"The Cullercoats Fish Lass" is a folk song, written by Edward Corvan, originally printed as a

broadside Broadside or broadsides may refer to: Naval * Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare Printing and literature * Broadside (comic ...

in 1862 and collated in

Allan's Illustrated Edition of Tyneside Songs and Readings ''Allan's Illustrated Edition of Tyneside Songs and Readings'' is a book of Tyneside popular and traditional songs consisting of approximately 400 song lyrics on over 600 pages, published in 1891. It was reprinted in 1972 by Frank Graham, Newca ...

in 1891. ''Fish Lass'' is a

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 ...

term for a

fishwife A fishwife, fish-fag or fishlass is a woman who sells fish. Some wives and daughters of fishermen were notoriously loud and foul-mouthed, as noted in the expression, ''To swear like a fishwife'' as they sold fish in the marketplace. One reaso ...

. The Cullercoats Fish Lass was a term for a fishwife from

Cullercoats Cullercoats is a coastal settlement in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, North East England. Historically in Northumberland, it has now been absorbed into the wider Tyneside conurbation, sitting between Tynemouth to the ...

, a small fishing village near the mouth of the Tyne. The Cullercoats Fish Lass was popular with locals and tourists alike. Jean F Terry wrote, in 1913, "The Cullercoats fishwife, with her cheerful weather-bronzed face, her short jacket and ample skirts of blue flannel, and her heavily laden "creel" of fish is not only appreciated by the brotherhood of brush and pencil, but is one of the notable sights of the district".

Performances

The song was very popular in its day and was probably performed by the composer, Ned Corvan, in drag. Almost all of Corvan's works are examples of the traditional dialect of Tyneside (known as

) in the mid-19th century. Ned Corvan, as he was known, was a popular

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 ...

performer, renowned for concerts and venues "of the free and easy type...not specially noted for their refinement". There are two tunes associated with the song, ''The German Song'' and ''Lilla's a Lady''. The song provides part of the soundtrack for ''The Cullercoats Fish Lass'', a film by the film company ACT 2 CAM. The film premiered in November 2013

Lyrics

\relative c'' Tune: "Lilla's a Lady"/"Lilie's a Lady" , describing "The Cullercoats Fish Lass".

External links

Allan’s Illustrated Edition of Tyneside songs and readings

Folk Archive Resource North East

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cullercoats Fish Lass, The English folk songs 1862 songs Songs related to Newcastle upon Tyne Northumbrian folklore