Lyr Add: Opening of the Newcastle and Carlisle RR

Subject: Lyr Add: Opening of the Newcastle and Carlisle RR
From: *#1 PEASANT*
Date: 14 Jun 04 - 08:11 AM

Opening of the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway

June 18th, 1838

Lass! lay me out maw Sunday claes,
Te-morn's te be the day o' days-
The railroad's gaun te oppen;
And we'll be there amang the rest,
Buss'd as aw was iv a' maw best
At the last Westgate Hoppin'

Aw'll tell thou mair when aw come back,
For then we'll hev a sappy crack
'Boot a' aw've heerd and seen.

Now, hinny, here aw's back agyen,
Thou'll think aw's flaid maw time aw've tyen,
Aw've been se lang I' comin.
But when twee sic awd standards meet,
The pain o' pairtin's arry greet,
Thow knaws, maw bonny woman.

We left the Heugh I' gallant style,
And shot away for awd Carlisle,
Snug seated I' the Queen,
Amang the swarms wor canny toon
And Gyetshed planted up and doon
Te see se rare a scene.

Wi' murth and fun the country rung,
The lairks and linties roun us sung;
And when the day was sunny,
The scenery rich and richer grew,
Until we seem'd just glidin through
A land o'milk and honey.

We suin reech'd Gilsland's famish wells,
Which, when a lung or liver fyels,
Or other ailin maiters,
Myek sick folk flee frae doctor's pills
Te souk health frae the heather hills,
Or draw it frae the waiters.

Could but the folks of awd lang syne
Luik out upon this bonny line
And see what we are deein,
They could, aw think, compare't w' nowse
But Clootie's gang a' brocken lowse,
And frae his clutches fleein.

It was a pleasant seet te see
Wor canny town and Carlisle tee,
Byeth yet se hale and hearty,
In spite of a' the Border frays
IN which they fowt I' former days,
The bravest o' their party.

And now the travellers wi' their trains
Will thraw young blood into the veins
O' Carlisle's murry city.
And Grainger may some efernuin
Slip ower and touch her up when duin
Here wi' her canny titty.

What lots o' brass it mun ha' e tyen,
And labour frae lang-heeded men,
Te join this ancient pair-
Te myek them, as it war, shake hands,
And knit them close iv iron bands
Te separate ne mair.

T. Wilson1843.

A day of great rejoicing. The Corporations of Newcastle, Gateshead, and Carlisle attended. Thirteen engines and a hundred and twenty carriages taking well on to four thousand passengers, made the opening journey. Strange as it may sound now, when all are so accustomed to the convenience of the "Central." the first Newcastle station was in the Close. The railway itself ran only to the Redheugh close by the water's edge, the Gateshead station, where it finished, being about the junction of the Redheugh and the Teams. A steamboat took the passengers across the Tyne from the C=lose station to Redheugh where the line began. T. Wilson as an Alderman of Gateshead would attend the opening.
Mems. Ffrom Richardson's "Table Book":-
1835- Railway opened between Hexham and Blaydon. A stage coach then took the passengers from Bigg Market to Blaydon.
1837- Railway opened from Redheugh to Blaydon.