TURN THEM OOOT!
(Words & Music: Mike Ford)
from the album “Canada Needs You - vol. 1” - MapleMusicRecordings
TURN THEM OOT, TURN THEM OOT - THE TORIES GET THE BOOT
WE’LL RISE AGAINST THE FAMILY COMPACT
AND QUICKLY TURN THEM OOT!!!!!!!
Have ya read my latest tract about the family compact?
It tells how they are scum and let me tell ye that’s a fact
TURN THEM OOT, TURN THEM OOT - THE TORIES GET THE BOOT
WE’LL RISE AGAINST THE FAMILY COMPACT
AND QUICKLY TURN THEM OOT!!!!!!!
World-wide in this present day, reform and justice are on their way
But in backwards upper Canada it’s all corruption and decay
TURN THEM OOT, TURN THEM OOT - THE TORIES GET THE BOOT
WE’LL RISE AGAINST THE FAMILY COMPACT
AND QUICKLY TURN THEM OOT!!!!!!!
Canadians....
Do ye love freedom?
Would you like to own yer own land?
Have judges that respect ye?
Have the roads paved a bit?
Would ye like to roll up the rim to win?
Be swallowed up by the United States???
......Then we’ll have to do it on our ourselves!!!!
TURN THEM OOT, TURN THEM OOT - THE TORIES GET THE BOOT
WE’LL RISE AGAINST THE FAMILY COMPACT
AND QUICKLY TURN THEM OOT!!!!!!!
So if you’ve had it with their bull, you farmers can be quite helpful
Grab your pitchforks and we’ll march for government that’s responsible!
TURN THEM OOT, TURN THEM OOT - THE TORIES GET THE BOOT
WE’LL RISE AGAINST THE FAMILY COMPACT
AND QUICKLY TURN THEM OOT!!!!!!!
15
The Upper Canada Rebellion
In Upper Canada, one of the most controversial issues in the early 19th century was the
allocation of land. Much land had been set aside as "Crown reserves." These reserves of
unworked land lowered the value of neighbouring farms because isolated farms were less
efficient than farms close together. The British government's system of allocating land
was seen by many as excessively bureaucratic when compared with the American
system. After the War of 1812 the government of Upper Canada was run by the wealthy
owners of most of this reserve land, known as the Family Compact. Land had also been
set aside for the "Protestant Clergy," but the Family Compact interpreted this to mean
only the Anglican Church, rather than other Protestant groups or Catholics.
Another issue was the large number of American settlers who came after the American
Revolution, attracted by the cheap land grants offered by Lieutenant-Governor John
Graves Simcoe to promote land settlement. Although these settlers, known as "late-
Loyalists," were required to take an oath of allegiance to the British Crown in order to
obtain land, their fundamental political allegiances were always considered dubious. By
1812 this had become acutely problematic since the American settlers outnumbered the
original Loyalists by more than ten to one. After the War of 1812 the government took
active steps to prevent Americans from taking an oath of allegiance thereby making them
ineligible to obtain land grants. Relations between the appointed Legislative Council and
the elected Legislative Assembly, moreover, became increasingly strained in the years
after the war over issues of both immigration and taxation.
In 1836 and 1837, Mackenzie gathered support among farmers around Toronto, who
were sympathetic to his cause after an especially bad harvest in 1835. This had led to a
recession, and in the following years, the banks had begun to tighten credit and recall
loans. When the Lower Canada Rebellion broke out in Autumn of 1837, Bond Head sent
all the British troops stationed in Toronto to help suppress it. With the regular troops
gone Mackenzie and his followers seized a Toronto armoury, and organized an armed
march down Yonge Street, beginning at Montgomery's Tavern on December 4, 1837. But
when the revolt began, Mackenzie hesitated in attacking the city. On December 7,
Mackenzie's military leader, Anthony van Egmond, arrived. Van Egmond, a veteran on
both sides of the Napoleonic Wars, advised immediate retreat, but Mackenzie remained
hesitant. That same day, Colonel Moodie attempted to ride through a roadblock to warn
Bond Head, but the rebels shot him. Mackenzie waited for Bond Head's force of about
1000 men and one cannon, led by Colonel James Fitzgibbon, which outnumbered
Mackenzie's approximately 400 rebels. The fight was very short and in less than half an
hour the confrontation was over. The rebel forces dispersed.