Political

A Hare-Raising Tale Of Woe

Posted on by PeskyQuietMan

 

Come gather close young leverets

and I’ll tell you a tale of woe

It’s all about man’s fall from grace

and his journey down below

It started out with Adam and Eve

but that you already know

So I’ll skip that part and here I’ll start;

Not so long ago…

 

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Angels wielding flaming swords

stopped man’s return to paradise

for they knew well, to keep man out,

as he’d stay at far too high a price

Man’s mind thinks long and hard on this

and devises such a cunning plan

He’ll dig deep down to the depths of Earth

then resurface in the unspoiled land

 

And as he digs he discovers coal

which he burns for steam to speed his goal

soon he sees a precious sight,

diamonds that twinkle like starlight

then gold he finds, so pliable,

so fashionable, and valuable

and oil of which he burned as well

to power his way straight down to hell

 

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Now the moral of this tale of woe

clean energy is the way to go

let’s create a paradise here on earth

and this prophecy will never see birth

The ‘Elite’

Posted on by PeskyQuietMan

They never accuse

but merely imply

as they’d surely be sued

if proven a lie

then after a time

with the surface of fact

they stay deathly silent

and never retract

a ploy often used

by the elite one percent

to force the agenda

and spread discontent

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The Seven Jarrow Martyrs

Posted on by PeskyQuietMan

To be taken away from your loved ones & friends

Wives and children left, with no means to an end

Just for the need for a safer workplace

After forty-two souls were lost at the face

 

To toil eighteen-hours, hard at the seam

supply coal to the furnace for industrial steam

and for tools and equipment, the bosses you pay

then as spark strikes gas, man and child blown away

 

To be thrown in into gaol just for airing concern

then ‘tried’ in a courtroom, judge paid by the crown

the outcome of which is already decided

guilty, conspiracy, life sentence, deported

 

To be chained in iron then stolen away

chattel shipped to Australia, to Botany Bay

to suffer not seeing your beloved one more time

and all that you did was speak up, not a crime

 

Jarrow child miners

I was asked by a good friend if I’d write a poem on the Seven Jarrow Martyrs, which happened two years before the six Tolpuddle Martyrs were deported.

I found this information online…

‘In 1830 at the Alfred Pit in Jarrow 23 men and 19 boys were killed when there was an explosion in the Bensham seam’

‘In 1832 the Jarrow pitmen members of the Northern Union of Pitmen objected to conditions of working in the Alfred Pit and went on strike to air their grievances.
There was no incitement or violence, but seven of the most intelligent strikers were selected and put in Durham Jail.
They were men of good character but were found guilty of conspiracy by a Durham Judge.
They were sentenced to the penal colonies for life, and transported in irons to Botany Bay, New South Wales, Australia.
Leaving their wives and children in Jarrow to fend for themselves’

Thomas Hepburn who had worked at the Jarrow Alfred Pit and was now working at Hetton Colliery had formed the Northern Union of Pitmen around 1830/31, which was colloquially known as Hepburn’s Union.
(It was said the first Miners Banner ever made was unfurled at Jarrow at this time)
Some of the first industrial action undertaken by this union, under Hepburn’s guidance was to go on strike to seek improved conditions.
In this aim the strike was largely successful, with working hours being reduced from around 18 hours a day to a 12 hour shift, and ensuring that payment for labour was always in money, ending the system of “Tommy Shops” whereby the miners had to purchase provisions from a shop either owned or preferred by the colliery owner, with wages being confiscated to pay off the shop owner before the employee could directly receive them.

Info from http://jarrowlife.co.uk/thread-799.html