Lyr Req: First Day at the Mill

Subject: RE: Mudcat FAQ - Newcomer's Guide
From: GUEST,First |Day at Mill
Date: 08 Feb 20 - 01:36 AM

I heard this song on a radio folk programme around 1970.The singer said it was sent to him by the lady who wrote it with a request to put it to music, which he did, to great effect. Can anyone name the writer or the singer, who played some kind of squeezebox, spoke Mancunian, or similar, and had great charisma as he got good laughs for simple comments.

First verse:

Waken up me little girl, it's nearly six o'clock.
Sup your tea, I overslept, and I never heard Dan's knock.
Nay owd lass, you mustn'e weep, it's none so bad you'll see.
First day at mill is always strange, but our Jim'll take care of thee.

I can supply the whole song and plan to use at a Poems & Pints evening at de Burgo's, St. Augustine Street, Galway, on Wednesday, 19th February. We start at 8.30p.m. Admission free. We do it for love.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First Day at the Mill
From: Joe Offer
Date: 08 Feb 20 - 03:59 AM

Hi - I can't come up with anything right off, but maybe somebody else will have an answer.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First Day at the Mill
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 08 Feb 20 - 11:59 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq7leI9RzAQ

That's one answer, anyway.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First Day at the Mill
From: GUEST,Robert Hilton
Date: 08 Feb 20 - 12:16 PM

Many thanks for that. I suppose Ashley Hutchings was the singer, or was she the writer? The song shows the value of knowing your subject when writing anything. It is beautifully expressed. I wish I could do the writer justice by naming her.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First Day at the Mill
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 08 Feb 20 - 12:52 PM

Ashley Hutchings is a guy I would guess he's the writer. Google

Morris On

and have a boo around. Worth the look.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First Day at the Mill
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 08 Feb 20 - 01:03 PM

My apologies if I have misunderstood you. I'm guessing AH wrote the song but I have no idea who the woman doing the singing is on that cut.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First Day at the Mill
From: Reinhard
Date: 08 Feb 20 - 01:15 PM

The singer on Great Grandson of Morris On is Judy Dunlop.

First Day at t'Mill is a poem by Mabel F. Harrison set to music by Bernard Wrigley. He published it in 1974 on his Topic album Rough & Wrigley. He noted:

This is a poem written by Mabel F. Harrison from Yeadon, near Leeds. All her dialect poetry is written from her own experiences - she was 12 when this happened. She asked me if I would write a tune to it, and this is how it turned out.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First Day at the Mill
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 08 Feb 20 - 01:31 PM

Thank you Reinhard.

Subject: ADD: First Day at the Mill (draft)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 08 Feb 20 - 08:50 PM

Anybody want to give a try at posting lyrics?

Transcribed from the Ashley Hutchings Great Grandson of Morris On album. Singer: Judy Dunlop

FIRST DAY AT T'MILL

Waken up me little girl, it's nearly six o'clock.
'S a pity, I overslept, and never heard Sam's knock.
Nay old lass, you mustn't weep, it's none so bad you'll see.
First day at mill is always strange, but our Jim'll take care of thee.

Well, you're such a little mite for twelve, but then I was only ten,
The first day at t'work at mill, and then I went by mesel' (me sen ??)
Come wrap your shawl around your head, it's blowin' cold and snowin' fast;
You lookit mill so close at hand, but mind them cobbles, lass.

Well, here's a bite for eight o'clock, and a (milk to match some tea??)
Our Jim will show you where to go, and you'll know all folks you'll see.
Don't fret because you'll miss your school, now you're a grown-up lass;
There comes a time we have to work, and before long years soon pass.

Now hush, you'll waken up your dad,
For he's coughed all night had he needs his sleep, the poorly man.
God knows I need Jim and thee.

We barely make enough to eat, our clothes are worn and thin;
But you've decent clogs upon your feet, and it's how it's always been.
Don't fret because you'll miss your school, now you're a grown-up lass;
There comes a time we have to work, and before long years soon pass.

As you can see, I need some help correcting parts of this. Sure is a powerful song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First Day at the Mill
From: Joe Offer
Date: 08 Feb 20 - 09:52 PM

The little girl isn't named. I take it that Jim's the older brother.

I just can't get over this. It hits me deep.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First Day at the Mill
From: mg
Date: 08 Feb 20 - 10:41 PM

great song. would love to attend any music in galway week before st. patrick's day..is there something going on between about 11th or 12th and 17th? and is locale close to train station, where I should be staying in a hostel.

Subject: ADD: First Day at the Mill
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 08 Feb 20 - 10:54 PM

FIRST DAY AT T'MILL

Waken up me little girl, it's nearly six o'clock.
Sup your tea, I overslept, and never heard Sam's knock.
Nay old lass, you mustn't weep, it's none so bad you'll see.
Fust (first) day at mill is allus (always) strange, but our Jim'll take care of thee.

Well, you're such a little mite for twelve. But then, I was only ten
The first day I'd t'work at mill, and then I went by mesen (myself).
Come wrap your shawl around your head, it's blowin' cold and snowin' fast;
You lookit mill so close at hand, but mind them cobbles, lass.

Well, here's a bite for eight o'clock, and a mug to mash some tea.
Our Jim'll show you where to go, and you'll know all folks you'll see.
Don't fret because you'll miss your school, now you're a grown-up lass;
There comes a time we have to work and, before long, years soon pass.

Now hush, you'll waken up your dad, for he's coughed all night
And he needs his sleep, the poorly man.
God knows I need Jim and thee.

We barely make enough to eat, our clothes are worn and thin;
But you've decent clogs upon your feet, and it's how it's allus bin (always been).
Don't fret because you'll miss your school, now you're a grown-up lass;
There comes a time we have to work and, before long, years soon pass.

I too hear 'You lookit mill', but perhaps it is 'You look at mill'.

Singer Blair Dunlop is the son of Ashley Hutchings and Judy Dunlop.

Most young workers complained of feeling sick during their first few weeks of working in a factory. Robert Blincoe said he felt that the dust was suffocating him. This initial reaction to factory pollution became known as mill fever. Symptoms included sickness and headaches. Frank Forrest, a child worker in Dundee, reported: "About a week after I became a mill boy, I was seized with a strong, heavy sickness, that few escape on first becoming factory workers. The cause of the sickness, which is known by the name of 'mill fever', is the contaminated atmosphere produced by so many breathing in a confined space, together with the heat and exhalations of grease and oil and the gas needed to light the establishment."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First Day at the Mill
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 08 Feb 20 - 11:17 PM

The air in the cotton spinning mills had to be kept hot and humid (65 to 80 degrees) to prevent the thread breaking, so there was no ventilation. On the other hand, weaving sheds were too cold in winter.

I work for twelve hours of the day, and struggle home again.
And when the Factory Act is passed, I'll only work for ten.

Textile workers dreamed of a ten-hour day! From Wikipedia;

The Factory Act of 1847, also known as the Ten Hours Act was a United Kingdom Act of Parliament which restricted the working hours of women and young persons (13-18) in textile mills to 10 hours per day.

The Act of 1847 was the culmination of a campaign lasting almost fifteen years to bring in a 'Ten Hours Bill'; a great Radical cause of the period. Richard Oastler was a prominent and early advocate; the most famous Parliamentarian involved was Lord Ashley who campaigned long and tirelessly on the issue. The eventual success owed much to the mobilisation of support among the mill-workers by organisers such as John Doherty and sympathetic mill-owners such as John Fielden, MP who piloted the Act through the Commons.

The 1847 Act was passed soon after the fall from power of Sir Robert Peel's Conservative government, but the fiercest opponents of all ten-hour bills were the 'free trade' Liberals such as John Bright; the economic doctrines that led them to object to artificial tariff barriers also led them to object to government restricting the terms on which a man might sell his labour, and to extend that objection to women and young peoples.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First Day at the Mill
From: Joe Offer
Date: 09 Feb 20 - 02:51 AM

Any other opinions on "sup your tea"? Sure sounds more like something-pity to me.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First Day at the Mill
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 09 Feb 20 - 06:05 AM

Sup your tea is dialect, Joe. It means drink gently (sip) as it'll be hot.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First Day at the Mill
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 09 Feb 20 - 06:58 AM

Sup your tea - 100%, Joe.

And, on listening again, You look at mill - 80%.

The Mill, Pendlebury

Lancashire was cotton spinning and weaving. The writer came from Yeadon, near Leeds, which was woollen industry.

Green Lane Mills is a 150 year old mill building bristling with character and has lost none of its charm through its transformation into stylish, modern apartments, fit for 21st-century living. High ceilings and huge windows, which bathe the spacious apartments in natural light and offer far-reaching views of the surrounding countryside, give Green Lane Mills a unique quality of lifestyle. The scheme enjoys a prime location on Green Lane, Yeadon within easy reach of all the local facilities in this desirable, leafy town. Thanks to an elevated position, it also boasts panoramic views over the surrounding countryside, including the Aire Valley, Baildon Moors and the famous Ilkley Moors.

Sounds lovely.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First Day at the Mill
From: r.padgett
Date: 09 Feb 20 - 07:25 AM

Yes no one would wish industrial Victorian work conditions on anyone

Ray

Subject: ADD: A Song for Sandygate
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 09 Feb 20 - 10:29 AM

By 1886 it was claimed that Burnley was producing a greater length of cotton cloth than any other town in the world. To mark the Millennium, the Forest of Burnley was planted with a million trees.
Her Majesty The Queen 2012; I am delighted to be in Burnley at the start of this Jubilee tour of the North-West of England. And I am particularly pleased to be here in Slater Terrace at the Weavers’ Triangle, whose buildings form one of the finest surviving Victorian industrial landscapes in the country.

A Song for Sandygate
 
Down Ashfield Road the weavers strode To labour at the mill
Though they are gone we think upon The lives they led here still
 
Boats laden down came to the town To unload cotton there
Before they go with calico For all the world to wear
 
Not long ago we used to sew And weave with our own hands
My winter shirt your summer skirt Now come from distant lands
 
The noise of looms filled dismal rooms Where weavers toiled all day
And breathe they must the cotton dust That steals their lives away

With coal to burn and steam to turn The great mill engine round
The chimney tall would cast a pall Of smoke that choked the town
 
We see the mill standing so still We breathe the air that’s clean
A million trees unfurl their leaves As Burnley turns to green

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First Day at the Mill
From: GUEST,Bizibod
Date: 11 Feb 20 - 04:04 PM

Yer lucky t'mill's so close

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First Day at the Mill
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 11 Feb 20 - 04:16 PM

Brilliant, Bizibod. You have a very good ear!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First Day at the Mill
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Feb 20 - 10:29 AM

Not at all, I'm just accustomed to hearing Yorkshire accents !
*¬)
*

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First Day at the Mill
From: GUEST,Another Guest
Date: 13 Feb 20 - 11:05 AM

Also used to the accent. I 'heard it' as Yer lucky t'mill's so close when reading Joe's words but hadn't checked on youtube before Bizibod posted. So credit to Joe for representing the sound correctly!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First Day at the Mill
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 13 Feb 20 - 12:24 PM

The author came from Yorkshire, but I don't think singer Judy Dunlop does.

Still, another case solved by Mudcat.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First Day at the Mill
From: Bill D
Date: 22 Jul 21 - 07:13 PM

I missed this thread first time around. I have the Bernard Wrigley recording..

As to 'mash some tea' what he's saying is 'mak'some tea.' "make"
And near the end, the line "..before long years soon pass" really doesn't need a comma after 'long' the way I hear it.

I wish Wrigley had included liner notes.