Surat Weyver's Song (dialect) on BBC1

Subject: Surat Weyver's Song (dialect) on BBC1
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 24 Feb 10 - 02:26 PM

Who'd have thought it - traditional folk (and at its best too) on BBC1. Yes on 't telly, not 't wireless. And in the middle of the most unlikely programme: "Flog it", for chrissake! But there it is, all 10 minutes of it, a short talk about the Blackburn Poets and their links to the cotton mills of Lancashire, by one of the best authorities on the subject, none other than our Sid Calderbank, Lancashire dialect poet and historian. And he sings The Surat Weyver's Song too. Go to the link and feast your ears and eyes, the relevant item starts 18 mins and 50 seconds into the programme:

Sid Calderbank and the Surat Weyvers Song

Good on you, Sid, mate!

Subject: RE: Surat Weyver's Song (dialect) on BBC1
From: nutty
Date: 24 Feb 10 - 03:49 PM

Yes George, I saw it as well. Sid was wonderful ( I really love him ) and he is such a credit to Lancashire and its heritage.

More Sid on TV - that's what I say

Subject: RE: Surat Weyver's Song (dialect) on BBC1
From: Zany Mouse
Date: 24 Feb 10 - 03:57 PM

I agree! The piece was a surprise - but a wonderful one.

Blessings
Rhiannon

Subject: RE: Surat Weyver's Song (dialect) on BBC1
From: Emma B
Date: 24 Feb 10 - 04:09 PM

Well done Sid -

It was nice to also hear part ot the Jute Mill song by Mary Brookbank (a former jute mill worker herself)* on a programme about the Jute production connection between Dundee and Calcutta presented by Hollywood actor Brian Cox, a son of Dundee on
Brian Cox's Jute Journey this week.

*'The life of the women workers of Dundee right up to the thirties was ... a living hell of hard work and poverty.
It was a common sight to see women, after a long ten-hour-day in the mill, running to the stream wash-houses with the family washing. They worked up to the last few days before having their bairns. Often they would call in at the calenders from their work and carry home bundles of sacks to sew.
These were paid for at the rate of 5d for 25, 6d for a coarser type of sack.
Infant and maternal mortality in Dundee was the highest in the country.'
(Mary Brooksbank, 'No Sae Lang Syne: A Tale of This City', quoted in Henderson/Armstrong 154f)'

Subject: RE: Surat Weyver's Song (dialect) on BBC1
From: Leadfingers
Date: 24 Feb 10 - 04:12 PM

A different song to the one I used to do !

Dammit I ne'er was so woven before
My back's well nigh broken my fingers are sore
I've been rootin' and starin' amomg this Shurat
Til I'm well nigh a getting as blind as a bat

Good stuff on TV for a change though !
Didnt they have an Irish Session on there a few weeks back ?

Subject: RE: Surat Weyver's Song (dialect) on BBC1
From: Mark Dowding
Date: 24 Feb 10 - 07:35 PM

Leadfingers - the song you're thinking of is by Samuel Laycock but is about the same subject. I knew Sid had done the recording for this a few months ago but I don't know if he said what "Surat" was during the interview but the programme didn't explain what the significance of Surat was.

It was a great piece featuring history and song and was well presented.

If you liked the piece then write to the BBC saying you want more of it. [e-mail] should get comments to the powers that be.

Cheers
Mark

Subject: RE: Surat Weyver's Song (dialect) on BBC1
From: GUEST,Dave Bishop
Date: 25 Feb 10 - 07:55 AM

Yes, I thought 'our' Sid came across very well - and they gave him quite a lot of air time too (quite right!). Well done Sid!

Subject: RE: Surat Weyver's Song (dialect) on BBC1
From: Jim McLean
Date: 25 Feb 10 - 08:45 AM

I enjoyed the clip also, but was surprised to hear the interviewer say that the dialect was derived from the Celtic languages and similar to Welsh!

Subject: RE: Surat Weyver's Song (dialect) on BBC1
From: GUEST,Sid
Date: 25 Feb 10 - 09:18 AM

Subject: RE: Surat Weyver's Song (dialect) on BBC1
From: Matthew Edwards
Date: 25 Feb 10 - 09:19 AM

Great to see Sid reciting and singing on TV. Well done - and congratulations also to the BBC subtitlers who rose nobly to the challenge!

I thought the lines from William Billington's poem 'Where Are All the Blackburn Poets Gone?' could serve as a motto for all of us:-

"Reckon all reasons, the pro and the con,
For singing we've many, for silence we've none."

Matthew

Subject: RE: Surat Weyver's Song (dialect) on BBC1
From: GUEST,Sid
Date: 25 Feb 10 - 09:22 AM

Yes Jim, I was surprised to hear that as well, I didn't tell 'em! It is a theory I have heard but I prefer the more widely accepted one that all the Northern English Dialects have their roots in the old Northumbrian language.

Subject: RE: Surat Weyver's Song (dialect) on BBC1
From: GUEST,Sid
Date: 25 Feb 10 - 09:47 AM

And Matthew is dead right! Billington's inspirational poem "Where are the Blackburn Poets Gone?" should be an anthem for us all. It's in 'standard' English and can be found in Billington's "Lancashire Songs with other Poems & Sketches"(1883), in George Hull's "Poets and Poetry of Blackburn"(1902)and on the excellent website - gerald-massey.org.uk.

Subject: RE: Surat Weyver's Song (dialect) on BBC1
From: Matthew Edwards
Date: 25 Feb 10 - 10:33 AM

Thanks Sid.

The Gerald Massey website is a great resource devoted to many Chartist and working class poets. The pages for William Billington include a well researched article about him, three brief biographies written by his contemporaries, and three full books of his songs and poems.

I'm inclined to agree with Sid that the Lancashire dialect comes from the old Northumbrian language; following the recent switchover of TV broadcasting to digital from analogue some homes in west Lancashire received Welsh TV programmes, and these were not at all readily understood!

Matthew

Subject: RE: Surat Weyver's Song (dialect) on BBC1
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 25 Feb 10 - 05:40 PM

Very disappointing in my view - my neighbour failed to sell her piece of panelling.

Subject: RE: Surat Weyver's Song (dialect) on BBC1
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 26 Feb 10 - 02:59 AM

Well lets face it, it was a piece of junk.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Surat Weyver's Song (dialect) on BBC1
From: GUEST, Sminky
Date: 26 Feb 10 - 04:28 AM

Does anybody know anything about Ian Petticrew, the man responsible for the Gerald Massey site?

The guy deserves a medal.