ADD: Jon Raven's 'Wedgefield Wakes' lyrics

Subject: Lyr Req: Jon Raven's 'Wedgefield Wakes' lyrics
From: GUEST,Junie
Date: 12 Apr 21 - 07:52 AM

I can't find the lyrics for Wedgefield Wakes anywhere! Please help me out, thanks.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jon Raven's 'Wedgefield Wakes' lyrics
From: Reinhard
Date: 12 Apr 21 - 09:18 AM

From Jon Raven: The Urban and Industrial Songs of the Black Country and Birmingham, p.115-6:

The partisan nature of Black Country cockfighting is illustrated by the ‘Wedgefield Wake’, the story of a cockfight that took place during the annual wake. As in the Wedgebury Cocking the fight ends in a brawl between the cockers, who, in their efforts to thrash their opponents, forget all about the main and the cocks. While the song is undated it contains considerable local information: we know the name of the place where the fight took place, the house at which it was fought, the names of the chief contestants and the birds’ owners:

THE WEDGEFIELD WAKE
(Source: Annals of Willenhall, by F. W. Hackwood.)

At Wedgefield at one village Wake,
The cockers all did meet,
At Billy Lane’s the cockfighters,
To have a sporting treat.

For Charley Marson’s spangled cock,
Was matched to fight a red,
That came from Wil’n’all o’er the field,
And belonged to Cheeky Ned.

The finer birds in any cock-pit,
There never yet was scene,
Though the Wedgefield men declared,
Their cock was sure to win.

The cocks fought well and feathers fled,
A ll around about the pit,
While blood from both of ’em did flow,
Yet ne’er un would submit.

At last the spangled Wedgefield bird,
Began to show defeat,
When Billy Lane he up and swore,
The cock should not be beat.

For he would fight the biggest man
That came from Wil’n’all town,
When on the word old Cheeky Ned,
Got up and knocked him down.

To fight they went like bulldogs,
As it is very well known,
Till ‘Cheeky Ned’ seized big Billy’s thumb,
And bit it into the bone,

At this the Wedgefield men began,
Their comrade’s part to take,
And never was a fiercer fight
Fought at a village wake.

They beat the men from Wil’n’all
Back to their town again,
And long they will remember,
This Wedgefield Wake and Main.

Wedgefield: Wednesfield, Wolverhampton.
Wil’n’all: Willenhall, West Midlands.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jon Raven's 'Wedgefield Wakes' lyrics
From: GUEST,Junie
Date: 12 Apr 21 - 09:32 AM

I don't know if I'm replying properly (I've never used this forum before), but thank you so much!!

Subject: Lyr Req: The Wedgefield Wake
From: GUEST,Singerdave
Date: 21 Apr 21 - 10:29 AM

Can anyone provide the lyrics for The Wedgefield Wake, think wriiten by Jon Raven. Thanks.

Subject: RE: ADD: Jon Raven's 'Wedgefield Wakes' lyrics
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Apr 21 - 11:23 AM

I get the impression that this is a traditional song found in a songbook edited by Jon Raven, but I don't think he wrote the song. I don't know that for sure, though.

There's a YouTube recording of "Wedgefield Wakes" from an album titled Songs of a Changing World, by Jon Raven, Nic Jones, and Tony Rose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhzXvPJMoR8

The recording does not identify which of these three is the singer on this cut. The cut as a chorus, something like, "With a clickin' and a clackin'..." Anybody know the chorus?

Subject: ADD: Wednesfield Wake
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Apr 21 - 11:36 AM

I gather that Reinhard's post is from The Annals of Willenhall by Frederick Wm. Hackwood, 1908. But his post has significant differences from the text of Annals that I found. Did Reinhard find his in the Jon Raven book?

The Gutenberg Project has an OCR copy of the entire text here: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/31675/31675.txt - this has a very interesting but lengthy introduction about local wakes which I won't post here.

Google Books has an excerpt of the book that is much easier to read, and it's a little different from Reinhard's transcription. It has no title, so I'm going to call it "Wednesfield Wake." I'm going to post it here:

      WEDNESFIELD WAKE

    At Wednesfield at one village wake
       The cockers all did meet
    At Billy Lane's, the cock-fighter's,
       To have a sporting treat.

    For Charley Marson's spangled cock
       Was matched to fight a red
    That came from Will'n'all o'er the fields,
       And belonged to "Cheeky Ned."

    Two finer birds in any cock-pit
       Two never yet was seen.
    Though the Wednesfield men declared
       Their cock was sure to win.

    The cocks fought well, and feathers fled
       All round about the pit,
    While blood from both of 'em did flow
       Yet ne'er un would submit.

    At last the spangled Wedgefield bird
       Began to show defeat,
    When Billy Lane, he up and swore
       The bird shouldn't be beat;

    For he would fight the biggest mon
       That came from Will'n'all town,
    When on the word, old "Cheeky Ned"
       Got up and knocked him down.

    To fight they went like bull-dogs,
       As it is very well known,
    Till "Cheeky Ned" seized Billy's thumb,
       And bit it to the bone.

    At this the Wednesfield men begun
       Their comrade's part to take,
    And never was a fiercer fight
       Fought at a village wake.

    They beat the men from Will'n'all town
       Back to their town again,
    And long they will remember
       This Wednesfield wake and main.

Subject: RE: ADD: Jon Raven's 'Wedgefield Wakes' lyrics
From: Reinhard
Date: 21 Apr 21 - 12:05 PM

Joe, see the first line of my 12 April post for the source of the lyrics. Jon Raven himself gave Annals of Willenhall as *his* source.

According to the Mainly Norfolk page for Songs of a Changing World it was Jon Raven who sang Wedgefield Wakes.

Subject: RE: ADD: Jon Raven's 'Wedgefield Wakes' lyrics
From: Reinhard
Date: 21 Apr 21 - 12:27 PM

With a bit more searching in my folders I finally found Jon Raven's "Songs of a Changing World" songbook. It has this explanation and verses including the chorus:

THE WEDGEFIELD WAKE

The popularity of sports such as cock-fighting, dog-fighting, bull-baiting, and boxing in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries is mirrored in the many songs written about them. Although many of these sports existed prior to the Industrial Revolution, it was the heavy concentration of people in the industrial centres that speeded the development of spectator sports.

Cock-fighting was probably introduced into Britain by the Romans, and remained an acceptable and popular sport until the nineteenth century. Opposition to it began to grow in the late eighteenth century, but it was not until the Cruelty to Animals Act was passed in 1849 that it was finally banned. Cock-fighting continued on a fairly wide scale after this date, but the prospect of heavy fines and imprisonment soon deterred all bu the most hardened ‘cockers’.

Cock-fighting was a sport of kings and commoners alike. In nineteenth century England many men kept cocks, and cock-pits were often found in the backyards of public houses. The fighting cocks were bred from an Asian strain noted for its pugnacity. They were fed on a special diet, groomed and trained in sparring.

For a fight or a main--a series of fights--the birds’ natural spurs were fitted with steel spurs, with which they struck at their opponents. The birds were placed in a pit about four metres square, surrounded by a low wall. A fight often finished with the birds severely injured or dead within ten minutes. In this song the main is interrupted by the owner of the bird from Wednesfield (known locally as Wedgefield), who declares that his bird ‘will not be beat’. The main ends in a brawl between the two sets of villagers. Wednesfield and Willenhall are now parts of Wolverhampton.

At Wedgefield at one village wake,
The cockers all did meet,
At Billy Lane’s the cockfighter’s,
To have a special treat.

Chorus:
Ri-too-le-roo la-roo-la-roo ri-too-la-roo-la-ray
With a clicking and a clacking and a clucking all day
Ho Ho a clip winged red and a spangled grey.

For Charley Marson’s spangled cock,
Was matched to fight a red,
That came from Wil’n’all o’er the field,
And belonged to Cheeky Ned.

No finer birds in any pit,
There never yet were seen
Though the Wedgefield men declared,
Their cock was sure to win.

The cocks fought well and feathers fled,
All around about the pit,
While blood from both of them did flow,
Yet neither would submit.

At last the spangled Wedgefield bird,
Began to show defeat,
So Billy Lane he up and swore,
His cock should not be beat.

For he would fight the biggest man
That came from Willenhall town,
Then on the word old Cheeky Ned,
Got up and knocked him down.

At this the Wedgefield men began
Their comrade’s part to take
And never was a fiercer fight
Fought at a village wake.

They beat the men from Willenhall
Back to their town again,
And long will they remember,
This Wedgefield Wake and Main.

Subject: RE: ADD: Jon Raven's 'Wedgefield Wakes' lyrics
From: GUEST,Singerdave
Date: 14 May 21 - 02:12 PM

Could I be so bold to ask, can anyone provide the chords to this song. Thanks