‘Prison Rhymes’ was first published in 1919 order to raise money for Bob’s nascent Prohibition and Reform Party. This organisation, which mixed his fervour for the temperance movement with that of socialism, formed after he his cut his teeth working for Edwin Scrymgeour’s Scottish Prohibition Party. The reason for the split was simply because of Scrymgeour’s ‘religious prattling’. He was too much of a ‘Holy Joe’ and that was an anathema to Bob.
However, that’s not to say that Bob rejected the Bible entirely. He became more and more familiar with it after long spells in jail with the good book as compulsory reading. In his opinion the Bible could be considered, “a very valuable book for left wing propagandists.” Given that several of the verses in ‘Prison Rhymes’ are socialist adaptations straight from the pages of ‘Hymns Ancient and Modern’ it seems that Bob wasn’t averse to a rousing singsong either.
Today’s poem, as is obvious, from the title is a rewriting of the popular Christmas carol. However rather than the birth of the Messiah it celebrates something closer to Bob’s heart- International Worker’s Day. In truth, this is one of the weaker poems in the collection. However, I do think it’s worth reproducing indicative as it is of the links between faith and communism.
Tune- ‘O Come All Ye Faithful.’
Lo! on the greensward, romp the men and maidens,
Oh come ye that labour
For mankind’s advancement,
O haste ye, O haste ye, afield today,
O, come let us be joyful,
O, come let us be joyful,
O, come let us be joyful,
This May Day.
Long, long have ye laboured
O’er the dismal valley,
Through swamp and morass, a darksome way:
Now shines the sun forth, lightning fairer pathway.
O, come let us be joyful,
O, come let us be joyful,
O, come let us be joyful,
This May Day.
Sing, sing in glad chorus
Of toilsome journey ended,
Of light, love, and laughter upon our way;
No master serve we, each to each is brother.
O, come let us be joyful,
O, come let us be joyful,
O, come let us be joyful,
This May Day.
Breaking the Fetters 