"Orphan Hand" genre: Folk
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	In the late 1800s and early 1900s, thousands of orphaned and poor children were shipped from Britain to Canada so that they might have a new start in life, away from the poverty and social problems of big industrialized cities like London, Liverpool, and Glasgow. Unfortunately, many of these child migrants were welcomed with prejudice and distrust.
	CD: From Where I Stand   Label: Distant Whisper Music (Festival Distribution) Credits: Words and Music Copyright Maria Dunn, 1998 (arranged M. Dunn, S. Johnson, S. McDade, J. McDade)
	Story Behind the Song The character in this song was inspired by Lewis Thorn from E. Annie Proulx's novel The Shipping News. Home Children were placed with Canadian families, often on farms, where they worked to earn their keep and a yearly sum of money, held in trust until they reached 18 years of age. Ontario folk singer Aengus Finnan (www.sheltervalley.com)has recently recorded a version of "Orphan Hand" on his 2002 CD "North Wind". Lyrics My name it might as well be John For all you care from where I've come I'll break my back on your homestead To earn my daily bread From London streets they boarded me Their gutter children sent to sea At eight years old you took me in But you'll never call me kin Is there no one in this dreary land With a kind word for an orphan hand I've worked like hell, done my share Where's the Christian love in your heartless stare? That blackened ship that carried me I wish had tossed me to the sea My struggle would have reaped at least A long embrace and a moment's peace Your hardship in this cold, cold land Has left you a bitter, tired man To your own you still allow small joy But you're blind to a fatherless boy My filthy hands and matted hair Feet in rags from the winter air Worked like a dog and kept like a pig Where's the life that I should live? This land of opportunity Has no room for a lad like me Cast off from the old world on to the new My worth to ever prove I'd better been a tinker's son Than a Home Boy from a London slum Sent to this barren farm alone And worked to skin and bone

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