Men They Couldn't Hang - Ironmasters

The union met in secret on the dark side of the hill
by the light of a thousand candles
their pay had been cut, all the people come on out
and by scores they were joining Rebecca
Rebecca! Rebecca!
the people were joining Rebecca
and oh the ironmasters, they always get their way

Category:

Music

Tags:

• men they couldn't hang
• Men They Couldn't Hang
• ironmasters
• Rebecca Rios
• rebecca riots

[bbpom]

I saw this band on my 19 birthday (21 years ago -where did it go?) - and 'Curly Watts' from 'Coronation Street' sang with 'em.....Those were the days!

[al4nlo]

nice duet between a skake n a scummer get over it

[ByeTrashx]

David Moody brought me, not bad, definitely a unique sound in comparison to my normal music tastes :P

[keenor14]

Yeah, Merched Becca is nothing to do with the ironworkers.

TMTCH referencing 'her' in this song does a massive disservice to an otherwise excellent song.

[annasadbuthappy]

The Rebecca Riots were in West wales, a protest against the cost of the toll roads in relation to the depressed state of agriculture between 1839- 1841, this song relates to The Chartist uprising in the Eastern Valleys in 1839 that ended at the Westgate Hotel in Newport, the song checks the so called top towns where iron was king and controlled by the Crawshay's, The Bailey's and the Guest's still recalled in GKN, Guest Keen & Nettlefolds

[labambiboo]

its recalling the unions stabbing the miners in the back at the time of the industrial revolution.... ironmasters were the rich owners of the forge or blast furnice the miners would worked for , People were financially reliant on the forge for work , hard times ... the ironmasters cut thier pay expecting them to accept it .Rebecca was the name of the riots when they protested ... hence the people were joining Rebecca ... great song and great band :)

[labambiboo]

brilliant song , cheers for upping hard to find these days :)

[jaford2]

@B0rnles13 Oh...Well, I'm learning every day! One thing I like about TMTCH is that, like class folk acts, they have experience a genuine link to their history and communicate that imaginatively to their listeners... c.f. The Colours, Rain Steam & Speed, Company Town etc

[B0rnles13]

@jaford2 I am not totally certain about this, need a history lesson or 2, but I think it refers to the days when miners and there ilk were basically the assets of the Pit or whatever 'Ironmaster' was using them for digging canals (navvies), anyway I think the Welsh miners were not going to take the terrible conditions and wages anymore, b ut it was illegal to meet as a union, for some strange reason it was ok if the miners dressed as women and went to have meetings and the password was Rebecca

[jaford2]

So that's what the Rebecca reference was about - I never realised...