2 - Why should the Landlords have the Best Songs? Thomas Spence and the Subversion of Popular Song

Summary

Introduction

This chapter is devoted to the English Radical Thomas Spence and his use of popular song as a medium for the dissemination of his ideas. After an account of Spence's early life in Newcastle upon Tyne and his activities in London, it goes on to discuss the importance of his ‘free and easy’ gatherings in taverns as a forum for radical debate at a time when political meetings were outlawed. A number of Spence's songs are discussed, demonstrating how he parodied popular and/or patriotic songs. Although Spence used other media, including graffiti and coins, to propagate his message in ways that would evade sanctions, I argue that song was particularly important to him because, as a popular medium, it created a convivial atmosphere that helped to bond his followers.

Spence's Early Life and Influences

Thomas Spence was born on 21 June 1750 on the Quayside, which was then one of the poorest areas of Newcastle upon Tyne. His father Jeremiah was a native of Aberdeen who had settled in Newcastle some eleven years previously, working as a netmaker and shoemaker and later becoming a hardware dealer. Although this places him in the artisan/small business rather than the labouring class, the family could not have been wealthy, since Thomas was one of nineteen children. All that we know about Thomas Spence's formal education is that, according to P. M. Ashraf, he ‘began his working life at his father's trade of netmaking at the age of ten after some schooling’. However, by Spence's own account in The Important Trial of Thomas Spence Jeremiah Spence took an active part in his sons' education:

My father used to make my brothers and me read the Bible to him while working in his business, and at the end of every chapter, encouraged us to give our opinions on what we had just read. By these means I acquired an early habit of reflecting on every occurrence which passed before me, as well as on what I read.