THE LORDS OF LAND AND MONEY.
BY GERALD MASSEY.

Sons of Old England, from the sod,
Up-lift the noble brow!
Gold apes a mightier power than God,
And wealth is worshipt now!
In all these toil-enobled lands
Ye have no heritage;
They snatch the fruit of youthful hands,
The staff from weary age.
O tell them in their Palaces,
These Lords of Land and Money!
They shall not kill the poor like bees,
To rob them of Life’s honey.
Thro’ long dark years of blood and tears,
We’ve toil’d like branded slaves,
Till Wrong’s red hand hath made a land
Of paupers, prisons, graves!
But our long-sufferance endeth now,
Within the souls of men
The fruitful buds of promise blow,
And Freedom lives again!
O tell them in their Palaces,
These Lords of Land and Money!
They shall not kill the poor like bees,
To rob them of Life’s honey.
Too long have Labour’s nobles knelt
Before exalted “Rank;”
Within our souls the iron is felt ---
We hear our fetters clank!
A glorious voice goes throbbing forth
From millions stirring now,
Who yet before these God’s of earth
Shall stand with unblencht brow.
O tell them in their Palaces,
These Lords of Land and Money!
They shall not kill the poor like bees,
To rob them of Life’s honey.

Title:The Lords of Land and Money

Author:Gerald Massey

Publication:The Blackburn Times

Published in:Blackburn

Date:September 10, 1864

Keywords:politics, radical, slavery

Commentary

This radical song by the former Chartist Gerald Massey is framed in mythical terms and, common to many Chartist lyrics, relies more on medieval than industrial imagery. The opposing forces here are ‘Lords of Land’ and ‘Sons of Old England’, and there is a simple binary presented between two classes of rich and poor. This poem is an example of the editorial distinction of the Blackburn Times during this period, which published a much greater proportion of angry, radical pieces than equivalent newspapers. – SR