The Tyneside Songster (or to give it its full title – "The Tyneside Songster containing a splendid collection of Local Songs by popular Authors, in the Northumbrian Dialect Printed by J W Swanston, 67 & 69 St Andrews Street, Newcastle and may be had at all Booksellers, Newsagents, &c" is a chapbook of Geordie folk song consisting of 39 songs, crammed into its meagre 16 pages, and published in the 1880s by J. W. Swanston, a Newcastle printer and publisher.
The publication The contents include a general collection of, either at that time or sometime earlier, well known and popular, local songs written by a collection of songwriters. A set of the original documents is retained by the Tyne & Wear Archives and Museum Service. This is the record office for the cities and districts of Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, South Tyneside and North Tyneside.
The front cover of the book was as thus :- THE Tyneside SONGSTER CONTAINING A splendid collection of Local Songs by popular Authors, in the Northumbrian Dialect – - – - – - – - – - – -
– - – - – - – - – - – - NEWCASTLE Printed by J W SWANSTON, 67 & 69 St Andrews Street and may be had at all Booksellers, Newsagents, &c – - – - – - – - – - – - One, two, or three copies of this Song Book may be had direct from the Printer, for the published price, with an additional halfpenny for postage, and will be sent to any address in the United Kingdom. Larger numbers at the same rate.
On the top right, above the title, is printed the price, “One Penny”
Contents are as below :-<br/ >
titlesongwritertunecommentsnotesref1Front cover3Sandgate Lassie's Lament (The) Henry Robson4Bewildor'd Pitman (The)The King of the cannibal Islands4Howden for Jarrow. Loup ootHarry HaldaneThe pseudonym of Richard Oliver Heslop5Bonny Clock Feyce (The) Robert NunnCole Hole5Sweet TynesideT KennedyKelvin Grove5Lizzie Mudie's Ghost. Or the Jenny HowletW Armstrong9Cappy or the Pitman's dogW Mitford9Cum an' stand a JillThe moon behind the hill12Jemmy stops lang at the fairJoseph Skipsey12Coaly TyneAuld Lang Syne12Sairt failed Hinney????13Sandgate Lass on Ropery Banks (The) Robert NunnThe Skipper's Wedding13Hey ye seen wor CuddyGeorge GuthrieThe King of the cannibal Islands13Elsie Marley?? 14Pitman's Dream (The)Newcastle Fair14Half-Drowned Skipper (The)Cvhapter of Donkeys14Waggoner (The)15Honest Working Man (The)Runaway Jack15Muther's best, iv a, (A)Newcastle is my native place15Wor Charlie's a MediumCappy's the dog"Wor Geordy's a Medium" in index16Pitman's Happy Times (The) J P RobsonIn the days when we went Gipsying16D'ye ken John PeelJohn Woodcock Graves16advert for "The Sailor's Songbook" The following songs also appear in the book, but the page numbers are unknownBeggar's Wedding (The)William StephensonQuayside ShaverBlyth Camps (or The Girl I Left Behind Me)unknownCliffs of Old Tynemouth (The)Leitch David RossDance To Thy DaddyWatson WilliamGive me life's largest cupI attempt from Love's Sickness to Fly(Weel May) The Keel RowMarsden RockJohn PeacockJockey to the fairMarsden Rocks in indexNoodle – (The)John Brodie GilroyJeannette and JeannotPeter WaggyHenry RobsonWritten in 1826Pitman's Courtship – (The)William MitfordThe night before Larry was stretchedPound of tea (The) John StobbsDame DurdonRifleman Sowljor (The)J P Robsonappeared in his book "Evangeline" or The spirit of progress – Which contains his rather lengthy poem of the same name together with many more shorter worksSandhill Monkey (The)William StephensonDrops of BrandyTill the Tide cums in Henry RobsonWashing-Day – (The)Thomas WilsonThere's nae luck aboot the hooseactually entitled "The Weshin'-day" in this bookX. Y. Z. At Newcastle Races, 1814 (or Pitmen's Luck)William Mitford
Notes Due to the only copy of the book available being damaged, it was not able to ascertain the page numbers of many of the songs. Therefore, the second section the above, list those songs in alphabetic order. Can anyone help with the numbering of these pages?
See also Geordie dialect words J. W. Swanston
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