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Song, Folk Music and Folk Customs
Industrial change on Teesside
Old William
Industrial change on Teesside in the steel industry.
The busy foundries now lie idle and desolate.
Old William is retired, and reflects on his past working life.
1
I was over by the Ironmasters’ district
Now it’s not the place that once I used to know
The works are still they’re silent the railway sidings empty
And the only sign of life there was a crow
And the only sign of life there was a crow.
2
For some time now I’ve been working round the country
Working here and working there and everywhere
When I left here times were better there was work enough and plenty
And of overtime there was a goodly share
And of overtime there was a goodly share.
3
I met old William down beside the river
All his working life a foundryman by trade
He talked about his workmates now scattered round the county
And about the handsome wages they’d been paid
And about the handsome wages they’d been paid.
4
He leaned against a bollard by the dockside
Where once the ships would moor from far and wide
“This river once was crowded with ore-boats by the dozen
But now there’s not a single one in sight
But now there’s not a single one in sight.”
5
I left old William alone to do his thinking
About the better days not long ago
Through the Ironmasters’ district I made my way that morning
Where the only sign of life there was a crow
Where the only sign of life there was a crow.
Large music notation (pdf)