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The Wheels of the World

[ Roud 16901 ; Ballad Index Moyl200 ; Bodleian Roud 16901 ; Mudcat 36988 ; trad.]

Len Graham from Newry, Northern Ireland sang The Wheels of the World in 1983 on his Claddagh album Do Me Justice. He noted:

This early nineteenth century Belfast broadside ballad reflects the radical attitude which was prevalent among its citizens at the time. The ballad is a fairly accurate historical, political and social account of the first half of that period.

William Pitt was the Prime Minister of the time and Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh of Mount Stewart, County Down, was Secretary of State for Ireland. Castlereagh helped carry the motion for the Act of Union through the Irish House of Commons in 1800. Both were accused of wholesale bribery and corruption, and on 12 August 1822, Castlereagh committed suicide by cutting his jugular artery. The theme of corruption and bribery is continued in the third verse with a reference to Marshal Grouchy who the song says betrayed Napoleon at Waterloo on 18 June 1815.

John Mitchel, a leader of the Young Ireland Movement from Newry, County Down, was transported to Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) in 1848.

The ballad continues with some account of working conditions in the factories of the nineteenth century and finishes with a working-class attitude to the rich ruling classes. Another poet and songwriter, James Campbell, of Ballynure, County Antrim (1758–1818) reflected this hostility to the upper ranks:

Who makes the rich? The answer’s sure.
It must be the industrious poor.

The ballad is in the collection of the National Library of Ireland. The air is that of the slip jig, Mall Rua.

Frank Harte sang Wheels of the World in 1998 on his and Dónal Lunny’s Hummingbird album of Irish traditional songs of the rebellion of 1798, 1798 The First Year of Liberty. He noted:

This is a song which was written shortly after the rebellion of 1798, and which comments widely on the many political and social changes that where taking place at the time. It is one of the few songs that links the terminology of the spinning industry with both the political aspirations and the improvement of the lot of the workers, while maintaining an underlying threat of revolution.

William Pitt, the English prime minister, and Lord Castlereagh, were the two prime movers for the abolition of the native Irish parliament, not that the parliament at that time was in any way representative of the people of Ireland. The members of parliament consisted of the Protestant Ascendancy, the large landowners and their toadies, and they represented only about ten percent of the population of five million. However they held the necessary property qualifications which entitled them to vote or to sit in parliament. The vast majority of Catholics and Presbyterians were excluded from political life. The rebellion of 1798 coupled with vast amounts of gold as bribes (still referred to as ‘Pitt’s Gold’) and privileged positions given as incentives. aided William Pitt in his efforts to have the Dublin parliament dissolved and the Act of Union of 1800 passed which united the two kingdoms of England and Ireland ‘for ever’. Ireland would henceforth be ruled from London.

Napoleon is also mentioned, and as always he appears as a symbol of hope. Here there is a note of regret that if General Grouchy had not let him down at Waterloo he would have hammered Wellington. It is interesting that the same General Grouchy was on board ship with Wolfe Tone when they failed to make a landing at Bantry Bay.

John Mitchell, the ‘Young Ireland’ leader who was born in Dungiven, Co. Derry, was the son of a Presbyterian minister. He founder a newspaper called ‘The United Irishman’, and was one of the most outspoken Young Irelanders for the cause of republicanism and indeed rebellion. It was Mitchell who said of the great Irish famine, “It was God who created the potato blight but it was the English government that caused the famine.” Mitchell was arrested and sentenced to fourteen years transportation to Van Diemen’s Land, from which he was to be rescued and taken to America.

The ‘Dissenters’ or ‘Presbyterians’, were prominent as the merchant and manufacturing class in Belfast, and were foremost in seeking an equal and fair representation in Parliament, as well as demanding the removal of all the trade tariff’s which favoured the English product over those produced in Ireland. It is unusual to find in a song of this time an emphasis on the working conditions of the people. The song does, however, reflect the thinking of Jemmy Hope, the legendary weaver from Templepatrick. The effects of the French Revolution are evident in the last verse, which comments not only on the conditions of the workers but also proposes a similar solution to their situation by suggesting that the spindles should be made of steel and that ‘Liberty’ be the final solution.

Kevin Mitchell sang The Wheels of the World on his and Ellen Mitchell’s 2001 Musical Tradition double CD Have a Drop Mair. He and Rod Stradling noted:

Kevin: Adam McNaughtan collected this version in Glasgow. It is very popular in Ireland, but not normally sung with a chorus.

A longer version of this song is found in James N. Healy’s Old Irish Street Ballads, Vol 1 and comes from a mid-19^th century broadside source, of which there were several.

Granny’s Attic sang Wheels of the World in 2019 as the title track of their album Wheels of the World. They noted:

A vivid tour of the early 19^th century European political landscape and some of its key “spinners”. George [Sansome] first heard this sung by the excellent Irish singer Len Graham on his 1983 album Do Me Justice. After following it back to a broadside in the Bodleian Broadside Ballads collection online we tweaked a few things and ended up with this.

Lyrics

Kevin Mitchell sings The Wheels of the World

Come all of you true sons of Erin,
Attend to these few simple lines.
I’ll sing you a song about spinning,
It was a good trade in its time.
Some they spun worsted and yarn,
Others they spun flax and tow;
By experience, friends, you can learn
How the wheels of the world they do go.

Chorus:
So these are the wheels of world,
My friend, you must understand,
For three hundred years they’ve been spinning
Destruction all over the land.

Napoleon he was a fine spinner
For freedom did always advance,
O’er deserts and high lofty mountains
He marched the proud sons of France.
Oh Wellington he went a-spinning,
His wheels they were at Waterloo,
And if Grouchy had not have been bribed,
Then the French would have cut him in two.

William Pitt he was a fine spinner,
So was Lord Castlereagh.
They spun the Union from Ireland
And in England they hid it away.
Poor Billy eked out his existence
And vanished in Sharon’s old boat.
Lord Castlereagh saved the distance
By cutting the rim of his throat.

The factory masters are spinning,
Their wheels are turning away
And now they’re expecting their hands
For to work thirteen hours a day.
They don’t care a fig for the poor,
And heed not their sighs or their moans
They don’t care a pin if they work
’Til they spin all the flesh from their bones.

The rich they are all famous spinners
And you are very well sure
They’re always conniving a scheme
For to put down the rights of the poor.
So if you intend to go spinning
Let each of your spindles be steel,
Let liberty then be your motto,
And glory will turn your big wheel.

Frank Harte sings The Wheels of the World

So if you should chance to go spinning,
Be sure that your spindles are steel,
Let ‘Liberty’ be your bright motto
And glory will turn your big wheel.

Come all of you true sons of Ireland,
Attend to these few simple lines,
I will sing you a song about spinning,
It was a great trade in its time.
Some they spun worsted and yarns
And others they spun flax and tow.
By experience my friends you can tell
Of the wheels of the world how they go.

William Pitt now he was a great spinner
And so was old Lord Castlereagh,
They spun out the union of Ireland,
To England they shipped it away,
Poor Pitt he spun out his existence,
He took a long trip on a boat,
Old Lord Castlereagh saved the distance
By cutting the rim of his throat.

Napoleon he was a great spinner,
He freedom did always advance,
Over deserts and high lofty mountain
He marched with the brave sons of France,
But Wellington also went spinning,
His wheels they were at Waterloo,
But if Grouchy had never been bribed
Sure the French would have split him in two.

John Mitchell that brave son of Ireland
He swore that a spinner he’d be,
He set all his wheels in their motion
His dear native land to set free,
But John Bull that crafty old tyrant
On spinning he was fully bent.
And away out to Van Diemen’s island
The sons of old Ireland he sent.

The factory owners are spinning,
Their wheels they are turning away,
And now they expect the poor workers
To slave thirteen hours a day,
They don’t give a damn for the poor
And they heed not their sighs and their moans,
They don‘t give a damn if the work
Till they spin all the flesh from their bones.

The rich they are very good spinners
Of that we are all very sure,
They spend all their time now contriving
To grind down the rights of the poor,
So if you should chance to go spinning
Be sure that your spindles are steel,
Let liberty be your bright motto
And glory will turn your big wheel.