Fishing song to be sung to the tune of 'The Miller o' Dron'. This song was issued both as a broadsheet and then later as part of a published collection. Collectors like Joseph Crawhall have made these Newcastle angling songs an important part of the history of traditional music in the region. Although the fishing songs were printed for mass distribution, they were generally not written in the vernacular, tending to retain a more poetical style. Although the song is simply signed Rt. Roxby, it is in fact the joint production of Robert Roxby and Thomas Doubleday. Roxby and Doubleday were responsible for a large number of the northern angling songs, their partnership lasting for many years. Robert Roxby was born at Needless Hall and spent most of his life as a clerk to Sir W. Loraine and later to Matthew Ridley. Thomas Doubleday was a poet, politician, and merchant and was a prominent figure in the Reform Bill and early Chartist agitation days. He died at Gosforth aged 81 on December 18th, 1870. The woodcut at the head of the broadsheet is by Thomas Bewick. This song is part of the John Bell Collection. |
