[Note 205.1] "playing at tiddle de bumb":-  is probably a sexual innuendo. The OED defiens tiddle as "to fondle or indulge to excess; to pet". The remainder of the phrase seems to be nonsense. There are other references to sexual encounters throughput the song. "Poll and Fan swears they'll have a man"; "So lasses when you are going home pray with the men don't rustle" in the light of which the lines "But soon from there they'll retire for fear their bobbins should get fire" and "Sally Brass she's the lass to milk her master's doodle doo" are double entendres (doodle doo being a nursery or humorous name for a cock or rooster). The headblock of the broadside (below) supports this as does  "I hope there is no one offended", although that sentiment is common in completely innocent songs.

[Note 205.2] "From Ambleside. and Windermere by railroad they will run": - The Kendal and Windermere Railway Act authorising construction received the royal assent on 30 June 1845, and when the L&CR opened southwards from Oxenholme on 22 September 1846, the route to Kendal was already built. By 20 April 1847, the through route to Windermere station was complete.
[Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kendal_and_Windermere_Railway.]. The poet William Wordsworth was prominent among those who objected to building the railway. See bar663~Reply to Wordsworth.

[Note 205.3] "they'll have such stunning bustles":- Bustles here may be referring to an undergarment which most fashion historians would call a crinoline. Before the 1860s, the bustle(1) was a simple bum roll and not likely to described as "stunning".

[Note 205.4] "Some to copper lone will steer for to get a glass of beer": - The copper is presumably the vessel used in the brewing of beer to boil the wort and hops. There were many small breweries and Malt Kilns dotted around the town and in many cases they were extensions to the public houses and inns where they would brew their own beer[Ref: Trevor Hughes (Kendal Civic Society Executive Committee Member) Private communication]

[Note 205.5] "bobbins should get fire":- Kendal was the centre of the local wool industry for a number of centuries, including both spinning and weaving. ‘Kendal Green’ a generic name for the course green cloth is mentioned in Shakespeare and indeed the towns motto is “Pannus Mihi Panis” (Cloth to me is Bread). [Ref: Trevor Hughes (Kendal Civic Society Executive Committee Member) Private communication]

[Note 205.6] "Then to the hirings they will go all for to look for places"-The hirings; an area at the fair where farm workers seeking work, and farmers seeking workers, would meet with the intention of striking a bargain of employment for the coming year.

[Note 242.1] "In a splendid steam yacht I took up my station":- We cannot be sure if this song refers to a specific vessel or to a generic "steam yacht". See od005

gloss "belles of the ton and beauxs (sic) of the nation":- The ton were people of fashion; fashionable society; the fashionable world. [O.E.D.]

[Note 242.2] "My Lady Finikin" :- Finnikin : Affecting extreme refinement; dainty, fastidious, mincing; excessively precise in trifles. Also of things: Over-delicately wrought or finished; also, insignificant, paltry, trifling. [OED]

gloss "Composing draught" :- tranquillizing, soothing, sedative mixture [OED]

gloss "Bobby Fribble, an exquisite dandy from Bond Street":- Fribble: A trifling, frivolous person, one not occupied in serious employment, a trifler. [oed] "Dandy":- One who studies above everything to dress elegantly and fashionably. [O.E.D.].

gloss "The black legs(1) at cards were plucking the pigeons(1)":- a black leg is "a swindler in gambling" and a pigeon is "a naive or gullible person; a fool or simpleton; a person who is easily swindled" [OED]

gloss "John Bull":- The personification of the United Kingdom in general and England in particular. Often used in political works, cartoons and popular songs.

[Note 242.8] "Alderman Gobble of Turtle Soup fame, Was devouring of jellies to keep up his name ":- A satirical representation of members of the Court of Aldermen, part of the City of London Corporation. Gobble was the subject of many cartoons and comic stories. Turtle meat and soup became fashionable in the 19th century. It was popular at City of London Aldermanic feasts [Ref; http://collections.museumoflondon.org.uk/Online/object.aspx?objectID=object-783407&start=27&rows=1]

gloss "The Nore":- A sandbank at the mouth of the Thames Estuary, England. It marks the point where the River meets the North Sea

gloss "Cuckold's Point":- Part of a sharp bend on the River Thames on the Rotherhithe peninsula, south-east London

[Note 242.4] "We landed at seven P. M.":- having started at 8 in the morning, an 11 hour journey. Steamboats were first fitted with high-pressure "puffer" engines, based on Richard Trevithick's design, in 1818 and by 1820 the passage time to Margate was down to six and a half hours. If the journey time is reasonably accurate and not exaggerated grossly for comic effect, it would be consistent with one of the first Margate steamers; perhaps the Margery or the Thames

[Note 242.5] "he had a shirt collar of enormous size!":- High collars were a feature of the dress style adopted by Dandies. This cartoon is by Cruikshank . The song dates from the high point of Dandyism around 1820. [Ref: Jane Austen's World https://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/2012/05/22/the-distinctions-of-the-regency-dandy/]

[Note 393.1] "the panting courser's speed" :- A courser is a large powerful horse [OED] 

[Note 393.3] "And all my doings I put into print":- this is the only reference to steam-powered printing pressses found to date.

Last Updated 16th Ocotber 2017

[Note 247.1]

'The President Steam Ship', engraving, 1839 by Samuel Walters, Science Museum / Science & Society Picture Library
Image Ref. 10265265

[Note 247.1] "Now alas! All hopes are lost" :- The date on which the vessel was formally declared lost has not been found. 

[Note 247.3] "from New York she did set sail...To England they were bound" :- On March 11, 1841, President left New York bound for Liverpool on her third eastbound voyage

[Note 247.3] " largest ship in all the world" :- She was the largest ship in the world when she was commissioned in 1840

[Note 247.4] "The duke of Richmond's son" :- The Lincolnshire Chronicle for Friday 16 April 1841 reported that "among the passengers on board the president steam-ship whose non-arrival has excited so painful an interest is Lord Fitzroy Lennox, second son of the Duke of Richmond."

[Note 247.5] "Mr Power the comedian too...His engagements to perform " :- Morning Advertiser, Monday, April 12, 1841 declared "Mr. Power will have the honour of making his first appearance [at the Theatre Royal. Haymarket]  immediately after the arrival the president ship, intelligence which hourly expected." Below, Tyrone Power Senior From the Dublin Comic Songster.

[Note 247.6] "His absence has excitement caused" :- At this time excitement meant anxiety or agitation

[Note 247.7] "What excitement through the world, About the President" :- Her disappearance was major news for several months and even Queen Victoria followed the story [Ref: ] She is also mentioned in a song about the SS Great Britain printed five years later in 1846 or soon after (see bar100 Great Britain Ashore).

The President was was noted for her luxurious interiors.  This was accomplished by adding a third deck to the design of the British Queen commissioned in 1839. As a result, President was top heavy. She was also under-powered and had the slowest passage times of any transatlantic steamer up to that point. She was overloaded with cargo to compensate for her roll. She was last seen on 12th March, struggling in a gale.

The song seems to have been printed just once.