I have a ring-bound book of Jock Purdon’s poems and songs that I am sent back to these days. Jock’s were songs that covered a great swathe of social changes on this island in the twentieth century. Songs like ‘Farewell to Cotia’ are brilliant reminders of the crushing effect of national economics on individuals and communities that depended on something like the mining industry. Then there’s songs called ‘Privatisation’ and songs that detail the the Labour party losing its way and the growth of America as the dominant superpower in the Twentieth Century with its clandestine wars and new colonial enterprises.
These songs (and poems) were, for me, not things that lived only on the page. I used to go to Birtley Folk Club twenty years ago and sat across the small room from Jock as he sang these living songs. These stirring and relevant songs. Most memorable on those evenings was the way that the entire room joined in on his songs in full harmony. Real proper harmony. Now, it helped that Jock only used about four tunes (that I heard). But, consider the effect of a full room bursting into life with harmonic splendour on the key lines (sometimes not even the refrains, but key individual, unrepeated lines). Birtley was the only folk club I ever went to that wasn’t terrible.
I was reminded of all this by seeing a poster for Jock (apparently) having read at the Morden Tower. God, I bet that was good. Anyhow, if you want to know more about Jock’s body of work, you could do worse than listen to this:
andyhopkins 
would you have the words to the miners tale that jack wrote. im trying to recollect it to sing later in the year for a group of us old codgers but i get maybe half way through and lose the plot
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I’m just looking in ‘The Echo of Pit Boots’ contents list. Is that the exact title? I can see plenty of mining songs, E.g. ‘The Striker’s Tale’ and ‘The Miner’s Dawn’, but not that as a title. Can you give me any more to go on?
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many thanks for your swift reply. its called the miners tale and its about the 1984/85 miners strike i think t0wards the end of it so 1985 and is a damming indigent of thatcher .
the words i have trouble remembering but i do recall it been a rather strong song that really told the truth about that evil woman . i seem to remember that billy bragg mentioned it on a programme he did on the BBC maybe just on the radio im not sure . i know its really kept in my mind for so many years but as im now getting on a bit the words are fading somewhat.
it starts i think as follows.
in our troubled coalfields I’m sorry for to say privation is increasing every day/
the striker and his family they suffer something sour and for the cause of this coal strike I lay at thatcher liar .
that’s seems to be first bit of it and I’m trying to remember more of as I can . know doubt it will come over time
I know is a long shot of its one of his later songs/poems and the strike really took a lot out of the miners i know it did my family .
many thanks for your reply as they form part of our oral history that seems to be fading these days
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Hi Paul – I’ll use your clues to find it if it’s in the book! I’ll need some clear time over the next few days but I’ll have a go. It’ll be a pleasure to do. If you’re happy to email carlislepoetrysymposium@gmail with your email I’ll let you know how I get on! Andy
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Hi Paul – sorry this took me ages. If you can email the email account for the Symposium (carlislepoetrysymposium@gmail.com) I can send you a pdf. It’s on p57 of JP’s ‘The Echo of Pit Boots: Pitwork, Politics and Poetry’.
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Forgot to say – it’s ‘The Striker’s Tale’.
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