Author Topic: Add: The Keel Row


dmcg

Posted - 08 Oct 04 - 11:44 am

As I cam' doon the Sandgate,
The Sandgate, the Sandgate,
As I cam' doon the Sandgate,
I heard a lassie sing!
"O weel may the keel row,
The keel row, the keel row,
O weel may the keel row,
The ship my laddie's in."

O wha's like my Johnny,
So leith, so blithe, so bonny,
He's foremost 'mong the mony
Keel lads o' coaly Tyne.
He'll set and row so tightly,
Or in the dance -so sprightly-
He'll cut and shuffle slightly,
'Tis true - were he not mine.

He wears a blue bonnet,
Blue bonnet, blue bonnet,
He wears a blue bonnet,
Blue bonnet, blue bonnet,
A dimple in his chin.
O weel may the keel row,
The keel row, the keel row,
O weel may the keel row,
The ship my laddie's in."





Source: Singing Together, Spring 1968, BBC Publications


======
For what its worth, I do not think I ever heard 'Sandgate' referred to as 'THE Sandgate' when I lived near Newcastle. In that sense at least, versions that start

As I cam' thro' Sandgate, thro' Sandgate, thro' Sandgate"

such as that in Bruce and Stokoe's "Northumbrian Minstrelsy" seem a better fit. Moreover, that book contains lyrics closer to those I heard occasionally at that time. In particular, the half-verse about dancing is replaced by another 'chorus' of "Weel may the Keel row, etc."

The timing of this song reminds me of a strathspey, but as Bruce and Stokoe say, "This song has attained great popularity in Scotland, but we have no evidence of such favour being bestowed upon it until comparatively late in the present century." [i.e. 19th]



Edited By dmcg - 08-Oct-2004 11:51:53 AM




Guest Account
Posted - 15 Jan 05 - 11:17 pm

From: AliPatta

I have never seen the middle verse before and it doesn't seem to fit the tune. Also, "came doon the Sandgate" just doesn't scan either. "As I came through Sandgate" is the way I was taught it and I have always heard it sung in Newcastle and beyond so someone's got it wrong there. Probably the BBC luvs from the redbricks trying to make it grammatically suitable to teach around the country. This is a Newcastle song and should be left well alone by those who aren't in the know.



Jon Freeman

Posted - 15 Jan 05 - 11:40 pm

A problem with the Singing Together books is they don't always indicate where they got the song from.

The only other version of the Keel Row I have here is from The News Chronicle Song Book. That has the first half of the middle verse here but continues with Weel May The Keel Row.




Jon Freeman

Posted - 15 Jan 05 - 11:58 pm

Several versions at the Bodleian Library but I can't find one with that middle verse.

Some examples such as this example - Harding B11 (1355) do not have Sandgate at all but have "through the Cannon-gate".

Jon




Malcolm Douglas
Posted - 16 Jan 05 - 01:38 am

The middle verse appears in Chappell, Popular Music of the Olden Time, 1859, II, 721-722. Source is not specified; he mentions Ritson's Northumberland Garland (1793) -which doesn't include it- Bell's Rhymes of the Northern Bards (1812) and "several later collections". Could be any of those.

The BBC set may be from Chappell (with some mild re-writing to text and tune) or from elsewhere. "Leith", I am sure, is a typo for "leish", and "slightly" for "sightly".

"AliPatta" is quite wrong to blame "BBC luvs" for what he or she thinks is a mistake. If there is really a mistake there, it was made in Northumberland (or further North; Cromeck and Cunningham both published it as a "Scottish" song) and more than 150 years ago! Perhaps he or she doesn't realise that songs of this kind exist in various forms: the one most common at a particular time is likely to be thought by many to be the only "correct" version, having the authority of print and "received wisdom". There is rather more to it than that.



Edited By Malcolm Douglas - 16-Jan-2005 01:47:51 AM




Mick Pearce

Posted - 16 Jan 05 - 02:10 pm

Stokoe in Songs Of Northern England (1893) gives the two verse version of The Keel Row (As I cam... He wears...) and follows it up with this version written by Thomas Thompson, which starts with the middle verse above, suggesting he might have written it (no other verses is common). I have heard the middle verse sung.

It has "leish" as suggested by Malcolm above, but retains "sightly".


Mick



THE NEW KEEL ROW
(Thomas Thompson)

Whe's like my Johnny,
Sae leish, sae blithe, sae bonny,
He's foremost 'mang the mony
Keel lads o' Coaly Tyne.
He'll set or row so tightly,
Or in the dance so sprightly,
He'll cut or shuffle sightly,
'Tis true - were he not mine.
Weel may the keel row, etc.


He's ne mair learning
Than tells his weekly earning,
Yet reet frae wrang discerning,
Tho' brave, ne bruiser he;
Tho' he no worth a plack is,
His awn coat on his back is,
And nane can say that black is
The white o' Johnny's e'e.


Each pay-day nearly,
He takes his quairt right dearly,
Then talks O latin O cheerly,
Or mavies jaws away;
How caring not a feather,
Nelson and he together,
The springy French did lether,
And gar'd then shab away.


Were a' kings comparely,
In each I'd spy a fairly,
An' aye wad Johnny barly:
We hae sic bonny bairns;
Go bon, the queen, or misses,
But wad for Johnny's kisses,
Luik upon as blisses,
Scrimp meals, caff beds, and dairns.


Wour lads, like their deddy,
To fight the French are ready,
But gie's a peace that's steady,
And breed cheap as lang syne;
May a' the press-gangs perish,
Each lass her laddy cherish,
Lang may the Coal Trade flourish
Upon the dingy Tyne.


Bright Star o' Heaton,
Your aye wour darling sweet'en,
May heaven's blessings leet on
Your leddy, bairns, and ye;
God bless the king and nation,
Each bravely fill his station,
Our canny Corporation
Lang may they sing wi' me.
Weel may the keel row, etc.



Source: John Stokoe - Songs of Northern England, 1893



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