Thomas "Tommy" Armstrong (15 August 1848 – 30 August 1920) was an English,

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

-based concert hall songwriter, and performer in the late 19th century. His most famous song is arguably "

Wor Nanny’s a mazer Wor Nanny's a mazer is a famous Geordie folk song written in the 19th century by Thomas “Tommy” Armstrong, in a style deriving from music hall. It is regarded by many as one of the classics. This song tells the tale of a husband and wife se ...

". He was known as "The Pitman Poet" or "The Bard of the Northern Coalfield".

Early life

Tommy Armstrong was born in Wood Street, Shotley Bridge,

, on 15 August 1848. Armstrong was of very short stature, and very bow legged (thought to be caused by rickets when young) and this caused him to have problems all his life, including using a walking stick when older. He started work in the mines at the age of nine as a trapper boy, and at the age of 12 had progressed to a "pony boy". He worked at various collieries in the area including Tanfield Lea colliery, near

Stanley Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...

, and also worked at the collieries at Addison, East Tanfield, and Tanfield Moor.

Later life

Tommy Armstrong was married in 1869 to a Mary Ann Hunter in 1869 and they had 14 children. Ann died in 1898 and Tommy remarried in 1901 to a widow named Ann Thompson. He lived most of his life at

Tanfield Lea Tanfield may refer to: People *Charlie Tanfield (born 1996), British racing cyclist *Elizabeth Tanfield (1585–1635), English poet and dramatist *Francis Tanfield (1565–?), Proprietary Governor of the South Falkland colony in Newfoundland *Lawr ...

, although he is known to have also lived in

East Tanfield East Tanfield is a civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. There is no modern village in the parish, and the population was estimated at 30 in 2013. The deserted medieval village of East Tanfield lies near Manor F ...

Iveston Iveston is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated a short distance to the east of Consett. Housing in the area consists of a mixture of traditional cottages and large, newer residential properties. Historically, farming and mini ...

Tanfield Tanfield may refer to: People *Charlie Tanfield (born 1996), British racing cyclist *Elizabeth Tanfield (1585–1635), English poet and dramatist *Francis Tanfield (1565–?), Proprietary Governor of the South Falkland colony in Newfoundland *Lawr ...

Tantobie Tantobie is a former colliery village in County Durham, England. It is situated 2 miles to the northwest of Stanley and the same distance to the north of Annfield Plain. Older maps of the area show the village under the name "Tantovy". The etymo ...

and Whitley Bay. A book of 26 of his popular songs was published but it is thought that much of his work was lost. His works were printed at the time on chapbooks and broadsheets which sold for a halfpenny or a penny each. He moved for a time in 1902 to Whitley Bay where he worked for a period as a newsagent. He died on 30 August 1920 at the age of 72 years at Havelock Terrace,

Works

The material varies between the humorous "

" to the attack on "Dirty Kaiser Bill". Many told of the times, the hunger suffered by many with "The Cat Pie" and "The Hedgehog Pie", of the disasters with "The Consett Choir Calamity" after the charabanc crash of Saturday 26 August 1911, and "The Trimdon Grange Explosion" of 16 February 1882 in which 68 miners died, of the hard times and conditions with "The Durham Lockout", "Oakey’s Keeker" and "The Oakey Strike Evictions" and back to the humour with "Funny Nuaims It Tanfeeld" and the various club outing tales. "Stanla Market" and "The Nue Ralewae Te Anfeeld Plane" tell about the area. Taken as a whole, the collection of songs become a social history of the times as well as a feast of

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...

materials ;Selected songs *Blanchland Murder, (The) *Bobby En Bet *Borth E Th' Lad, (Th') – (or The Birth of the Lad) *Cat Pie, (The) *Consett Choir Calamity, (The) – (of Saturday 26 August 1911) *Corry’s Rat *Dorham Jail – (or Durham Gaol) *Durham Strike, (The) – (more correctly The Durham Lock-out) *Funny Nuaims It Tanfeeld Pit – (or The funny names of the folk at Tanfield) *Gateshead Poor Children's Trip To Stanley *Geordie Broon *Ghost Thit' Anted Bunty, (The) – (or The Ghost that Haunted Bunty) *Hedgehog Pie, (The) *Jack Reckonen – (or Jack’s Reckoning) *Kaiser And The War, (The) *Kelloe Disaster *Marla Hill Ducks – (or Marley Hill Ducks) *Murder of Mary Donnelly *Neglectful Sally *Nue Ralewae Te Anfeeld Plane, (Th') – (or The new railway to

Annfield Plain Annfield Plain is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated on a plateau between the towns of Stanley, to the north-east, and Consett, to the west. According to the 2001 census, Annfield Plain has a population of 3,569. By the ti ...

) *Oakey’s Keeker *Oakey’s Strike – (or The Oakey Strike Evictions) *Old Dolly Cook and Her Family *Old Folks Tea at West Stanley *Old Men’s Trip, (The) – From the Victoria Club, West Stanley *Picture Hall at Tantobie, (The) *Poam To The Kaiser, (A) *Prudent Pitman, (The) *Row Between Th' Cages, (Th'), – (or The Row ‘Atween the Cages) *Row I' Th' Guuttor, (Th') *Sewing Meeting, (A) *Sheel Raw Flud, (The) *Skeul Bord Man, (Th') – (or The Skuil (or school) Board Man *Sooth Medomsley Strike, (The) – (or The South

Medomsley Medomsley is a village in County Durham, England, about northeast of the centre of Consett, south of Hamsterley and southeast of Ebchester. Medomsley is about above sea level, atop a hill overlooking the Derwent Valley. The village has ...

Strike) *Stanla Market – (or Stanley Market) *Summer Flies, (The) *Tanfeeld Lee Silvor Modil Band – (ot The Tanfield Lea Silver Model Band) *Tanfield Braike *Tantobie Wednesday Football Team *Tantobie Workmen's Club Oxo Banquet *Tommy The Poet Signed On *Trimdon Grange Explosion, (The) – (or The Trimdon Grange Disaster) *Trip From Tantobie Union Club to Jarrow Excelsior Club, (The) *Unhappy Couple, (The) *Wheelbarrow Man, (Th') *

Wor Nanny's a mazer Wor Nanny's a mazer is a famous Geordie folk song written in the 19th century by Thomas “Tommy” Armstrong, in a style deriving from music hall. It is regarded by many as one of the classics. This song tells the tale of a husband and wife s ...

(alternately spelt mazer, mazor, maisor, maizor, etc.)

References

External links

The Tommy Armstrong Society

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Tommy English folk singers English male songwriters People from Newcastle upon Tyne (district) Musicians from Tyne and Wear 1920 deaths 1848 births Geordie songwriters 19th-century English singers People from Shotley Bridge

Early life

Later life

Works

See also

References

External links