CAT-GUT JIM THE FIDDLER
(Edward (Ned) Corvan)
Tune " And sae will we yet"

Aw'm Cat-gut Jim, the fiddler, a man o' greet renoon,
Aw play te myek me livin,lads, in country an I' toon;
Tiv ivery fair an' ivery feast wi' maw fiddle aw repair:
Gox! Where theor's ony fun or sport thou's sure te fynd me there.

Chorus;
For aw drive away dull care, aw drive away dull care,
So patronise poor Cat-gut Jim when ye've ony cash te spare.

Aw'll play ye ony tuen ye like, aw'll play ye "Cheer boys cheer."
Or te try an' keep your spirits up, aw'll play the " Drop o' Beer,"
The "Deevil amang the Tailors" "Peggy Pickin doon the Shore"
The "Lass that loves a Sailor" an' mony a dozen more.

Aw play "Mary Blane" an "Lucy Neal" wi "Poor old Uncle Ned,"
"O! Nanny, wilt thou gang wi me," "Scots wha hae wi Wallace bled";
Aw play "McCloud's" reel beautiful, "What are ye gawn te stand?"
The "Keel Row," shaken a' te rags o'er this happy unhappy land.

Cat Gut Jim's real name was Edward Corvan who was born in 1830 in Liverpool of Irish decent. At the age of four his parents brought him to Newcastle. His father died when he was seven and his mother brought him up as best she could. Times were very hard in those days without a father and in many of Corvan's songs he describes his childhood.
When he was sent to work he trained as a sail maker and frequented the local "Victoria" Music Hall which was then visited by Blind Billy Purvis. He so much enjoyed Blind Billy's show that he decided the acting life was for him and left his sail making job. He joined Billy's troupe and played violin in the orchestra, sang comic and local songs, and did a bit of scene painting for a few years. He was never really a big attraction until he sang "He Wad Be A Noodle" and this made his name. Ned was now about twenty and became an important person in Billy's company.
About this time the "Olympic" Music Hall opened and he left Billy to join the Olympic company where he was very successful. He was the first person to combine the singing and song writing of Tyneside songs as a profession and added to their attraction by singing them in character. After some years in this life he settled in South Shields as a publican and proprietor of "Corvan's Music Hall in Wapping Street but he liked his glass too much and after three years returned to his local singing..
Ned was a good singer and an excellent performer on Violin and would occupy the stage for well over half an hour with his song, music, patter, and chalking portraits on a blackboard, till his thirst reminded him it was time to get off. One of his character pieces was of a mother searching for her son "Wor Jimmy" in "Fire on the Kee" and "Cullercoats Fish Lass", but he is remembered most as his portrayal of "Cat-gut Jim" the fiddler.
Towards the latter part of his life his voice failed and he had to rely more on his violin and drawings.
Joe Wilson, who was just starting by this time wrote a tribute to Corvan :

Comic iv iv'rything –clivor at owt.
Ov a' the professions – stickin at nowt
Real witty; as poet an' singer at hyem.
Versatile Artiste, wes Corvan's reet nyem.
As a painter, a fiddler, comedian, cloon,
Ned was the maister ov all iv the toon.

Not long after Joe Wilson appeared Ned Corvan's health, which had been failing, grew worse and after a three-month illness he died at his home in Newgate Street Newcastle on 31st of August 1865 in his thirty fifth year.
Some of his other songs included;<>br> The Caller
He Wad Be A Noodle
The Toon Improvement Bill
Thr Rise in Coals
The Pitmans Farewell
Tommy Carr's Letter
Cullercoats Fish Lass
Bobby the Boxer
Warkworth Feast
The Kippered Herrin'
Deeth O' Billy Purvis
The Greet Bull Dog O' Shields
The Fishermen Hung the Monkey O
The Comet
Chambers and White
The Deeth O' Cuckoo Jack
Wor Tyneside Champions
The Queen has Sent a Letter
Queens Visit to Cherbourg
Stage Struck Keelman
The Soop Kitchin
The High Level an' the Aud Bridge
and Cat Gut Jim The Fiddler

He followed this song with a lot of patter.
Cheers Bill