"Hi, canny man hoy a ha'penny oot" is a famous

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 ...

written in the 19th century by Harry Nelson, 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 ...

. Nelson was a well-known

singer/comedian in the late 19th/early 20th century and is credited with writing the song.

Lyrics

The song is based on the old Geordie tradition, which was still a common occurrence in the 1950s, and still (very occasionally) takes place today. As the bride and groom were leaving the church, they would throw coppers to the boys and girls gathered around outside. This would be to calls from the youngsters of "Hoy oot" or similar. These words were eventually written into the song – as "Hi, canny man hoy a ha'penny oot, Ye'll see some fun thor is ne doot, Where ivvor Aa gan ye'll heor them shoot, Hi, canny man, hoy a ha'penny oot."

Comments on variations to the above version

In the early 19th century, as today, there were cheap books and magazines. Many of these "chapbooks" were on poor quality paper to a poor standard and with poor quality print. The works were copied with no thoughts of copyright, and the work required very little proof-reading, and what was done was not required to a high standard. Consequently, the dialect words of songs varied between editions. This particular song shows several variations between the various published versions, some very minor, mainly in the spelling of the words, and sometimes variations within the same edition. Some of the most common are listed below: Generally

Discography

The same artist also recorded "Our Jennie", both later in his career, and both have survived and are available on the CD "Various Artists - Wor Nanny's A Mazer: Early Recordings Of Artists From The North East 1904-1933" (on Phonograph, PHCD2K1) The full list of tracks on this CD are as follows:

Recordings

* Harry Nelson – sings "Hi, Canny Man" on the CD -

References

External links