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Lyr Req: Sea Coal Warrior (Alan Todd) |
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Subject: Lyr Req: Sea Coal Warrior From: GUEST Date: 20 Jul 11 - 08:35 AM Recently heard the above song by Alan Todd sung at Scarboro' Seafest. Can anyone provide the lyrics please. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sea Coal Warrior From: GUEST,richie Date: 20 Jul 11 - 09:46 AM I believe there might be more than one song with that title. The version I have on tape was recorded by Nick Fenwick maybe twenty five years ago possibly longer and was written by a Hartlepool man by the name of Alan Todd. Alan was well known on the local folk scene and wrote quite a few songs peculiar to Hartlepool Sea Coal Warrior being one of them. Alan passed away some years ago.I'll give you the first verse and chorus. Three o clock on a winters morn And the tide is on the turn Drag your body out of bed Seacoal's good to burn The north east gales will bring it in While they cut you through and through No matter you get soaking wet Or if your hands turn blue Getting coal for the fire coal for the fire coal for the fire coal that'll keep the kitchen warm coal that'll keep the bairns from harm coal for the fire |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sea Coal Warrior From: GUEST Date: 21 Jul 11 - 08:21 AM This is the song Richie, can you provide the additional verses please. Thanks |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sea Coal Warrior From: GUEST,Helen Pitt Date: 21 Jul 11 - 10:45 AM I think it was probably myself and Steve Dawes that you heard at Scarborough. Steve leads the song, so I will alert him to this thread later on and he can post the words. (I'd probably get some wrong if I tried, as it's Steve's lead). Many thanks Helen |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sea Coal Warrior From: GUEST,richie Date: 21 Jul 11 - 01:22 PM The remaining four verses Leave your pride like your wife in bed It's hard for a lad who is on the dole But growing kids must be clothed and fed And there's bugger all left for coal Feed them and dress them as best you can Hand down seconds and scuff heeled shoes Since they closed the shipyard down What can a fella do. but go for Coal for the fire Get the old boneshaker out Or the pram with the buckled wheel Get on the road for Seaton Sands In a wind thats as sharp as steel Take your sacks dont forget your rake Your battered bucket and length of twine Hide your shame in the early dawn And scoop up warmth from the frozen brine Leave your bike on the promenade Rake your coal then pick it by hand Fill your sacks them tie them tight Then hump them over the dry soft sand Three in the vee and two on the bar You can get five on if you pack them tight Strain your guts up Newburn Bank An push them home home through the dawns cold light Keep your eyes down on the ground Pray that you dont meet a friend The wind is cold but your pride is hot And regognition is the bitter end Pick your way home carefully Use the backstreets and the quiet lanes Seek the safety of your home And light the fire again |
Subject: ADD: Sea Coal Warrior From: Joe Offer Date: 21 Jul 11 - 03:01 PM Richie, I pasted all the lyrics together and put them in the Digital Tradition format. Do I have it right? Anyone else have corrections to suggest? From Richie, edited: The version I have on tape was recorded by Nick Fenwick maybe twenty five years ago possibly longer and was written by a Hartlepool man by the name of Alan Todd. Alan was well known on the local folk scene and wrote quite a few songs peculiar to Hartlepool Sea Coal Warrior being one of them. Alan passed away some years ago. SEA COAL WARRIOR (Alan Todd) Three o clock on a winter's morn And the tide is on the turn Drag your body out of bed Seacoal's good to burn The northeast gales will bring it in While they cut you through and through No matter you get soaking wet Or if your hands turn blue Getting coal for the fire CHORUS Coal for the fire Coal for the fire Coal that'll keep the kitchen warm Coal that'll keep the bairns from harm Coal for the fire Leave your pride like your wife in bed It's hard for a lad who is on the dole But growing kids must be clothed and fed And there's bugger all left for coal Feed them and dress them as best you can Hand down seconds and scuff heeled shoes Since they closed the shipyard down What can a fella do. but go for Coal for the fire Get the old boneshaker out Or the pram with the buckled wheel Get on the road for Seaton Sands In a wind thats as sharp as steel Take your sacks dont forget your rake Your battered bucket and length of twine Hide your shame in the early dawn And scoop up warmth from the frozen brine Leave your bike on the promenade Rake your coal then pick it by hand Fill your sacks them tie them tight Then hump them over the dry soft sand Three in the vee and two on the bar You can get five on if you pack them tight Strain your guts up Newburn Bank An push them home home through the dawn's cold light Keep your eyes down on the ground Pray that you don't meet a friend The wind is cold but your pride is hot And regognition is the bitter end Pick your way home carefully Use the backstreets and the quiet lanes Seek the safety of your home And light the fire again |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sea Coal Warrior From: GUEST,Ebor_Fiddler Date: 21 Jul 11 - 03:26 PM There's none there now, since the sea-side pits were shut during Thatcher's reign. I remember sea coal well, it was all down the Yorkshire coast - I was only looking for traces yesterday, believe it or not! Nostalgia rules OK. |
Subject: Lyr Add: SEA COAL WARRIOR (Alan Todd) From: GUEST,Steve Dawes Date: 24 Jul 11 - 06:10 AM Sorry it's taken so long... things have been a bit mad this week! There's very little difference between my version and Richie's. Mine comes from a typed copy originally from Alan himself probably with some words altered over the years by me but Alan was prone to changing the words from one performance to the next himself anyway! The main disagreement is that we have verses 2 & 3 the opposite way round. Again who's to say which is right? Indeed does it make a scrap of difference? No! The song is very evocative of the atmosphere in Hartlepool and West Hartlepool (as they then were) at that time with a lot of unemployment brought on by the closure of the shipyard and cutbacks by some other major employers. There was a bit of a social stigma attached to having to go and get your coal this way which the song evokes very well although collecting it in bulk and selling sacks of it round the town from a lorry did prove quite a profitable business for a number of people over many years! One of my favourite memories attached to this song was hearing it sung by Alan with magical guitar accompaniment by the said Nick Fenwick at Hartlepool (as it had become by then) Folk Club in the Market in Lynn Street. Seacoal Warrior Alan Todd Three o'clock on a winter's morn, And the tide is on the turn Drag your body out of bed, Seacoal's good to burn. The north east gales will bring it in, While they cut you through and through What matter if you get soaking wet, Or if your hands turn blue, going for... Coal for the fire, coal for the fire Coal that'll keep the kitchen warm, Warmth that'll keep the bairns from harm Coal for the fire. Get the old boneshaker out, Or the pram with the buckled wheel. Get on the road to Seaton Sands In a wind that's sharp as steel. Take your sacks, don't forget your rake, Battered bucket and length of twine. Hide your shame in the early dawn And scoop up warmth from the frozen brine, your... Leave your pride like your wife in bed. It's hard for a lad who is on the dole But growing kids must be clothed and fed And there's nothing left for coal. Feed them and clothe them as best you can, Hand-down clothes and scuff-heeled shoes Since they closed Gray's shipyard down What can a feller do, but go for... Leave your bike on the promenade, Rake your coal then pick it by hand. Fill your sacks up and tie them tight And hump them over the soft dry sand Three in the V and two on the bar, You can get more on if you pack them right Strain your guts over Newburn bank And push them home through the dawn's cold light, your... Keep your eyes down on the ground, Pray that you won't meet a friend The air is cold but your pride is hot And recognition is the bitter end. Make your way home carefully, Use the back streets and quiet lanes Seek the safety of your home Then light your fire again, with your... |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sea Coal Warrior (Alan Todd) From: nutty Date: 24 Jul 11 - 09:04 AM The sea- coal collected at Hartlepool and to a lesser extent at Redcar was the residue from the pits, further north, after the coal had been washed and the resulting sludge jettisoned into the sea. The incoming tide left drifts of fine black coal on the beach and this was raked up when the tide went out. As a child I remember my father coming home with bags. The coal was very slow burning and was used to bank up the fire at night so that (particularly in winter) the fire would burn very slowly ovenight and need not be lit every morning. This also meant that the kitchen was always warm and the Winter fuel bill was considerably reduced. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sea Coal Warrior (Alan Todd) From: Wolfhound person Date: 24 Jul 11 - 02:50 PM Sea coal, and the coalers still going strong in Northumberland. On a good day for it they use horse and cart, picking up the coal that washes in from where the coal seams surface 8 miles out to sea. At least one of them burns it in a furnace on his allotment, to heat his leek beds. Paws |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sea Coal Warrior (Alan Todd) From: Susanne (skw) Date: 27 Jul 11 - 05:54 PM Some more songs on the subject here. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sea Coal Warrior (Alan Todd) From: GUEST,Joe G Date: 27 Jul 11 - 07:37 PM This has brought back very happy memories for me of Alan singing this (and his other songs) with the chorus belted out by the crowd at the Nursery Inn when Hartlepool FC was there (I started attending in 1976 I believe when I was 17 and was looking for something to do on a rainy Sunday night). If only all folk clubs were like Hartlepool - busy, friendly, great floor singers and a solid roster of guests. Magic! |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sea Coal Warrior (Alan Todd) From: GUEST Date: 07 Mar 13 - 06:58 PM yes some great nighst at the nursery I remember some xmas nights there with ying ton john , mick Elliot to mention a few were to room was sooo packed we had to open the windows in the middle of winter . mick Bentley. ps just come from the welly were steve sang alans song tonight. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sea Coal Warrior (Alan Todd) From: GUEST,Barnacle at Work Date: 08 Mar 13 - 08:59 AM Hi Alan was a good friend. He wrote this song when he was working for the employment services after a stint of national service. An ex ship-worker was claiming unemployment and had been "reduced" to collecting sea coal, he was nearly in tears when relating this to Alan. Years later, my father collected sea coal to keep us warm during the miner's strike. For me the song evokes lots of memories. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sea Coal Warrior (Alan Todd) From: GUEST,Joanne Date: 22 Jul 15 - 05:31 AM Hi, I wonder if you may be able to help. I am looking for the title and lyrics of an Alan Todd song (his daughter is my step mother and it would be a nice surprise for her birthday).... The lyrics were something along the lines of newcy newcy.... he heard the women cry (???) ...... it wasnt to keep the germans out, but to keep our sailors in..... any help or direction would be great thanks! |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sea Coal Warrior (Alan Todd) From: GUEST Date: 02 Nov 16 - 07:11 PM can anyone give me the tune or direct me to a recording? |
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