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Description: | This song comments on the social and geographical changes in Newcastle, with much play on the word 'alteration'. At the time this song was written the geographical landscape of Newcastle town centre was undergoing massive change. From the late eighteenth century, work had been carried out in the town in order to expand the cramped centre, still confined by the original medieval walls and gates. Under Richard Grainger and John Dobson the centre of Newcastle was completely restructured, medieval gates, walls, and markets being demolished or relocated to make way for the grand sweeping streets that would become Grainger's trade mark. Following these changes, the 1840s and 1850s saw yet more change as large areas were levelled to make way for the High Level Bridge and the Central Station. This is one of many songs commenting on the changes to the town.This song forms part of Corvan's song book, no.3. Edward Corvan, or as he was famously known, Ned was born in Liverpool and moved to Newcastle at the age of four. Following the death of his father at an early age, Corvan was raised by his widowed mother who struggled to feed the family of four on her meagre earnings. After a brief career as a sail-maker Corvan joined Billy Purvis's Victoria Theatre. Here he tried his hand at a number of things, but found most success in the performance of local and comic songs, bringing his characters to life with costume and other techniques. Ned then went on to join the Olympic where he enjoyed great success with songs such as 'Astrilly'. With this popularity he travelled the North singing his Tyneside songs, eventually settling in South Shields where he operated Corvan's Music Hall. After a number of years he gave up the establishment and returned to local singing. Corvan died on the 31st August 1865 at the age of 35.This book is the first in a series of 4 Corvan songbooks. The books were published in the mid nineteenth century by W. Stewart, who states his address as 'Head of the Side'. Stewart, however, was not a printer and a number of the songbooks published by him were printed by W.R. Walker of the Royal Arcade. There is no record of Stewart in trade directories after 1838, but clearly he was in business at the same as W.R. Walker, who was printing between 1857 and 1866, and so it must be assumed that the Corvan books were printed during this period.The books are a testament to the range of Corvan's material and a quick glance at the song titles printed on the cover of these songbooks reveals how Corvan was able to captivate his audience with the subject matter of his songs. Realising the popularity of local reference in song, Corvan's material ranged from songs of local interest, such as 'The Toon Improvement Bill', testaments to local sporting heroes as found in 'Swaggering at the races', comic songs about local characters such as Billy Purvis, and commentary on events of national and international importance such as the Royal family and foreign affairs. - A fascinating collection, these cheaply printed chapbooks would have been affordable to most of the local population and, given Corvan's success as a performer, would have been extremely popular throughout the region. ; Nineteenth century songbook by Music Hall artist Edward Corvan | Publisher: | W. Stewart Side ; Newcastle upon Tyne | Rights holder: | rights holder : Newcastle University | Subjects: | urban growth changes & construction | Temporal: | start=1841;end=1860; | Source: | Folk Archive Resource North East | Identifier: | farne:N2901302 | Go to resource |
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