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Maggie, Victorian servant
When I was first here, a scullery maid, I was only 13. And small for my age, so , although I’d to work hard, and didn’t get much sleep I can tell you, and everyone would find me beneath ‘em, for I was lowest of any, and I’d to do the work that no one else fancied, still, it kept me below stairs and out of harms way.
I had to scrub pots all day, and peel spuds, and bait the traps, and scour the flagstones, and all that. Why, me hands was hardly ever out of water and the greasy dishes and that. And I never did see much sun.
Still, it were a relief in one way, cos I had enough to eat, and slept in a bed by meself for the first time.
There were so many of us back at Mother’s, I never really did know how many of us there were, cos no sooner had I counted us all up than one of us would leave home or another baby’d be born.
But when I left there were eight of us, and then Mother and Father, so that’s ten.
Danni or Danny, from Stevenage, modern day
I like this one- it’s good, innit. It’s my fave. I fink it’s brill, on account of it makes me fink of when we was out clubbing last year, ‘member, Charley? Y’know, not Ibiza, the other place- can’t fink of the name; we flew out right from Luton. Was it Corfu? I got a tattoo of Corfu, on account of it was where I did everything for the first time. Dropped my first tab, got my first piercing, had it off, and well, just, everything…so that was the bestest holiday ever.
And you got a tattoo an all, but yours went all kind of…um….outta shape. And the scabs went all green, like when I had my belly pierced.