John McLellan, who lived in the early 19th century, was a
Tyneside
Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt.
The population of Tyneside as published i ...
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
and songwriter. He is thought to have written a dialect song that draws on the cholera outbreaks of the 1830s.
Cholera song
According to information published in 1840, McLellan wrote the song "Cobbler o'
Morpeth
Morpeth may refer to:
*Morpeth, New South Wales, Australia
** Electoral district of Morpeth, a former electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in New South Wales
* Morpeth, Ontario, Canada
* Morpeth, Northumberland, England, UK
** Morpeth (UK ...
", subtitled "Cholera Morbus". "Cobbler" was a slang term used for the dread disease of
cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
.
There was a strong cholera epidemic in 1831–1832 and further outbreaks in 1848–1849 and 1853. The last led to 1,533 deaths in
Newcastle, despite the opening of emergency hospitals, closure of public institutions such as theatres, quarantining of ships, cleansing streets with fire-engine hoses, excluding bodies from places of worship, and requiring graves to be at least six foot deep.
The song, without comment except the author's name, reappeared in 1850 and was sung to the tune of "Bow Wow".
[''Songs of the Bards of the Tyne'', published by P. France & Co., Newcastle upon Tyne, 1850, p. 117.] The text is in
Geordie dialect.
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 ...
The Tyne Songster (W & T Fordyce, 1840)
''The Tyne Songster'' is a chapbook style songbook, giving the lyrics of local, now historical songs, with a few bits of other information. It was published by W. & T. Fordyce of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1840.
Details
''The Tyne Songster'' (full ...
W & T Fordyce (publishers)
W & T Fordyce was a nineteenth century firm of publishers based in the early years at 48 Dean Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, which later moved to 15 Grey Street, Newcastle. It was responsible for the editing, publishing, printing (and partially for ...
France's Songs of the Bards of the Tyne - 1850
References
External links
The Tyne Songster by W & T Fordyce 1840Farne archives - The Cobbler of MorpethFrance's Songs of the Bards of the Tyne - 1850
English male songwriters
English male poets
People from Newcastle upon Tyne (district)
Musicians from Tyne and Wear
Geordie songwriters
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