“Four Pence a Day” Sheet Music (pdf).
“Four Pence a Day” Karaoke (midi with lyrics).
Lyrics: Anonymous.
Tune: Anonymous.
The ore is waiting in the tubs;
The snow’s upon the fell;
Canny folks are sleeping yet,
But lead is reet to sell.
Come, my little washer lad;
Come, let’s away:
We’re bound down to slavery
For four pence a day.
It’s early in the morning;
We rise at five o’clock;
The little slaves come to the door
To knock, knock, knock.
Come, my little washer lad;
Come, let’s away:
It’s very hard to work
For four pence a day.
My father was a miner
And lived down in the town;
’Twas hard work and poverty
That always kept him down.
He aimed for me to go to school,
But brass he couldn’t pay,
So I went to the washing rake
For four pence a day.
Four pence a day, my lad,
And very hard to work,
And never a pleasant look
From a gruffy-looking Turk.
His conscience, it may fail,
And his heart, it may give way.
Then, he’ll raise us our wages
To nine pence a day.