The London Gold Rush - Part 1.

The ‘London Gold Rush’ of 1903.

The new century was only three years old when Willie McLaughlin and his best friend Davy Williams packed their bags and left their home to make their fortune in England. They were both sixteen years old. They had attended school until the age of fourteen and had been employed for only about two months since leaving. They were now both sixteen.

Having said their farewells, they boarded a steamer to take them to the west coast of Scotland from where they would work their way south to London. They were leaving their birthplace, a beautiful town called Banbridge which was known as the Star of the County Down in Ulster in the north of Ireland. It had been famous for the manufacture of Irish Linen but since the flooding of the weaving market with cheap cotton from America and wool from Australia, the trade had all but finished. From over three hundred weavers in the town at the height, it was now reduced to less than half a dozen. They were taking part in the most common Irish export of all, that of humanity. The whole of Ireland was regularly robbed of its youth by emigration.

Willie was the storyteller of the two and no matter how often Davy listened to his yarns and knowing full well that they were a pack of lies, he was always convinced that they were the truth. He could convince a Bishop that black was white and for good measure, that white was in fact pink. However, Willie was still quite naive but never told lies in true life.

Little Davy was the dreamer of the two yet the most intelligent. He could weigh up a situation very quickly and was excellent at the ‘three R’s’ – reading, writing and arithmetic. Willie would never feel homesick no matter how far he roamed whilst Davy knew that he would be forever dreaming of the mountains surrounding his hometown. He would be forever in his hearts mind, be leaning on the town bridge wall and watching the trout and occasional salmon swimming in the River Bann below.

On their arrival in Scotland they began to take any work that was available such as potato picking or bringing in the harvest. They managed to earn a few shillings here and there and gradually made their way south. Willie was a dab hand at squeezing a meal out of housewives as he passed through villages. With his gift-of-the-gab and his sad stories, he could bring tears to the eyes of the hardest of woman.

Whenever they managed to get a few days work they would sleep in the farmer’s barn and sit around the campfire at night with Willie telling his stories. His favourite was about the very steep hill through their hometown where the Post Office horses used to collapse on a regular basis because of the effort required to climb it. It was for that reason that the first ‘upside down bridge’ in the world, as Willie called it, was built. It went under part of the town. Davy knew that it was called ‘an underpass’ and was known as ‘The Cut’ but never interfered with Willie when he was in full flow.

Davy was the best writer of the two and every couple of weeks he would write a long letter of their adventures home to one or other of their parents. Once in a while, he would write a short love note for Willie to his girlfriend Mary.

It took them over six weeks to reach the outskirts of London and as they looked down on the city late at night, they decided to sleep out under the stars and ‘go in’ the following day. As daybreak arrived, they were up and away and walked into the hustling bustling city as it was coming alive. Willie was mesmerised at the sights and kept pointing them out to Davy who had already seen them. Davy himself was disgusted by the stench and noise all around him and longed for home. He still had not shaken off the feeling of homesickness that had haunted him from the day he left.

Suddenly, Willie called Davy back into the land of the living. "Will you look at that Davy" he said, pointing to about twenty men digging in a long trench by the side of the road. He noticed that they spoke with Ulster accents. "And what are you lads digging for?" he asked of one of the men with a beard. The man looked around at his friends, then turned to Willie and replied. "Sure ‘tis the London Gold Rush, we’re diggin’ up tons of the stuff". "And do you mind if I have a go?" asked Willie. "Sure" said the man "jump in, but remember, you have to give me half of what you find, do you agree?" "Only half" Willie exclaimed, "that’s fair enough".

With that he jumped into the hole, grabbed a shovel and began digging as hard as he could. Meanwhile, Davy just sat down against a nearby wall and once again began to dream of his family and home. After about half-an-hours digging, with the sweat rolling down his face, Willie asked of the men "Are you sure, we’re digging in the right place, I’ve found nuttin yet". The men all began to laugh and Willie suddenly realised that he had been fooled. He shook the hand of the bearded man.

As he got out of the trench, a man with a bowler hat who had something to do with the work and whom Willie later discovered was the boss, spoke to him. "You are a good strong lad Willie and would make a good Navigator. You have a job if you want it". "And what about my friend Davy?" Willie asked. The Boss looked Davy up and down as if he were a donkey or a sheep at the local fair at home. "Can you cook and make a good cup of tea?" he asked. "Sure I can sir" Davy replied "and read and write too". "Alright then" said the Boss "you both have a job at two pounds ten shillings a week and free lodgings with Mrs. O’Brien. You can start right away. You, Willie, get digging and you Davy, on with the kettle, we’ll have a nice strong cup of tea".

With that, both the lads had joined the honourable profession of Irish Navigators. "At this rate", thought Willie, "sure we’ll be millionaires in a couple of years". Davy just thought to himself "I won’t be doing much digging, I’ll have the boss’s job in a year or two".

And so their adventure began……………….

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Suggested by a beautiful old Irish song:

"The Mountains of Mourne"
by Percy French (1896)

Oh, Mary, this London's a wonderful sight,
With people all working by day and by night.
Sure they don't sow potatoes, nor barley, nor wheat,
But there's gangs of them digging for gold in the street.
At least when I asked them that's what I was told,
So I just took a hand at this digging for gold,
But for all that I found there I might as well be
Where the Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea.

I believe that when writing a wish you expressed
As to know how the fine ladies in London were dressed,
Well if you'll believe me, when asked to a ball,
They don't wear no top to their dresses at all,
Oh I've seen them meself and you could not in truth,
Say that if they were bound for a ball or a bath.
Don't be starting such fashions, now, Mary mo croi,
Where the Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea.

I've seen England's king from the top of a bus
And I've never known him, but he means to know us.
And tho' by the Saxon we once were oppressed,
Still I cheered, God forgive me, I cheered with the rest.
And now that he's visited Erin's green shore
We'll be much better friends than we've been heretofore
When we've got all we want, we're as quiet as can be
Where the mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea.

You remember young Peter O'Loughlin, of course,
Well, now he is here at the head of the force.
I met him today, I was crossing the Strand,
And he stopped the whole street with a wave of his hand.
And there we stood talkin' of days that are gone,
While the whole population of London looked on.
But for all these great powers he's wishful like me,
To be back where the dark Mourne sweeps down to the sea.

There's beautiful girls here, oh never you mind,
With beautiful shapes nature never designed,
And lovely complexions all roses and cream,
But let me remark with regard to the same:
That if of those roses you venture to sip,
The colours might all come away on your lip,
So I'll wait for the wild rose that's waiting for me
In the place where the dark Mourne sweeps down to the sea.
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There is a beautiful video of the song by Daniel O’Donnell on the following link:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=E5N_-ILvijo
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