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20 Jan 03 - 09:19 AM (#870485) Subject: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: jimlad Looking for Lyrics of above song which may be local to Manchester in Lancashire UK. It mentions 2 places around Manchester. (1) Albert Square,is the main square in the city (2) Pomona,was the name of a Pub,Dance Hall and Dockyard in the city. I think the song starts... It was down in Albert Square,I never shall forget Her eyes they shone like diamonds and the weather it was wet,wet,wet. Also... We roamed all night,in the pale moonlight We roamed down to Pomona It tells the tale of a feller who goes out on the 'pull' and then finds out he has 'pulled' his own wife. |
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20 Jan 03 - 09:30 AM (#870494) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: masato sakurai Seems to be a variant of "Lamorna" (Click here), which is a Cornish song. ~Masato |
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20 Jan 03 - 09:39 AM (#870504) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: IanC Masato's correct. There's more than one Albert Square ... Albert Square, Bowdon, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA14 Albert Square, Chester Le Street, County Durham, DH3 Albert Square, Dundee, DD1 Albert Square, Fleetwood, Lancashire, FY7 Albert Square, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, NR30 Albert Square, London, E_15 Albert Square, London, SW8 Albert Square, Manchester, M_2 Albert Square, Manchester, M_60 Albert Square, Rugby, Warwickshire, CV21 Albert Square, Shrewsbury, SY1 Albert Square, Silsden, Keighley, West Yorkshire, BD20 Albert Square, Skipton, North Yorkshire, BD23 Albert Square, Weston Rhyn, Oswestry, Shropshire, SY10 Albert Square, Whitehaven, Cumbria, CA28 Albert Square, Widnes, Cheshire, WA8 Albert Square, Yeadon, Leeds, LS19 ... the one in Lamorna, a "West Country" song (probably of Music Hall origin) appears to be fictional. :-) |
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20 Jan 03 - 09:49 AM (#870514) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: Snuffy Masato, not even that website claims it is Cornish: it says
Albert Square in Manchester would have been a likely place to pick up ladies of easy virtue, and Pomona docks at the terminus of the Manchester Ship Canal. Even the Yetties concede that it was probably originally Pomona. In this case the song would probably be no earlier than the 1890s |
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20 Jan 03 - 10:03 AM (#870527) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: IanC Big problem with that, Snuffy, is it's only ever really been sung in the "West County". :-) |
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20 Jan 03 - 10:07 AM (#870529) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: IanC Also, here's the sheet music entry from The British Library. Title: Lamorna. Song, words by L. Johnson,etc Composer: Goffrieì. Louisa Juliana Publication details: London. Leonard & Co. 1910 Description: fol Shelfmark: G.807.vv.(39.) Pretty good on the date, Snuffy. :-) |
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20 Jan 03 - 10:12 AM (#870534) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: Compton Isn't Albert Square, where the Queen Vic and the Mitchell's live?? |
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20 Jan 03 - 10:29 AM (#870546) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: breezy And I do it with actions 'and the evening it was wet wet wet' the least you can do is clap here Big hit in the S-W Could do it tonight Mon 20th Jan 2003 at the Staines folk club at the Three Tuns,63 London Road, staines and show you how to do it to the 'max' If not there are other venues, White Bear, St Albans f.c. The Blue anchor tomorrow |
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20 Jan 03 - 11:06 AM (#870575) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: Train Guard The song does have a Manchester origin, and it was sung in Manchester at one time. I remember a correspondence in the 'postbag' section of the Manchester Evening News, sometime in the 1960s, I think. The original lyrics of the song were given by some readers, and it certainly appears to be have been current in Manchester around the turn of the century. Perhaps a resort to the Local Studies, Manchester Central Library, or to the newspaper's cuttings files might turn it up. My guess is that it was a local music hall song, probably from the 1870s or 1880s. 'Pomona' refers to an old Manchester resort - pleasure gardens that had a rather rakish reputation. They were swept away by the construction of Pomona Docks in the 1890s. Somehow, the song appears to have migrated to the West Country. There were shipments of china clay to the port of Manchester, and Pomona Docks were used by coasting craft, so maybe that's the connection. After all, Pomona is easily adaptable to Lamorna. Regards, Train Guard |
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20 Jan 03 - 11:45 AM (#870608) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: IanC It's really no good sting things as fact without any evidence. If there is any, I've been unable to find it so far. Perhaps someone else has some? :-) |
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20 Jan 03 - 11:48 AM (#870613) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: vectis In times gone by a lady gent or lady (married as well as single), wishing for some discrete company from a member of the opposite sex, could hire a closed (curtained) carriage and go for a drive. A favourite trysting place was Lamorna Cove in Cornwall (an olde worlde lovers lane. That's what I was told. |
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20 Jan 03 - 12:58 PM (#870650) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: McGrath of Harlow A version of the story is a key element in the Barber of Seville... |
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20 Jan 03 - 01:41 PM (#870690) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: Schantieman I've always *thought* it was Cornish but dunno really. Thanks for reminding me of it, anyway - I'd forgotten I knew it! Steve |
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21 Jan 03 - 04:07 AM (#871200) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: Dave the Gnome It's quite easy to decide realy. If you think the song is good it is from Manchester. If you think it is bad it is from the west country... DtG (Ducking behind the parapet) |
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21 Jan 03 - 04:20 AM (#871202) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: Dave Bryant The plot of the story also turns up in Die Fledermaus and many other places. It probably reflects the fact that most men fancy other women, but often choose ones of a similiar type. |
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21 Jan 03 - 11:28 AM (#871463) Subject: Lyr Add: DOWN TO POMONA From: IanC Well, it looks like Snuffy and Train Guard almost certainly have the right of it. Here's a broadside, clearly earlier than 1910, from the Bodleian collection. I've transcribed it below. From the look of the sheet itself, it's from the 2nd half of the 19th Century (which will be no surprise). No publisher is given, but it's part of the Harding Collection so it might be possible to trace a date from that. DOWN TO POMONA I'll admit to being wrong in my suspicions on this one, put off - I think - by the fact that it's so popular in the West Country. :-) |
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21 Jan 03 - 12:42 PM (#871514) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: breezy wet wet wet ,mmmmm could be Manchester Donah = face v3 lifting up her veil? Thanks for the 2nd verse which I've never heard sung since first hearingthe song upon my early visits to Cornwall. Dont forget the actions, see it on Padstow harbour. |
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21 Jan 03 - 06:29 PM (#871785) Subject: Lyr Add: LAMORNA From: vectis I knew I had the words somewhere LAMORNA Twas down in Albert Square I never shall forget Her eyes they shone like diamonds And the evening it was wet wet wet Her hair hung down in curls She was a charming rover We danced all night In the pale moonlight Way down to Lamorna So now I'll sing to you Its about a maiden fair I met the other evening In the corner of the square Her hair hung down in curls She was a charming rover And we danced all night In the pale moonlight Way down to Lamorna As we got in the chair I asked her for her name And when she gave it to me, well mine it was the same So I lifted up her veil For her face was covered over To my surprise It was my wife I took down to Lamorna She said I thought you knew I knew you all along I knew you in the dark but I did it for a lark And for that lark you'll pay for the taking of a doner You'll pay the fare I do declare Way down to Lamorna |
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21 Jan 03 - 07:12 PM (#871816) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: breezy according to my Cornish source it opens with this song I'll sing to you,tis of a maiden fair, and in the chorus and we rowed all night, 'neath the pale moonlight. last verse I did it for a lark -in the grass for thay lark you'll pay -30 bob- for the veiling of your donah |
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21 Jan 03 - 07:17 PM (#871820) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: Kernow John Breezy To add to that if you get a bunch of Cornish fisherman singing it, half will be singing wet, wet, wet and the others will be singing 'pissin down a rain'. John |
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21 Jan 03 - 08:21 PM (#871876) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: Snuffy Great work, IanC. The only "evidence" I had for a Manchester origin was from a Yetties songbook, where they advanced the theory that it was likely to have been Pomona before it became Lamorna. Quite a few songs have "gone native" far from their point of origin. "Lamorna" is NOW Cornish, just as "The Black Velvet Band" is now Irish, having moved from Barking to Belfast. WassaiL! V |
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03 Mar 11 - 08:15 AM (#3106151) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: alice white anyone got the tune,dots |
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03 Mar 11 - 10:16 AM (#3106209) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: GUEST,chris cole As a Manc myself, i have to believe it was Manchester, although I remember that The Yetties made it popular and simultaneously confused the issueby substituting Lamorna for Pomona! The song became a folk club "standard" in the early seventies, |
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03 Mar 11 - 11:28 AM (#3106259) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: GUEST,AlanG Snuffy, Following your logic would lead us to believing that Dirty old Town is NOW Irish because it's sung more in Ireland than it is in Salford! |
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03 Mar 11 - 11:31 AM (#3106260) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: Steve Shaw To add to that if you get a bunch of Cornish fisherman singing it, half will be singing wet, wet, wet and the others will be singing 'pissin down a rain'. Down yer in Bude or St Kew we substitute just one "wet wet wet" for "pissin' down a-rain" after a wink from the "lead singer" (now there's a concept...) |
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11 Jun 21 - 12:26 PM (#4109702) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: Nigel Parsons So, according to taste this is either from Cornwall, or Manchester. Also claims for a similar theme/storyline in "The Barber of Seville" & "Die Fledermaus". The theme/storyline seems to have been continued in more recent times (1979) by Rupert Holmes in "Escape" (The Pina Colada song) |
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11 Jun 21 - 01:43 PM (#4109712) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: Steve Gardham I've had a glance at the broadside 'Down to Pomona' at the Bodl and the style of type is about 1880 onwards. Nothing in Kilgarriff. |
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11 Jun 21 - 05:05 PM (#4109733) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: GUEST,Treacle Bolly After "she was a charming rover" it has been known to do a couple of dog barks ! |
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11 Jun 21 - 05:26 PM (#4109734) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: The Sandman Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Down in Albert Square From: GUEST,Treacle Bolly - PM Date: 11 Jun 21 - 05:05 PM After "she was a charming rover" it has been known to do a couple of dog barks known? only if you are in Barking, or out at night dogging |
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