|
Date: |
|
Description: | Song describing the triumphs of famous Newcastle racehorse 'XYZ'.Owned by a Mr. Riddell, XYZ became a household name after winning the Gold Cup for four consecutive years from 1811-1814. This song describes the horse's victory at the 1814 Gold Cup held on Newcastle Town Moor. The press cutting accompanying the song in the The song was written to be sung to a tune originally known as the 'Cameronians Rant'. Other Tyneside songs such as 'Hydrophobie' were also written to this tune. The author of 'XYZ', William Mitford, lived in Oyster Shell Lane in Newcastle, and was well known for penning popular local songs, the 'Pitman's Courtship' and the 'Bewildered Skipper'. Songs like this would have been performed at race meetings as well as being distributed in broadsheet form.Racing was one of the few leisure pursuits enjoyed by all classes. Men gambled on anything, but a constant favourite was horse racing. Gambling became such a passion with the lower classes that an Act in 1740 attempted to make the sport more exclusive. Its popularity, however, only increased. Racing was one of the first sports to be recorded in Newcastle. Although races were held on other Newcastle moors in the seventeenth century, racing became a regular feature on the Town Moor in the eighteenth century. From 1751 a 'race week' was held, and in 1800 local gentry organised a permanent grandstand on the Town Moor. Racing remained on the Town Moor until 1880, when it was suggested that a private site may be more suitable.This song forms part of the John Bell Collection. ; A collection of broadsheets on various subjects, with accompanying press cuttings and manuscript notes in the hand of John Bell. | Publisher: | Marshall Newcastle upon Tyne | Rights holder: | rights holder : Newcastle University | Subjects: | horse racing & gambling | Temporal: | start=1801;end=1840; | Source: | Folk Archive Resource North East | Identifier: | farne:N0100901 | Go to resource |
|
|