living and working
conditions are at best basic, there is no running
water and disease is rife. In an effort to force
the Iron Master, William Crawshay to improve wages
and conditions, clandestine meetings are being
held and pamphlets being distributed all urging
the formation of a workers union. On June 2nd 1831
following a mass rally on the hills above Merthyr,
thousands of workers decided enough was enough
and marched on Merthyr town.
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