"Dirty Old Town" is a song written by Ewan MacColl in 1949 that was made popular by The Dubliners and The Pogues. History The song was written about Salford, Lancashire, England, the city where MacColl was born and brought up. It was originally composed for an interlude to cover an awkward scene change in his 1949 play Landscape with Chimneys, set in a North of England industrial town, but with the growing popularity of folk music the song became a standard. The first verse refers to the gasworks croft, which was a piece of open land adjacent to the gasworks, and then speaks of the old canal, which was the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal. The line in the original version about smelling a spring on “the Salford wind” is sometimes sung as “the sulphured wind”. But in any case, most singers tend to drop the Salford reference altogether, in favour of calling the wind “smoky”. The Pogues' version of the song is played during the team walk-on at Salford City FC. Charts The Dubliners version Certifications References External links Discussion of lyrics at The Mudcat Cafe Material on Salford Gasworks at The National Archives 1949 songs The Dubliners songs Rod Stewart songs The Pogues songs Songs written by Ewan MacColl 1956 singles 1968 singles Major Minor Records singles The Specials songs British songs Salford City F.C. Esther & Abi Ofarim songs