Historical references to London's sounds

Laurie Lee goes on strike with his fellow labourers

We massed in the open outside the manager's office, our tempers suddenly transformed – over five hundred men huddled in the raw cold wind, waiting for our ranks to throw up a leader. At first we were lost; sporadic meetings broke out, voices shouted against each other. 'Brothers! – Comrades! – We got to stand solid on this – Chuck 'em out – Put our demands to the bosses.' The loaded phrases touched off little bush-fires of anger which flickered across the crowd, then died. [. . .]

Just then a tall stoop-backed labourer pushed his way to the front and climbed up on to a pile of timber, and as soon as he turned to address us we knew that he'd do, and that the vacuum was filled.

[. . .]

He spoke briefly, with savage almost contemptuous dignity, and the other gabblers round the ground fell silent. With a few iron words he raised the level of our grievance to the heights of cosmic revolution. We had been vague and wavering; now we had no doubts.