The Song of Peterloo: heartbreaking historical tale of courage in the face of tragedy

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Dr Morgan added: “Brought together in my book for the first time, these poems have a stronger power and a louder voice. The words echo down the centuries, speaking to us of the horrors of the time in texts that cannot be ignored. Shelley’s invocation to the people to ‘shake your chains’ still speaks powerfully to us today. Despite the huge improvements in the quality and standard of living, (and the establishment of the Labour movement) we still live in a society in which some people do not have enough to eat. In the women’s marches of 2017 and protests against Trump and Brexit, we see the power of collective action. In Britain, we have a long and proud tradition of holding truth to power, using poetry, song and art as a way of reclaiming a narrative and giving voice to the unheard.

Even though the Peterloo Massacre did not lead immediately to the granting of votes for all adult males, it is of great significance throughout the nineteenth century with the establishment of the Chartist movement, trades unions and the Labour Party. In the early twentieth century, Emmeline Pankhurst continued the fight for votes – for both men and women, further evidence of Manchester as the vanguard in the fight for democracy. Ballads were crucial tools in the reporting and commemoration of Peterloo, cementing its place in working-class and radical history. In this episode, we hear History Workshop’s Kate Gibson talk to ballad experts – Dr Alison Morgan, Brian Peters and Pete Coe – about the radical history of Peterloo and its ballads. A prolonged period at war combined with the agricultural and industrial revolutions were resulting in an anonymous, industrialised state where the demands of factory life created an urban poor. People were disaffected and disenfranchised. Manchester epitomised this fundamental change of life for the labouring classes. It had excellent transport links, a damp climate and local coal mines which created the ideal centre for the burgeoning cotton industry. However, conditions for workers were appalling. They were housed in slums and they saw wages slump in the recession following the end of the Napoleonic Wars. By 1819, in a city which exemplified the success of the Industrial Revolution, people were starving and there was not a single MP 2. The poor were seeking a voiceIt is very apt that I finished reading this moving novel today as it is the anniversary of the massacre which took place on 16th August 1819. On this day, a cavalry of yeomanry brutally charged on a peaceful crowd of thousands of working-class people including young children. This resulted in the barbaric deaths of 18 innocent people. The crowd had gathered at St Peter’s Field in the centre of the city as they wanted political reform – but in a peaceful manner. The Song of Peterloo is the emotive story of Nancy Kaye, a passionate young mill worker desperate to learn to read and write. She is also desperate to keep her six-year-old son Walter away from the dangerous life of working in the mills; she wants to give him opportunities she has never had. With the stirrings of social reform, Nancy begins to feel hopeful of change and is inspired to get involved. One thing I must note about The Song Of Peterloo is that it's very much character-driven. From the beginning, you're introduced to a hefty handful of characters, 90% of whom hold some importance to the overall plot of the book. If you're like me, a lover of character development and of well-founded relationships, you'll definitely find some resonance in The Song Of Peterloo. The Peterloo massacre is widely regarded as one of the most significant events in English political history. On 16 th August 1819 60,000 men, women and children gathered in St Peter’s Field in Central Manchester to hear the radical politician Henry Hunt speak about the need for parliamentary and electoral reform. At this time, Manchester didn’t have a single MP, despite its size and its industrial success. Nancy is desperate to have a voice and others want a voice within parliament and better working conditions.

Dr Alison Morgan’s book, Ballads and Songs of Peterloo, is the first to gather more than 70 contemporary songs and poems about the massacre in a single collection. There is no denying the strong theme of family that runs throughout this story. Love and endurance are key in such times of struggle and Nancy represents a strong woman who is not afraid to stand up for what she believes in. Nancy is a credible character and I was rooting for her and her son, Walter, at the very end. Indeed, the closing of the novel was the most poignant for me, offering love and hope for the future. The Peterloo Massacre has been described as ‘Manchester’s Tiananmen Square’ and is regarded as one of the most significant moments in English political history.Watch a short video featuring performances of two of the ballads by folk trio Thrup’nny Bits and Dr Morgan discussing her research. Nancy is the heroine – a strong female lead with a hard lot in life. Her courage is admirable, but I also loved seeing the story unfold from the perspectives of the other characters, and for me this was a strength of the novel. The reader gets to see not only Nancy’s point of view, but to see her through the eyes of those around her, including Mary, Nancy’s loyal and devoted friend, and the fearsome Adelaide, defender of the status quo. It is purely awful the way people are treated and what they live through. Yet it shows how Manicians have such amazing inner strength and how they want to better themselves through this torrid time.

Thank you Carolyn O’Brien for kindly sending me a copy of your beautiful novel. I loved it and it has made me even prouder to be an adopted Mancunian. Thank You! Carolyn O'Brien's dramatic and engaging historical novel takes the events that led up to the 16th August, 1819 but keeps her focus on one young mill worker, Nancy Kay. Deserted by her drunk husband, she works in the mill and looks after an ailing mother as well as bringing up her 'delicate' son, Walter. When a child is maimed in a factory accident, the reader is drawn into a world of cruelty, inequality and the sheer will to survive. The story is told from a variety of points of view: Nancy's friend, Mary who always looks out for Nancy and her family; the reforming mill owner, Samson, recently released from the army who sets up a school for child-workers and Joseph, who falls for Nancy but is morally unscrupulous. Nancy herself is a feisty, strong heroine gradually becoming more radicalised as working conditions deteriorate and food is scarce. She wants to protect her family and the only way she can do this is by joining others who want reform.The music of life is seemingly silenced but out of the darkness that cloaks their funereal living and working conditions shines a beacon of hope embodied in the vitality and positivity of Nancy Kay. She emanates an ethereal glow that pulsates with a passion that gives belief to those around her that life will get better. The perspectives are split into past and present perspectives and, for those of you with keen eyes, I'll say the future perspectives make it very clear early on what's going to happen by the end if history hasn't informed you otherwise. The different perspectives also really help you to separate the bad from the good, i.e. the awful Joseph from the lovely Samson. In his rage-filled sonnet, ‘England in 1819’, Shelley captures the state of the nation at this key moment in time with its ‘despised’ king, ‘Godless’ religion and a ‘stabbed and starved’ people. Under the leadership of Lord Liverpool, according to the historian Robert Reid, England came ‘closer in spirit to that of the early years of the Third Reich that at any other time in history’. Such a startling comparison serves to illustrate the ruthlessness of an unpopular government, supported by an even more unpopular monarchy in a time of unprecedented change. England was undergoing a seismic shift both economically and socially. A peaceful protest at Manchester’s St Peter’s Field is brought to a bloody end by a deadly cavalry charge of sabre swinging yeomanry. The violent culmination to months of fulminating antipathy between the working and ruling classes ultimately becomes a watershed moment in the fight of the disenfranchised to have a voice and meaning to their superficially inconsequential lives.