International Byron Society

An Ode to the Framers of the Frame Bill

Oh well done Lord Eldon! and better Lord Ryder!
Britannia must prosper with councils like yours;
HAWKESBURY, HARROWBY, help you to guide her,
Whose remedy only must kill ere it cures:
Those villains, the Weavers, are all grown refractory,
Asking some succour for Charity's sake--
So hang them in clusters round each Manufactory,
That will at once put an end to mistake.

The rascals, perhaps, may betake them to robbing,
The dogs to be sure have got nothing to eat--
So if we can hang them for breaking a bobbin,
'Twill save all the Government's money and meat:
Men are more easily made than machinery--
Stockings fetch better prices than lives--
Gibbets on Sherwood will heighten the scenery,
Showing how Commerce, how Liberty thrives!

Justice is now in pursuit of the wretches,
Grenadiers, Volunteers, Bow-street Police,
Twenty-two Regiments, a score of Jack Ketches,
Three of the Quorum and two of the Peace;
Some Lords, to be sure, would have summoned the Judges,
To take their opinion, but that they ne'er shall,
For LIVERPOOL such a concession begrudges,
So now they're condemned by no Judges at all.

Some folks for certain have thought it was shocking,
When Famine appeals, and when Poverty groans,
That life should be valued at less than a stocking,
And breaking of frames lead to breaking of bones.
If it should prove so, I trust, by this token,
(And who will refuse to partake in the hope?)
That the frames of the fools may be first to be broken,
Who, when asked for a remedy, sent down a rope.

I have no doubt in these troubled times, whose side Byron would have been on...
http://orion.luc.edu/~sjones1/byr2.htm

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The object of life is sensation

The word is out that Christy has been a little too political of late and as such has been frowned upon by the powers that be...Well, it is such times that ottava rima was made for, so - (cough) - without any more ado:

'Posturing political' from Christabel?
A post removed because of this, she claims?
Why stand the heavens still at this bombshell
As IBS our Christy thus defames?
Such shocking news I fiercely shall retell
In verse to all and then we'll see who blames
Our honeyed, feisty Christabel! So stay,
Fair maid! - A well-honed pen can win the day.

Byron's political ideas and activities are another controversial topic which somehow the Byronic community seems to avoid - maybe intentionally, since political debates are often harsh. Dealing with love affairs and verse is always easier than discussing matters that can also affect the present...

It's maybe not a coincidence that a proper political biography of Byron still eludes: P. Cochran has recently published a volume on "Byron's Romantic Politics" and although I haven't read it neither always trust his intentions, I guess it can't be worse than Malcolm Kelsall’s “Byron’s Politics” where the Professor shows almost despise for Byron's political profile.

On Byron's politics, everybody seems to have a negative comment to add. I wouldn't also expect E.P. Thomson to be as harsh as he has been on Byron in his "Making of the English Working Class" - but whatever: For sure the man who wrote the "Song to Luddites" and the "Ode to the Framers of the Frame Bill" was the same man who returned to the fairytale fantasies of the "mercyful king" in his "Sonnet to George the IV".
(http://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/ge ... orfeiture/)

Such a discussion is always interesting - and in Greece we have a saying, "the late honour the first" (something of the sort of "as good as your last..."). Byron died as a paragon of Liberty, after having written the "Irish Avatar", "The Age of Bronze" and the 4th Canto of "Childe Harold", whichever his political vicissitudes may have been after the decline of the French Revolution, the Napoleon fiasco and the re-establishment of the Bourbons. And as a hero of Liberty was granted by the nations all around the planet, whatever some petty scholars of today may wish to claim.

BUT - academically speaking (and since a man's soul regarded in another place and time is always a riddle) I believe dear Christabel that it would be more correct to claim that "we have no doubt in these troubled times, whose side OUR Byron would have been on"!


Happy 2012 - with health and dignity...

EuXarnstw, Andreas. (I apologise for the lack of Greek font!)

I agree wholeheartedly. We should reclaim Byron for the people who can accept him as a real person, and ALL aspects of his personality, beliefs and political views.
As for the poem to George IV, I think Byron is saying - 'look how easy it is to be kind, merciful and liked. You can still be the most powerful man in Britain and do the right thing for once.'

Once again, thankyou.
It has heartened me no end, the amount of support and agreement I have encountered from people on this forum :)

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The object of life is sensation

Crede (some) Byron(ists)!

By the way since you seem so interested and active about Byron and Luddism, this year bears a great opportunity for some action concerning the fate of The Shears Inn in Liversedge, one of the main centers of Luddism according to Frank Peel's account. I visited it two years ago only to find it closed since 2009.

It seems that nobody was concerned about protecting and retaining this piece of British and European history, not even the locals who'd normally aspire at least to the financial benefits of highlighting the place.

It doesn't really surprise me, Andreas. Generally the British don't seem to want to honour their ancestors. It's a terrible shame. Sadly many local councils and businesses don't seem to want to invest in their heritage; everything is being cut back; history and culture goes to the bottom of the list. Unless some private entrpreneur steps in, things like this are inevitable.

Village shops and post offices have been threatened with closure, resulting in them being run by volunteers. A lot of our cultural and heritage buildings and museums are staffed by volunteers. That's Britain all over, run on 'love and sticky tape' as we say.

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The object of life is sensation

It's a pitty, really. But again, The Shears was still an Inn. People never ceased drinking beer in England!

What about some activism? A night of free beer with some political poetry of Byron and Shelley would be brilliant, don't you think?

Could try contacting the local council - Kirklees. However, the councillors for Liversedge are Conservatives (Tories) and not known for giving a hoot about Byron, Luddites or anyone else contentious!

As for free beer - if only. That would be a brilliant idea for the 'opening night' of the pub. It's just about finding a brewery or landlord who'll take it on. I think it used to be Tetley's brewery that ran it, but a lot of pubs are leasehold.

Do you know why it closed? I can't seem to find any reference to the reason for closure.

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The object of life is sensation

If you don't fight alone, there can always be a start. I found the Midlanders to be tough people and you can't predict the outcome.

What we need is a Crusade, not a knight wandering. And a sponsor!
Aren't there any trade-unions in Halifax?



Neither can I, who live some thousand miles away...
An obvious mismanagment can lead a local pub to extinction. It only needs a boycot and a lack of interested investors to buy the enterprise in the wake of its falure.

Whatever! It seems that a requiem mass is more apropriate and probable for the Inn.
Another lost fight before been given. :-(