'Alfred Linnell - a death song' by William Morris, 1887

What cometh here from west to east awending?
And who are these, the marchers stern and slow?
We bear the message that the rich are sending
Aback to those who bade them wake and know.
Not one, not one, nor thousands must they slay,
But one and all if they would dusk the day.

We asked them for a life of toilsome earning,
They bade us bide their leisure for our bread;
We craved to speak to tell our woeful learning;
We come back speechless, bearing back our dead.
Not one, not one, nor thousands must they slay,
But one and all if they would dusk the day.

They will not learn; they have no ears to hearken.
They turn their faces from the eyes of fate;
Their gay-lit halls shut out the skies that darken.
But, lo! this dead man knocking at the gate.
Not one, not one, nor thousands must they slay,
But one and all if they would dusk the day.

Here lies the sign that we shall break our prison;
Amidst the storm he won a prisoner's rest;
But in the cloudy dawn the sun arisen
Brings us our day of work to win the best.
Not one, not one, nor thousands must they slay,
But one and all if they would dusk the day. 

William Morris

Nov 20 the day that Alfred Linnell was cut down by police during an 1887 unemployment protest in London, becoming a socialist martyr.

Alfred Linnell

Person  Male  Born 1846  Died 2/12/1887

Categories: Tragedy

During 1886-7 a number of political rallies took place in Trafalgar Square. These were organised by socialists and opposed by the authorities. On 13 November 1887 the rally was attended by about 30,000 people and led by John Burns, William Morris, Annie Besant and other significant socialists.

The police charged the protestors and injuries were sustained on both sides. Following this Bloody Sunday the protestors regrouped on the following Sunday and the same happened again only this time Linnell, a law clerk, was run down by a police horse and died two weeks later in hospital.

His funeral took place on 18 December and this too provided an opportunity for a political gathering. Manchester University's Dr Peter Yeandle says this was organised to be comparable to Wellington's in 1852, was attended by over 100,000 people and that it went off peacefully. The Levellers made a similar use of Thomas Rainsborough's funeral in 1648.

Londonist points out: "A procession started in Soho with thousands attending, but many weren't up for the six mile trudge to Tower Hamlets, especially not in the rain. By the time they reached the cemetery, the final internment was only attended by comparatively few."

'Alfred Linnell - a death song' by William Morris, 1887

Reference number	MSS.240/W/4/2/6
Date	1887
Level	Item
Description	Pamphlet protesting at killing of a protester by mounted police in Trafalgar Square.
Extent	1 file
Access status	Open