Rough a cappella. Quickly written lyric during FAWM 2016.
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Story behind the song
A couple of years ago I came upon a census list of paupers living in Maidstone (England) in 1834. The descriptions were sparse, but all heartbreaking. Life conditions were appalling. The weekly wages of the Maidstone paupers – those who weren’t too ill to work – averaged around 1 shilling and sixpence per week (the equivalent of a few pennies).
Lyrics
The Paupers of Maidstone
V1
Young William Edmeads
A lad of sixteen
Described as a ‘bastard’
And a cripple as well
Had no fixed address
He toiled as a labourer
How the boy managed
Is anyone’s guess
Chorus
The paupers of Maidstone
A motley ensemble
Impoverished, ill, and abused
The paupers of Maidstone
Could barely survive
You might even say
They were wrongly accused
Of the crime of being alive
V2
Sweet Susan Harding
An old 43
The widow of Edward
With no one to help
But eight kids to be fed
She scrubbed others’ laundry
Morning to evening
Until her hands bled
Chorus
The paupers of Maidstone
A motley ensemble
Impoverished, ill, and abused
The paupers of Maidstone
Could barely survive
You might even say
They were wrongly accused
Of the crime of being alive
Bridge
Eighteen-thirty-four isn’t all that long gone
And everywhere are still traces
Of everything then that was wrong
Chorus
The paupers of Maidstone
A motley ensemble
Impoverished, ill, and abused
The paupers of Maidstone
Could barely survive
You might even say
They were wrongly accused
Of the crime of being alive
© 2016 Donna Devine
