A specific constitutional disease occurring in paroxysms, usually hereditary and in male subjects; characterized by painful inflammation of the smaller joints, esp. that of the great toe, and the deposition of sodium urate in the form of chalk-stones; it often spreads to the larger joints and the internal organs. [OED]
Gout is often represented as a disease suffered by the rich and casued by overindulgence in food and alcohol especially port wine [CPB]
Jim Crow The name of an early 19th-century plantation song of the American South; (also) a stage presentation of a song and dance first performed by Thomas D. Rice (1808–60) and subsequently by other actors dressed as blackface minstrels. [OED]
One who betrays or is false to those who have supported or nourished him; a false or treacherous person. [OED]
Vipers One who betrays or is false to those who have supported or nourished him; a false or treacherous person.
pipers
all my eye and Betty Martin phr. (also all in my eye and Betty, …and Elizabeth Martin, all my eye (and) Betty (Martin), my eye Betty Martin, oh Betty Martin, that's my eye (and Betty Martin))
turn out = strike
bags = trousers
gout = A specific constitutional disease occurring in paroxysms, usually hereditary and in male subjects; characterized by painful inflammation of the smaller joints, esp. that of the great toe, and the deposition of sodium urate in the form of chalk-stones; it often spreads to the larger joints and the internal organs. Picture needed
[Note 026.1] Although this song is clearly in earnest, the phrase or saying, all my eye and Betty Martin meaning that something is total and complete nonsense. The, the phrase was clearly well established and well-known since the 1780s. The origins of the phrase are unknown except that Betty Martin was pretty obviously tacked on to the end of the existing all my eye (in similar vein, Londoners later created all my eye and elbow, all my eye and grandmother, and all my eye and Tommy, among others, as well as shortening it to the exclamation my eye! [i].
[i] Quinion, Michael. World Wide Words http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-all3.htm
[Note 026.2] 'Ten Per Cent and No surrender' was the cry of the textile workeres during the strike of 1853/54. Preston lock-out was only one more manifestation of a 'strike fever' which 'raged across the country' Working men who had accepted a reduction in their wages in the hungry 1840s read in the press about growing national prosperity, and demanded the 10 per cent be restored [i].
The town of Preston was the crucial battlefield, and here the masters and men fought out a bitter trial of strength. The strike of 1853-54 closed the Preston cotton industry for seven months, and disrupted production in many other towns in Lancashire. [ii]
References:
[i] Smith A, The Preston Strike 1853-1854 History Today. https://www.historytoday.com/anne-smith/preston-strike-1853-1854
[ii] Dutton,H.I. & King J. E. Ten Per Cent and No Surrender The Preston Strike, 1853-1854 (Cambridge University Press 2008)
[Note 026.3] The strikers toured the country to organize support, and raised £100,000 in subscriptions from their fellow operatives. The dispute featured prominently in the national and provincial press, and the weavers' delegates, notably George Cowell and Mortimer Grimshaw, became celebrities overnight.
References:
Dutton,H.I. & King J. E. Ten Per Cent and No Surrender The Preston Strike, 1853-1854 (Cambridge University Press 2008)
[Note 026.4] "Old Uncle Ned" is a minstrel song from 1848 with words and music by Stephen Foster. The first verse is..
Dere was an old Nigga, dey call'd him Uncle Ned.
He's dead long ago, long ago!
He had no wool on de top ob his head
De place whar de wool ought to grow
References:
Songs of America https://songofamerica.net/song/old-uncle-ned/
[Note 026.5]
After five months, the employers brought in blackleg labour, and when the detested `knobsticks' failed to break the strike they had the operatives' leaders arrested. These moves did not deter the cotton workers, who were forced back to work only when their financial reserves were exhausted. Their campaign ended defiantly, as it had begun, with cries of `Ten Per Cent still, and no surrender'.
References:
Dutton,H.I. & King J. E. Ten Per Cent and No Surrender The Preston Strike, 1853-1854 (Cambridge University Press 2008)
[Note 026.5] The dispute featured prominently in the national and provincial press, and the weavers' delegates, notably George Cowell and Mortimer Grimshaw, became celebrities overnight.
References:
Dutton,H.I. & King J. E. Ten Per Cent and No Surrender The Preston Strike, 1853-1854 (Cambridge University Press 2008)
[Note 026.6] "Has your mother sold her mangle?" was one of several "catchwords and phrases used in the streets to deflate pomposity and tickle a crowd."
White, Jerry. London in the 19th Century (London, Vintage, 2008) p113
A name given, by workmen, to one who during a strike or lock-out continues to work on the master's terms; a black-leg.
nobstick A name given, by workmen, to one who during a strike or lock-out continues to work on the master's terms; a black-leg.