Theres a girl wanted there

AKA
First Published1903

Writer/composerAJ Mills / Bennett ScottRoudRN24477

Music Hall PerformersGeorge Lashwood
Folk performancesSubmitted as an “old song” for Sprite’s Article, Eastern Evening News (25 Sep 1929), Norfolk England
In a world of his own lived a fellow alone
And his kingdom up three flights of stairs
He’s a little bit shy that you know is just why
There’s no one to halve his joys and cares
When he comes home from his biz each day to cheer himself he’ll try
He makes his lonely cup of tea and sighs a weary sigh

There’s a girl wanted there
There’s a girl wanted there
He don’t care if she’s dark or fair
There’s a nice little home
That he’s willing to share
Hurry up young ladies don’t be shy
There’s a girl wanted there


All alone by the fire calmly smoking his briar
There the bachelor sits each night to dream
Of a different life with a loving young wife
Idle fancies In the fire lights gleam
He pictures there a somebody to make his home seem bright
Then gazes at the vacant chair that’s opposite

There are many today who would wed right away
But they haven’t the opportunity
In a big city's whirl don’t know any one girl
They could really ask a wife to be
They only want encouragement to bring them to your feet
Perhaps they’ve bought the home but just to make the thing complete

Words by AJ Mills, music by Bennett Scott and sung by  George Lashwood. It features in the Roud Folk Song index as it was remembered in the 1920s by correspondent of the Eastern Evening News.

Sources:

  • Entries in the Roud Indexes at the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library: https://archives.vwml.org/search/all:single[folksong-broadside-books]/0_50/all/score_desc/extended-roudNo_tr%3A24477
  • Kilgarrif Sing Us
  • Lyrics and Sheet Music: Francis and Days Old Time Favourites No 2, p16

Who hung the monkey?

AKAThe fisherman hung the monkey
The fishermen hung the monkey
The Boddamers hinged the monkey
First Publishedc1859

Words byEdward CorvanRoudRN5806

Music Hall PerformersEdward Corvan
Folk performancesCollected from the singing of:
Miss H Rae ; Scotland ; 1907
Isobel Baird ; Scotland ; 1960s-1980s
George Davidson ; Scotland ; 1960s-1980s
Modern performances:
Taken from song sheet without identified printer, reproduced in Dave Harker (2017) Cat-Gut Jim the Fiddler: Ned Corvan’s Life and Songs available from archive.org

WHO HUNG THE MONKEY?
"Air. -- The Tinker's Wedding"
Written and sung by Mr E Corvan, with immense applause at the Dock Hotel Music Hall, Southgate, Hartlepool.


In former times when war and strife
From o’er the channel threatened life
When all was ready [for] the knife
To watch the Frenchmen funky-o

Chorus: Dooram, dooram dooram da etc.

The fishermen with their courage high
Seized what they thought a real French spy
“Kill him”, says yan, “up him to die”
They did, and they hung the Monkey, O!

They tried every move to make him speak
They tortured Pug till he loud did squeak
That’s French says one, another, its Greek
The Fishermen then got drunky-O!

He has hair all over” the wives did cry
Oh, what un woman with him would lie?”
Wish fish guts they bung'd up his eyes
Before they hung the Monkey, O!

Now some the monkey did bewail
For although DUMB he had a tale (tail)
He’d sooner p’raps have gone to jail
For Pug was turning funky-O!

The monkey made some curious mugs
When they shaved his head and clipped his lugs
Then it’s here ist way to serve humbugs”
Before they hung the Monkey, O!

Hammer his ribs, the thundering thief
Pummel his peyte, weel, with your neef
He’s landed here for nought but grief
He’s Old Napoleon’s uncky-O!

To poor, Pug thus all hands behaved
Cut off his jimmy some fools raved
Another cries out He’s never been shaved
Before they hung the Monkey, Oh!

Then they put him on a grid-iron hot
The monkey then quite lively got
He grinned his teeth at all the lot
And rolled his eyes quite spunky-O!

Then a fisherman up to poor Pug goes
Saying, Hang him at once to end his woes”
The monkey flew at him and bit off his nose
So it’s off to the Moor with the Monkey, O!

But let us hope that on the sea
We might maintain our Sovereignty
May France and England long agree
And never at each other get so funky-O!

As regards poor Pug, I’ve had my say
And former times have passed away
Still you may hear to this very day
Boys crying who hung the Monkey, O!


THE BODDAMER HINGED THE MONKEY
[Boddam variant - Lyrics from transcribed from The Gaugers recording in Mudcat Thread.]

Eence a ship sailed roond the coast
An' a' the men in her were lost
Barran' a monkey up a post
An' the Boddamers hinged the monkey-o!

Durra ma doo, ma doo-a-day
Durra ma doo ma daddy-o
Durra ma doo, ma doo-a-day
The Boddamers hinged the monkey, o!


A Boddamer up to the Monkey goes,
Says tak him awa' an' awa' he goes,
But the Monkey jumped up an' he bit off his nose,
An' the Boddamers hinged the monkey-o!

Noo the funeral was a grand affair
A' the Boddam folk were there
It mind't ye on the Glesga Fair
Fin the Boddamers hinged the monkey-o!

Noo a' the folk fae Peterheid
Cam' oot expecting t' get a feed
So they made it int' potted heid
Fin the Boddamers hinged the monkey-o!

A north-eastern Music Hall song from the 1850s, written and performed by the star of the early northeast Halls, Ned Corvan. Like many local Music Hall songs of this period, it was sung to a popular earlier tune, in this case that of the 18th century Scottish song The Tinker’s Wedding (also known as The day we went to Rothesay O). The nonsense chorus and other elements are also borrowed from that song – which can be heard at the excellent Kist O Riches site.

Corvan’s song re-tells, or perhaps creates, a local legend that Hartlepool fishermen mistook a sailor’s pet monkey for a French spy during the Napoleonic Wars and hanged it. Its been suggested that the myth was created to exploit the local rivalry between the new town of West Hartlepool and the original “Old” Hartlepool. Similar stories, reflecting different local rivalries, are told in Scotland. For example, in 1916 the Medical Press and Circular reported that Greenock trades unionists had criticised local doctors for increasing night call out charges, saying of the trades unionists: I do not believe that [their] forebears hanged the monkey. That’s the tradition. The truth is to judge from their descendants, they skinned the poor brute[archive.org].

The villagers of Boddam in Aberdeenshire may have been the “original monkey-hangers” – the story in this case was that in the 1770s the monkey was the sole survivor of a shipwreck. The “Boddamers” hanged the monkey, mistaking it for a foreign sailor. In this case the motive was reputed to be to ensure that they could claim salvage rights, only possible if all aboard had perished. The Boddam story has its own variant of the song which was collected from singers in Scotland in the early 20th century.

Its been suggested that Corvan could have heard the tale in his tours of lowland Scotland and later wrote the Hartlepool song based on the Scottish tale. This would suggest that at some point later the Hartlepool song travelled north and was re-written for Boddam. The alternative is that the Boddam version of the song is the original and that Corvan modified it. However, I suspect that Corvan was responsible for the earliest version of the song as I can find no mention of either song before Corvan wrote and performed it in the mid 1850s. Verifiable references to the Boddam version don’t start appearing until in the mid 1890s.

Newcastle printer/publisher Thomas Allan printed a cleaned up version of Corvan’s song in 1861 under the title The Fishermen Hung the Monkey O! (without reference to the monkey’s jimmy). The song was also sung under that title by “Scotch” music hall comic Ben Hoskins, who introduced the song to Aberdeen audiences in 1864:

Aberdeen People’s Journal – Saturday 30 January 1864

Keith Gregson sings it:

Sources:

  • Ballad Index
  • Mudcat Thread
  • Lyrics: song sheet without identified printer, reproduced in Dave Harker (2017) Cat-Gut Jim the Fiddler: Ned Corvan’s Life and Songs available from archive.org
  • Jon Wilks (2019) Who Hung The Hartlepool Monkey? Exploring the song behind the story.
  • Keith Gregson (1983) Corvan: a Victorian entertainer and his songs.
  • Ten references to 19th century performances of the song were found in the British Newspaper Archive, there is no indication that any of these performances were of the Boddam variant, though we can’t rule it out. They are listed in this file:

Astrilly; or, The Pitman’s Farewell

AKAAustralia; or, The Pitman’s Farewell
First Published1853

Writer/composerEdward CorvanRoudRN344

Music Hall PerformersEdward Corvan
Folk performancesCollected from the singing of:
none
ASSTRILLY; or, The 
PITMAN'S FAREWELL.

An Original Local Song by EDWARD CORVAN
AIR — "All round my hat"

Noo, marrows, aw's gawn te leeve ye, an' sair, sair twill grieve me
Te leave wor canny Tyneside shores, where aw've had mony a spree;
Tho' it's sair agyen mee likin', tiv Asstrilly aw'll gan hykin',
For wor maistors keeps us strikin', so what mun a pitman de?

Aw mind the time when collier lads cud work for goold at hyem, man;
Dash! aw mind the time when collier lads cud spend a pund each pay;
But noo the times thor queer, man, we've nowther sangs nor cheer, man:
When we cannit raise wor beer, man, it's time te gari away.

Greet men may de a vast, man, but wor fine tiroes thor past, man;
Gosh! aw waddent leave wor canny toon, but aw's forc'd te gan away:
So aw'll myek ne mair emoshun, but cross the salt sea oshun,
Where aw've a kind o' noshun when aw owk aw'll get gud pay.

Aw'll bid fareweel te pit wark, an' howk for lumps o' goold, man;
Goshcab! aw'll suen be rich aw've varry little fear;
So aw'll bid fareweel te mammy, an' maw sweetheart o' the Lammy;
It's, weel knawn aw's ne hammy — so tiv Asstrilly lads, aw'll steer.


Spoken, — It's ne use stoppin' here; aw mun gan tiv Asstrilly. Still aw's kind o' flaid when aw cum te think o' bein' sea-sick, an' sailin' ower places where thor's ne bottom! Noo, if the sea was te run oot here, an' a' hands be lost, what — O Lord! — what a nibble aw'd be for a shark! An' thor's Geordie Hall, te ; aw've conswaded him te gan a' aw can. He'd myek a fortin oot there i' ne time! Sic a man for yarbs, tee! He can stuff bird cages an' canaries wiv onny man i' Northumberland. Thou shud see his tarrier bitch — she's a fair hare for rabbits ! Sic a hunter ! Geordie's a greet politishnist as weel: he says he'd suiner hev a reed herrin' at hyem than a beef-steak at Asstrilly. Aw say, what a slaverin' cull! Thor's nowt 'ill stop me frae gannin'. What odds if aw's drooned three or fower times, as lang as aw get there safe!


O, fare ye weel, ye happy scenes, where youthful days aw've spent, man!
Fare ye weel! for better times 'boot here thor'll nivver be.
So aw munnet be a gowk, man, but for goold aw'll gan an howk, man,
Tho' maw boiley aw may bowk, man, aw'll seun skim ower the sea.


[Stewart's No 6, published by W Stewart, Newcastle-on-Tyne]

A Tyneside Music Hall song from the 1860s, written and performed by the star of the early Tyneside Halls Ned Corvan. Like many local, dialect Music Hall songs of this period, it was sung to a well known earlier tune, in this case the early Music Hall song All around my Hat.

I can’t find evidence that it was ever formally collected from a traditional singer

Sources:

Days when I was Hard Up, The

AKAHard Up
Vagabond
First Published1853

Writer/composerunknownRoudRN4621

Music Hall PerformersEdward Corvan, JH Holmes
Folk performancesCollected from the singing of:
Fone, Sam ; England : Devon ; 1894
Parish, Robert ; England : Somerset ; 1907
Wiseman, Skyland Scotty & Lulu Belle ; USA ; 1937
Edwards, George ; USA : New York ; 1948
Unknown singer ; England : Shropshire ; 1958
DAYS WHEN I WAS HARD UP
As Sung by Edward Corvan
Air - "John Anderson my Joe"

In the days when I was hard up, not many years ago,
I suffered that which only, the sons of misery know;
Relations, friends, companions, they all turn'd up their nose.
And they rated me a vagabond, for want of better clothes.

In the days when I was hard up, and wanted food and fire,
I used to tie my shoes up, with little bits of wire:
When hungry and cold, cast on a rock, I couldn't get a meal,
How oft I've beat the devil down, for tempting me to steal.

In the days when I was hard-up, I used to bolt the door.
For fear the landlady should say, you can't lodge here no more;
In my own back parlour, about ten feet by six.
In the workhouse wall just opposite I've counted all the bricks.

In the days when I was hard-up, for furniture and rags.
I've often on a summer's night held communion with the bugs;
I never hunted them with forks, nor smashed them on the wall.
For I thought the world was wide enough, "there's room enough for all"

In the days when I was hard-up, I bow'd my spirits down,
And often did succumb to friends to borrow half a-crown;
How many are there in this world with evil eye to scan,
They see the shabby suit of clothes, but they never see the man.


SPOKEN: I pity the poor man, but pity is a poor offering, yet some people in this world bestow a great deal of it; at the same time, they contrive to keep their hands in their pockets. “In the days when I was hard up;” that’s the time I tried my friends, that is, I tried to find ’em, but I never found one yet; appearances were against me; so I plucked up my courage; recollections of the past gathered round me, and I began to forget the difficulties, the hardships, and ups and downs of life I had been forced to submit to; yet the experience I have had will teach me a lesson, and learn one to respect and assist a fellow creature in distress. But, let a man be a friend to himself, and he will never need friendship from others.

In the days when I was hard up I found a blissful hope.
Tis all a poor man's heritage, to keep him from the rope,
But I've found a good old maxim, and this shall be my plan,
If I wear a ragged coat, I'll near it like a man.

In the second half of the 19th century The Days when I was Hard Up was widely sung throughout the English speaking world. It was written to be sung to the tune of Robert Burns’ John Anderson my Joe, but its not clear who wrote the lyrics. It was widely published in broadsides, songsters and song books, particularly in the US in the 1860s, for example it appears in:

  • Beadle’s Dime Song Book No.5 (New York, 1860)
  • Nightingale Songster (New York, 1863)
  • Jim Ward, The Clown’s Comic Songster (Philadelphia, 1864)
  • Banner Songster (New York, 1865)
  • Henry De Marsan’s New Comic and Sentimental Singer’s Journal No.7 (New York, c1868)
  • We Parted by the Riverside Songster (New York, 1869)
  • Comus and Cupid Songster (Chicago, c1869)

Whilst the lyricist has not been identified as yet, we can be reasonably confident that the variant given above is the way that Ned Corvan sang it in the Tyneside Halls of the 1850s- it was published in 1853 by Newcastle printer William Stewart – “Number 17” in a series of 22 song sheets, each with a single song of Corvan’s. Most of the songs in the series make it clear that the lyrics were written by Corvan, whilst this one just states “As sung by Edward Corvan“. All the other songs in the series are written in the Tyneside dialect. These facts together suggest that perhaps the songsheet is Corvan’s interpretation of someone else’s song, but we can’t rule out Corvan as a possible author.

Another early broadside variant was published by the Poet’s Box (Glasgow) in November 1855 removes the last verse with its reference to hanging and includes an additional verse, perhaps one more appealing to a respectable audience:

In the days whin I was hard up, a blissful hope I had,
Amidst alt my misfortunes, I’d ne’er do what was bad.
For integrity and honesty, I always would maintain;
For the road that never bad a turn, must surely be Long Lane.

The next verifiable sighting of the song was in North America in 1857, in the Richmond Dispatch:

Richmond Dispatch, 08 Aug 1857, p2

The earliest UK report of an amateur performance of a song called Days when I was Hard Up – was in 1865 at a Penny Reading at the Silloth Assembly Room (Carlisle Journal, 19 Dec 1865)

Some later versions include this chorus :

Hard up, oh, hard up. I never shall forget
The day when I was hard up—I may be well off yet.

The title appears in Stephen Foster’s The Song of all Songs:

“In the days when I was hard up” with “My Mary Ann,”
“My Johnny was a Shoemaker,” or “Any other Man!”
” The Captain with his whiskers” and “Annie of the Vale,”
Along with “Old Bob Ridley” “A riding on a rail!”

Stephen Foster, The Song of all Songs (1863)

Sheet music for the twentieth century variant sung by Skyland Scotty & Lulu Belle Wiseman can be found at archive.org

As yet I have not found a commercial recording, but you can hear a snatch of it in a recording by John A Mullins of West Virginia in the Louis W. Chappell collection

Sources:

Poor Chinee; or, Me Likey Bow-Wow

This song reflects racist, misogynist and/or colonial ideas that were commonplace at the time it was first written and performed but are no longer acceptable today.

AKAMy name is Ha Sing
First Published1875

Writer/composerGW HuntRoudRN44873

Music Hall PerformersHenri Clark
Folk performancesCollected from the singing of:
Putnam, Sue ; USA : New York ; 1941
From Sheet Music (personal copy)

My name Sin-Sin come from Chiney,
In a big large ship come along here,
Wind blow welly much, kick rip a bobbery,
Ship makey Chinaman feel welly queer;
Me bringey lilly gal welly much nicey,
She come along to be my wife,
She say she lovey me, oncey, twicey,
Make a big swear to all her life!

Me likey bow-wow, welly good Chow-Chow,
Me likey lilly gal, she likey me,
Me fetchey Hong-Kong whitey man come along,
Take a lilly gal from poor Chinee!


Me come along take welly nice placey,
Nice lilly house down Petticoats Lane,
Man name Mosey, welly much closey,
Chop-Chop all day sell 'em all again;
Me stop along me -lilly gal wifey,
Welly happy Chinaman me no care,
Me smoky-smoky, gal talkee,
Chinaman and fifty gal welly jolly pair,

One day me say by-bye lilly while,
Chinaman go and fetchy nice bohea,
Me go along bring half an ounce of "one and four,"
Chinaman welly fond of good cup o' tea,
Me 'o down stairs take a lilly walkee,
By an bye lilly while me comey back,
Den find a whitey man an lilly gal a talkee,
Kissy-kissy lilly gal give a lot o "smack"

SPOKEN: Chinaman likee kiss him lilly girl himself me takey large piecy sticky z-lve him whackey-whackey on him backey, whitey mam give me largey bootey-kick on me shin-legey rim away with lilly gal— savey?

Chorus

Me runny down stairs looky after lilly gal,
No no lilly gal Chinaman find,
Me runny long street, too muchey lilly boys,
Come along runny after Chinaman behind;
Pleecyman come say, me make a bobbery
Me asky lilly gal - he makey face,
Catchee me along show me station housey,
Lockee up a Chinaman in welly bad place.

SPOKEN: Chinaman no want station housey, Chinaman want him lilly gal, heno get lilly gal, he get one month twicey over for doing nothing too much, Chinaman no likey Pleecyman, Pleecyman welly nicey boiled —

Chorus

 A song written by the prolific songwriter GW Hunt and performed by the comic Henri Clark.  It drew its humour from Chinese stereotypes – Clark appeared in costume singing in pidgin English. It was one of a series of caricatures presented in an entertainment called: Nationalities and Comicalities, Round the World in Thirty Minutes.
The notices show that Clark was appearing in three different London Halls each evening…

The song also featured in JR Planche’s 1876 pantomime King of the Peacocks and was very popular amongst amateur British singers in the late 19th century.

It was collected in 1941 from the singing of Sue Putnam in New York .

The Era – Sunday 24 October 1875

Sources:

  • Entries in the Roud Indexes at the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library: https://archives.vwml.org/search/all:single[folksong-broadside-books]/0_50/all/score_desc/extended-roudNo_tr%3A44873
  • Ballad Index
  • Mudcat Thread
  • Kilgarrif Sing Us
  • Lyrics:
  • Sheet Music:
  • British Newspaper Archive:

Stanley Market

AKAStanla Markit
Up at Stanley Market
First Published1909

Writer/composerTommy ArmstrongRoudRN3490

Music Hall PerformersTommy Armstrong
Folk performancesCollected from the singing of:
Elliott, Jack ; England : Co. Durham ; 1961
Modern performances: Benny Graham, High Level Ranters
Stanla Markit

Tune - Bunty's Goast

If ye be bad en off yor meat
En wid like te be put reet
Tuaik e wauk sum Fridae neet
Up te Stanla Markit.
Aul kines e doctors thare yil see,
Thor aul is buisy is can bee
Its we te tell th' bigest lee,
While tellin ower wat thae cin dee.
Te heer thim on thae ar that clivor
Thae cin muaik nue lungs en livor
En fact thail muaik ye liv for ivor
Up it Stanla Markit

Fal th' dal

Thare thail stand en guap en shoot,
En wen th' crood get roond eboot
Thae tell ye thae cin cure th' goot
Up it Stanla Markit.
Thae preech awae en nivor smiles,
Its reely grand te se thor stiles;
Thae tell ye thae cin cure th' piles,
Tumors, ulsord throtes, or biles.
Thare thail stand freh six te ten
En tell th' good thiv deun for men;
Thae think th' pitmin disent ken
Thit gans te Stanla Markit.

En when ye get mixt up e th' thrang
Yil find it ard te travil elang;
En yil heer sum stranger singen a sang
Up it Stanla Markit.
Thares e chep we second hand clais,
And beuts en shoos hees full e praise;
But tuaik nee noatis what he sais
He onaly wants yor bits e pais.
Thares sasage ducks, en savilois,
En thares e stall we nowt but tois
Te plees th' little girls en bois
Up it Stanla Markit.

Thares bulits en spice en pies en wigs,
Taity chopers, braiks, en gigs,
En yil oftin see a chep we pigs
Up it Stanla Markit.
Thares black puddings, neerly wite,
Thor muaid te suit yor appetite,
One il sarv fre six tiv hite
Thae suit e chape Thits rithor tite
In rain or snaw ye needn't fret
Thares umborelas for ye te get
Te keep ye drie emang th' wet
Up it Stanla Markit.

Thare yil see e grand Masheen
It shines like silvor, nice en cleen;
It tries th' narves e fat en leen
Up it Stanla Markit.
Thares legs e pork, fra Rotterdam,
Baicon, beef, en home-fed ham;
Black corant, en strawberry gam
En ony emoont e veel en lam.
Ye cin get e tip, but dinit hed
If ye dinit naw hoo th' horse is bred;
Thares pots to stand belaw th' bed
Up it Stanla Markit.

A song by “The Pitman Poet” Tommy Armstrong, it was collected from the singing of Jack Elliott by Peggy Seeger and Ewan MacColl. It was written to be sung to the tune of Bunty’s Ghost, more commonly known as King of the Cannibal Islands (RNV7963) one of the best known tunes of the 19th century, with probable origins in the 1820s.

Benny Graham sings it:

Sources:

Durham Jail

AKADorham Jail
Durham Gaol
Nae Good Luck in Durham Jail
First Published1909

Writer/composerTommy ArmstrongRoudRN42806

Music Hall PerformersTommy Armstrong
Folk performancesCollected from the singing of:
Raine, Thomas ; England : Durham ; 1951
Modern performances: Megson, Louis Killen, Doctor Socrates, many others

Tune: Nae Gud Luck about the house

Wy'll aal hev hord o' Durham Gaol,
But it wad ye much surprise,
Te see the prisoners in the yard,
When they're on exercise,
this yard is built aroond wi' waals,
Se noble an'se strang.
Wheiver gans in haas te bide their time,
Be it short or lang

O there's ne good luck in Durham Gaol,
There's ne good luck at aal;
what's bread and' skilly for,
Burt just te make ye smaal?


When ye gan inte Durham Gaol
The'll find ye with employ,
They'll dress ye up se dandy
In a suit o' corduroy;
They'll fletch yer a cap wivoot a peak,
An' niver ax your size,
An' like your suit it's corduroy,
An' it comes doon ower your eyes.

The forst month is the worst of aal;
Your feelins they will try
There's nowt but two great lumps o' wood,
On which ye hev to lie.
The after that ye get a bed,
But it's as hard as stanes;
At neet ye dorsen't mek a torn,
For fear ye brek some banes.

Aal kin's o' work there's gannon on,
Upon them noble flats,
Teasin okum, makin baals,
An' weavin coco mats.
When ye gan in ye may be thin,
But they can mek ye thinner,
If your oakum isn't teased,
They're sure to stop your dinner.

The shoes ye get is often tens,
The smaalest size is nine;
They're big enough to mek a skiff
For Boyd upon the Tyne.
An' if ye should be caad at neets,
Just mek yorsel at yem;
Lap your claes aroond your shoes,
An'get inside o'them.

Ye'll get yor meat an' claes for nowt,
Yor hoose an firin free;
Aal you meat's browt te the door-
Hoo happy ye should be!
Thor's soap an' towel an 'wooden speun,
An' a little bairnie's pot;
They fetch ye papers every week
For ye te clean your bot

A song written by “The Pitman Poet” Tommy Armstrong, to be sung to the tune of Nae Luck about the house (RN3717). It was collected from the singing of Thomas Raine by Alan Lomax – you can hear the recording in the Lomax Digital Archive.

The song was

 based on Tommy’s actual experience of Durham Gaol where he was sent for stealing a pair of stockings from the Co-op at West Stanley. He says he was drunk at the time and the stockings seemed from the way they were displayed, the only pair of bowlegged ones he had come across. Being small and bowlegged they seemed ideal for him.

(Graham,1971, p3).

A version by Newcastle folk-rock stalwarts, Doctor Socrates:

Sources:

  •  F. Graham, ed. (1971) The Geordie song book (1971) [Archive.org]
  • Kilgarrif Sing Us

Trimdon Grange Explosion

AKA
First Published1882

Writer/composerTommy ArmstrongRoudRN3189

Music Hall PerformersTommy Armstrong
Folk performancesCollected from the singing of:
Sewell and Jefferson ; England : Northumberland ; 1951
Modern performances: Louis Killen, Martin Carthy, Bob Davenport and many more
Tune: Go and leave me if you wish it

Let us not think about to-morrow,
Lest we disappointed be;
For all our joys they may quickly turn to sorrow,
As we all may daily see.
To-day we’re strong and healthy,
Tomorrow there comes the change,
As we may see from the explosion
That has been at Trimdon Grange.

Men and boys set out that morning,
For to earn their daily bread;
Never thinking that by the evening,
They’d be numbered with the dead.
Let’s think of Mrs Burnett,
Once had sons but now has none;
In the Trimdon Grange disaster,
Joseph George and James are gone.

February has left behind it
What will never be forgot;
Weeping women and helpless children
May be found in many’s the cot.
They ask if father’s left them
And the mother she hangs her head,
With a weeping widow’s feelings
She tells the child its father’s dead.

God protect the lonely widow
And raise each drooping head.
Be a father unto the orphans
Do not let them cry for bread.
Death will pay us all a visit,
They have only gone before.
And we will meet the Trimdon victims
Where explosions are no more.

A song by “The Pitman Poet” Tommy Armstrong, it has been formally collected only once, from the singing of R Sewell and J Jefferson by AL Lloyd.

Like many local Music Hall songs of this period, it was sung to well known tune, in this case, to that of a popular sentimental song from the early 1880s – Go and leave me if you wish it

Bob Fox and Benny Graham sing a traditional unaccompanied version:

Post-punk stalwarts The Mekons give it a go

Sources:

Wor Nanny’s a mazer

AKA
First Publishedbefore 1896

Writer/composerTommy ArmstrongRoudRN42142

Music Hall PerformersTommy Armstrong
Folk performancesCollected from the singing of:
Colvill, Albert ; England : Tyne and Wear ; 1953
Modern performances: Alex Glasgow, Bob Fox and Benny Graham, Tom Gilfellon, The Pitmen Poets and many others.
From Peter Davison (1971) Songs of the British Music Hall, from an arrangement by CE Catcheside-Warrington


Wor Nanny and me myed up wor minds te gan and catch the train,
For te gan te the Toon te buy some claes for wor little Billy and Jane;
But when we got to Rowlands Gill the mornin' train wes gyen,
And there was ne mair te gannin' that way till siventeen minutes te one.
So aa says te wor Nan, "Its a lang way te gan," aa saa biv hor fyece she wes vext;
But aa says, "Nivvor mind, we hev plenty o'time, so we'll stop and gan in wi' the next"
She gov a bit smile, when aa spoke up and said, "There's a pubbilick hoose alang heor,
We'll gan alang there and hev worsels warmed, and a glass of the best bittor beor"
Nan wes se' stoot aa knew she'd not waak, and she didn't seem willin' te try;
When aa think o'the trubble aa'd wiv hor that day,
If aa liked aa cud borst oot and cry.

Aye, wor Nannie's a mazer, and a mazer she'll remain,
As lang as aa leeve, the day we lost the train.


So away we went te the pubbilick hoose, and when we got te the door,
She says, "We'll gan inti the parlor end For aa've nivvor been heor afore".
So in we went and teuk wor seats, and afore aa rung the bell,
Aa axed hor what she was gannin' te hev, "Why," she says, "The syem as yorsel"
So aa caalled for two gills o'the best bittor beor, She paid for them when they com in;
But after she swalleyed three parts of hor gill, She said, "Bob, man, aa'd rather hev gin."
So aa caalled for a glass o'the best Hollands gin, And she gobbled it up the forst try;
Says aa te wor Nan, "Thoo's as gud as a man" She says, "Bob man, aa felt varra dry."
So aa caalled for another, and that went the same way; Aa says, "That'll settle thee thorst."
She says, "Aa've had two, and aa's nee better now than aa was when aa swally'd the forst."

She sat and drank till she got tight; She says "Bob man, aa feel varra queer."
"Why", aa says, "Thoo's had nine glasses o'gin Te maa three gills o'beor."
She lowsed hor hat and then hor shaal, And hoyed them on te the floor;
Aa thowt she was gan te gan wrang in hor mind, So aa sat mesel close by the door.
She says, "Give iss order, aa'll sing a bit sang" Aa sat and aa glowered at hor;
Aa thowt she wes jokin', for aa'd nivvor hard, Wor Nanny sing ony before.
She gave iss a touch of 'The Row in the Gutter', She pleased every one that was there.
There was neebody in but wor Nanny and me, and aa laughed till me belly was sair.
She tried te stand up for te sing the 'Cat Pie', But she fell doon and myed sic a clatter,
She smashed fower chairs, and the landlord com in, And he said, "What the deuce is the matter?"

The landlord says, "Is this yor wife, And where de ye belang?"
Aa says, "It is, and she's teun a fit Wi' tryin' te sing a bit sang"
He flung his arms aroond hor waist; And trailed hor acroos the floor,
And Nan, poor sowl, like a dorty hoose cat, Was tummelled oot-side o'the door.
There she wes lyin', byeth groanin' and cryin', Te claim hor aa reely thowt shyem;
Aa tried for te lift hor, but aa cudden't shift hor, Aa wished aa had Nanny at hyem.
The papor man said he wad give hor a ride, So we lifted hor inti the trap:
But Nan was that tight, she cudden't sit up, So we fasten'd hor doon wiv a strap;
She cudden't sit up, she wadden't lie doon, She kicked till she broke the convaince:
She lost hor new basket, hor hat and hor shaal, That mornin' wi lossin' the train.

A song by “The Pitman Poet” Tommy Armstrong, it was collected from the singing of Albert Colvill by Alan Lomax – you can hear the recording in the Lomax Digital Archive.

Bob Fox and Benny Graham sing it:

Sources:

Row upon the stairs, The

AKA
First Publishedc1865

Writer/composerJoe WilsonRoudRN24960

Music Hall PerformersJoe Wilson
Folk performancesCollected from the singing of:
Stockman/ Reeve /McGuckin ; Canada : Nova Scotia ; 1944
Modern performances: Alex Glasgow, Brian Watson
From Joe Wilson's Tyneside songs, ballads and drolleries Part 1 (c1865) quoted  in Dave Harker (2017) The Gallowgate Lad p11:

To the tune Yankee Doodle Uncle Sam

Says Mistress Bell to Mistress Todd
“Ye'd better clean the stairs!
Ye’ve missed yor turn for monny a week,
The neybors a’ did theirs!”
Says Mistress Todd te Mistress Bell,
Aw toll ye Mitress Bell,
Ye’d batter mind yor awn affairs,
An’ clean the stairs yorsel!”

Oh what tungs i’ the row upon the stairs,
Clitterin, clatterin, scandal, an’ clash,
I’ the row upon the stairs.


Says Mistress Todd — “when it suits ma
Te think that it’s me turn,
Ye've a vast o’ check te order me,
Thor’s not a wummin born
That keep’s a cleaner hoose than me,
An’ mark ye, Mistress Bell,
Ef yo’d oney de tho syem as me,
Yo'd gan an’ clean—yorsel!”

Says Mistress Bell — “ye clarty fah,
We was’t that stole the beef?”
What do ye say ?” cries Mistress Todd,
“De ye mean that aw’m a thief?
Let's heh the sixpence thas aw lent
Te treat Meg Smith wi’ gin!
An’ where's the blanket that ye gat
The last time ye lay in?”

Says Mistress Bell — “ye knaw yorsel
The sixpence’s lang been paid,
An’ the raggy blanket that ye lent
Was ne use thon ye said!”
“A raggy blanket! Mistress Bell,”
Cries Mistress Todd — "what cheek!
Yor dorty stocking had two holes
Full twice the sizo last week!” ,

“Maw holey stockins, Mistress Todd,
Luks better i’ the street
Than yor gud man’s awd blucher beuts
Ye weer te hide yor feet!
The eer-rings ye gat frae the Jew
On tick the tuthor day,
'Il be like the fine manadge man’s shawl,
The syem as gien away!”

Says Mistress Todd — “ye greet sk’yet gob,
Ye’d better had yor jaw,
The varry shift upon yor back
Belangs the wife belaw!”’
“Ye lazy wretch" — shoots Mistress Bell,
"It’s true, thor is ne doot,
Last neet ye fuddled wi’ Bob the Snob
The time yor man wes oot!”

“Oh, Mistress Bell!" — says Mistress Todd,
“Ye brazind-lucking slut,
Ye may tawk away — te clean the stairs
Aw’ll nivor stir a fut!
Afore aw’d lift a skoorin cloot
The mucky stairs te clean,
Aw’'d see them turn as black as ye,
Ye pawnshop luckin queen!”

A famous Tyneside Music Hall dialect song from the 1860s, written and performed by the star of the early Tyneside Halls Joe Wilson. Like many local Music Hall songs of this period, it was sung to well known earlier tune, in this case, the tune of an American song Yankee Doodle Uncle Sam.

[American broadsides of Yankee Doodle Uncle Sam in turn suggest that song should be sung to the tune Bag of Nails (RN26083)]

Dave Harker explains the lyrics:

The lyrics were about two women arguing over whose turn it was to clean the communal tenement stairs. They used terms like ‘clarty fah’ (dirty gypsy) and ‘sk’yet gob’ (skate mouth), and listed each other’s improprieties including thefts, wearing ‘blucher beuts’ (so called after the 18th century general Gebhard Leberecht von Blucher), drinking with a shoemaker when her husband was out, cheating a Jewish hawker and a ‘manadge man’ who sold goods on tick, and being a frequent and unwashed visitor to the pawnshop.

Dave Harker (2017) The Gallowgate Lad p11

Brian Watson sings it:

Sources:

  • Lyrics: Joe Wilson’s Tyneside songs, ballads and drolleries Part 1 (c1865) quoted in Dave Harker (2017) The Gallowgate Lad p11 [archive.org]