{"id":1205,"date":"2017-04-29T11:03:31","date_gmt":"2017-04-29T11:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hadleighfolk.org.uk\/?page_id=1205"},"modified":"2017-04-29T13:49:57","modified_gmt":"2017-04-29T13:49:57","slug":"she-lit-the-fire-tom-kitty-higdon-at-the-burston-strike-school","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.hadleighfolk.org.uk\/?page_id=1205","title":{"rendered":"“She lit the fire” – Tom & Kitty Higdon at the Burston Strike School"},"content":{"rendered":"

The longest strike in history was not staged by miners but by minors \u2013 the children of a small village in Norfolk. On 1 April, 1914, pupils of the Burston village school, supported by their parents, took to the streets in protest at the dismissal of their teachers, Tom and Kitty Higdon. The strike lasted for over 25 years. The story is well-documented here on the Burston Strike School website<\/a>.
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To commemorate this magnificent democratic protest against the establishment of the day, I have written a song telling the story of Tom and Kitty Higdon and their struggle to ensure all children received a decent education. It is a struggle that continues today in many parts of the country.<\/p>\n

My song has been recorded by Suffolk singer Megan Wisdom and Cara Bruns. You can listen to the song here: She Lit the Fire <\/a>The song is also as a CD is available from the Strike School.
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She Lit the Fire \u2013 Simon Haines
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

To Burston school one winter\u2019s day,
\nThe children trudged from far away,
\nIn threadbare clothes no hats upon their heads
\nThey shivered with cold and fear
\nIn their draughty classroom drear
\nThey longed to be back home tucked in their beds.<\/p>\n

Kitty Higdon felt their cold, Kitty Higdon shared their fear
\nSo she bravely lit their schoolroom fire
\nThe fire, the fire, she lit the schoolroom fire
\nKitty Higdon bravely lit the schoolroom fire<\/em><\/p>\n

Kitty cared for children well,
\nShe didn\u2019t threaten them with Hell,
\nShe taught them how to think, but not to pray.
\nShe helped them value school,
\nMore than just a moral rule,
\nShe taught them how to think and how to play.<\/p>\n

Kitty Higdon thought it right not to teach by means of fright
\nAnd she bravely lit the children\u2019s fire
\nThe fire, the fire, she lit the children\u2019s fire
\nKitty Higdon bravely lit the children\u2019s fire<\/em><\/p>\n

Now Tom Higdon helped his wife
\nAt the school throughout his life
\nAnd helped the village workers find their voice
\nHe fought the Burston rector
\nLikewise the school inspector
\nAnd as councillor he was the village choice.<\/p>\n

Tom Higdon lent a hand and the village took a stand
\nHe bravely lit the workers\u2019 fire
\nThe fire, the fire, he lit the workers\u2019 fire
\nTom Higdon bravely lit the workers\u2019 fire<\/em><\/p>\n

Attempts were made to ban
\nKitty Higdon and her man
\nUsing charges based on threatened children\u2019s lies
\nThe pair were forced to leave
\nWhich made all the village grieve
\nAnd caused the children all to go on strike.<\/p>\n

They refused to go to school, disobeyed the rector\u2019s rule
\nThe children lit the Burston fire
\nThe fire, the fire, they lit the Burston fire
\nThe children lit the Burston fire<\/em><\/p>\n

Working folk throughout the land
\nHeard the news and lent a hand
\nThey sent money a new school for to build
\nThe strike school soon appeared
\nAnd just as the rector feared
\nWith village children it was quickly filled<\/p>\n

The strike school lasted long till the Higdons both were gone.
\nBurston village lit the nation\u2019s fire
\nA fire, a fire, Burston lit the nation\u2019s fire,
\nBurston village lit the nation\u2019s fire.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The longest strike in history was not staged by miners but by minors \u2013 the children of a small village in Norfolk. On 1 April, 1914, pupils of the Burston village school, supported by their parents, took to the streets in protest at the dismissal of their teachers, Tom and Kitty Higdon. The strike lasted … Continue reading “She lit the fire” – Tom & Kitty Higdon at the Burston Strike School<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hadleighfolk.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1205"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hadleighfolk.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hadleighfolk.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hadleighfolk.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hadleighfolk.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1205"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.hadleighfolk.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1217,"href":"https:\/\/www.hadleighfolk.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1205\/revisions\/1217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hadleighfolk.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}