O the Roast Beef of Old England: New Version

DESCRIPTION: "I'll sing you a song it shall not be too long, If you go for your rights, you will not think it wrong." Our fathers owned the land and fought off their foes. But now the rich have taken the land and left workers with nothing. Workers should unionize
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1979 (Palmer)
KEYWORDS: derivative hardtimes labor-movement
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Palmer-EnglishCountrySongbook, #35, "O the Roast Beef of Old England: New Version" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1481
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Roast Beef of Old England" (tune and inspiration)
NOTES [41 words]: I find no evidence that this was ever actually sung; it's a labor parody of "The Roast Beef of Old England." Palmer doesn't give a date for it, but a time around the 1880s seems likely. He seems to credit the words to "Benjamin Britten." Right. - RBW
Last updated in version 3.7
File: PECS035

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