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The Lancashire Lads

Date 24 May 1970
Track ID 21097
Part 1

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1970.118.A5

Original Tape ID

SA1970.118

Summary

Song lamenting the departure of the Lancashire Regiment on a tour of duty abroad, leaving many pretty girls behind in Liverpool. Describes the hardship of a soldier's wife having to maintain a faimly on fourteen pence a day while he is far away.

Item Notes

Five verses, with chorus after each. Sung at a folk club, with guitar accompaniment. Two main singers sing in harmony with each other, and the audience joins in the chorus. Music is an adaptation of a traditional tune/song called 'Three Jolly Rogues of Lynne'.

Early 19th-century song about soldiers of the Lancashire Regiment:

"In the years immediately after the Napoleonic Wars there were riots and general unrest in many industrial areas. Troops from Lancashire were brought down to the Midlands on several occasions, notably to Dudley, prompting a Midlands printer to print this song. (Sleeve notes to The Halliard 'Broadside Songs', CD reissue MMCD04, 2005)

From a setting by Nic Jones and Dave Moran of the 1960s English folk group, The Halliard, from their 'Broadside Songs' book and CD from 1968 (2005 updated). The version by The Halliard mentions Manchester in the last verse; however the singers here give Liverpool. The 47th (Lancashire) Regiment, otherwise known as 'The Lancashire Lads', formed 1782, is now part of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment.

In Bodleian Library Broadside Ballad index. Published by T. Bloomer, Printer, High Street, Birmingham (date unknown) and J. Crome (Sheffield) c. 1817.


Recording Location

County - Inverness-shire

Parish - Inverness and Bona

Village/Place - Inverness

Language

English

Genre

Song

Collection

SoSS

Classification

R588 GD89

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good