This website contains popular songs and poetry about steam power. It includes songs from the oral_tradition¹, Music_Hall¹ songs and monologues, parlour_ballads¹, and poems, from Britain and Ireland. The aim of the site is to put these pieces in their social and historical context. The earliest pieces come from the time when steam power was adopted in mines and factories - c1775. The latest date from the time when the Music Hall was overtaken by radio, and popular song in Britain became dominated by American influences - c1935
Text and music are supported by:
                     References to sources, publication dates etc.
                     A Glossary;
                    and Notes about the social, economic, and political background against which the songs were written and performed.
The songs and poems are divided into categories and subcategories and there is menu structure to help the user to find material.

Railways

Most of the songs concerning steam power are songs about railways or are set against a railway background.
The arrival of the railway was a dramatic event recorded in song by the people whose lives it changed. The sheer physical presence of railways and their importance to the economic and social life of almost everyone, inspired hundreds of song from the 1830s onwards,
The earliest railway songs are about colliery railways and date from the first 20 years of the 19th century. The construction of express passenger lines began in the 1830s. Most of the songs written before 1850 were printed as broadside¹ ballads and many tell of real events. The dominant popular music genre of the period 1850 to 1920 was the Music Hall. Most music hall items are fictional tales peopled by a cast of stereotypical characters but nonetheless they tell us much about the general public's experience of and opinions about the railways and railway employees (known as railway servants). The thoughts of the railway servants themselves are expressed largely in poetry and in parodies of popular songs that were printed in trade union journals. The years 1918 to 1950 were a fallow period for railway songs but the folk revival of the 1950s encouraged railway workers to write songs about their work and to perform them in the folk clubs that sprang up in every sizeable town and city. Railway songs of the later 20th century are mainly nostalgic paeans to the steam locomotive and are culturally of a piece with the heritage steam railway movement.

Ships & Boats

River boats were the first form of transport to be powered by steam and were a common site on sheltered estuaries by 1820.
The first steamboat songs reflect the social status of wealthy the passengers able to afford fares and include many items from the theatres and Pleasure_Gardens¹ frequented by the ton¹.
By 1850 fares had reduced to an amount affordable to the working classes. Later river boat songs include many descriptions of pleasure trips.
Steamers began crossing the Irish Sea and English Channel during the 1820s. Songs from the Irish Sea feature Irishmen travelling to England and Scotland for work. Songs from the English Channel deal many with the pleasures of the ton.
Oceangoing vessels are mentioned almost exclusively as the subject of shipwreck. The main concern of these songs is the fate of the passengers, especially of the emigrants who left Britain in large numbers after 1850.
Roads
Most of the songs concerning steam powered road transport were written between 1820 and 1850. Songs about steam carriages - like early steamboat songs - are written from the viewpoint of the wealthy passengers and show the influence of Pleasure_Gardens¹ and the theatre. Many were collected into songsters¹. Steam carriages were a short-lived phenomenon - they were driven off the road by influential men with financial stakes in horse powered transport.
The stage coach business was quickly destroyed by competition from the railways. Songs lamenting the impact of steam on road transport reflect the views of coach drivers, ostlers¹, and others employed in the coaching business. These songs were mostly printed as broadsides.

Industry

The first significant use of steam powered machinery was in the textile industry of Northern England. From the 1820s large numbers of broadsides concerning the working conditions of textile workers were being printed - especially around Manchester and its hinterland. These songs sympathise with the hardships suffered by factory workers and their families.

The increased demand for coal resulted in a boom in mining. Most of the steam related mining songs come from Newcastle Upon Tyne and its hinterland. These songs also take the part of the labouring poor and were cheaply available.
Steam power was quickly adopted by all sorts of enterprises - from laundries to chemical factories. The social impact of steam power including the unemployment caused by its adoption are the subject of many songs.

Fantasy and Metaphor

The advent of steam power caused a mixture of enthusiasm for the benefits it was expected to bring and anxiety about the dangers it might wreak if not properly controlled. This mixture of emotions is seen in songs and poems from the early days of steam. These items mainly come from the Pleasure Garden and Theatrical repertoire.

The ubiquity of steam made it a popular metaphor for writers of religious and political works.