As I walked through the town of Portsmouth
I heard three wretchd men to say:
“Farewell our dearest wives and children;
We can with you no longer stay.
At Monmouth we were tried for treason
Where we was condemned to die.
And rich and poor thrughout the nation
All to save our lives did try.
That fatal day we'll long remember,
It cause distress in every mind.
It was the third of last November
Eighteen hundred and thirty-nine.
We anxiously each hour expected that we
Some messengers would see.
All to our dismal cells approaching
With the sound of liberty.
But oh, alas, we was mistaken
All our hopes have proved in vain.
And we are banished forwver,
Never to return again.”
They sadly left the town of Portsmouth
To be chained through dreadful gales.
Leaving England far behind them,
Ending their days in New South Wales.
I heard three wretchd men to say:
“Farewell our dearest wives and children;
We can with you no longer stay.
At Monmouth we were tried for treason
Where we was condemned to die.
And rich and poor thrughout the nation
All to save our lives did try.
That fatal day we'll long remember,
It cause distress in every mind.
It was the third of last November
Eighteen hundred and thirty-nine.
We anxiously each hour expected that we
Some messengers would see.
All to our dismal cells approaching
With the sound of liberty.
But oh, alas, we was mistaken
All our hopes have proved in vain.
And we are banished forwver,
Never to return again.”
They sadly left the town of Portsmouth
To be chained through dreadful gales.
Leaving England far behind them,
Ending their days in New South Wales.
envoyé par Bernart Bartleby - 28/4/2015 - 14:36
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Parole di anonimo autore, certamente un militante cartista.
Musica di Dave Moran, del gruppo folk The Halliard
Testo trovato su Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music)
In un disco senza titolo realizzato nel 1968 dal terzetto The Halliard (Dave Moran, Nic Jones e Nigel Paterson) insieme a Jon Raven (fratello di Michael Raven, poeta, musicista ed etnomusicologo, e padre di Paul Raven, bassista dei Ministry e dei Killing Joke).
Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales, novembre 1839.
Il movimento Cartista, che si batteva per una riforma del parlamentarismo in senso egualitario, aveva appena viste respinte le proprie richieste e, anzi, aveva subìto l’arresto di alcuni suoi dirigenti accusati di cospirazione contro la Corona. Gli animi erano molto accesi e si verificarono parecchi disordini in tutto il regno.
A Newport alcune migliaia di cartisti, con alla testa i dirigenti John Frost, Zephaniah Williams e William Jones, si armarono e mossero verso il Westgate Hotel dove si riteneva fossero stati condotti alcuni cartisti arrestati dalla polizia. L’attacco si risolse in una carneficina: 22 cartisti rimasero uccisi dei poliziotti e dei soldati che il sindaco aveva chiamato a rinforzo. Al massacro seguì la repressione: 200 militanti furono arrestati e i capi furono processati e condannati all’ergastolo nelle colonie penali australiane.
Nel 1960 a Newport fu intitolata una piazza a John Frost, capo della rivolta del 1839, e nel 1978 lì fu realizzato un grande murale a mosaico, opera dell’artista Kenneth Budd, che però è stato purtroppo eliminato nel 2013.