The woodcut originates from the period of the Civil War when every aspect of life changed dramatically,and the world was turned upside down. So we see fish in the sky, a cats and rabbits chasing dogs,and the central figure of the man with his limbs in the wrong places. This was intended to convey the strangeness of the times, something we will all be able to identify with what with BREXIT and Trump.
A folk song of the same name and period lamented the restrictions that the new regime placed on what it considered profane christmas celebrations. The last verse of the song goes:
To conclude, I'le tell you news that's right, Christmas was kil'd at Naseby fight:
Charity was slain at that same time, Jack Tell troth too, a friend of mine,
Likewise then did die, rost beef and shred pie,
Pig, Goose and Capon no quarter found.
Yet let's be content, and the times lament, you see the world turn'd upside down.
The best known reording is by Maddy Prior and the Carnival Band.
To conclude, I'le tell you news that's right, Christmas was kil'd at Naseby fight:
Charity was slain at that same time, Jack Tell troth too, a friend of mine,
Likewise then did die, rost beef and shred pie,
Pig, Goose and Capon no quarter found.
Yet let's be content, and the times lament, you see the world turn'd upside down.
The best known reording is by Maddy Prior and the Carnival Band.
A more recent song with the same name was written by Leon Rosselson as a tribute to The Diggers, a radical group formed by Gerrard Winstanley in 1649.
Winstanley's agenda was far ahead of its' time:"But everyone shall put their hands to till the earth and bring up cattle, and the blessing of the earth shall be common to all; when a man hath need of any corn or cattle, take from the next store-house he meets with. There shall be no buying and selling, no fairs or markets, but the whole earth shall be the common Treasury for every man"
The song was brought to a much wider audience by Billy Bragg with his recording in 1985.
Winstanley's agenda was far ahead of its' time:"But everyone shall put their hands to till the earth and bring up cattle, and the blessing of the earth shall be common to all; when a man hath need of any corn or cattle, take from the next store-house he meets with. There shall be no buying and selling, no fairs or markets, but the whole earth shall be the common Treasury for every man"
The song was brought to a much wider audience by Billy Bragg with his recording in 1985.
For more about The Diggers have a look at Winstanley, the biographical film that is resolutely monochrome and uncompromisingly austere in its evocation of the Civil War period. Should you have the stamina to last the distance, you won't forget it.
There is a great article about the film here:
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/oct/17/david-caute-winstanley-comrade-jacob
