England’s Luddites remembered

This music video from the UK is called Horrible Histories – Luddite Song.

By Peter Lazenby in Britain:

Luddites to be celebrated 200 years on from revolt

Tuesday 25 September 2012

A celebration marking the 200th anniversary of the Luddite rebellion is to be staged next month in a former textile town in the heart of the Yorkshire Pennines.

Among Those Dark Satanic Mills will be performed by the Hammer and Shears Company, a group of 20 folk enthusiasts who play, perform and write music, songs and poems in Hebden Bridge.

Organisers said: “They have come together to ensure that the 200th anniversary of the Luddite uprising in west Yorkshire is remembered.

“The croppers and weavers were skilled people whose way of life was being threatened by the new machines that were being introduced in many mills.

“Faced with deepening poverty they formed themselves into groups that became known as ‘The Luddite Movement,’ whose cause was to fight for working rights and there were groups active all over the country.”

In April 1812 a group of men armed with pistols and hammers attacked Cartwright’s Rawfolds Mill near Cleckheaton outside Leeds.

In response the government sent in thousands of troops to areas where there was trouble and later that year machine-breaking became punishable by death.

At one stage there were more troops in Yorkshire and Lancashire than were serving in the Napoleonic War.

Among Those Dark Satanic Mills tells the story of the Luddites’ actions and the tragic outcome for many of those involved.

The event takes place on Sunday October 14 at 3pm in Hebden Bridge town hall.

Tickets go on sale on September 27 at the town hall and are also available from the local visitor centre.