It’s the middle of summer in 1913
Down in the clay country
We’ve got breakers with dubbers on shillings just eighteen
Down in the clay country my bonny boys, down in the clay country
We want a union who’ll pay us two times within a month
Down in the clay Country
And an hour from twelve to sit down and eat our lunch
Down in the clay country my bonny boys, down in the clay country
With the industry booming, there’s money held in gold
But there’s no money to pay us, that’s what we’re being told
24th of July there’s twenty five men out
Soon one hundred and fifty, then more if we do shout.
So the men at Carne Stents were the first to down their tools
Then Gunheath and Penhale would follow Vincent’s rule
The men swelled in number as they travelled round the pits
Hallew, Garker, Carclaze and Wheal hope must end their shift
A clay pit with no workers is a quiet, eerie place
Church towers of ivory cut into the rock face
As the weeks turned to months food and money it ran out
And explosions and violence filled the void of working shouts
You’ll house and feed a policeman from Glamorgan they said
But to house and feed the riot squad I’d sooner see them dead
There’s Women and children gone to Bugle for the show
But there’s policemen with batons who will beat them till blood flows
Batons they fell on the ones who couldn’t flee
But the policemen will rest well, they’ll rest with you and me
So after six weeks of hunger some workers have gone back
With no stomach for violence and a fear of the batons crack
By the fifth of October the striking it was done
Nothing was gained and the companies had won
By the coming of Summer the tools were down once more
They had to swap them for guns and leave to fight a war
And with the clayworkers gone, the wages they were raised
All the strikers demands met, but who would live to see good days?
Notes
The Clay Worker’s Strike of 1913
I wrote this strike song in the style of a ballad around 2009 whilst looking for and struggling to find songs about the China Clay Industry. I was studying on the Newcastle-based Folk Music degree and putting together my final recital, which was a concert of music and song all inspired by or telling the story of the various Cornish industries which have flourished over the years. I came across the story of the 1913 China Clay Strike and couldn’t believe the drama and incredibility of the facts I was reading about. In the summer of 1913, the entire China Clay Industry went on strike in hopes of better pay and working conditions. Although the industry was booming, some clay workers were still being paid as little as 18d for a week’s hard labour. It was a very violent time in the clay district, with intimidation and violence being used to make sure every person in the industry came out on strike. The strike came to a head when the specially trained riot squad brought in from Glamorgan (and billeted with the striking clayworkers!) charged on a group of strikers including women and children.
“The batons they fell on the ones who couldn’t flee
Down in the clay country,
But policemen will rest well, they’ll rest with you and me.
Down in the clay country my bonny boys, down in the clay country”
The strike lasted for months but was ultimately unsuccessful, and the starving, broken clay workers went back to work. The following summer saw the outbreak of World War One and the men left the clay pits once again.
Richard Trethewey
See also: Songs of the Clay Country