"Geordy Black", also known as "Geordie Black" and "I'm Going Down the Hill" is a 19th-century
Geordie
Geordie () is a nickname for a person from the Tyneside area of North East England, and the dialect used by its inhabitants, also known in linguistics as Tyneside English or Newcastle English. There are different definitions of what constitut ...
folk song
Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...
by
Rowland "Rowley" Harrison, in a style deriving from
music hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...
.
The song tells the tale of an old miner, reminiscing on his experiences. Harrison would routinely dress as Geordie Black when performing the song on stage.
Lyrics
Chorus
Chorus
Variant versions
As this was a very popular song, it appeared in numerous editions. The many versions published show considerable variations in the spelling of the words, including:
Specific differences
Verse 3, line 1 - "" is replaced ""
Verse 3, line 1 - "" is replaced by ""
Verse 3, line 6 - "" changed to ""
Verse 3, line 7 - "" changed to ""
Publication
A small book of over 50 pages and sized about 5” x 7½” (125mm x 190mm) entitled ''Rowland Harrison’s Tyneside Songs'' containing local songs composed by Harrison (and with an illustrative sketch of "Geordy Black", was published around 1871. It includes "Geordie Black" and many other songs.
In modern times, the song also appears on the
compact disc
The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...
''The Bonnie Gateshead Lass - Gateshead Songs'' by various artists on MWM Records (reference MWMCDSP43).
See also
*
Geordie dialect words
Geordie () is a nickname for a person from the Tyneside area of North East England, and the dialect used by its inhabitants, also known in linguistics as Tyneside English or Newcastle English. There are different definitions of what constitute ...
References
External links
Farne folk archives
{{authority control
English folk songs
Fictional miners
Songs about fictional male characters
Songs related to Newcastle upon Tyne
19th-century songs
Northumbrian folklore
Year of song unknown