John Kirkpatrick
Roy Bailey
John Kirkpatrick: https://towerseyfestival.bandcamp.com/track/on-the-road-to-freedom
https://towerseyfestival.bandcamp.com/track/on-the-road-to-freedom
On the fifteenth day of August In Eighteen Hundred and Forty-Two The people are out a-march And you’d be marching too Marching into Hanley town To show we shan’t be beaten down Chase the masters round and round On the road to freedom Oh the police will not contain us (in 1842) No righteous soul will blame us For they’d be marching too The infantrymen are going to try We’ll leave them standing wondering why We can’t be stopped, we’re flying so high On the road to freedom Oh there’s more of us marching with every stride (in 1842) The masters’ doors we’ll fling them wide And all go marching through By Shelton Bridge we’ll carry along On to Stoke we’ll take our song And now we’re marching thousand strong On the road to freedom We who are the labouring poor (in 1842) Come hammering at the rich man’s door As we go marching through It’s time they gave a decent share Time they saw the load we bear Time we showed them how to care On the road to freedom Oh we’re marching away from slavery (in 1842) From hunger and from poverty And you’d be marching too We’ll smash the shackles that hold us down Smash the chains where we’ve been bound Smash the masters too the ground On the road to freedom On the fifteenth day of August (in 1842) The people are out a-marching And you’d be marching too The taste of victory in the air The soldiers only stand and stare On the road to Burslem Square On the road to freedom