You can see a playlist of my Ewan MacColl songs.

The Ballad of Tim Evans

Also known as Go Down, Ye Murderers, this song is about a well-known instance of a miscarriage of justice, in which 26-year-old Timothy John Evans was hanged in the UK in 1950 for the murder of his infant daughter. In fact, both his wife and daughter, and a number of other women, were strangled by Evans' neighbour, John Christie. This case was a major catalyst for the eventual abolition of capital punishment in Britain.

You can watch my video of the song, but why bother when you can hear Christie Moore singing it? (No relation to Christie the murderer).

The lyrics are here.

The Big Hewer

British coalminers have many stories of a legendary hero known by various names, including Temple, Tempest, Jackie Torr, Bob Towers, and, in Wales, Isaac Lewis. He is also known as "The Great Miner" or "The Big Hewer". He is to the British coalfields what Paul Bunyan was to the US logging camps and John Henry to the African American railway builders.

This song was specially written for the documentary Radio Ballad, The Big Hewer, first broadcast by the BBC in 1961.

Here is my rendition of the song and here are the lyrics.

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

Ewan MacColl wrote this song in 1957 for his wife Peggy Seeger. It was popularized by Roberta Flack and became a big hit forher after it was featured in the movie Play Misty for Me.

It has been covered by many other artists, including Marianne Faithfull, The Kingston Trio, the Chad Mitchell Trio, Gordon Lightfoot, Bert Jansch, Maria Taylor, Peter, Paul and Mary, Elvis Presley, Mel Tormé, Johnny Cash, Christy Moore, June Tabor, Alison Moyet, George Michael and Celine Dion. One of my favourites is this unaccompanied one by Barbara Dickson.

Here is my performance of the song. And here are the lyrics.

The Gallant Colliers

This song, to the tune of Morissey and the Russian Sailor, was written, in January, 1960, for a Tyne-Tees Television Co. documentary film about Coal, Burning Light.

Here is my rendition, and the lyrics are here.

I'm a Freeborn Man

Another of Ewan MacColl's great songs from the series of Radio Ballads he put together for the BBC with Peggy Seeger and Charlie Parker. This is from The Travelling People, the last of the eight documentaries, made in 1964. It deals with Britain's nomadic people, the romanies or gypsies, who were originally brought to Britain as makers of weapons for the English and Scottish armies because of their metal-working skills. They were from the Middle East, hence the name "gypsies", a corruption of "Egyptians".

Here it is sung by Luke Kelly and the Dubliners, and here are The Clancy Brothers.

Here is my performance and the lyrics are here.

I'm Champion At Keepin' 'Em Rolling

MacColl wrote this song in 1949 for a radio programme dealing with lorry drivers. Since then British truckies have added many new verses, most of which would be unsuitable for this website. The tune is the traditional Irish song, The Limerick Rake.

Here is my performance of the song, and here are the lyrics.

Jamie Foyers

The original song of Jamie Foyers was written about a soldier who died in the 1812 storming of Fort St Michael at Burgos during the Napoleonic wars. Ewan MacColl rewrote the song, using the original tune, as a tribute to those young men from many countries who gave their lives fighting for the republicans against fascism in the Spanish Civil war (1936-39).


You can watch my performance and the lyrics are here.

The Lag's Song

This song, written in 1956, was the musical theme for "In Prison", a documentary made in Strangeways Prison, Manchester, by British television film maker, Dennis Mitchell.

Here is my performance of the song and here are the lyrics.

Miner's Wife

This short song was written for the documentary Radio Ballad, The Big Hewer, first broadcast by the BBC in 1961. A number of interviews were conducted with miners' wives and the greatest concern seemed to be the dangers in the pit, a subject which worried the women as much as the miners themselves. One woman described it as as "a constant war of nerves".

Here is my rendition.

North Sea Holes

Ewan MacColl wrote this song for the prize-winning BBC documentary Radio Ballad, Singing the Fishing, which was about the herring fishing industry, and was based on the life of fisherman, Sam Larner, who was interviewed in the program. It was broadcast in 1959.

Here is my rendition, and here are the lyrics.

Schoolday's End

This nostalgic song was specially written for the documentary Radio Ballad, The Big Hewer, first broadcast by the BBC in 1961. The three verses tell the same story of a young man leaving school to work in the mines, but the setting changes from England to Scotland and then to Wales.

One of the best recordings is by Luke Kelly, using the title School Days Over. Most recordings since then have been basically covers of his version. Here is one by Damien Dempsey and another by Gavin Hayes.

Here is my rendition, and here are the lyrics.

The Shoals of Herring

One of the many great songs Ewan MacColl wrote for the BBC Radio Ballads with Peggy Seeger and Charles Parker. This is the main theme song of Singing the Fishing, 1959, probably the best of this series of eight documentary programmes. It starred the real-life fisherman, Sam Larner, and this song is based on his life.

You can hear the song sung by Ewan Macoll himself on this rather irrelevant video showing an aquarium. And Luke Kelly does a great version of it.

You can also watch my performance and here are the lyrics.

The Springhill Mine Disaster (Peggy Seeger)

The Springhill mining disaster of this song occurred in 1958. A number of miners trapped underground were miraculously rescued after eight days.

Peggy Seeger, who was living in Paris at the time, saw the reports of the disaster on television and was moved to write about it. Because she had never been down a mine, she later asked Ewan MacColl to help her with it. He added at least one verse, probably the third.

The kind of situation described in this song is still a frequent occurence in China, where I live. So many people have given their lives in this way throughout history.

The song has been recorded by many artists, including Ewan MacColl (of course), Peter, Paul and Mary, Theodore Bikel, Martin Carthy, Bob Gibson, Luke Kelly and U2.

Here is my rendition of the song. And here are the lyrics.


Some more videos of Ewan MacColl's songs.

These are all covers of songs written by Ewan MacColl.

Dirty Old Town sung by Christie Moore and Shane McGowan. The song was written in 1946 for a documentary play called Landscape With Chimneys.

The Father's Song sung by Dick Gaughan.


Sweet Thames Flow Softly sung by Christie Moore.


For an excellent biography of Ewan MacColl, see Peggy Seeger's website.