Hard Times of Old England

Come all brother tradesmen that travel along
Oh, pray come and tell me where the trade is all gone
Long time I have travelled and cannot find none
(in 3/4) D - - A / G D G A / D G A - 
And it's oh the hard times of Old England
In Old England very hard times
G D A - / G A D - 
Provisions you buy at the shop, it is true
But, if you've no money, there's none there for you
So, what's a poor man and his family to do? 

If you go to a shop and you ask for a job
They will answer you there with a shake and a nod
So, that's enough to make a man turn out and rob

You will see the poor tradesman a-walking the street
From morning til night, for employment to seek
And scarcely they've got any shoes to their feet

Our soldiers and sailors have just come from war
Been fighting for their Queen and their country, 'tis sure
Come home to be starved, better stayed where they were

And now to conclude and to finish my song
Let us hope that these hard times they will not last long
I hope soon to have occasion to alter my song

Oh, the good times of Old England
In Old En-ge-land jolly good times

This song was originally composed in the 18th century. It was was part of the family repertoire and recorded by Ron Copper in 1963.

Billy Bragg learned the song from the Copper Family and recorded a new version in a recording called The Imagined Village.

Lyrics as adapted by Roy Bailey:

Come all working people who travel alone
And pray come and tell me where the work has all gone
Long time I have travelled and never found none

Provisions you buy from the shop, it is true 
But if you've got no money there's none there for you
So what are poor folk and their families to do

You go to a shop and you ask for a job
They answer you there with a shake and a nod
It's enough to make poor folk to turn out and rob

You see working people a-walking the street
From morning till night for employment to seek
And scarcely they have any shoes to their feet

Soldiers and sailors have just come from war
Been fighting for Queen and for country, sure
Come home to be starved, far better have stayed where they were

So come all working people and stand to your ground
If we all join together we can turn it around
Freedom is turning the world upside down

Final chorus:
Sing, oh the good times of old England
In old England, very good times!