Listen to the track:
🎶 Wembury, 1871 🎶
(Reflective folk with steady rhythm and light harmony based on the 1871 census data)
(Verse 1)
Langdon Court had no lords that year
But the hedges still ran straight and clear
Ann Cudlip swept the kitchen floor
While her son turned soil by the garden door
(Verse 2)
The Trebbles lived in the back lean-to
Edwin worked like his father knew
Alice read near the window light
While Ada helped from dawn to night
(Chorus)
And the sea still sang down by the bay
But the names grew thin, and the work held sway
From cradle to field, from dusk to day
Wembury lived the old hard way
(Verse 3)
At the Alms Houses, things stood still
Elizabeth Algate sat by the sill
No more Charles, no crops to sow
Just weathered hands and voices low
(Verse 4)
Mary Mitchell kept things neat
A single lamp, one chair, one seat
Two women shared a quiet room
Their world grown small, their seasons few
(Bridge)
The towns had trains, the world grew wide
But Wembury stayed by the changing tide
With borrowed boots and bread to share
And daily work in village air
(Chorus)
And the sea still sang down by the bay
But the names grew thin, and the work held sway
From cradle to field, from dusk to day
Wembury lived the old hard way
(Outro)
And if you walk the lanes today
Past leaning gateposts, dry with clay
You’ll find their names in shade and stone—
Still part of Wembury’s worn backbone