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Origins: Treadmill Song / Gaol Song DigiTrad: GAOL SONG Related threads: (origins) Origins: I wish there were no prisons (23) Tune Add: Gaol Song (1) |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Treadmill Song / Gaol Song From: Steve Gardham Date: 20 Jun 22 - 01:55 PM Hi, Geoff. Thanks for the link. Peregrina is currently in America and otherwise occupied, but hopefully she'll be back in York soon. |
Subject: RE: Origins: Treadmill Song / Gaol Song From: GeoffLawes Date: 20 Jun 22 - 07:29 AM peregrina,the following is a link to "Hedon Roag Gaol" on the Yorkshire Garland site with Steve Gardham singing it. http://www.yorkshirefolksong.net/song.cfm?songID=64 |
Subject: RE: Origins: Treadmill Song / Gaol Song From: GUEST,henryp Date: 20 Jun 22 - 04:53 AM Thanks for that! When Roy Palmer reissued his folklore series of the 'midland' shires, Pat and Roy took us to all the local launch events. But I don't remember one for Gloucestershire. |
Subject: RE: Origins: Treadmill Song / Gaol Song From: GeoffLawes Date: 19 Jun 22 - 05:32 PM Lyrics to “The County Livery” can be found on page 9 of the pdf document here https://gloshistory.org.uk/sites/reprints/gh199006.pdf |
Subject: RE: Origins: Treadmill Song / Gaol Song From: GeoffLawes Date: 19 Jun 22 - 05:26 PM “The County Livery” on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBKdCshQOZs |
Subject: RE: Origins: Treadmill Song / Gaol Song From: GUEST,henryp Date: 17 Jun 22 - 06:18 AM https://gloscrimehistory.wordpress.com/2014/04/03/on-the-treadmill-hard-labour-at-gloucester-prison/ On the treadmill: Hard labour at Gloucester Prison Anthony Foard MAY 22, 2017 AT 3:32 PM Hullo, I happened upon your site whilst trying to track down a song I heard performed by Ron Taylor and Jeff Gillett several years ago about the Gloucester Gaol treadmill. I wonder if anyone knows (of) it and could point me in the direction of words and tune? The chorus ends with “and we wear the county colours of the yellow and the blue”. I think it’s a contemporary take on the historic facts – it certainly ties in very closely with the details herein. Thanks in anticipation, and thanks also for a most informative piece of scholarship. REPLY Jill Evans MAY 23, 2017 AT 8:56 AM Hello! The song is called “The County Livery”, and it is about doing time in Horsley House of Correction, which was built at the same time as Gloucester County Prison and had the same regime. It was published by Thomas Willey in Cheltenham. It is in Roy Palmer’s book, “The Folklore of Gloucestershire”, in chapter 9, “Going For A Song”. In my edition, published by Westcountry Books in 1994, the lyrics are written out in full on page 240. I hope that helps. County Livery |
Subject: RE: Origins: Treadmill Song / Gaol Song From: GeoffLawes Date: 17 Jun 22 - 05:51 AM This Mudcat thread may be of interest her /mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=52605 |
Subject: RE: Origins: Treadmill Song / Gaol Song From: GUEST,henryp Date: 17 Jun 22 - 05:48 AM Salford Now; On this day: 1824 treadmill punishment introduced in Salford Prison By Chelsea Bailey on 18th February 2020 On this day in 1824 the treadmill punishment was introduced at New Bailey Prison Salford. Treadmill punishment also known as ‘treadwheel’ or ‘everlasting staircase’, was a penal appliance introduced in 1818 by the British engineer Sir William Cubitt. (Cubitt was concerned with the employment of criminals; and for the purpose of using their labour he invented the treadmill, with the object, for example, of grinding corn, and not at first contemplating the use of the machine as a means of punishment. Wikipedia) This device was designed in some cases to handle as many as 40 convicts. These convicts were forced to step along a series of planks as part of their sentence. It was a large hollow cylinder which rotated, it usually had wooden steps built around an iron frame. The New Bailey Prison’s foundation was laid down on the 22nd of May 1787 by Thomas Butterworth Bayley. The prison was named after its founder, who was an English magistrate, agriculturist and philanthropist. The use of these treadmills was abolished in Britain by the Prisons Act of 1898. |
Subject: RE: Origins: Treadmill Song / Gaol Song From: GUEST,henryp Date: 17 Jun 22 - 05:33 AM EARLY AMERICAN CRIME; AN EXPLORATION OF CRIME, CRIMINALS, AND PUNISHMENTS FROM AMERICA'S PAST Prisons and Punishments: The Treadmill Song From the Amateur STATE PRISON MELODIES. The stars are rolling in the sky, The earth rolls on below, And we can feel the rattling wheel Revolving as we go, Then tread away, my gallant boys, And make the axle fly; Why shouldn’t wheels go round about, Like planets in the sky? Wake up, wake up, my duck-legged man, And stir your solid pegs; Arouse, arouse, my gawky friend, And shake your spider legs; What though you’re awkward at the trade, There’s time enough to learn– So lean upon the rail, my lad, And take another turn. They’ve built us up a noble wall, To keep the vulgar out; We’ve nothing in the world to do, But just to walk about; So go it now, you middle men, And try to beat the ends– It’s pleasant work to rumble round Among one’s honest friends. Here, tread upon the long man’s toes, He shan’t be lazy here– And punch the little fellow’s ribs, And tweak that lubber’s ear– He’s lost them both–don’t pull his hair, Because he wears a scratch, But poke him in the further eye, That isn’t in the patch. Hark, fellows, there’s the supper bell, And so our work is done; It’s pretty sport–suppose we take A round or two for fun. If ever they should turn me out, When I have better grown, Now hang me, but I mean to have A treadmill of my own. Even though the tone of this poem is satiric, it still does not convey the true working conditions of the treadmill. Time spent on the treadmill was mind-numbing. This boredom combined with fatigue could often lead to injury. While the fact that those working the treadmill had no idea whether their labor was productive or not was lauded by its advocates–if the grain supplies being milled with the treadmill ever ran out, for example, the punishment could continue on–critics of the treadmill pointed out that the prisoners never saw or experienced the fruits of their labor, and consequently could not derive any satisfaction from it. To reduce fatigue, convicts regularly traded working on and off the treadmill at regular intervals, but they were subjected to this exhausting punishment for hours at a time. There were no standards in the construction of the treadmills or in the time convicts spent on them, so what was considered reasonable punishment was left to the discretion of the individual jail wardens. Naturally, some wardens had different ideas of what constituted reasonable punishment and were more brutal than others. Source Norwich Courier, September 22, 1830, vol. IX, issue 26 p. 4. Database: America’s Historical Newspapers: Readex/Newsbank. |
Subject: RE: Origins: Treadmill Song / Gaol Song From: Reinhard Date: 16 Jun 22 - 08:52 PM Joe, the Penguin Book version above misses the first line of verse four, "At half past eight the bell doth ring". |
Subject: RE: Origins: Treadmill Song / Gaol Song From: Joe Offer Date: 16 Jun 22 - 06:47 PM With very slight differences, the lyrics in the Digital Tradition are the same as those on page 39 the Penguin Book of English Folk Songs (Ralph Vaughan Williams and A.L. Lloyd)(Penguin Books, 1959) Here are the notes from the Penguin book: The Gaol Song (FSJ VII 47) Sung by B. Davy, Beaminster, Dorset, 1906 English tradition includes many crime songs but relatively few dealing with life in prison. The broadside ballads of Bellevue, Wakefield, and Kirkdale gaols, published by Bebbington of Manchester and Harkness of Preston, all derive from the same ‘original’, issued several times in London by the Catnach Press and its successors as The County Gaol. A different ballad, called Durham Gaol, said to be the work of the pitman-balladeer Thomas Armstrong, was current on Tyneside till recently (see A. L. Lloyd: Come All ye Bold Miners). Each of these bears some relation to our Gaol Song, of which two versions, with separate melodies, were collected by H. E. D. Hammond in Beaminster, Dorset, in June 1906. |
Subject: RE: Origins: Treadmill Song / Gaol Song From: Joe Offer Date: 16 Jun 22 - 05:32 PM Here's the entry from the Traditional Ballad Index: Gaol Song, TheDESCRIPTION: The singer describes the hard life in prison, abused by the guards, granted only the poorest food, and forced to work the treadmill and engage in other backbreaking labour. The singer, once free, vows to leave all such things behindAUTHOR: unknown EARLIEST DATE: 1906 KEYWORDS: work prison punishment captivity worksong FOUND IN: Britain(England(South)) REFERENCES (4 citations): Fahey-Eureka-SongsThatMadeAustralia, pp. 22-23, "The Gaol Song" (1 text, 1 tune) VaughanWilliams/Lloyd-PenguinBookOfEnglishFolkSongs, p. 39, "Gaol Song" (1 text, 1 tune) Brocklebank/Kindersley-DorsetBookOfFolkSongs, p. 11, "Gaol Song" (1 text, 1 tune) DT, GAOLSONG* Roud #1077 CROSS-REFERENCES: cf. ""The County Gaol" cf. "Durham Gaol" ALTERNATE TITLES: Treadmill Song NOTES [77 words]: The treadmill was a rotating cylinder that drove machinery such as a mill or a pump. It was a set of steps on a circular gear, which meant that, once started, the convict had no way to stop it; he had to keep walking the treads until relieved. Prisoners often collapsed in agony on such machines, first installed in Sydney in 1823. - RBW While Lloyd does not mention [this] as a work song, it certainly has the cadence of one, so I have assigned that keyword. -PJS Last updated in version 5.1 File: FaE022 Go to the Ballad Search form Go to the Ballad Index Instructions The Ballad Index Copyright 2022 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.
@jail printed in Penguin book of English folksongs sung by Bernard Wrigley and Dick Swain filename[ GAOLSONG TUNE FILE: GAOLSONG CLICK TO PLAY SOF
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Treadmill Song From: John MacKenzie Date: 16 Jun 22 - 01:45 PM I wish there were no prisons, I do don't you, AND the old treadmill makes me feel ill I only steals me belly FOR to fill Wiv me 'ands wiv me mitts wiv me maulers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H-td43zcQg https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=52605 |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Treadmill Song From: GeoffLawes Date: 16 Jun 22 - 12:10 PM Your link isn't working for me peregrina , but here are Spare Hands doing Hedon Road Gaol https://www.facebook.com/sparehandshull/videos/hedon-road-gaol-performed-by-spare-hands/348910715717909/ |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Treadmill Song From: irishenglish Date: 30 Jun 08 - 02:59 PM Also done by the Oysterband on Step Outside as Gaol Song. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Treadmill Song From: peregrina Date: 30 Jun 08 - 02:56 PM 'Hedon Road Gaol' is related: here HEDON ROAD GAOL At six o’ clock the bells do ring for ev’ry man to rise, To wash an’ scrub ’is little cell and the place ’e occupies. 2 At seven o’ clock skilly comes in, skilly boilin’ not! It’s sometimes thick an’ it’s sometimes thin and a pint is all you’ve got. Chorus:- All around old ’Edon Road Gaol where you do no talkin’, All around old ’Edon Road Gaol when you’re teasin’ tarry oakum, ’Essian mailbags in your cell, teck warnin’ what I’ve said, It’s a bloody rotten prison for a soldier. 3 An’ ’Edon Road Prison smells, an’ the bells are made of brass, An’ now I’ve done my six-months you can stick em right up your…. Chorus.
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Treadmill Song From: thetwangman Date: 30 Jun 08 - 02:46 PM it was also sung by luke kelly & the dubliners, check it out on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjNJFPLJKoI |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Treadmill Song From: Stewie Date: 23 Apr 01 - 11:03 AM It was also recorded by Ewan MacColl on 'Chorus From the Gallows' on Topic 12T16 (1960). --Stewie. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Treadmill Song From: Malcolm Douglas Date: 23 Apr 01 - 08:53 AM This is also known as Gaol Song, and under that title was published in the Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. It is already in the DT, with a midi of the tune, here: Gaol Song This is the same version that Steeleye Span recorded. The DT file mentions a couple more Revival performers who have recorded it, but not the fact that it was noted in 1906, by H.E.D. Hammond, from W. Davy of Beaminster Workhouse in Dorset. Hammond found two versions, set to different tunes. Malcolm |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Treadmill Song From: Mad Maudlin Date: 23 Apr 01 - 08:11 AM Thank you...yes, definitely, it's one of these nonsense chorus. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Treadmill Song From: Shuffer Date: 23 Apr 01 - 07:09 AM Chorus With me Ip Fol The Day, me Ip fol the day with me Ip fol the day for the dithy oh. It would appear to me that it is one of those nonsense chorus so beloved of English folk songs |
Subject: Treadmill Song From: Mad Maudlin Date: 23 Apr 01 - 03:03 AM THE TREADMILL SONG (trad.)
Step in, young man, I know your face,
At six o'clock the screw comes in,
And at eight o'clock the skilly omes in,
At half past eight the bell do ring,
And at nine o'clock the jangle ring
Now Saturday comes, I'm sad to say,
When six long months are gone and past, From the Steeleye Span record "Storm Force Ten". Mine is ancient (and still on vinyl), so, try as I might, I simply couldn't understand the chorus. Feel free to fill in! NG |
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