The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #22106   Message #2902200
Posted By: Jim Dixon
07-May-10 - 02:18 PM
Thread Name: ADD: The Blaydon Races (Allan's Tyneside Songs)
Subject: Lyr Add: BLAYDON RACES (Allan's Tyneside Songs)
The version that Conrad posted seems to have lost some of its dialect spelling.

From Allan's Illustrated Edition of Tyneside Songs and Readings Revised Edition (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Thomas & George Allan, 1891), page 452:


BLAYDON RACES.
Tune—"Brighton."

1. Aw went to Blaydon Races, 'twas on the ninth of Joon,
Eiteen hundred an' sixty-two, on a summer's efternoon;
Aw tyuk the 'bus frae Balmbra's, an' she wis heavy laden,
Away we went alang Collingwood Street, that's on the road to Blaydon.

CHORUS: O lads, ye shud only seen us gannin',
We pass'd the foaks upon the road just as they wor stannin';
Thor wes lots o' lads an' lasses there, all wi' smiling faces,
Gawn alang the Scotswood Road, to see the Blaydon Races.

2. We flew past Airmstrang's factory, and up to the "Robin Adair,"
Just gannin doon te the railway bridge, the 'bus wheel flew off there.
The lasses lost their crinolines off, an' the veils that hide their faces,
An' aw got two black eyes an' a broken nose in gan te Blaydon Races.

3. When we gat the wheel put on away we went agyen,
But them that had their noses broke, they cam back ower hyem;
Sum went to the dispensary, an' uthers to Doctor Gibbs,
An' sum sought out the Infirmary to mend their broken ribs.

4. Noo when we gat to Paradise thor wes bonny gam begun;
Thor wes fower-and-twenty on the 'bus, man, hoo they danced an' sung;
They called on me to sing a sang, aw sung them "Paddy Fagan,"
Aw danced a jig an' swung my twig that day aw went to Blaydon.

5. We flew across the Chain Bridge reet into Blaydon toon,
The bellman he was callin' there—they call him Jackey Brown;
Aw saw him talkin' to sum cheps, an' them he was pursuadin'
To gan an' see Geordy Ridley's concert in the Mechanics' Hall at Blaydon.

6. The rain it poor'd aw the day, an' myed the groons quite muddy,
Coffy Johnny had a white hat on—they war shootin' "Whe stole the cuddy."
There wes spice stalls an' munkey shows, an' aud wives selling ciders,
An' a chep wiv a happeny roond aboot shootin' "Now, me boys, for riders."


Ridley. Author's Manuscript, 1862.