Hi Owen b. 1908 in Sunderland son of an Aberdeen cooper I knew he was about the same age as my Dad Sam b 1907 . They were great mates and Bob came and he sang at Sam's funeral in Sheffield in 1982.


Bob's nephew Neil wrote this article which will show a folk singer in his social and political context

http://aberdeenvoice.com/2011/06/the-amazing-life-of-bob-cooney-part-1/

I think the song was not lierally true as it had to get lots of 'bliddy wars' in, including the Boer War.