Lyrics of The Weaving Song

The Weaving Song.

I’m a weaver, a master weaver,
I’ve got a loom where the best cloth’s made.
Plain cloth, twill, brocade or satin,
I’m the master of my trade.
Shed the warp and swing the shuttle,
Beat the reed, the weft is laid.

I can wind a flying bobbin,
I can warp a theme of thread.
I can weave a sheet of linen,
Fit to grace a royal bed.
Lift the heel and fly the shuttle,
Swing the reed, the weft is laid.

Hear the din of loom and shuttle,
Weaving is a noisy trade.
See how even, soft and gentle,
Lies the cloth when it is made,
Lies the cloth when it is made.

The Weaving Song is from Bagpuss and is Oliver Postgates words set to The Calton Weaver.

The Calton Weaver song is a Scottish Traditional song about the Calton weavers in Lanarkshire who were tragically killed while on strike.

It is also referred to as Nancy Whisky. In Bagpuss Sandra Kerr and John Faulkner sing it (as Madeline the doll and Gabriel the Frog).

The fantastic singer, Niamh Parsons, sings Long Cookstown which is a beautiful version of the same story from Sam Henry’s Songs of the People.

I love that the song about such political struggles for the right to make cloth and carry on a tradition became used in a children’s tv programme (Bagpuss) and that I sing it at night to a 3 year old. Songs are amazing.

What songs will weave their way down from our time to become children’s bed time lullabies?