Here's the tender coming, pressing all the men;
Oh dear hinny, what shall we do then?
Here's the tender coming, off at Shield's Bar,
Here's the tender coming, full of men of war.
Hide thee, canny Geordie, hide thyself away;
Hide thee till the tender makes for Druridge Bay.
If they take thee, Geordie, who's to win our bread?
Me and little Jackie better off be dead.
Here's the tender coming, stealing off my dear;
Oh dear hinny, they'll ship you out of here.
They will ship you foreign, that is what it means;
Here's the tender coming, full of red marines.
Hey, bonny lassie. let's go to the Lawe,
See the tender lying, off at Shield's Bar,
With her colours flying, anchor at her bow.
They took my bonny laddie, best of all the crew.
Oh dear hinny, what shall we do then?
Here's the tender coming, off at Shield's Bar,
Here's the tender coming, full of men of war.
Hide thee, canny Geordie, hide thyself away;
Hide thee till the tender makes for Druridge Bay.
If they take thee, Geordie, who's to win our bread?
Me and little Jackie better off be dead.
Here's the tender coming, stealing off my dear;
Oh dear hinny, they'll ship you out of here.
They will ship you foreign, that is what it means;
Here's the tender coming, full of red marines.
Hey, bonny lassie. let's go to the Lawe,
See the tender lying, off at Shield's Bar,
With her colours flying, anchor at her bow.
They took my bonny laddie, best of all the crew.
inviata da Bernart - 18/7/2013 - 15:12
Da ultimo nel disco delle The Unthanks intitolato proprio "Here's the Tender Coming", 2009.
Bernart - 18/7/2013 - 15:32
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Interpretata, tra gli altri da Frankie Armstrong (“The Valiant Sailor. Songs & Ballads of Nelson's Navy”, 1973) e dai The High Level Ranters (“Ranting Lads”, 1976). Si trova pure nella raccolta francese intitolata “Chants de Marins IV: Ballads, Complaintes et Shanties des Matelots Anglais”
“This poignant song comes from the North-East. Newcastle and Sunderland were second only to London in providing men for the navy during the French wars. Resistance was sometimes violent, with women playing a prominent part. The Lawe is a high vantage point, whence the hated tender could be seen lying out beyond the harbour bar. The pressing tenders were like floating prisons, where “recruits” were assembled before being distributed to the various ships.” (English Folk Music)
Questa canzone arriva dal Nord-Est inglese. Newcastle e Sunderland erano seconde soltanto a Londra nel procurare uomini per la marina militare durante le frequenti guerre contro i francesi. [che si tratti qui di quella combattuta tra il 1778 ed il 1783 durante la guerra d’indipendenza americana? Oppure delle cosiddette “guerre rivoluzionarie francesi”?]. La resistenza agli arruolamenti forzati fu talora violenta, con le donne che giocarono u ruolo fondamentale. Lawe è il nome di un promontorio, un punto di osservazione da dove si poteva avvistare le navi dei “reclutatori” in tempo per nascondersi o squagliarsela. I battelli delle “press-gang” erano delle vere e proprie prigioni galleggianti sulle quali venivano rinchiusi i malcapitati per poi essere assegnati alle diverse unità da combattimento.