Mill lass at the Saltaire Woollen Mill, Bradford, late 19th century.
Jenny, or Eighteen Pence on the Bed
"This song is my own work, but the subject is from real folklore. Although I have treated the lyric with some levity, it still gives a sordid picture of how mill girls were driven to prostitution through poverty.
Jenny was a real person. This I learnt as a young man. I used to sit in the village pub listening to the old stagers telling of their youthful exploits in the town and city.
With pocket money of a few coppers, Jenny was beyond their reach. It is true she married into the nobility, as did many of her kind, even kings and princes as is well known throughout history.
There is no record that Jenny ever shouted her “wares” in the streets, it was gangs of youths who raised the cry “Eighteen Pence on the Bed”, mainly out of mischief. As the words fitted into the ¾ rhythm I have used them in the chorus."
Original note by Tommy Daniel
