The song 'Pauper's Dough' is a promotional video taken from the archive film 'From Scotland With Love', a 75-minute film from Director Virginia Heath with a score by Scottish musician and composer King Creosote. Made entirely from films from the National Library of Scotland's Moving Image Archive, 'From Scotland with Love' is journey into Scotland's collective past.
The film explores universal themes of love, loss, resistance, migration, work and play. Ordinary people, some long since dead, their names and identities largely forgotten, appear shimmering from the depth of the vaults to take a starring role. Brilliantly edited together, these silent individuals become composite characters, who emerge to tell us their stories, given voice by King Creosote’s poetic music and lyrics.
Produced by Faction North, Crossover, National Library of Scotland Scottish Screen Archive in association with BBC Scotland and Creative Scotland.
Logged-in users can watch the whole film in our new Screening Room facility by following the link on this page.
What is a pauper?
What does the Scots word 'clarty' mean?
What is a Trade Union and how do you join?
Why do you need to "rise above the gutter you are inside?"
Research the history of Trade Unions, the Labour Party and other worker's organisations in Scotland. What were their goals and values? Discuss what they have achieved since the start of the Industrial Revolution.
Lyrics to the song 'Pauper's Dough' by King Creosote:
Injustice on its knees underground
The clawed-out tonnage is to our detriment
In these clarty surrounds
The combined earnings of our tenements
Won’t stretch to many rounds
And yet we’re striving to be counted
We’ll fight for what is right
And we’ll strike for what is rightfully ours
And I want better for my boy
To bury my father in dry, consecrated ground
You've got to rise above the gutter you are inside
You've got to rise above the gutter you are inside
You've got to rise above the gutter you are inside
You've got to rise above the gutter you are inside
Rise ...
Rise ...
Rise above the gutter you are inside
Rise above the gutter you are inside
Rise above the gutter you are inside
Rise above the gutter you are inside
You've got to rise above the gutter you are inside
You've got to rise above the gutter you are inside
Rise above the gutter you are inside
Rise above the gutter you are inside
| Resource Rights Holder | Faction North |
|---|---|
| Date | 2014 |
| Genre | Musical documentary |
| School Subject | Citizenship, English, RME, History |
| Subject Matter | Class struggle, Trade Unions, Politics |
| Who | Virginia Heath, Director, Grant Keir, Producer, King Creosote, Composer, David McAulay, Music Supervisor, Colin Monie, Editor, Paul Savage, Sound Engineer |
| Event | Commonwealth Games 2014 |
| Attributes | Black and White, Colour, Sound |
| Clip Length | 01:40 |
| Film Length | 72:52 |