Biography Davies, William H.: The autobiography of a super-tramp. v2. 04 Apr 2013

[SBT]

First published in 1908, this book describes the vagaries of the vagrant Welsh poet and author during the heyday of the navvy and other itinerant, wandering labourers.
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4. april 2013: Version 2. Araucaria has corrected multiple errors. Version 1 downloaded 35 times.

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[Prestidigitweeze]

I'm not sure when I'll be able to get to this book, but I'm very grateful you took the time to confect an e-book edition. My burgeoning shelf and I thank you.

[Araucaria]

Thanks very much for doing this book.

It is a fascinating account of the US and the UK, at the beginning of the 20th century, from an unusual point of view, and it is difficult not to find the author endearing in his scruples about begging and his encounters with organised charity. The unorganised type - the kindness of strangers - kept him, not just several steps from starving, but usually ensured he had a roof over his head and a warm fire.

His account of "gridling" - singing hymns badly in quiet residential streets, where kinder-hearted residents will pay a few coppers to see him go away - is in itself a reason to read the book, while his account of "beating" his way - riding the rails in the US - is a classic, pre-dating the depression-era writers and folk-singers by several decades.