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Wor Nanny's a mazer

Wor Nanny's a mazer is a famous Geordie folk song written in the 19th century by Tommy Armstrong, in a style deriving from music hall. It is regarded by many as one of the classics.

This song tells the tale of a husband and wife setting out on a train trip from Rowlands Gill, a village in County Durham, to "toon" - meaning 'town', presumably Newcastle upon Tyne - to do some shopping. The trip starts to go wrong when they miss their train. The pair end up in a pub where the wife becomes "a bit the worse for wear". We are left to assume no shopping was done and no clothes bought.

Lyrics

Places mentioned

This is the only place mentioned by name. It is not known either where they started their journey, or where they intended to do their shopping, although Newcastle upon Tyne would be an educated guess as it is locallyreferredto as the toon.

Recordings

  • Alex Glasgow (1935–2001) was one of the North of England's most popular folk singers in his day. His CD entitled "Alex Glasgow - Songs Vol - now and then" recorded in 1970 (ref MWMCDSP21) included "Wor Nanny's a Mazer" together with 28 other titles
  • Bob Fox and Benny Graham include the song on their album "How Are You Off For Coals?", along with several more of Tommy Armstrong's songs. (Fellside Records catalogue number FECD111)
  • YouTube recording
  • YouTube recording of

See also

Geordie dialect words

References