Here is my transcription of the Gary and Vera Aspey recording.
Cheers, Stewie.


TUPPENCE ON THE ROPE
Words by Paul Graney, music by Gary and Vera Aspey
As recorded by Gary and Vera Aspey on 'From the North' (Topic LP 12TS255, 1975)

1. A hobo's life is brave and free, I've often heard folks say,
But I know better now I've trudged all through a winter's day.
I've slept in barns and garden sheds and in the haystacks too,
Tramped the road from coast to coast in ragged clothes and shoes.

CHORUS: But when you're down and nearly out, impossible to cope,
You can shelter from the long, hard night for tuppence on the rope,
Tuppence on the rope, me boys, tuppence on the rope

2. I've been in spikes the country round, met workhouse masters many.
Most of them are harsh and stern, and kind ones hardly any.
In dosshouse I've had many a kip, a sixpence for a bed,
But in these days of poverty, a tanner's hard to beg. CHORUS

3. In Glossop spike, there's bread and scrape, but oh, their work is hard!
It's five hours spent just breaking stones out in the workhouse yard.
In Rochdale I was given a shirt, in Backup got new boots,
But Blackburn's beds are hardwood boards and full of hungry coots. CHORUS

4. Oh, evil day when a man cannot get to a spike in time,
And in a dosshouse spend his pence to wind up on the line.
When workhouse masters disappear, it's not too much to hope
That we shall never see again those men hung on the rope. CHORUS


Note on record sleeve:

During the depression of the 1930s, thousands of unemployed men were obliged to take to the roads. At this time, attached to every parish workhouse was a casual ward or 'spike' which gave shelter for one night, after which the tramp would have to move on to the next town. In exchange for a meal of cocoa and bread and scrape (margarine), he was expected to work for a few hours. Because of this, he often found there was too little time to reach the next spike and so, unless he slept under a hedge or in a barn, he could try to beg a few coppers to go into a dosshouse and obtain a bed for about sixpence. If he failed to raise this sum, he could sleep on the rope for tuppence or, in some places, a penny. The rope was stretched across the width of the room and a man could hang with his arms over it for support. It was customary to untie the rope in the morning, and the whole row of men would collapse to the ground. [Vera Aspey]