Author Topic: Add: The Blaydon Races


Jon Freeman

Posted - 17 May 05 - 12:18 pm

I went to Blaydon Races, twas on the ninth of June,
Eighteen hundred and six-ty two on a summer's afternoon.
I took the bus to Balmdraes and she was heavy laden.
Away we went up Collingwood Street,
That's on the way to Blaydon

Chorus
And it's O my lads you should a' seen us gannin',
Passin' the folks along the road, just as they were stannin'.
There was lots o' lads and lasses therem all wi' smilin' faces,
Gannin' along the Scotswood Road to see the Blaydon Races.

We flew past Armstrong's factory and up by the 'Robin Adair'.
Just gannin' down by the railway bridge, the bus wheel fell off there.
The lasses lost thier crinolines and the veils that hide thier faces.
I got two black eyes and a broken nose, gannin' to the Blaydon Races.

When we got the wheel put on, away we went again.
But them that had thier noses broke they went back over homw,
Some went to the dispensary and some to Doctor Gibbs's
And some to the Infirmary to mend thier broken ribses.

Now when they got to Paradise, there was bonny game begun.
There was four and twenty on the bus, man, how they danced and sung.
They called on me to sing a song, I sung them 'Paddy Fagan".
I danced a jig and I swung me twig, the day I went to Blaydon.

Source: Singing Together, Summer 1978, BBC Publications





dmcg

Posted - 17 May 05 - 10:34 pm

Alex Glasgow wrote a song called 'Geordie the Professional' which is about someone who went to London and only became successful by emphasising his Geordie roots. It contains the memorable lines

He sings the "Blaydon Races" (which he needed to rehearse),
But cannot quite remember if there is a second verse.

- all too true, I'm afraid.




Malcolm Douglas
Posted - 18 May 05 - 02:43 am

Blaydon Races was written c.1862 by George Ridley (1835-1864). Further details can be found at the Farne Archive. Direct links to materials there are not possible because the site is over-designed, with a view to visual impact rather than ease of use.




masato sakurai

Posted - 18 May 05 - 08:55 am

One broadside is at Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads.

blaydon races whit-monday june 3rd 1895 [title]






Jon Freeman

Posted - 18 May 05 - 10:55 am

Malcolm, its messy but it is possible.

http://www.asaplive.com/Archive/results.php?basic_search=Blaydon%20Races produces the seach results.

Individual pages can be given as normal:

Some details here




dmcg

Posted - 18 May 05 - 01:41 pm

I get a 'server internal error' on that link, Jon. Maybe its just gone down, or maybe there is a more fundamental problem as Malcolm suggested.






Jon Freeman

Posted - 18 May 05 - 01:56 pm

I take that back. That sort of link doesn't work.

It worked for me when I gave it here but I have since had "object closed error" type errors. They use a session cookie on the site - it appears this "object" is within the session.




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