The Devil's Hunt - An extreme warning not to start bragging when Old Nick might be listening! This was written on New Year's Eve with a handy glass of whisky on the table, and a haggis boiling on the hob.
The Highwaymen of Blackstone Edge - A re-write of a 19th century broadside entitled 'Stark Naked Robbery'. No tune is indicated, so I took Martin Carthy's advice and used one of my own!
Horses of May Day - Horse parades on May Day used to be an annual event in cities such as Manchester and Liverpool until 1914 when the demand for horses for military use put carters and their ilk out of business, as few of these horses returned. It is hard to imagine the trauma they must have suffered being transported from familiar surroundings to face the Hellish misery of war!
Three Hundred Men of Lancashire (Tune adapted from traditional Scottish pipe tune – 'Farewell to the Creeks' by Pipe Major James Robertson) - The ill-fated Manchester Regiment recruited for the Jacobean cause were left to defend Carlisle against overwhelming odds - Lancashire's Alamo!
Perils of 'Frisco - Inspired by a chapter in 'Sailortown' by the wonderful Stan Hugill! Many experienced sailors stayed on board ship, rather than risk San Francisco's dubious pleasures...
Old Concertina - Not based on a true story - Billy's concertina only played in my imagination.
Let Every Landsman Know - There is no point in the UK which is more than 70 miles from the coast, and the sea-surge in the blood can be quite compelling. This song points out that a life on the briny isn't all halyards and hornpipes!
The Sirius (Tune - variation on 'The Miller of the Dee') - A David and Goliath story. A little coastal steamer races Isambard Kingdom Brunel's 'Great Western' to be the first ship to cross the Atlantic powered entirely by steam. With a four day start, the 'Sirius' steamed into New York Harbour four hours ahead of the 'Great Western'. Her Black Dog figurehead may be seen at Hull Maritime Museum.
The Sally Anne - The ship is fictitious, but the dangers faced by the merchantmen who sailed with the Atlantic convoys was only too real. A tribute to the men who sailed under the Red Duster and braved the U-Boat menace.
I Don't Want To Be A Sailor - In Alexander Korda's 'Thief of Baghdad' Sabu says 'I want to be a sailor'... I think he was very naive and fully deserved being turned into a dog by the 'baddy'!
Song of the Fisherman's Wife (Tune adapted from traditional) - Hard and dangerous as mining was, many trawlermen's wives envied women married to colliers - this song explains why.
The Black Gang - Up on deck you can taste the salt air, while down below the black gang shovel the coal. A dirty job, but someone had to do it!
