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- Salt of the Earth, Maggie Holland. This and “Black Crow” are from “Down to the Bone”
- Another Train, Pete Morton. From “One Big Joke”
- Between the Wars, Billy Bragg. This charted in the mid 80s
- The Terror Time / Moving on Song, Ewan MacColl. Written for the radio ballad “The Travelling People”. The carriage was provided by Christy Moore.
- Adieu to all Judges and Juries, Transportation ballad collected by W. Percy Merrick. Printed in C.J. Sharp (ed.) English County Folk Songs (1961)
- Moreton Bay, Printed in J.S. Marigold (ed), The Penguin Australian Song Book (1964), which records that “Captain Logan was speared in 1830.” Logan, the first commandant at Moreton Bay from 1825, was a relentless flogger. This and “Here’s Adieu to All Judges and Juries” were also recorded for the Galleries of Justice in Nottingham.
- The Hard Cheese of Old England, Les Barker. From his book “Reign of Terrier”, one of 63 volumes so far.
- Close the Coalhouse Door, Alex Glasgow. Written as “Price of Coal” and contributed to the play “Close the Coalhouse Door” by Alan Plater, Sid Chaplin and Alex Glasgow. Alex Glasgow emigrated to Australia, where he died in 2001.
- Stranger in the Old Town, Jim Woodland. A song of urban regeneration, from “As I was saying”
- On a Monday Morning, Cyril Tawney
- Scarecrow, John Tams
- Black Crow, Maggie Holland
- Beefheart & Bones, Michael Marra. From “Pax Vobiscum” (1996). Michael Marra has been variously likened to Randy Newman and Jacques Brel. Who can forget his performance singing “Old Shep” in “Hamish Macbeth”?
- Blackwaterside, Traditional song from Ireland. This version was collected by Peter Kennedy and became well-known through the singing of Bert Lloyd.
- The Bloody Gardner, from Maud Karpeles, “Folk Songs from Newfoundland” via Martin Carthy. Originally a broadside ballad
- Maybe Nothing’s Spoken, Pete Morton. From “Hunting the Heart”
- Everything Glows, Les Barker meets Cole Porter in the Irish Sea. Sung by Eliza Carthy on the album “Some Love”
- Light Years Away, John Herrick and Tommy Thompson of the Red Clay Ramblers. Written for the play “A Lie of the Mind” by Sam Shephard. Complements the Longfellow poem, “Gabriel and Evangeline”.
- The Sloth and the Greed, Pete Morton, from his first album Frivolous Love.
- The Old Miner, Written by an old miner at Nuneaton, Warwickshire. Collected by John Moreton in the 1960s. Published in Songs of the Midlands (ed. Roy Palmer).
- Old King Coal, John Kirkpatrick. Written for the documentary play The Dirty Hill produced at the New Victoria Theatre, Newcastle under Lyme.
- Reynardine, Traditional. The version sung by Bert Lloyd on First Person.
- A Most Unpleasant Way, Sir, Dave Goulder. Published in January Man and other Songs (1971) : “If like me you enjoy a walk in the rain, then you will understand why I indulge myself with fantasies like this.”
- Old Horse, Traditional. Reworked by Martin Carthy and recorded on Out of the Cut.
- She Moved through the Fair, Traditional. Adapted from “Our Wedding Day” by Padraic Colum and published in Irish Country Songs by Herbert Hughes.
- Back in Durham Gaol, Jes Lowe. Published in Songs of Jez Lowe (1988). Inspired by the old Tommy Armstrong song, “Nae good luck in Durham Gaol”.
- Down Where the Drunkards Roll, Richard Thompson. Recorded on I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight.
- Searching for Lambs, Traditional. Sung by Mrs Sweet at Somerton, Somerset on 16 Aug 1907. Collected by Cecil Sharp.
- The Derby Ram, Traditional. Tune: "Poole’s Rambles". Text from various sources; the “nostril” verse comes from a version sung by Mrs Margaret Jack Dodd at Beechgrove Virginia on 25 May 1918 and collected by Cecil Sharp.
- Song Composed in August, Robert Burns. Tune: "I had a horse, I had nae mair". From The Poems and Songs of Robert Burns (ed. James Kinsley). One of Burns’ earliest songs, linked to an association with Peggy Thomson of Kirkoswald, who lived next door to the school where Burns studied in 1775 : she “overset my trigonometry and set me off at a tangent from the sphere of my studies.”
- Gone, Gonna Rise Again, Si Kahn. Found in the magazine New City Songster Vol. 18.
- Perfumes of Arabia, Maggie Holland. From the album Down to the Bone. “Here’s the smell of blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, oh, oh!” Macbeth
- Just Like John Barleycorn, Pete Morton. Also from Frivolous Love.
- Don’t Sit on my Jimmy Shands, Richard Thompson. From the album Rumor and Sigh.
