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David Blagrove reconstructed 'The Ballad of Tom Beechy' from fragments according to the sleeve notes of the lp by The Boatmen 'Straight from the Tunnel's Mouth. The tune was close to one he heard being sung by an elderly man at The Greyhound, Hawkesbury Junction in 1962. He says he 'added a few words to fill in the gaps'.

 

It would be nice to have more details about how much was collected and how much written. Then we could judge if this was indeed a traditional boater's song. Is anyone able to ask David?

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David Blagrove reconstructed 'The Ballad of Tom Beechy' from fragments according to the sleeve notes of the lp by The Boatmen 'Straight from the Tunnel's Mouth. The tune was close to one he heard being sung by an elderly man at The Greyhound, Hawkesbury Junction in 1962. He says he 'added a few words to fill in the gaps'.

 

It would be nice to have more details about how much was collected and how much written. Then we could judge if this was indeed a traditional boater's song. Is anyone able to ask David?

 

I must admit, having sung it often, I've often wondered how a boatman and his family could freeze to death when they've got 40 tons of coal on their boats. Boaters treated coal aboard as fair game AFAICT... but there y'go.

 

Tone

Edited by canaldrifter
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I have added all the sleeve notes from the lp 'Straight from the Tunnel's Mouth' by The Boatmen to the 'Songs of the Inland Waterways' website. There seems to be some ambiguity as regards the traditional nature of the 'Tom Beechy' song. David Blagrove variously describes how it was put together while the record label describes it as 'Trad'. From that I assume that most of the song is traditional with just some minor additions, but it would be useful for the historical record to know for certain.

 

I have never had any success at getting a reply when I have attempted to contact David so if anyone is in contact with him and could ask him how much of this song was handed down orally I would appreciate it.

 

In the debate about whether any traditional canal songs existed and have survived David holds some key information.

 

Ian

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I have added all the sleeve notes from the lp 'Straight from the Tunnel's Mouth' by The Boatmen to the 'Songs of the Inland Waterways' website. There seems to be some ambiguity as regards the traditional nature of the 'Tom Beechy' song. David Blagrove variously describes how it was put together while the record label describes it as 'Trad'. From that I assume that most of the song is traditional with just some minor additions, but it would be useful for the historical record to know for certain.

 

I have never had any success at getting a reply when I have attempted to contact David so if anyone is in contact with him and could ask him how much of this song was handed down orally I would appreciate it.

 

In the debate about whether any traditional canal songs existed and have survived David holds some key information.

 

Ian

 

It's a good ballad anyway. It certainly records the distain that some riparian landowners had for boaters in the early days (perhaps even now) and the ruthlessness of toll clerks.

 

Mind you, I usually check to see whether there are any farmers in the audience before singing it!

 

I'm inclined to believe David when he states that he wrote it around fragments of a boater's song.

 

Tone

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  • 10 months later...

The BBC Home Service radio programme 'Cry from the Cut' (1962) which can be heard via this link : http://www.waterwaysongs.co.uk/cry_from_the_cut.htm has an 'old boatman' singing 'The Greasy Wheel' which suggests it may have some age to it. Ian Campbell then added words and perhaps modified the tune for this 'Radio Ballad'. Perhaps this is a candidate for being a 'traditional' canal song?

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The BBC Home Service radio programme 'Cry from the Cut' (1962) which can be heard via this link : http://www.waterways...rom_the_cut.htm has an 'old boatman' singing 'The Greasy Wheel' which suggests it may have some age to it. Ian Campbell then added words and perhaps modified the tune for this 'Radio Ballad'. Perhaps this is a candidate for being a 'traditional' canal song?

 

Can someone enlighten me - what is a Greasy Wheel?

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The Greasy Wheel has something to do with the Fellows and Morton steam barges which ran at the end of the 19th century. They ran non-stop from London to Birmingham. Their glory was brief because the steam power which gave them their ascendancy had already, in the form of the locomotive, made the canal system obsolete.

 

I shall investigate further.

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What is 'The Greasy Wheel'? We're getting near to or have got an answer.

 

David Blagrove has been kind enough to provide me with lyrics and more information about 'The Greasy Wheel' song.

 

His observations can be read here :

http://www.waterwaysongs.co.uk/greasy_wheel.htm

 

It looks like the greasy wheel may have been the large flywheel on these steam engines.

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  • 9 years later...

The Songs of the Inland Waterways website has undergone an major update so that it is now more usable on mobile phones. It now contains lyrics and info about over 300 songs, with many audio and video files.

The site can be found at https://www.waterwaysongs.info
If you spot any mistakes I'd be happy to hear about them.

BTW If the member seeking out Buz Collins 'Codebreakers' CD (12 years ago) is still around I may be able to help.

Information about canal song-writers such as Buz Collins and David Blagrove would be an interesting addition to the site and memories/contributions would be very welcome.

  • Greenie 2
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13 minutes ago, Bugsworth Tippler said:

 

BTW If the member seeking out Buz Collins 'Codebreakers' CD (12 years ago) is still around I may be able to help.

Information about canal song-writers such as Buz Collins and David Blagrove would be an interesting addition to the site and memories/contributions would be very welcome.

Hopefully I still have my copy somewhere

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11 hours ago, Midnight said:

This is a brilliant song by our own Arthur Marshall

http://www.arthurmarshall.co.uk/canalsong.html

 

 

Totally agree. And Arthur's other excellent canal songs can all be found on the 'Songs of the Inland Waterways' site.

For example, the one which you can't get out of your head The Interview . . . . . . .

  • Greenie 1
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  • 1 year later...

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