The Pitman's Courtship is a famous
Geordie
Geordie ( ), sometimes known in linguistics as Tyneside English or Newcastle English, is an English dialect and accent spoken in the Tyneside area of North East England. It developed as a variety of the old Northumbrian dialect and became espe ...
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 ca ...
written in the 19th century by
William Mitford
William Mitford (10 February 1744 – 10 February 1827) was an English historian, landowner, and politician. His best known work is ''The History of Greece'', published in ten volumes between 1784 and 1810.
Early years
William Mitford was bor ...
, in a style deriving from
music hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...
. This piece takes a humorous look at the courtship of a Pitman and his lass where the discussion forms the proposal of marriage and the couple's plans for a life together. This song was generally considered to be one of the region's finest 'traditional' songs, one of only a handful of Tyneside songs to be appreciated outside the region in its day.
Lyrics
The earliest appearance of the song is in the budget chapbook "Newcastle Songster" series in 1816.
Melody
\relative c''
"Traditional Air"
[Melody taken from Tyneside Songs 1927 edition and reengraved in Lilypond.]
Comments on variations between different versions
There are various published versions of the song, and probably due to the fact that many early versions were published on
Chapbook
A chapbook is a type of small printed booklet that was a popular medium for street literature throughout early modern Europe. Chapbooks were usually produced cheaply, illustrated with crude woodcuts and printed on a single sheet folded into 8, 1 ...
s and consequently less care was taken in the details, spelling, etc., some seem to have difficulties in following the original Geordie dialect. Here are some of the variations:
*"wor" is written in some versions as "wour" and "were"
*"hor" is spelt variously as "her"
*"Aw" is often written as "Aa'”
*"fra" may be written "fFrae"
*"Te" is often written as "To"
*"awd" may be written "aud"
*"mairridge" may be used as the spelling for "marridge,”
*"thou" may be written "thou"
*"Grandy" can be spelt "Granny"
*"folk", "foke" and "foak" are interchanged
*Verse 1 line 5 may be completely different as "Unheeded I stole beside them"
*Verse 7 line 5 may be different as "Aw think it's boot time we waur steppin',”
*Verse 7 line 8 may be completely different as "These lovers they toddelt off hyem."
Recordings
*"The Pitman's Courtship" from the CD "Graeme Danby sings stories from the North East" and "The Pitman's Courtship" from the CD "Come you not from Newcastle? – Newcastle songs volume 1" – which is one of 20 CD's in the boxed set Northumbria Anthology (Listen o
– both from Mawson Wareham Music, MWM Records, 14 Cobblestone Court, Walker Rd Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 1AB
Also
*A sample to listen to by Graeme Danby –(Listen o
See also
*
Geordie dialect words
Geordie ( ), sometimes known in linguistics as Tyneside English or Newcastle English, is an English dialect and accent spoken in the Tyneside area of North East England. It developed as a variety of the old Northumbrian dialect and became espec ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitman's Courtship
English folk songs
Songs related to Newcastle upon Tyne
Northumbrian folklore
1820s songs