At five o'clock on a Sunday neet,
There's a man comes walkin' down our street,
You may hear him out in front of the row,
Crying, “Tuppence a basket, watercress-o!”
(chorus:) Watercress-o, watercress-o,
Crying, “tuppence a basket, watercress-o!”
Oh, come on, mam, it's time for tea,
Go and get tuppence and give it to me
So I may go out in front of the row
And fetch a little basket of watercress-o,
Watercress-o, watercress-o,
And fetch a little basket of watercress-o.
Oh, kid, you don't know what you're asking of me,
If I'd got tuppence, I'd be sure to give it thee,
So thou could go out in front of the row,
And fetch a little basket of watercress-o,
Watercress-o, watercress-o,
And fetch a little basket of watercress-o.
Our dad's on strike, kid, can't you see?
He scarce brings home enough to feed us wi',
And though it pains me to tell you “no”,
You'll have to do without your watercress-o,
Watercress-o, watercress-o,
You'll have to do without your watercress-o.
We're all in the union down our street,
So maybe he won't come back another week,
For till the strike is over, he might as well know,
He'll not sell much of his watercress-o,
Watercress-o, watercress-o,
He'll not sell much of his watercress-o.
There's a man comes walkin' down our street,
You may hear him out in front of the row,
Crying, “Tuppence a basket, watercress-o!”
(chorus:) Watercress-o, watercress-o,
Crying, “tuppence a basket, watercress-o!”
Oh, come on, mam, it's time for tea,
Go and get tuppence and give it to me
So I may go out in front of the row
And fetch a little basket of watercress-o,
Watercress-o, watercress-o,
And fetch a little basket of watercress-o.
Oh, kid, you don't know what you're asking of me,
If I'd got tuppence, I'd be sure to give it thee,
So thou could go out in front of the row,
And fetch a little basket of watercress-o,
Watercress-o, watercress-o,
And fetch a little basket of watercress-o.
Our dad's on strike, kid, can't you see?
He scarce brings home enough to feed us wi',
And though it pains me to tell you “no”,
You'll have to do without your watercress-o,
Watercress-o, watercress-o,
You'll have to do without your watercress-o.
We're all in the union down our street,
So maybe he won't come back another week,
For till the strike is over, he might as well know,
He'll not sell much of his watercress-o,
Watercress-o, watercress-o,
He'll not sell much of his watercress-o.
Contributed by Flavio Poltronieri - 2015/7/16 - 22:45
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Sono passati quasi 90 anni da quel grande Sciopero dei minatori ai quali altre categorie di lavoratori inglesi offrirono il loro appoggio e in seguito al quale l'anno seguente il Parlamento approvò una legge che decretò l’assoluta illegalità degli scioperi di solidarietà.
Ho ascoltato negli anni 70 per la prima volta questa meravigliosa canzone sullo sciopero generale del 1926 nell'interpretazione del trio vocale The Young Tradition
Roger Watson era un loro amico e l'aveva composta in quel periodo basandosi sui lontani ricordi d'infanzia della nonna, figlia di un minatore.