The Three Jacks: Music
The Work o' The Weavers / Peadar Clancy
(The Three Jacks)
2007-10-11
The Three Jacks / Trad
The revolutions in France and America in the late 18th century were shadowed by less successful revolts across Europe which had as their focus what Tom Paine called “The Rights of Man.”
In Scotland, there was an abortive revolt in 1820, termed the “Radical War,” which was savagely put down by the English government. The leaders – all of whom were hanged or transported - were hand-loom weavers: among the most highly-skilled of the manual workers of the time.
This song, “The Work o’ The Weavers,” was written by one of the luckier weaver who lived a long life and died in the 1860’s in Forfarshire. It has as its theme the dignity of labor and marks the emergence of the early seeds of Socialist thought.
The “turn around” between verses and the full instrumental is a traditional Irish tune, “Peadar Clancy,” that Jack Stamates suggested we “fold in.”