{"id":16822,"date":"2023-11-06T12:23:40","date_gmt":"2023-11-06T12:23:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=16822"},"modified":"2024-06-10T09:16:18","modified_gmt":"2024-06-10T09:16:18","slug":"two-burnley-mashers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/two-burnley-mashers\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Burnley Mashers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>The Two Burnley Mashers, The Carrick Smashers, Two Fleetwood Mashers, The Oldham Mashers, The Rochdale Mashers, The Quarry Bank Mashers, etc
The Brothers Malone?<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>unknown<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>unknown<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN2346<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>George Holt<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
THE TWO BURNLEY MASHERS, No name, England : Lancashire, 1938
ASHTON MASHERS, Collins Eddie \/ Hazel, England : Yorkshire, 1964
The QUARRY BANK MASHERS, Hadley, Mr & Mrs, England : Staffordshire, 1971
FLEETWOOD MASHERS, Wheatly, Phil , England : Lancashire, 1985
Modern performances<\/strong>
Five Penny Piece (as The Ashton Mashers)
The Houghton Weavers (as The Burnley Mashers and The Rochdale Mashers)
The Oldham Tinkers (as The Rochdale Mashers)
Penny Black Folk (as The Blackpool Mashers)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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THE TWO BURNLEY MASHERS<\/strong>\n[From hand-written sheet music with additions from typed lyrics, both from the file held at Burnley Library (1958). This variant was also being sung in 1927 ]\n\nThey call us the two Burnley Mashers \nThat's because we go out on the mash \nWe both wear tall hats, we've no shirts to our backs \nAnd it's seldom we've got any cash \nWe oft times bring out the new fashions \nWhile others they stick to their old \nAnd though we are just twenty seven \nWe're handsome, stout hearted and bold. \n\nAnd we sing tra-la-la as we walk down the street \nFor style and perfection we ne'er can be beat \nAll the ladies declare that we are a treat \nWe're the two Burnley mashers from St. James's Street.<\/em>\nAnd we dance<\/em> [3 steps together], and we sing <\/em>[3 steps together]\nAnd we don't give a jot we're a jolly fine lot\nWe're alright when we're tight \nAnd we're jolly fine company.<\/em>\n\nLast Saturday we were invited\nTo a party with two ladies fair\nTheir cheeks were in bloom like the roses in June \nAnd we mash[ed] both the beautiful pair\nThere were singing and dancing till midnight \nWe had whiskey, tobacco and rum\nAnd after the dancing was over\nWith the ladies we had all the fun\n\nTHE BROTHERS MALONE\nhttps:\/\/mudcat.org\/thread.cfm?threadid=36635\n\nWe are the Brothers Malone, We come from the town of Athlone,\nWe are two dandys, we are two swells,\nAnd to the Ladies we show our Shillelaghs,\nWe're the Brothers Malone from Athlone,\nYou can tell by our fronts, We're a right shower of Ah-Ha-Ha.\nWe are the Brothers Malone.\n\nAnd we'll sing (And we'll sing) And we'll dance (And we'll dance)\nAnd we're jolly fine company.\nJesus Christ we're alright when we're tight - HEY.\nWe are the Brothers Malone.\n\nWe are the Brothers Malone, We come from the town of Athlone,\nWe are two dandys, we are two swells,\nAnd to the Ladies we show our Shillelaghs,\nWe're the Brothers Malone from Athlone,\nYou can tell by our frolics, We're a right shower of Ah-Ha-Ha.\nWe are the Brothers Malone.\n\nAnd we'll sing (And we'll sing) And we'll dance (And we'll dance)\nAnd we're jolly fine company.\nJesus Christ we're alright when we're tight - HEY.\nWe are the Brothers Malone.\n\nWe are the Brothers Malone, We come from the town of Athlone,\nWe are two dandys, we are two swells,\nAnd to the Ladies we show our Shillelaghs,\nWe're the Brothers Malone from Athlone,\nYou can tell by our tricks, We're a right shower of Ah-Ha-Ha.\nWe are the Brothers Malone.\n\n<\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
The information on this page is incomplete – the investigation is ongoing!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
A song particularly associated with Lancashire, that probably originated in the Halls either from a song called The Brothers Malone <\/em>first performed in 1894, or from one of several songs  from the 1880s and 90s all titled The Two Mashers <\/em>or something similar. In either case its likely that the song was originally performed with an associated clog dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AL Lloyd and The Oldham Tinkers in the sleeve notes<\/a> for their Topic LP Best O T Bunch<\/em> (1974) say of their song The Rochdale Mashers<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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At the end of the nineteenth century, a successful music-hall song concerned two young provincial bucks, \u2018The Brothers Malone\u2019<\/em>. Since then, the song has passed into traditional currency, with the scene of the brothers\u2019 raffish exploits variously altered to Belfast, Bristol, Bury, Ashton, and here finally, Rochdale<\/p>\nAL Lloyd and The Oldham Tinkers, 1974<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Roy Palmer includes The Quarry Bank Mashers<\/em> in his Everyman’s Book of British Ballads<\/a> – he collected it from the singing of  Mr and Mrs Hadley of Quarry Bank (Staffordshire) in 1971. He suggests:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The words “masher” (flirtatious dandy) and “on the mash” (courting) date this song to last years of the 19th century. It was made popular on the halls by The Brothers Malone, and has since turned up in traditional style with various localities inserted: Ashton, Belfast, Bristol, Bury and Rochdale have all figured as well as Quarry Bank (Staffordshire)<\/p>\nRoy Palmer (1980)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Talking to friends who have been around the North West folk scene longer than I have, there appear to be two common explanations of the link between The “Place-name” Mashers<\/em> and The Brothers Malone<\/em>. One is that they started out as the same song but evolved into two different versions, the other that they are two different songs which have been combined together at some point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My research so far has failed to distinguish between these two possibilities or indeed to generate other convincing theories. Readers who are satisfied with this much information can stop here but for anyone who’s interested in the detail of my research – read on, there’s a lot of it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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