Lyrics Byker Hill - Martin Carthy, Dave Swarbrick

Byker Hill

If I had another penny
I would have another gill
And I would make the piper play
The bonny lass of Byker Hill
Byker Hill and Walker Shore, me lads
Collier lads for ever more, me boys
Byker Hill and Walker Shore, me lads
Collier lads for ever more
Me, Ginny, she sits over late up
Me, Ginny, she sits over late up
Me, Ginny, she sits over late up
Between the pint pot and the cup
It’s down the pits, we’ll go me marrers
It’s down the pits, we’ll go me marrers
Well, try our wills and use our skill
To cut them ridges down below
Byker Hill and Walker Shore, me lads
Collier lads for ever more, me boys
Byker Hill and Walker Shore, me lads
Collier lads for ever more
Me, Ginny, she is never near
Me, Ginny, she is never near
And when I call out, «Where's me supper?»
She orders up another pint of beer
When first I come into the dirt
I had no trousers nor pit shirt
And now I’ve getting two or three
Walker Pit done well by me
Byker Hill and Walker Shore, me lads
Collier lads for ever more, me boys
Byker Hill and Walker Shore, me lads
Collier lads for ever more
Hey Ginny, come home to your little baby
Hey Ginny, come home to your little baby
Hey Ginny, come home to your little baby
With a pint of beer all under your arm
The poor coal cuttee gets two shillings
The deputy get half a crown
And the over man gets five and sixpence
That’s just for riding up and down
Byker Hill and Walker Shore, me lads
Collier lads for ever more, me boys
Byker Hill and Walker Shore, me lads
Collier lads for ever more
Geordie Johnson had a pig
And he hit it with a shovel and it danced a jig
All the way to Byker Hill
He danced the Elsie Marley
Byker Hill and Walker Shore, me lads
Collier lads for ever more, me boys
Byker Hill and Walker Shore, me lads
Collier lads for ever more