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Description: | Song which describes the institution of the first lifeboat to South Shields. At the time this song was written, the mouth of the River Tyne was an extremely hazardous place. Piers had not yet been erected and ships could easily be blown in the direction of the perilous Black Middens, a dangerous reef which cost the life of numerous crews. After a series of particularly bad wrecks in which onlookers were unable to launch rescue boats to aid drowning crews, a committee of South Shields businessmen placed an advert in the Newcastle Courant (1789) offering a generous reward to anyone who could design a boat capable of launching in heavy seas. After numerous entries, the committee narrowed the competition down to two men, William Wouldhave and Henry Greathead. After receiving a consolation prize, Wouldhave was informed that Henry Greathead had been selected to design the boat. The controversy referred to in this song arose over the origin of Greathead's final design, some believing that he had in fact simply made additions to Wouldhave's original plans.This song forms part of a chapbook that was printed by G.W. Barnes at South Shields in 1826. Similar to the cheap press of today these poorly printed books and broadsides catered for popular tastes, being sold by chapmen in the country and booksellers in the town. Usually sold for no more than a penny, the production of these little books and broadsides were extremely profitable for most printers. Sold in bulk the material required little proof-reading, was widely plagiarised, and badly printed.Most of the songs in the collection are not terribly well known today and it is likely that the majority of them were specific to South Shields (unlike Newcastle chapbooks which were sold throughout the North-East). A small number, however, have been printed elsewhere, in particular 'The devil and the nanny goat', 'The skipper's mistake' and 'The cliffs of Virginia' have all appeared in Newcastle publications, and were still being issued as late as the 1850s. The songs reflect the characters and industry of this small fishing village at the mouth of River Tyne, famous for its fishwives, sailors and boatmen. ; Popular Tyneside songs published in chapbook form. | Publisher: | G.W. Barnes Thirft Street, South Shields, Tyne and Wear | Rights holder: | rights holder : South Shields Library | Subjects: | lifeboats & shipwrecks invention and progress | Temporal: | start=1841;end=1860; | Source: | Folk Archive Resource North East | Identifier: | farne:E0802002 | Go to resource |
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