Newcastle upon Tyne

“ He attempted to raise Newcastle against the Scots in 1640 (Diary of Ambrose Barnes, pp. 330, 336) , and subsequently became colonel of a regiment in the royalist army, was knighted, and appointed governor of Tynemouth Castle. Thence he made an unsuccessful sally in support of the Duke of Newcastle on 9 March 1643–4 (State Papers, Dom. Car. I, D i. 13) . When the parliamentary forces gained possession of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Riddell was summoned, in October 1644, to yield up Tynemouth, but refused (Hist. MSS. Comm. 6th Rep. p. 33a) . ”

“ The Tyne dock has a water-area of 50 acres, the tidal basin of 10 acres, and the quays and yards about 300 acres. Coal from the collieries of the vicinity is largely exported. The trade returns of South Shields are included in the aggregate of the Tyne ports (see Newcastle-upon-Tyne) . The South Pier at the mouth of the river is a massive structure about 1 m. in length, and the North Pier protects the river mouth from the Northumberland bank at North Shields. ”

“ GREY, WILLIAM (fl. 1649) , topographer, a burgess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, is supposed to have been an ancestor of the Greys of Backworth (Brand, Hist. of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, i., Preface) . He was the first to publish an account of his native town in a meagre outline, entitled 'Chorographia, or a Svrvey of Nevvcastle upon Tine ... as also a relation of the county of Northumberland,' &c. [dedication and preface signed W. G.] , 4to, London, 1649, but printed at Newcastle by S [tephen] B [ulkeley] . ”

“ NE. of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and lying within the municipal borough of Tynemouth (47) ; is of quite modern growth, and of a plain, uninteresting appearance; has a theatre, free library, Mariners' Home, fine park, &c.; the docks cover 79 acres, and a large export trade in coal is carried on.
Shields, South (78) , a busy seaport and popular watering-place in Durham, with a frontage of 2 m. on the south bank of the Tyne, 9 m. NE. of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a place of residence from ancient times, with Roman remains, &c. ”

“ These are the laws and customs which the burgesses of Newcastle upon Tyne had in the time of Henry King of England and ought to have.
[1] Burgesses can distrain [take property of another until the other performs his obligation] upon foreigners within, or without their own market, within or without their own houses, and within or without their own borough without the leave of the reeve, unless the county court is being held in the borough, and unless [the foreigners are] on military service or guarding the castle.
[2] A burgess cannot distrain upon a burgess without the leave of the reeve. ”

“ Once, having received a pressing letter from Newcastle-upon-Tyne requiring his speedy attendance, he set out on horseback from Knaresborough at three in the morning, and got into Newcastle the same evening about six o'clock, a distance of nearly seventy-four miles, and did not feel fatigued.
Having received some packages, he employed a few soldiers to convey them to a carrier, judging that men of their description were least liable to suspicion. ”

“ What though our fields present a naked sight?
A paradise should be an adamite.
The northern lad his bonny lass throws down
And gives her a black bag for a green gown.
News from Newcastle, if not Cleveland's, is infinitely more of a Clevelandism than any other attributed piece, either in the untrustworthy (or rather upside-down-trustworthy) Cleaveland Revived or elsewhere. It first appeared as a quarto pamphlet, 'London. Printed in the year 1651. By William Ellis', and with a headline to the poem 'Upon the Coalpits about Newcastle-upon-Tyne'. This quarto furnishes the only sound text. ”

“ Cleveland may have meant to address the poet throughout, or till the last verse; but, if so, he evidently changed his mind.
News from Newcastle: Upon the Coal-pits about Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
England 's a perfect world, has Indies too;
Correct your maps, Newcastle is Peru!
Let th' haughty Spaniard triumph till 'tis told
Our sooty min'rals purify his gold.
This will sublime and hatch the abortive ore,
When the sun tires and stars can do no more.
No! mines are current, unrefined, and gross;
Coals make the sterling, Nature but the dross. ”

“ TYNE-SIDE
BEING A COLLECTION OF
COMIC AND SATIRICAL SONGS,
DESCRIPTIVE OF ECCENTRIC CHARACTERS,
AND THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF A PORTION OF THE
LABOURING POPULATION OF NEWCASTLE AND THE
NEIGHBOURHOOD.
CHIEFLY IN THE NEWCASTLE DIALECT.
Newcastle upon Tyne:
PRINTED AND SOLD BY W. & T. FORDYCE,
No. 15, GREY STREET.
1842.
[Pg iii]
A period of sixteen years having elapsed since an edition of Local Songs was published in a collective form, and that volume having been for some time out of print, renders almost superfluous any apology in presenting the following collection to the public. ”

“ The parks and halls of Chopwell, Gibside, and Axwell pleasantly diversify the last 5 miles of the Derwent, which joins the Tyne a short distance above Newcastle. The undulated coal-country south of Newcastle is drained by a small stream called the Team, with a wooded dene at Tanfield, and a castle and park upon its banks at Ravensworth. A narrow tract of Magnesian Limestone belongs to this drainage district, the highest point of which is at West Boldon (307 feet) , whence a rivulet runs down to the Tyne at Jarrow. The area of the district is about 200 square miles. ”

“ The area of the administrative county is 1,291,515 acres. The county is divided into nine wards, answering to hundreds. Population is densest in the south-east, where the mining district and the Tyneside industrial area are situated. The municipal boroughs in this district are: Newcastle-upon-Tyne (city, county of a city and county borough; pop. 215,328) , Tynemouth (county borough, 51,366) , Morpeth (6158) , Wallsend (20,918) . ”

“ Thus he mentions the case of the free burgesses of the wealthy corporation of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a body, in 1710, of about 1800, possessing estates and endowments, and exclusive privileges, amply sufficient to protect every individual among them from want; and shows that, although all the sons of every citizen were free by birth, their numbers would have diminished had they not been recruited from without ”

“ To defend the young colony against their ravages, a strong wall was built by the Romans, extending from Wallsend on the north bank of the Tyne, a few miles below Newcastle, across the country to Burgh-upon-Sands on the Solway Firth. The remains of the wall are still to be traced in the less populous hill-districts of Northumberland. In the neighborhood of Newcastle they have been gradually effaced by the works of succeeding generations, though the "Wallsend" coal consumed in our household fires still serves to remind us of the great Roman work. ”

“ Our greatness shall appall,
And their topsails straight they'll lower to the lords of the Tyne.
'Twas thus with idle rumours poor gentlemen delighted,
The honest men of North Shields to fancy gave the rein;
Sad proof that when ambition with folly is united,
Astonishing chimeras oft occupy the brain.
But soon their joy was banish'd,
Soon each illusion vanish'd,
For news arriv'd the Butcher the Branch could not obtain.
Deep, deep in the dumps,
(After playing all his trumps)
Just as branchless as he went he was 'toddling hyem' again,
Newcastle, thou dear canny town! ”

“ I like a true man left my sheets behind.
That Thursday morn, my weary course I framed,
Unto a town that is Newcastle named.
(Not that Newcastle standing upon Tyne)
But this town situation doth confine
Near Cheshire, in the famous county Stafford,
And for their love, I owe them not a straw for't;
But now my versing muse craves some repose,
And whilst she sleeps I'll spout a little prose.
↑ Provant.—Provender; provision. ↑ Fegary.—A vagary. ↑ Trundle.—i.e., John Trundle of the sign of No-hody (see note page 6) . ”

“ To bring daft gowks from far and near, to plague us with their gob and gazing.
The Middle-street's to come down next, and give us better air,
And room to make to hold at once the market and the fair;
Well may Newcastle grieve for this, because in hot or rainy weather,
It look'd so well to see the folks all swelter'd in a hole together.
The Tyne's to run out east and west ”

“ While foes vainly threaten, and faction may rave,
Our Union Flag still in triumph shall wave;
And whether as few or as many we be,
Like true honest Freemen we still will be free.
The fam'd Corporation of our good old town,
Unsullied, still onward shall bear its renown;
In loyalty ever the foremost we've been,
To drink in a bumper—good health to the Queen.
Hurrah for Old England, her Queen, and her laws!
Hurrah for all hearts that are true in the cause!
Hurrah for Newcastle! Hurrah for the Mayor!
Hurrah for the Tyne—its banks bustling and fair! ”

“ The Black House, the White House, the Hole-in-the-Wall,
And the Seven Stars, Pandon, if you dare call.
There's the Turk's Head, Nag's Head, and Old Barley Mow,
The Bay Horse, the Pack Horse, and Teasdale's Dun Cow,
The Ship, and the Keel, the Half Moon, and the Sun—
But I think, my good friends, it is time to be done.
Then each landlord and landlady, wish them success,
Town and trade of the Tyne, too—we cannot do less;
And let this be the toast, when we meet to regale—
"May we ne'er want a bumper of Newcastle ale."
W. Watson. ”

“ The coal-trade flourish more and more
Upon the dingy Tyne, man.
Fal, lal, &c.
[Pg 303] NEWCASTLE BEER versus SPAW WATER; Or, The Pitman and Temperance Society.
BY R. EMERY.
Tune—"Mr. Frost."
As Cousin Jack and I, last pay-day, cam to toon,
We gat to Robin Hood's, wor worldly cares to droon—
And there we spent the day—their yell's byeth cheap and strang—
It's reet to soak yen's clay—hang them that thinks it wrang. ”

“ Each distant summit is seen to be crowned with a tower or a town. A fine castle springs into view just before Birtley glances by, and we see that this is a place of woodlands, piquant with a little of the roughness of unsophisticated nature. But the scene changes suddenly, as in a theatre, and almost in a moment the broad and teeming Tyne blazes beneath the scorching summer sun, and the gray houses of Gateshead and Newcastle fill the picture with life and motion. The waves glance and sparkle,—a wide plain of shimmering silver. The stream is alive with shipping. ”

“ Newcastle impressed us very much as we thundered over the iron bridge across the Tyne and looked down on the smoke-shrouded, red-roofed city belching forth black and brown smoke and jets of white steam in all directions. It rises in fine masses up from the turbid flood of the dark river, and has a lurid grandeur quite novel to us. ”

“ Newcastle's now a dowly place—all things seem sore aclite,
For here at last Blind Willie lies, an honest, harmless wight;
Nor wealth nor power now look with scorn on this lone spot of one departed,
For fashion's gay and glaring sun ne'er beam'd on one more happy hearted. ”

“ And we'll pay and ne'er complain,
The Gaol-Cess, Mr. Mayor.
[3] Now called Prudhoe Street.
[4] The Gaoler.
BURDON'S ADDRESS TO HIS CAVALRY. A PARODY.
Soldiers whom Newcastle's bred,
View your Cornel at your head, [Pg 102]
Who's been call'd out of his bed
To serve his Country.
Now's the time when British Tars
With their Owners are at wars;
And they've sent for us—O Mars!
Assist the Cavalry!
Now, my noble sons of Tyne!
Let your valour nobly shine;
There at last has come a time
To shew your bravery.
But, my lads, be not alarm'd!
You're to fight with men unarm'd! ”

“ An' barbers' clerks se gay, man—
'Twad be a spree if, fra' wor Kee,
They'd cut to Bot'ny Bay, man!
Fal, de ral, &c.
This grand machine wor Tyne will clean,
An' make it's sand-banks flee, man,
Like Corby Craws ow'r Marsden Rock,
Into the German Sea, man!—
Wor canny Mayor ne pains will spare,
He'll back it out an' out, man,
Till ev'ry nuisance in wor toon
For Shields shall take the route, man.
Fal, de ral, &c.
[50] Omnibusses commenced running between Newcastle and Shields every hour, (from eight o'clock in the morning till eight at night,) Nov. 12, 1832. ”

“ But more remarkable even than the commerce of the river are its great industries. From Gateshead to the sea on the one hand, and from Newcastle to the sea on the other, there is a constant succession of shipyards, chemical factories, engineering establishments, glass-works, docks, and coal-shoots. Newcastle, it has been [Pg 158] remarked, owes its rise to war, its maintenance to piety, and its increase to trade. A very neat and true saying. But trade has done more for the Tyne than for Newcastle. ”

“ The coal trade of the Tyne is the most important in England, and for its general shipping trade the river ranks next in importance to the Thames and the Mersey. The principal ports are Newcastle and North and South Shields, but below Newcastle the river is everywhere studded with piers and jetties. About a seventh of the whole tonnage of vessels built in England is built on the Tyne, the most important works being those of Jarrow. For boat-racing the Tyne vies in celebrity with the Thames. ”

“ The roads to Newcastle were cover'd almost,
As if Radical thunder [23] had summon'd its host,
Or an enemy's fleet had been seen off the coast,
On George the Fourth's Coronation.
In the streets what a buz among sweethearts and wives,
And children who ne'er rose so soon in their lives ”