Byker Hill
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Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
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Lyrics:
If I had another penny
I would have another gill
I would make the piper play:
"The Bonny Lass of Byker Hill"
Chorus
Byker Hill and Walker Shore
Collier lads forever more
Byker Hill and Walker Shore
Collier lads forever more
The pitman and the keelman trim
They drink bumble made from gin
Then to dance they all begin
To the tune of the Elsie Marley
Chorus
When first I went down to the dirt
I had no cowl nor pitshirt
Now I've gotten two or three
Walker Pit's done well by me
Chorus
All the boys from Walker Shore
Drink half a pint then eighteen more
All the way they rant and roar
To the tune of the Elsie Marley
Chorus
Geordie Charlton had a pig
He hit it with a shovel and it danced a jig
All the way to Walker Shore
To the tune of the Elsie Marley
Chorus
"Byker Hill", also known as "Byker Hill and Walker Shore" or "Walker Pits" is a traditional English<br> folk song from the coal mining area near Newcastle upon Tyne. These lyrics are sung to at least three<br> different tunes. This tune is the one sung by The Young Tradition. It is a rare example of a melody in<br> the Phrygian mode. In recent years other melodies have been attached to these<br> words including the tune of the American camp-meeting hymn "Where Are the Hebrew Children?" and a<br> version of the north-eastern dance tune "My Dearie Sits Ower Late Up". This north-eastern tune is in 9/8,<br> like a slip jig, but with emphasis on 2+2+2+3 instead of 3+3+3.<br> Byker Hill is in the east end of Newcastle, as is the adjoining district of Walker, also mentioned in<br> the song.<br> The earliest known version of this collier's song is in John Bell's Rhymes of Northern Bards (1812).<br> It was also printed in<br> Lloyd's Come All Ye Bold Miners (1952/1978) (as "Walker Pits").<br> It was recorded by<br> Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick on Byker Hill (1967),<br> Dave Van Ronk on Going Back To Brooklyn,<br> Patrick Sky on Songs That Made America Famous,<br> The Young Tradition on The Young Tradition and on Oberlin 1968,<br> Sandy Paton on The Many Sides of Sandy Paton,<br> A.L. Lloyd on The Best of A.L. Lloyd,<br> Chanticleer on The Anniversary Album and others.<br> It is included in the Roud Folk Song Index as #3488.<br>
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