Alma Wright
This song I learned from the singing of Bill Price Alma Wright
1
We bid you welcome brother debtor
To this poor but merry place
Where no bailiff, ‘bum’ or ‘setter’
Dare to show his frightful face.
2
But, kind Sir, as you're a stranger
Down your garnish you must lay,
Or your coat will be in danger
You must either strip or pay.
3
Ne'er repine at your confinement,
From your childer and your wife
For wisdom lies in true resignment
Through the varied scenes of life.
4
What was it made great Alexander
Weep at his unhappy fate?
Was it because he could not wander
Through this wide strong prison gate.
5
For every island is a prison
Strongly guarded by the sea.
Kings and princes for that reason
Prisoners are as well as we.
Jewish debtor
Brief discussion on the debtor’s prison. Alma explains how one of the debtors was a Jew who managed to find funds from friends!
Garnish
The ‘garnish’ mentioned in this song was a half-crown charged as entrance money, and spent among the inmates.
As the song implies, if you did not pay the half-crown your coat would be taken and sold to pay for the ‘garnish.’
All was not misery within the gaol. Beer-drinking was freely indulged in and games such as skittles and quoits were played.