I was bemused to see a brace of Children’s books in ASDA recently about a little cow called Cushy Butterfield. Indeed, one of them was entitled Cushy Butterfield (She’s a little cow) , cover to the right, image from Amazon. This made me chuckle, firstly because of the choice of title (which sounds a bit insulting) but mainly because Cushy Butterfield is a traditional Geordie folk song and Cushy was anything but little. This tory revolves around little Cushy getting the lurgy on school days but being fine at the weekend. Then her Mum finds a box of face paints under the bed…
Apparently Cushy Butterfield was a music hall song based on a real person, a big girl, a minger, liked her drink and was a bit of a slapper. Some Geordie girls try to keep up this tradition to this day, so I’m told…
She’s a big lass, she’s a bonny lass and she likes her beer…
and they call her Cushie Butterfield and I wish she was here!
(Words slightly de-Geordified so they can be read by non-northumbrians.You can see the lyrics on Geordie Life.com)
If you are wondering what the tune is, here are some Rugby Clubbers singing it.
I’ve only been to Newcastle once and I thought the lasses were rather attractive. Mind you, it was a stag do and I was probably more concerned about staying upright on the revolving dance floor. Tuxedo Princess, I think it was called.
I enjoyed the vid. Would’ve enjoyed it more if I had understood a bloody word they are saying though
There is a translation on the geordielife.com link above.
“The Beurt” has alas now departed. It was indeed legendary and moored on the Gateshead side because Newcastle were too snooty to allow it to moor. It was there for 25 years, but it was after my time, so to speak and I never boarded it.
Apparently the revolving dance floor was actually the vehicle turntable on the car deck, it was originally a ferry.
What Fettle,
Sorry Bonny Lad, but the Cushie Butterfield was a fictional character made up by Geordie Ridley, and the translation on a geordielife is total claptrap. A Keelman was not a fisherman, he was a shallow draft sailor who would sail the Tyne and take the coal to the waiting ships. A muckman was a man who used to clean out the Ash Netties, and not a dustman as that imposter claims. It was not her breath that would scare a young cow but her face that Spyens a young coo. Her eyes are not two holes in a blanket pulled through but two holes in a blanket BURNT through. We Geordies actually speak the original English, so if PJ cannot understand it, where on earth does he come from, must be a shandy drinking southerner.
John Gray, I looked into the lyrics for our Folk Club not too long ago and there is indeed a fair amount of disinformation on the web. There is a story about a verse supposedly censored by the publisher as well.
PJ is indeed a Southerner, hailing from God’s own County. He doesn’t drink shandy though!