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Description: | Song celebrating the bravery of Northumberland's keelmen and pitmen.Probably printed during the Napoleonic Wars when many local labourers were sent to sea to fight, this is one of a number of songs on Newcastle's keelmen. Keelmen were employed in ferrying coal from the staithes to the ships and wharves. They were the largest male occupational group in Newcastle and were famous for their drinking exploits. Their labour, however, was physically punishing and many were unfit for work by the time they reached their forties.Most keelmen lived in an area of Newcastle known as Sandgate. The Sandgate, from which the area takes its name, stood on the main traffic route between Shields and Newcastle. This gate and the old city wall to which it was attached gave the area a somewhat segregated feel to the rest of the town, and even after the gate and wall were pulled down it still retained a feeling of semi-independence.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: | Hoggett Durham ; Tyne and Wear | Rights holder: | rights holder : Newcastle University | Subjects: | keelmen & sailors & miners industry and occupation & river and sea | Temporal: | start=1801;end=1840; | Source: | Folk Archive Resource North East | Identifier: | farne:N0114801 | Go to resource |
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