the poor. He remained bitter about his earlier failure, attributing his father's pecuniary losses and his own to the operation of the Corn Laws, whose repeal became the greatest issue in his life. Elliott became well known in Sheffield for his strident views on changes that would improve conditions for both manufacturers and workers, but was often disliked on this account by his fellow entrepreneurs. He formed the first society in England to call for reform of the Corn Laws: the Sheffield Mechanics' Anti-Bread Tax Society founded in 1830. Four years later, he was behind the establishment of the Sheffield Anti-Corn Law Society and the Sheffield Mechanics' Institute. He was also very active in the Sheffield Political Union and campaigned vigorously for the 1832 Reform Act. He was later active in Chartist agitation, acting as the Sheffield delegate to the Great Public Meeting in Westminster in 1838, and chairing the meeting in Sheffield where the Charter was introduced to local people. However, Elliott withdrew from the Sheffield organisation after the Chartist Movement advocated the use of violence. The strength of his political convictions was reflected in the style and tenor of his verse, earning him the nickname of "the Corn Law Rhymer", and making him internationally famous. After a single long poem, "The Ranter", in 1830, came the Corn Law Rhymes in 1831. Inspired by a hatred of injustice, the poems were vigorous, simple and full of vivid description and campaigned politically against the landowners in the government who stifled competition and kept the price of bread high. They also heeded the dreadful conditions endured by working people and contrasted their lot with that of the complacent gentry. He went on to publish a three-volume set of the growing number of his works in The Splendid Village; Corn-Law Rhymes, and other Poems (1833–1835), which included "The Village Patriarch" (1829), "The Ranter", "Keronah" and other pieces. The Corn Law Rhymes marked a shift away from the long narratives that had preceded them, towards verses for singing that would carry a wider message to the labouring class. Several of the poems indicate the tune for them (including the Marseillaise) and one late poem at least, "They say I'm old because I'm grey", was set to music by a local composer. He followed up the Rhymes of 1831 with the Corn Law Hymns of 1835, which are even more belligerent and political in