The General Strike of 1926

 Idris Davies was born in the small town of Rhymney in Wales and went to work in the coal mines at an early age.

 With World War I having just ended, times were financially tough all over the world.  The coal industry in Great Britain had been hit very hard, with the amount of coal in the ground having been depleted and other countries (like the USA) getting into the coal industry as well.  The owners of the coal mines, who had banded together, lowered miners’ paychecks to continue to make the steady profit that they always had. The coal miners rejected this proposal and threatened to strike. All over Great Britain, worker unions planned to strike as well in a show of sympathy for the coal miners. The strike lasted nine days before the coal miners had to go back to work to feed their families. In response, the mine owners fired many miners (to save money), cut wages in half for the miners, and increased their working hours.

 Idris Davies was one of the workers who lost his job. He wrote the poem “The Bells of Rhymney” in response to the failed strike. It was in the form of a popular British nursery rhyme called “Oranges and Lemons” and expressed the viewpoint of the miners and the hatred of the mine owners’ greed.

Oranges and Lemons (All of the church bells here are around London)

Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St. Clement's. You owe me five farthings, say the bells of St. Martin's. When will you pay me? say the bells of Old Bailey. When I grow rich, say the bells of Shoreditch. When will that be? say the bells of Stepney. I do not know, says the great bell of Bow.

 The bells in Davies’ poem come from the churches all over Wales, with each set of bells having its own characteristics. Pete Seeger set the poem to music in 1958. It has since been recorded by many artists, with the line about the pink bells being often omitted for reasons of lyrical form.

The Bells of Rhymney

O what can you give me? Say the sad bells of Rhymney. Is there hope for the future? Cry the brown bells of Merthyr. Who made the mine owner? Say the black bells of Rhondda. And who robbed the miner? Cry the grim bells of Blaina. They will plunder willy-nilly, Say the bells of Caerphilly. They have fangs, they have teeth, shout the loud bells of Neath. To the south, things are sullen, Say the pink bells of Brecon. Even God is uneasy, say the moist bells of Swansea. Put the vandals in court, cry the bells of Newport. All would be well if — if — if — Say the green bells of Cardiff. Why so worried, sisters, why, Sing the silver bells of Wye.