William Armstrong (1804 – ) was an English concert hall songwriter and performer from

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. His most famous song is probably '' The Newcassel Worthies''.

Biography

William Armstrong was born around 1804 in Painter Heugh in Newcastle. His father was a shoemaker owning a business in Dean Street. William himself was apprenticed to a Mr Wardle, a painter of White Cross (the site of a previous market cross dating from 400–500 years previous) in Newgate Street. After his apprenticeship he worked as a

journeyman A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...

. (It is not known whether he actual achieved the degree of "master" in his trade).
He was admired as the singer "Willie Armstrong" as well as being appreciated as a songwriter, and was known as a performer who enjoyed singing his own songs. He moved to London around 1833-34 after which, very little is known of him or his life.

Works

Many of his songs were of the times, of the Colliers and the Keelboatmen, or humorous occurrences. 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 Some of the publications containing his works are :-- * His earliest known song "The Jenny Howlet (or Lizzie Mudie's Ghost)" was first published in one of John Marshall's Chap-Books in 1823 * '' A Collection of Songs, Comic, Satirical, and Descriptive, chiefly in the Newcastle Dialect, and illustrative of the language and manners of the common people on the Banks of the Tyne and neighbourhood''. By T. Thompson, J. Shields, W. Mitford, H Robson, and others. Newcastle upon Tyne: Printed by

John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longes ...

in the Old Flesh-Market. 1827 * '' The Tyne Songster'', Fordyce's 1842 Newcastle Song Book, produced by W & T Fordyce in 1840 included more of his works. * '' Songs of the Tyne''; being a collection of popular local songs. No.4 including Newcastle Worthies by William Armstrong - published by J. Ross, Royal Arcade, Newcastle upon Tyne c1846 The following is a list of some of his songs: * Invitation to the Mansion-house Dinner in honour of the Coronation * Keelmen and the Grindstone * The Jenny Howlet or Lizzie Mudie's Ghost * Newcastle Worthies * The Golden Horns, or the General invitation

References

External links

Tyneside music Willie Armstrong

Songs of the Tyne by Ross

The Tyne Songster by W & T Fordyce

Marshall's Collection of Songs, Comic, Satirical 1827
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, William Willie English singers English male songwriters People from Newcastle upon Tyne (district) Musicians from Tyne and Wear 1804 births Geordie songwriters Year of death missing

Biography

Works

See also

References

External links