Ned Ludd
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Ned Ludd or Ned Lud is the person from whom the Luddites took their name. His actions were the inspiration for the folkloric character of "Captain Ludd" (also known as King or General) who became the Luddites' imagined leader and founder.
Although no actual proof of his existence has been found, it is believed that he came from the village of Anstey, just outside Leicester, where in 2006 "Ned Ludd Close" was named after him.
The incident that inspired his transformation from 1700's common man to 1800's hero to the proletariat, was when he broke two stocking frames in a fit of rage. This incident is identified as being in 1779, rather than at the time of the Luddites in the 1810s. The act was one of frustration, rather than an act of vandalism against new technology, as stocking frames had existed for two centuries hence. Ludd was apparently annoyed by two children mocking his lack of intellect, and had chased them into their house. Unable to find the children, he proceeded to break up their mother's frames[citation needed]. If this account is true then his action — carried through the years in folk memory — was wrongly characterised by the Luddites.
[edit] Popular culture
The character of Ned Ludd has been commemorated in the folk ballad "General Ludd's Triumph".
Later Chumbawamba recorded a version of this song on their 1985 release, English Rebel Songs: 1381–1985.
In the same year Robert Calvert wrote and recorded another song "Ned Ludd", appearing on his 1985 album Freq; which includes lyrics such as:
"They said Ned Ludd was an idiot boy
That all he could do was wreck and destroy, and
He turned to his workmates and said: Death to Machines
They tread on our future and they stamp on our dreams."
[edit] Further reading
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