poliphilo

Here's a song you don't hear much any more- Bobby Shaftoe.

When I was a nipper we used to sing it in and out of school. Pretty little tune, easy to sing.

I came across a version on Youtube yesterday- performed by a couple of Geordies calling themselves Blaydon Aces. They were pictured on the banks of the Tyne with the Baltic Gallery in the the background. Sweet!

"Funny," says Ailz, "It's clearly a woman's song but it's always performed by men".

But it's a sailor song. And your average 19th century sailor didn't suffer too much from gender anxiety. Besides, where would you find the women to do the singing on board a Tyne Collier?

One thing that always bothered me was the "silver buckles on his knee."

I thought that sounded painful. I mean, how were thet attached? With staples perhaps? Poor Bobby.