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Archiver > ENG-GEORDIES > 2004-06 > 1086217632


From: Gerry Good <>
Subject: Re: [ENG-GEORDIES] CUSHY BUTTERFIELD
Date: Wed, 02 Jun 2004 16:07:12 -0700
References: <000001c447b2$605747a0$64782752@oemcomputer><000401c448e3$315756c0$575a893e@oemcomputer>


Hello Linda,
If you go to ,
www.trainingships.royalnavy.co.uk/
there is some info on the ship you want,
Geraldine in B.C.Canada
----- Original Message -----
From: "Linda Watson" <>
To: <>
Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2004 1:48 PM
Subject: Re: [ENG-GEORDIES] CUSHY BUTTERFIELD


> Hi Stan &Steve
>
> Thank you so much for your information
>
> Steve- please excuse me for replying to you on list but I hope that this
may
> be of help to others.
>
> Some time ago on one of your sites I seem to recall a picture of the
> "Captain and Staff "of The Wellesley Training Ship.
>
> My grandfather served on the ship from 28.2.1891 to 20.12.1893, his
offence
> was having no proper guardianship.In May 1893 he was awarded the Royal
> Humane Society Award for saving another boy - James Wilson who fell
> overboard .
>
> Can you recall the photograph I refer to? Is there any index to those on
it?
> Can I purchase a copy of it?
>
> Looking forward to hearing from you with your local expertise.
>
> Thank you
>
> Linda
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steve Ellwood" <>
> To: <>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 01, 2004 9:27 AM
> Subject: RE: [ENG-GEORDIES] CUSHY BUTTERFIELD
>
>
> > Hi Stan and Linda
> >
> > Cushy Butterfield was definitely a "real person" and not a fictional
> > character dreamt up by Geordie Ridley. Indeed having publicly sung the
> > song "Cushy Butterfield", the family of the good lady took great offence
> > at the lyrics, so much so that Ridley himself had to temporarily remove
> > himself from Tyneside to avoid a "good hiding". Indeed there are reports
> > that Cushies Cousin, Tom Gray (the muckman) chased Ridley around the
> > Grainger Market. Ridley himself remarked he didn't think that Gray was
> > after his autograph!
> >
> > The song itself had to be censored as the publishers of Ridley's work
> > thought one verse to be unacceptable and was subsequently left out. The
> > song itself is about Cushy who is having a romantic liaison with a
> > Keelman but at the same time is having a relationship with a miner from
> > Shipcote Pit. At the time there was public rumour that the miner was
> > actually Ridley himself.
> >
> > Cushy Butterfield is also one of those featured in Irving's painting of
> > the Blaydon Races.
> >
> > Thought folk would be interested in the following information concerning
> > Geordie Ridley who wrote the song "Blaydon Races":
> >
> > 1. Born in Gateshead - 1835.
> >
> > 2. Started work as a Trapper Boy at Oakwellgate Colliery at the age of
> > 8.
> >
> > 3. After 10 years in the pit he commenced work for Messr Hawks, Crawshay
> > and Sons (Gateshead iron Works) as a Wagonrider.
> >
> > 4. Involved in an almost fatal accident when a wagon he was on went out
> > of control and he suffered severe injuries.
> >
> > 5. Unable to continue to work as a Wagonrider he earned his living as a
> > singer and writer of comic songs.
> >
> > 6. His first appearance as a singer was at the Grainger Music Hall where
> > he sang both Tyneside and Irish traditional songs.
> >
> > 7. There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that Ridley was a better
> > singer than a writer.
> >
> > 8. His first "local" song to be written was entitled "Joey Jones" - 1861
> > and was named after a local horse which had won the Northumberland Plate
> > in that year.
> >
> > 9. Amongst the songs written by Ridley, he is best remembered for Cushy
> > Butterfield and of course The Blaydon Races, both of which involve
> > "real" local characters and places.
> >
> > 10. Ridley died in 9th September 1864 at the age of 30, some five years
> > after the accident he sustained at the Gateshead Iron Works and it is
> > thought that his death was directly attributable to the injuries he had
> > sustained.
> >
> > 11. Ridley is buried in St Edmund's Cemetery in Gateshead.
> >
> > Best Wishes and Gan Canny
> >
> > Steve Ellwood
> > Whitley Bay, North East England
> > Tyneside & Northumberland Local History Group at:
> > http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/tyneside
> > For photographs of the Newcastle Upon Tyne area go to:
> > http://www.steve-ellwood.org.uk
> > http://www.geordies.force9.co.uk
> > "Geordie goes beyond mere geography and is a quality of heart"
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: [mailto:]
> > Sent: 31 May 2004 22:41
> > To:
> > Subject: Re: [ENG-GEORDIES] CUSHY BUTTERFIELD
> >
> >
> > In a message dated 31/05/2004 21:26:59 GMT Daylight Time,
> > writes:
> >
> > Can anyone tell me anything about the writer and if the young lady in
> > question was fact or fiction.
> >
> > The song was written by Geordie Ridley, who wrote 'The Blaydon Races'.
> > 'Cushey Butterfield', is a funny parody of the cockney 'Pretty Polly
> > Perkins'. "She's a big lass and a bonny lass, And she likes her beer;
> > And they call her Cushey Butterfield, And I wish she was here" one verse
> > goes on; "You'll oft see her down at Sandgate, when the fresh herring
> > come in. She's like a bag full of saw dust, tied roond wiv string. She
> > wears big galoshes tee, and her stockings once was white; and her
> > bedgoon is laylock, and her hat's nivver strite." It also mentions; 'Her
> > cousin is a muckman and they call him Tom Grey' I have no idea if she
> > was fact or fiction. Regards Stan Mapstone
> >
> > ______________________________
>
>
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