Month: February 2024

In the year of Our Lord Eighteen Hundred and Six
Young Benny Greene’s up to old tricks
Brewing beer in the sticks with old Billy Buck
He’s about to come into some luck

‘Cause Benny’s old neighbours, Sir Pat and Lady B
Got into a jam, needed a guarantee
Right place, right time, Billy said please
And the plantation owners handed over the keys

Benny Greene kept slaves
When Britannia ruled the waves
Yeah, Benny Greene kept slaves
It’s the price of a pint he says

Now Benny the brewer’s a slave owner too
A slave owner’s wealth is his to accrue
Arguing the toss in the local rag
That slavery ain’t so bad

But the people of Bury got fed up with Benny Greene
So he left young Eddie to run the brewery
And set up a West India company instead
The labour of slaves now his daily bread

Benny Greene kept slaves
When Britannia ruled the waves
Yeah, Benny Greene kept slaves
It’s the price of a pint he says

All good things lamented Benny Greene
When abolition came in 1833
But it turned out business barely took a hit
‘Cause there was compo, really quite a bit

You see, the thing about compensation in those days
Is it went to the owners and not the slaves
So they worked on the plantation, still engaged
But this time on a minimum wage

Benny Greene kept slaves
When Britannia ruled the waves
Yeah, Benny Greene kept slaves
It’s the price of a pint he says

While Eddie took the brewery and merged with Freddie King
Charlie went to St Kitts to do his thing
In all the pleasures of a slaver did he partake
Leaving thirteen bastards in his wake

Eddie became a Tory MP
Deputy Lieutentant and a JP
Master of the hunt, he would speak at great length
And the brewery went from strength to strength

Benny Greene kept slaves
When Britannia ruled the waves
Yeah, Benny Greene kept slaves
It’s the price of a pint he says

The business passed on to Walter Greene
Fortuitously born at the brewery
Hunting, driving and sailing yachts
While Lake built an empire ne’er to be forgot

The biggest brewer now in the UK
But there are reparations to be paid
For old Benny Greene’s slavery days
Not forgetting Charlies wayward ways

Benny Greene kept slaves
When Britannia ruled the waves
Yeah, Benny Greene kept slaves
It’s the price of a pint he says

The good folk of St Kitts have come to collect
The good folk of St Kitts say never forget
Put down your IPA and listen to their tale
There’s more than hops and barley in the story of your ale

Benny Greene kept slaves
When Britannia ruled the waves
Yeah, Benny Greene kept slaves
It’s the price of a pint he says

Put down your IPA and listen to their tale
There’s more than hops and barley in the story of your ale