Harri Webb (Rampage & Revel) 'The Merthyr Rising (1831)'

HARRI WEBB.

Rampage & Revel

The Merthyr Rising

       (1831)

The town was Merthyr Tydfil,

The year was thirty one,

Twas there in grim Glamorgan

That mighty deeds were done.

The alien lords of iron,

Who ground our people down,

Took refuge in their mansions

And the workers took the town.

Upon the hill of Dowlais

We raised a flag of red

We burned the cruel courthouse

And we gave our people bread.

The cavalry we ambushed,

The yeomanry they ran,

The lancers they retreated

When we met them man to man.

But soldiers kept on coming,

We met them face to face

Unarmed outside the Castle Inn,

The masters' meeting place.

And at the masters harsh command

They fired on the crowd,

And all the gutters ran with blood.

Why are such things allowed?

They hanged young Dic Penderyn

Outside of Cardiff town

And as he trod the scaffold

Heaven sent its lightnings down.

And Lewis the bold huntsman

Was banished from the land

And all the workers had to bow

To the masters' iron hand.

But still we hold in honour

The men who struck and bled

For freedom and for justice

And to give our people bread.

And the time is surely coming

When Wales must once more show

The courage of Richard LewisSo many years ago.