Songs from the Manuscript Collection of John Bell

Includes all those songs from the manuscript collection of John Bell (d. 1864) which throw light on the way of life of the majority of the population of North-East England and the Eastern Borders. Each piece derives ultimately from the life and work of those men and women who were obliged to work for a living, usually with their hands. Texts arranged under the following headings: Soldiers and Sailors, Civil and Political, Coalwork, Country Life, Festivities, Sport and Social Life, Drinking, Courtship, Love Unrequited, Love Satisfied, Children, In Praise of Wedlock, Trouble and Strife, Stories, Fragments.