I guess if, like me, you have ancestors from the Northampton area, then it's likely someone was involved in the shoe trade. I have several 'clickers' in my lot but didn't really appreciate what a hard life it was.
I found the following in a copy of The Rate Payer dated Dec 1886 in Northampton Central Library...
Regards
John
The Clicker written by C Lory
A Clicker when he starts his life,
He’s as happy as can be;
No thought of care comes in his mind,
He’s jovial, gay and free.
But later on the trouble comes,
When he wants better pay;
He is stood aside for someone else,
The school-board of today.
Now what to do he does not know,
To earn his daily bread;
He sees the river dark and cold,
And wishes he were dead.
Careworn, hungry, on he goes,
At last a thought it strikes him;
To enter in another trade,
That thought somewhat revives him.
But the tradesmen sigh and turn their backs,
For they see his clothes threadbare;
And tell him he may call again,
Or seek his fortunes elsewhere.
They little think of those at home,
The poor man has to keep;
With sinking heart and broken frame,
He’s turned out in the street.
