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Description: | A variant of 'Bonny pit laddie' with a verse of 'My bonny lad' in the middle. This song was first recorded in Bell's Rhymes of the Northern Bards, 1812.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 book contains some of the region's best known traditional songs. From 'The bonnie keel laddie' to 'The Jenny Howlet', the book has offerings from well known Tyneside composers such as J.P. Sutherland and would have been extremely popular among the local population.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.Newcastle was the second largest producer of chapbooks in the country at the time of this book's publication. 'Songs of the Tyne' were a short series of chapbooks printed by, J. Ross of the Royal Arcade. This book forms no.4 of the 'Songs of the Tyne' series and was printed some time between 1847 and 1852. A number of the songs, however, can be dated to the early nineteenth century, some such as 'The pitman's courtship' appearing as early as 1816. The 'Songs of the Tyne' series were reprinted by J. Walker of the Royal Arcade, sometime between 1857-66. ; Popular Tyneside songs published in chapbook form. | Publisher: | J. Ross Royal Arcade, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear | Rights holder: | rights holder : Newcastle University | Subjects: | industry and occupation mining & keelmen | Temporal: | start=1841;end=1860; | Source: | Folk Archive Resource North East | Identifier: | farne:N1601202 | Go to resource |
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