The Tyneside Songster by J. W. Swanston

The Tyneside Songster (or to give it its full title – "The Tyneside Songster containing a splendid collection of Local Songs by popular Authors, in the Northumbrian Dialect Printed by J W Swanston, 67 & 69 St Andrews Street, Newcastle and may be had at all Booksellers, Newsagents, &c" is a chapbook of Geordie folk song consisting of 39 songs, crammed into its meagre 16 pages, and published in the 1880s by J. W. Swanston, a Newcastle printer and publisher.

The Tyneside Songster
AuthorJ. W. Swanston
LanguageEnglish (Geordie dialect)
Genrechapbook
PublisherJ. W. Swanston
Publication date
possibly early to mid-1880s
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint
Pages16 pages – 39 songs

The publication

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The contents include a general collection of, either at that time or sometime earlier, well known and popular, local songs written by a collection of songwriters.[1] A set of the original documents is retained by the Tyne & Wear Archives and Museum Service. This is the record office for the cities and districts of Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, South Tyneside and North Tyneside.

The front cover of the book was as thus :-
THE
Tyneside
SONGSTER
CONTAINING
A splendid collection of Local Songs by
popular Authors, in the Northumbrian
Dialect
– - – - – - – - – - – -

– - – - – - – - – - – -
NEWCASTLE
Printed by J W SWANSTON, 67 & 69 St Andrews Street
and may be had at all Booksellers, Newsagents, &c
– - – - – - – - – - – -
One, two, or three copies of this Song Book may be had direct from the
Printer, for the published price, with an additional halfpenny for postage,
and will be sent to any address in the United Kingdom. Larger numbers
at the same rate.

On the top right, above the title, is printed the price, “One Penny

Contents

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are as below :-

title songwriter tune comments notes ref
1 Front cover [2]
3 Sandgate Lassie's Lament (The) Henry Robson
4 Bewildor'd Pitman (The) The King of the cannibal Islands [3]
4 Howden for Jarrow. Loup oot Harry Haldane The pseudonym of Richard Oliver Heslop [4]
5 Bonny Clock Feyce (The) Robert Nunn Cole Hole [5]
5 Sweet Tyneside T Kennedy Kelvin Grove [6]
5 Lizzie Mudie's Ghost. Or the Jenny Howlet W Armstrong [7]
9 Cappy or the Pitman's dog W Mitford [8]
9 Cum an' stand a Jill The moon behind the hill [9]
12 Jemmy stops lang at the fair Joseph Skipsey [10]
12 Coaly Tyne Auld Lang Syne [11]
12 Sairt failed Hinney ?? ?? [12]
13 Sandgate Lass on Ropery Banks (The) Robert Nunn The Skipper's Wedding [13]
13 Hey ye seen wor Cuddy George Guthrie The King of the cannibal Islands [14]
13 Elsie Marley ? ? [15]
14 Pitman's Dream (The) Newcastle Fair [16]
14 Half-Drowned Skipper (The) Cvhapter of Donkeys [17]
14 Waggoner (The) [18]
15 Honest Working Man (The) Runaway Jack [19]
15 Muther's best, iv a, (A) Newcastle is my native place [20]
15 Wor Charlie's a Medium Cappy's the dog "Wor Geordy's a Medium" in index [21]
16 Pitman's Happy Times (The) J P Robson In the days when we went Gipsying [22]
16 D'ye ken John Peel John Woodcock Graves [23]
16 advert for "The Sailor's Songbook"
The following songs also appear in the book, but the page numbers are unknown
Beggar's Wedding (The) William Stephenson Quayside Shaver
Blyth Camps (or The Girl I Left Behind Me) unknown
Cliffs of Old Tynemouth (The) Leitch David Ross
Dance To Thy Daddy Watson William
Give me life's largest cup
I attempt from Love's Sickness to Fly
(Weel May) The Keel Row
Marsden Rock John Peacock Jockey to the fair Marsden Rocks in index
Noodle – (The) John Brodie Gilroy Jeannette and Jeannot
Peter Waggy Henry Robson Written in 1826
Pitman's Courtship – (The) William Mitford The night before Larry was stretched
Pound of tea (The) John Stobbs Dame Durdon
Rifleman Sowljor (The) J P Robson appeared in his book "Evangeline" or The spirit of progress – Which contains his rather lengthy poem of the same name together with many more shorter works
Sandhill Monkey (The) William Stephenson Drops of Brandy
Till the Tide cums in Henry Robson
Washing-Day – (The) Thomas Wilson There's nae luck aboot the hoose actually entitled "The Weshin'-day" in this book
X. Y. Z. At Newcastle Races, 1814 (or Pitmen's Luck) William Mitford

Notes

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Due to the only copy of the book available being damaged, it was not able to ascertain the page numbers of many of the songs. Therefore, the second section the above, list those songs in alphabetic order. Can anyone help with the numbering of these pages?

See also

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References

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  1. ^ compilation by various writers (1881–1887). The Tyneside Songster. J W Swanston, 67 & 69 St Andrews Street, Newcastle upon Tyne.
  2. ^ "Front cover". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Bewildor'd Pitman (The)".
  4. ^ "Howden for Jarrow. Loup oot".
  5. ^ "Bonny Clock Feyce (The)".
  6. ^ "Sweet Tyneside".
  7. ^ "Lizzie Mudie's Ghost".
  8. ^ "Cappy or the Pitman's dog".
  9. ^ "Cum an' stand a Jill".
  10. ^ "Jemmy stops lang at the fair".
  11. ^ "Coaly Tyne".
  12. ^ "Sairt failed Hinney".
  13. ^ "Sandgate Lass on Ropery Banks (The)". Archived from the original on 22 December 2015.
  14. ^ "Hey ye seen wor Cuddy". Archived from the original on 22 December 2015.
  15. ^ "Elsie Marley".
  16. ^ "Pitman's Dream (The".
  17. ^ "Half-Drowned Skipper (The)".
  18. ^ "Waggoner (The)".
  19. ^ "Honest Working Man (The".
  20. ^ "Muther's best, iv a, (A".
  21. ^ "Wor Charlie's a Medium".
  22. ^ "Pitman's Happy Times (The)".
  23. ^ "D'ye ken John Peel".
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