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Description: | Song descriptive of a local race meeting.One of many songs on the Newcastle races, this song would have been sung at the races as well as being sold in broadside form. Note the references to legendary racehorses 'the Doctor' (Doctor Syntax) and 'Pitty Me'. The scenes described in the song would have been typical of those found at race meetings throughout the region. During the Newcastle Races, the Town Moor would have been lined with side shows, trinket stalls, beer tents and entertainments and the races would have been a time for much drunken revelry and dancing.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 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: | W. Stephenson Gateshead ; Tyne and Wear | Rights holder: | rights holder : Newcastle University | Subjects: | entertainment and sport Leisure horse racing & gambling & drinking | Temporal: | start=1801;end=1840; | Source: | Folk Archive Resource North East | Identifier: | farne:N0129501 | Go to resource |
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