PETERLOO

The Oldham Tinkers

by Harvey Kershaw

One of my proudest moments in life came about many years ago now when I was still at college and my brother Steve took me to Banbury Folk Club one winters evening and we had a beer and enjoyed the open mic part of the night when suddenly Steve stood and clutching his beloved Epiphone six string acoustic guitar promptly astonished me by walking up to the mic. He sang this notable Harvey Kershaw song about the Peterloo Massacre in Manchester where our parents came from. There has been much ado about the massacre of the innocents at this time as anniversaries will won't to bring about but this means but one thing to me that the importance of the song is doubly rich for me because of this moment.

I had never heard him sing to that day and although I had heard him play guitar and he tight himself to read music and we jammed often, I never realised he had learned someone else's song to perform. It meant a great deal to us this song, as a family, and to Steve in particular no doubt. His performance was hesitant at first and he was obviously self conscious and he was clearly suffering from stage fright as his voice cracked for a moment but his commitment to the song meant he persevered with it his voice grew stronger and clearer and he sang it complete and that the audience that knew it joined the chorus helped him relax somewhat sir that he received a rousing burst of applause at the end. I don't think I heard him sing after that but was so proud of his conquering his embarrassment and self consciousness to sing a song that meant such a great deal to him it made my heart swell near fit to burst. 

This is it . . . . . . . . by the people it was written for, The Oldham Tinkers