Lyr Add: Cable Street (London 1936) The Young'uns

Subject: Lyr Add: Cable Street (London 1936) The Young'uns
From: Felipa
Date: 14 Nov 21 - 02:45 PM

see https://www.antiwarsongs.org/canzone.php?lang=en&id=57690

"Told through the words of 16 year-old Stockton-born Johnny Longstaff who was one of an estimated 100,000 people who defied the police to stand in solidarity with the Jewish people of London’s East End, blocking the route of a British Union of Fascists march on October 4, 1936."

and https://theyounguns.co.uk/johnnylongstaff

https://www.theyounguns.co.uk/johnnylongstaff/app

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2020/feb/16/the-ballad-of-johnny-longstaff-review-younguns-northern-stage


CABLE STREET

On the fourth of October, 1936, I was only a lad of 16
But I stood beside men who were threescore and ten and every age in between
We were dockers, and teachers, busmen, engineers, and boys with no jobs to do
We were women and children, equal in union, Atheists, Christians, and Jews
And we had so much to lose.

For with Hitler in Germany, Franco in Spain, we knew what fascism meant
So when Mosley came tramps in, denouncing the Jews, to the east end of London we went
For I’d heard much refugees who’d fled over the seas, Germans, Italians, and Jews
And I knew their despair for what they’d seen there, and I couldn’t let them be abused
We had so much to lose.

Now, 3,000 fascists, their uniforms black, had set out to march on that day
And 6,000 policemen intended to greet them, by making clear the way
But we were there ready, and nerves they were steady, 100,000 en masse,
And we planted our feet along Cable Street, and we sang, ‘they shall not pass!’
We sang, ‘they shall not pass!’

Then all us young lads, we were sent to the side streets, to stop the police breaking through
And with swift hands we made strong barricades out of anything we could use
And they came to charge us, but they couldn’t budge us, with fists, batons, and hooves
With as good as we got, we withstood the lot, for we would not be moved,
We would not be moved.

And yes, there was violence, and yes, there was blood, and I saw things a lad shouldn’t see
But I’ll not regret the day I stood, and London stood with me
And when the news spread the day had been won, and Mosley was limping away
There were shouts, there were cheers, there was songs, there was tears, and aye, they’re borne to this day
And we all swore then, we’d stand up again, for as long as our legs could,
And that when we were gone, our daughters and sons would stand where we stood

Was the first time I’d heard two tiny words said by every woman and man
Now I’ll say them still, and I always will: No pasarán!
=====================
Song composed and sung by The Young'uns as one of a series of songs about Johnny Longstaff, who went on to volunteer in the Spanish Civil War. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG-w_ZCwOio

Sing United on Remembrance Sunday 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkL94ZInmO8

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Cable Street (London 1936) The Young'uns
From: Felipa
Date: 14 Nov 21 - 02:52 PM

Another song about the battle of Cable Street is The Ghosts of Cable Street recorded by The Men They Couldn't Hang (link to youtube)

in the Digital Tradition database https://mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=9658

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Cable Street (London 1936) The Young'uns
From: Felipa
Date: 14 Nov 21 - 02:59 PM

Johnny's son Duncan Longstaff posted on Mudcat in the past https://mudcat.org/Detail.CFM?messages__Message_ID=2902618

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Cable Street (London 1936) The Young'uns
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 15 Nov 21 - 06:30 AM

See also BBC Who Do You Think You Are? Series 18: 3. Alex Scott
First shown 26 Oct 2021. Available for 11 months.

Presenter and former footballer Alex Scott delves into both sides of her family history.
Having known nothing of her Jewish ancestry on her mum’s side, Alex is proud to discover
that her great grandad was at the Battle of Cable Street in London’s East End in 1936,
facing down fascist followers of Oswald Mosley.

As the programme makes clear, the battle was with the police who wanted to clear the route for the Mosley procession.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Cable Street (London 1936) The Young'uns
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 15 Nov 21 - 10:30 AM

Thanks for this.
I wasn't aware of the happenings in the East End until reading this and the links.
I only opened the thread because I recognised 'Cable Street' as a police house for the City Watch in Pratchett's Discworld series. I know he picked references from all over, so it's good to see the origin of this one.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Cable Street (London 1936) The Young'uns
From: GUEST,Nick Dow
Date: 15 Nov 21 - 11:43 AM

I went to school with the son of a Jewish Chemist, who battled in Cable Street. He was a fine man, as is his family. I'm still in touch with my friend.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Cable Street (London 1936) The Young'uns
From: GUEST,Joe G
Date: 15 Nov 21 - 12:22 PM

The Young 'Uns recent theatre presentation of The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff was brilliant - we saw it at York Theatre Royal. If it tours again and comes anywhere near you do go to see it!

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Cable Street (London 1936) The Young'uns
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 22 Nov 21 - 02:02 PM

Monday 22 Nov 2021 7.30pm BBC2 Great British Railway Journeys Series 11 Episode 12 Limehouse to Rochford

Michael Portillo alights at Limehouse in east London for Cable Street, which became the focus of Britain's fight against fascism in the 1930s.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Cable Street (London 1936) The Young'uns
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 01 Jan 22 - 06:05 PM

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0011l0r

BBC Radio 4 Drama Mosley Must Fall Monday 15 Nov 2021
"It's 1936, and as political unrest sweeps across Europe, the spectre of fascism is looming over the East End. One Irish family, living in Whitechapel, finds itself divided as Oswald Mosley and his fascist followers prepare to march through the heart of East London. When the march descends on Cable Street, an area highly populated by the Jewish and Irish working class, loyalties are tested as two brothers fight to make their mark in a historic battle."

As I understand it, the battle was between the residents who had blocked the route of the march and the police attempting to clear it.

http://www.cablestreet.uk/ The Jewish community of East London and its allies blocked the streets in order to prevent Oswald Mosley and his British Union of Fascists marching through. The Fascists were subjected to a humiliating defeat as the police found themselves unable to clear a path.

https://lookup.london/cable-street-mural/ Local activist Phil Piratin recalls that “It was along Cable Street that from the roofs and the upper floors, people, ordinary housewives, and elderly women too, were throwing down milk bottles and other weapons and all kinds of refuse that they didn’t any longer want in the house onto the police.” By late afternoon Sir Philip Game, the Commissioner of Police, instructed Moseley that he must turn back towards the West End and disperse his crowds. It was a victory for the East End.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Cable Street (London 1936) The Young'uns
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 06 Apr 24 - 11:06 AM

The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff - 2022
Radio 3
Award-winning north east folk band The Young'uns - Sean Cooney and David Eagle with Jack Rutter (for Michael Hughes) present their production of The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff, recorded in front of a live audience in their hometown of Stockton-on-Tees.
It's the true story of one man's journey from unemployment, through the Hunger Marches of the 1930s, the mass trespass movement and the Battle of Cable Street, to fighting fascism in the Spanish Civil War. A touching and often hilarious musical adventure, its themes of war, hunger, poverty and displacement have a powerful resonance almost a hundred years on.

Producer: Elizabeth Foster
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0016rh2

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& mudcat thread 2022
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