|
Date: |
|
Description: | Tune occasioned by the refusal of Newcastle barbers to operate on a Sunday.Previous to 1805 it had been customary for barbers in the city to open on a Sunday. Many people attending church in Newcastle would have required the barbers' services in order to look their best for the occasion. Visits to the barbers shop were far more frequent in the early nineteenth century than today. Members of the middle-classes would have relied almost entirely on the barbers for both shaving and haircuts and visits would have been regular.Around 1805 a number of barbers in Newcastle and Gateshead, probably spurred on by the religious zeal of the time, began to close their shops on Sundays believing that to work on the Sabbath was a sin. Subsequently it became illegal for barbers in Gateshead and Newcastle to operate on Sundays.However, many people felt that this was unfair and a number of barbers shops continued to open. This song was written when two Gateshead barbers were fined before a judge after being informed upon by a group of rather more 'pious barbers'. A press cutting pasted in the Bell collection reveals that the 'pious barbers' in question where Thomas Carr, Arthur Richardson, and George Todd. Note these names are mentioned throughout the song. A number of songs were printed on this subject, most, like this one, mocking the trio and berating the men for informing on their fellow tradesmen.This song is 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: | unknown | Rights holder: | rights holder : Newcastle University | Subjects: | barbers & shops & strikes protest | Temporal: | start=1801;end=1840; | Source: | Folk Archive Resource North East | Identifier: | farne:N0107601 | Go to resource |
|
|