A copy of the extremely rare National Chartist Hymn Book, dating from 1845 and printed in Rochdale for the National Chartist Association, has been digitised and is now available on Calderdale Council’s From Weaver to Web website. The pamphlet was discovered by WEA historian Linda Croft, who alerted Dr. Mike Sanders, an expert in the Chartist Movement, at the University of Manchester. The pamphlet contains 16 hymns covering a range of social justice issues and concerns. Some of the verses could very easily be used in current campaigns; for example a few lines from Hymn Twelve might find a place among UK Uncut’s songs against the bankers!

Men who feast, but nothing do;
Useless gilded things, who say
You are but of common clay.”

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