ADD: Rhondda song from the big hewer

Subject: the big hewer
From: GUEST,Roberto Campo
Date: 19 May 01 - 02:04 PM

A very difficult question, but so many problems were solved by the mudcatters, that I hope this one too will. In the radio ballad The Big Hewer, by Ewan MacColl, track 14 begins with half a stanza of The Durham Lockout. Then the track goes on with a verse from a song I'd like to know something about and the lyrics of it. The song begins with: "in every...". I can get only the second and fourth line, but not the first and third. The secon:children cry for want of meet. The fourth: singing for pennies in the street. I'd be glad to receive some help. Thank you. Roberto Campo

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: the big hewer
From: GUEST,Roberto Campo
Date: 19 May 01 - 03:21 PM

Sorry,it was want of meat, not of meet. Just another way to refresh a request. Roberto Campo

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: the big hewer
From: Stewie
Date: 19 May 01 - 08:26 PM

Roberto,

I am sorry I can't help you but, if it is not a fragment written by MacColl himself, it is likely to be a Welsh song, given the mention of the Rhondda Valley. The fragment is:

In every village in the Rhonnda
Children cry for want of meat
Throughout the land their fathers wander
Singing for pennies in the street

I had a brief search of some sites on the Net, but could not find anything. Someone with a knowledge of Welsh song is sure to recognise it and, if nothing else, this posting will bring your request back to the top.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: the big hewer
From: GUEST,Roberto Campo
Date: 20 May 01 - 05:12 AM

Stewie, that's exactly the verse I was looking for. It is sung after two lines taken from The Durham Lockout in The Big Hewer. Even the Durham Lockout is not by Ewan MacColl, but it was written by Tommy Armstrong. I thank you very much. Roberto Campo

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: the big hewer
From: Wolfgang
Date: 19 Aug 06 - 04:51 PM

refresh

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Req: the big hewer-track 14 songs
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 Aug 06 - 05:22 PM

I've had trouble understanding these radio ballads. The liner notes on the Topic reissues don't really help me that much.
It certainly would be a worthwhile project to do a full study and annotation of each of these radio ballads. There's a brief review of "The Big Hewer" here (click), but it certainly isn't a full study.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Req: the big hewer-track 14 songs
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 Aug 06 - 05:41 PM

Well, let's see what we can come up with. As stated above, track 14 starts out with Peggy Seeger singing two lines of what seems to be The Durham Lockout, to the tune of "Paddy West":

In Durham and Northumberland, I'm sorry for to say
That hunger and starvation is increasing every day

Subject: RE: Req: the big hewer-track 14 songs
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 Aug 06 - 05:44 PM

As Stewie says, next comes a men's chorus singing with a march tune:

In every village in the Rhondda
Children cry for want of meat
Throughout the land their fathers wander
Singing for pennies in the street

Can anyone identify this song? The track ends with the men's chorus singing something that may be Welsh. Part of it could be the original of "In every village..." - but then the tune seems to change, so it could be yet another song. Can anybody enlighten us?
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: the big hewer
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 13 May 07 - 02:35 PM

Being essentially a "tall tale" the Big Hewer cartainly was one of my 2 or 3 favorites of all the Radio Ballads.

Art

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: the big hewer
From: GUEST,999
Date: 13 Sep 12 - 09:27 AM

http://www.setintosong.co.uk/downloads/PDF/rb_website_big_hewer.pdf

The written broadcast entire.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: the big hewer
From: Owen Woodson
Date: 13 Sep 12 - 11:15 AM

It's actually a Welsh choir that sings the bit in Welsh. What they are singing is called Sosban Fach.

Here's a Welsh text and an English translation.
Welsh                                        English (literal translation)
Mae bys Meri-Ann wedi brifo,                Mary-Ann has hurt her finger,
A Dafydd y gwas ddim yn iach.                And David the servant is not well.
Mae'r baban yn y crud yn crio,                The baby in the cradle is crying,
A'r gath wedi sgrapo Joni bach.                And the cat has scrammed little Johnny.
Sosban fach yn berwi ar y tân,                A little saucepan is boiling on the fire,
Sosban fawr yn berwi ar y llawr,        A big saucepan is boiling on the floor,
A'r gath wedi sgrapo Joni bach.                And the cat has scratched little Johnny.
Dai bach y sowldiwr,                        Little Dai the soldier,
Dai bach y sowldiwr,                        Little Dai the soldier,
Dai bach y sowldiwr,                        Little Dai the soldier,
A gwt ei grys e mas.                        And his shirt tail is hanging out.
Mae bys Meri-Ann wedi gwella,                Mary-Ann's finger has got better,
A Dafydd y gwas yn ei fedd;                And David the servant is in his grave;
Mae'r baban yn y crud wedi tyfu,        The baby in the cradle has grown up,
A'r gath wedi huno mewn hedd.                And the cat is 'asleep in peace'.
Sosban fach yn berwi ar y tân                A little saucepan is boiling on the fire,
Sosban fawr yn berwi ar y llawr                A big saucepan is boiling on the floor,
A'r gath wedi huno mewn hedd.                And the cat is 'asleep in peace'.
Dai bach y sowldiwr,                        Little Dai the soldier,
Dai bach y sowldiwr,                        Little Dai the soldier,
Dai bach y sowldiwr,                        Little Dai the soldier,
A gwt ei grys e mas.                        And his shirt tail is hanging out.
Aeth hen Fari Jones i Ffair y Caerau        Old Mary Jones went to the fair in Caerau,
I brynu set o lestri de;                To buy a tea set;
Ond mynd i'r ffos aeth Mari gyda'i         But Mary and her teacups ended up in a ditch,
llestri        
Trwy yfed gormod lawer iawn o 'de'        Through the consumption of rather too much "tea".
Sosban fach yn berwi ar y tân                A little saucepan is boiling on the fire,
Sosban fawr yn berwi ar y llawr                A big saucepan is boiling on the floor,
A'r gath wedi huno mewn hedd.                And the cat is 'asleep in peace'.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: the big hewer
From: GUEST,#
Date: 08 Apr 21 - 02:31 PM

https://cpatrust.org.uk/setintosong/big-hewer.pdf

The complete script is there.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: the big hewer
From: GUEST,jim bainbridge
Date: 08 Apr 21 - 02:50 PM

In Durham, the Big Hewer was a legendary superman of the collieries who could outperform everyone else at hewing the coal.
As Jack Elliott of Birtley usd to say- he didn't bother taking bait* to work- if he was hungry, he'd just pull rivets out of the coal tubs & chew on them.
When he got home, he'd eat six chops while he waited for his dinner- Jack Elliott again.

*bait= workplace food in Durham    ('piece' in Scotland, 'snap' in Yorkshire)