WONDERFUL ALTERATIONS TUNE:- "The Coronation" What changes now are going on, In each new undertaking; In every town and every street They're alterations making; They're turning th' world just upside down, To cause folks observation; To make owd things to look like new Are all these alterations. In Lunnun they began at first, And made a nation bustle, Wi' Dan O Connell, Wellington, Wi' Peel and Johnny Russell; They talk'd a deal about the tythes, And th' Irish corporations; Yet nothing done since they begun, But made fresh alterations. The folk wur in astonishment As you may well remember, When they agreed ith' parliament For Owdham t' ha' two members; You made 'em two and sent 'em up To have an explanation; And there you'll find they towd their mind About an alteration. The other day they came down here To talk on th' ten hours bill sirs; They vow'n ot how they'll have it, And I'm sure I hope they will sirs; Or else they'll kick up such a row In every town ith' nation, Ot will frighten folks in Lunnun till They make this alteration. There's one act ot they'n lately pass'd I rather think a blemish is, It says on th' Tom and Jerry signs, "To be drunk on the premises;" So it seems ot we mun now get drunk If we'n no inclination; And 'bout we mind, perhaps get fin'd; And that's queer alteration. But if by chance you should get drunk, You'll not be lost ith' streets sirs, For now you'n getten fine Gas Works, Ot give o decent leet sirs; Un then they'n let up th' Owd Church clock, For every congregation; So Owdham's quite enlighten'd now; And that's an alteration. For th' want of room to sell your wares, This town's been in disgrace sirs; So out of Tommy Fielt they mean To make a Market Place sirs; They'll build it round wi' great fine shops, And each accommodation; And when that's doneI'll make this song To suit that alteration. There's one alteration yet, All others far surpasses, It used to be that lads you know Went courting to the lasses; But lasses now are got so bad, That without hesitation, They go themselves o courtin th' lads, And that's queer alteration. But there's one thing that pleases me, In this and other places, No alteration I can see In you kind smiling faces; And if there's ought I've said or sung Throughout my observations, You've only just to say it's wrong, I'll soon make alterations.
Notes: The constituency of Oldham, returning two MPs, was created by the Great Reform Act of 1832. It would be another six years before The Ten Hour Bill was passed, when it became the Factories Act 1847. Tommy Fielt = Tommyfield outdoor market, still in use today. The first gas works, built in 1827, were on a small site at Greaves Street.
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