1 note
[Note 059.4] "life on the ocean main" is probably "Life on the Ocean Wave" (Roud V3089) by H Sargent written about 1842 [Ref: British Library H.1661.(7.)]. It has over 70 entries in the Roud Index so was presumably very well known.
[Note 059.6] "with its songs and sandwiches" - It was usual for working class folk to take their own food. In her description of her trip to New Brighton, Alice Foley wrote "Having risen at a very early hour on the great day, mother was to be found busily cutting piles of sandwiches and currant cake". [Ref: Horn]
[Note 106.2] The song seems to describe a pleasure trip. The lines "Now when they to the Pier drew nigh, / The guns did fire and streamers fly ;/ In a moment all was hue and cry, / Amang the folks at Sunderland" in verse 2 suggest that it might have been the steamer's first visit to Sunderland.
[Note 059.0] The song gives a description of a working-class excursion that agrees well with those of participants and observers. The song was performed by Lily Langtree. The fact that she was widely known to be a former mistress of the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII); who was known to the public as "Bertie" presumably added a frisson to the performance.
[Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillie_Langtry#Royal_mistress]
[Note 106.3] "Barber's 'water-proof silk hat" - J Barbour and sons was founded in South Shields in 1894, long before this song was published. However this line rasies the possibility that the family were producing waterproof garments in the area before the company was established.