By scrolling back to the post on here dated 2nd April 2018 you will see a brief summary of the Cinderloo Riots that took place in what is now Telford in 1821.
The text of my ballad Farewell Tom (Sam Hayward’s Blues) is in that post, along with a link to a recording of it by Mary Keith.
I have since smoothed out the syllable count at one or two places in the ballad, and Mary has kindly done a second recording at a slightly slower tempo.
So here are the links to both versions. Let me know which you prefer, via email, Facebook message or the comment / message box on this post!
Mary Keith has a band called Mary and the Mudlarks, they do a great live show and Mary has a rich background in music, including direction at the New Vic in Stoke and at Birmingham Rep.
Mary (with the accordion) and the Mudlarks
The Cinderloo project featured a well attended walk on August 11th, along part of the original marchers’ route in Dawley. Sainsbury’s car park now covers the site of the old Cinder Hill slag heaps, so I declaimed the ballad just before a jobsworth security man threw us off the site…not quite Colonel Cludde and the Shropshire Yeomanry but it was a nicely timed reminder that when it comes to power relations the more things change the more they stay the same…
Ted x