Tommy Armstrong (singer-songwriter)

"Thomas "Tommy" Armstrong" redirects here. For other Tommys that are Thomases, see Thomas Armstrong (disambiguation).

Tommy Armstrong
This photo was used as the frontispiece in a book of his songs.[1]
Background information
Birth name	Thomas Armstrong
Born	(1848-08-15)15 August 1848 Shotley Bridge, County Durham, England
Died	30 August 1920(1920-08-30) (aged 72) Tantobie, County Durham, England
Genres	Music hall folk song broadside ballad
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, entertainer, writer, poet, newsagent, miner
Years active	1864 – c. 1913
Spouses	Mary Hunter (m. 1869-1898) Ann Thompson (m. 1901)
Children	14[2]: 179

Thomas Armstrong (1848–1920), known as Tommy Armstrong, was an English poet, singer-songwriter and entertainer dubbed "The Pitman Poet"[3]: 106  and "The Bard of the Northern Coalfield".[4] Writing largely in the Geordie and Pitmatic dialects, he was renowned for his ability to chronicle the lives of the mining communities in and around Stanley in north-east Durham and to commemorate mining disasters.[5][6]: 144–145 

Early life

Tommy Armstrong was born at 17 Wood Street in Shotley Bridge on 15 August 1848.[2]: 12  His father, Timothy Armstrong, a miner originally from Hamsterley, and his mother, Mary (née Wilson), from Wigton, had married in Easington in 1842. Tommy was the second of five children.[2]: 13 

Where and at what age he first worked down a mine is unclear, with varying statements in the local press (Medomsley Colliery, aged eight)[7] and by his eldest son (East Tanfield Colliery, aged nine).[8] Official records[a] show him employed at Addison Colliery[9] in 1866, first as a putter[b], and then as a hewer. According to his younger brother, he then worked at East Tanfield Colliery[8] from late 1866 for several years. The 1901 Census shows him as a "Coal Worker Underground", and later records refer to him as a miner or coal-miner. His death certificate records him as a "Retired Colliery Shifter".[2]: 14–15 

Later life

In 1869, on Christmas Day, Tommy Armstrong married Mary Ann Hunter, who was 16, at Gateshead Register Office. They had 14 children: eight died young. Mary died in 1898, and in 1901, Armstrong married Ann Thompson, a widow, at Tanfield Parish Church.[2]: 16, 18 

He lived for the most part in Tanfield Lea, though from 1902, for a few years, he moved to Whitley Bay to start and run a business as a newsagent. In 1906, he had an address in Ouston. In 1911, he was living with his widowed eldest child, Mary, and her children in Tanfield Lea; his second wife resided in Chester-le-Street with another daughter from his first marriage.[2]: 28–31 

He died on 30 August 1920, aged 72, in Tantobie, and is buried in the churchyard of Tanfield Parish Church.

Style

Songs in domestic settings predominate in Armstrong's repertoire. He also wrote many concerning the life, work and struggles of miners in the pits, and several disaster ballads.[11] The sociologist Huw Beynon states that what makes Armstrong stand out from other coalfield songwriters is his "impish irreverence" and "imaginative devilishness", with "nothing cloying or sentimental" in his descriptions of mining life,[12] while the folklorist A. L. Lloyd, according to Beynon, thought Armstrong wrote "as a herald of the dawn, who welcomes the day with a cock crow".[13]: 9  The folklorist Roy Palmer noted the playfulness, sympathy, and humour in his works.[14] As Armstrong himself put it:

When ye're the Pitmen's Poet, an' looked up to for it, wey, if a disaster or a strike or a murder goes by wi'oot a sang fre ye, they say: "What’s the matter wi' Tommy Armstrong? Has someone druv a spigot in him an' let oot a' the inspiration?" Me aad sangs hev kept me in beer, an' the floor o' the public bar hes bin me stage for forty years. Aw'd sing, we'd drink, aw'd sing, we'd drink agen, sangs wi'oot end, amen.[15]

Folk-songs and the musical forms associated with music hall performances both influenced Armstrong's compositions. The stage was most strongly reflected in the lyrics, and the folk-song influence most clearly evident in the melodies he directed his songs be sung to – he rarely wrote his own tunes, and in most cases made up the words with an existing one in mind: many were urbanised versions of folk melodies.[16]: 2  In particular, Armstrong loved and was influenced by the Irish ballads that were popular amongst coal-miners in the second half of the nineteenth century, especially the genre dubbed "Come-all-ye":[c] these were usually written in lines of 14 syllables, with tunes in ^6
₈ time, and often in the Dorian or Mixolydian mode.[17]: 141 

Examples of compositions

Domestic songs

It wes in Novimber an' aw nivor will fergit,
The polis an' the candymen at Oakey's hooses met.
Johnny the bellmin he wes theor, squintin roond aboot,
An' he pleaced three min at iv'ry door te torn the pitmin oot.

What wid aw de, if aw'd the poower mesel'?
Aw'd hang the twinty candymen an' Johnny that carries the bell!

— Tommy Armstrong, The Oakey Strike evictions (first verse and chorus)[17]: 139 

Armstrong directed that this be sung to the tune of The Pride of Petticoat Lane.[3]: 137  The version below was collected and transcribed by A. L. Lloyd in Tanfield in August 1951.[17]: 139 

Workplace songs

One mornin' whin aw wint te wark, the sight wes most excitin',
Aw heard a noise an' looked aroond an' whe d'ye think wes fightin'?
Aw stud amazed an' at 'em gazed te see 'em in such rages,
But aw nivor heard a row like that between the Brockwill cages!
Wor aad cage says: "Come ower the gates,
Because it's my intention
To let thee see whether thoo or me
Is the best invention."
The new'un bein raised, took off his claes,
Then at it they went dabbin'
The blood wes runnin' doon the skeets
An' past the weighman's cabin ...

— Tommy Armstrong, Th' Row Between Th' Cages (introduction and first verse)[17]: 142 

Armstrong directed that this be sung to the tune of Robin Tamson's Smiddy,[3]: 139  a ballad written by Alexander Rodger.[18] The version below was collected and transcribed by A. L. Lloyd in Tanfield in August 1951.[17]: 143 

Disaster ballads

Men and boys left home that morning
For to earn their daily bread.
Little thought before the evening
They’d be numbered with the dead;
Let us think of Mrs. Burnett,
Once had sons and now has none –
With the Trimdon Grange explosion,
Joseph, George and James have gone.

— Tommy Armstrong (1882), The Trimdon Grange Explosion (second verse)[11]: 200 

Armstrong wrote this song to the tune of the parlour-song Go and Leave Me If You Wish It,[19] and sang it, within days of the disaster, at the local Mechanics' Hall.[20] A. L. Lloyd collected and transcribed the version below, noting "As sung (one verse only) by R. Sewell of Newcastle (June 1951)".[3]: 129 

According to Vicinus (1974), The Trimdon Grange Explosion exemplifies the later style of nineteenth-century pit disaster poem, with the traditional tone of lament accompanied by elements of reportage (the last four lines in the verse above).[21]: 83 

Patter

Some of Armstrong's works incorporate patter – "passages of prose ... to be spoken in between the verses and chorus, both of which are meant to be sung."[11]: 191  An example is Th' Borth E Th' Lad, one of his first poems:

Aa can mind that mornin aa was born as if it was the neet. Th' pits was aal idle the next day – because it was Sunda; but ye wadn't thowt it was Sunda' in wor hoose. There was that much tea an' ginger-beer drunken, aa was forced to stop the tap. Dolly Potts got tite an' flung a saucer at Betty Green, but it missed hor an' catched me reet between the eyes an' the mooth, an' aa've ad a greet lump there iver since. But we seun maid hor an ootside passenger, an' we enjoyed worselves wi singen –

He's the best of ony,
His fyace it is se bonny;
We'll caal 'im Tommy;
He's the picture of his dad;
So they popped on the kettle,
As seun as things was settled,
Then the tea was fettled
Ower the birth of the lad.

— Tommy Armstrong (1864), Th' Borth E Th' Lad (introductory patter and chorus)[11]: 191 

He wrote one song, Th' Skeul Bord Man, in the form of a short play featuring the voices of a father, mother, son, and an inspector from the son's school:[11]: 194–195 

One mornin it haulf-past hite, aw sade te maw bit bairn
"On we thee clais, en get off te skeul, for thoo naws thit aw want th' te lairn."
Boy: Th' skeul gans in it nine, en ye naws it's not vary far.
Man: Thoo naws aw like for te see th' be in time, so thee beuk en thee slate's e th' drawer.

spoken Man: Get off te skeul is sharp is ivor thoo can.
Boy: Aw can't gan this mornin.
Man: Thoo canna gan this mornin!! Wat's th' matter we th'?
Boy: Aw heh th' tic.
Man: Thor's alwis somethen th' matter we th' wen thoo has te gan te skeul. If thoo dissent gan aw'll be getten e lump of paipor, en it th' boddom there'll be ritten on –

Send yer bairns te skeul,
Learn them aa ye can.
Make scholarship yor faithful friend,
An' ye'll nivor see th' skeul-bord man.

— Tommy Armstrong (c. 1900), Th' Skeul Bord Man (introduction, first dialogue, and chorus)[2]: 115–117 [11]: 191 

Memorials

Stanley Town Council unveiled a plaque commemorating Tommy Armstrong at Tanfield Church on 11 June 2016.[22] Part of the ceremony was held next to Tommy Armstrong's two memorial headstones: the original, and one dedicated in 1986.[23]

Selected songs

• The Blanchland Murder[d]
• Bobby En Bet
• Th' Borth E Th' Lad
  [The Birth of the Lad]
• The Cat Pie
• The Consett Choir Calamity[e]
• Corry's Rat
• Dorham Jail
  (or, Durham Gaol)
• The Durham Lock-out[f]
• Funny Nuaims It Tanfeeld Pit
  [Funny Names at Tanfield Pit]
• Gateshead Poor Children's Trip To Stanley
• Geordie Broon
• The Ghost Thit' Anted Bunty
  [The Ghost that Haunted Bunty]
• The Hedgehog Pie
• Jack Reckonen
  [Jack's Reckoning]
• The Kaiser And The War
• Kelloe Disaster
• Marla Hill Ducks
  (or, Marley Hill Ducks)
• Murder of Mary Donnelly
• Neglectful Sally
• Th' Nue Ralewae Te Anfeeld Plane
  [The New Railway to Annfield Plain]
• Oakey's Keeker
• The Oakey Strike Evictions
  (or, Oakey Strike)
• Old Dolly Cook and Her Family
• Old Folk's Tea at West Stanley
• The Old Men's Trip
• The Picture Hall at Tantobie
• A Poam To The Kaiser
• The Prudent Pitman
• Th' Row Between Th' Cages
  (or, The Row 'Atween the Cages)
• Th' Row I' Th' Guuttor
• A Sewing Meeting
• The Sheel Raw Flud
• Th' Skeul Bord Man
  [The School Board Man]
• The Sooth Medomsley Strike
  [The South Medomsley Strike]
• Stanla Markit
  [Stanley Market]
• The Summer Flies
• Tanfeeld Lee Silvor Modil Band
  [The Tanfield Lea Silver Model Band]
• Tanfield Braike
• Tantobie Wednesday Football Team
• Tantobie Workmen's Club Oxo Banquet
• Tommy The Poet Signed On
• The Trimdon Grange Explosion
  (or, The Trimdon Grange Disaster)[g]
• The Trip From Tantobie Union Club to Jarrow Excelsior Club
• The Unhappy Couple
• Th' Wheelbarrow Man
• Wor Nanny's a mazer [h]

See also

• English language in Northern England – Modern Northern English accents and dialects
• Geordie dialect words – Northern English dialect and demonym native to TynesidePages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• music hall – Type of British theatrical entertainment popular between 1850 and 1960
• Pitmatic – Dialects spoken in former mining areas of Northumberland and Durham

Notes

1. Tilly (2010) cites Durham Record Office reference NCB 1/SC 109/14–19.
2. A putter supplied the hewer with empty tubs in which to place the hewn coal and then conveyed the filled tubs, by pulling and putting [thrusting], to the bottom of the mineshaft for hoisting to the surface.[10]
3. From the traditional opening phrase of such songs.
4. Robert Snowball, who ran a farm near Blanchland, was murdered on or around New Year's Day, 1880.[24]
5. On 26 August 1911, ten members of the Consett Co-operative Contest Choir were killed and 19 seriously injured when the charabanc taking them to perform at a flower show crashed.[25]
6. The Durham lock-out of 1892 preceded the 1893 miners' strike, a major industrial action affecting many areas of the UK.[26]
7. On 16 February 1882, an explosion at the Trimdon Grange colliery caused the deaths of 69 men and boys.
8. Or mazor, maisor, or maizor.

References

1. Armstrong, Thomas (1930). Armstrong, W. H. (ed.). Song Book : containing 25 popular songs of the late Thomas Armstrong : compiled by his son W. H. Armstrong (2nd ed.). Chester-le-Street: Noel Wilson. OCLC 9566843.
2. Tilly, Ray (2010). Tommy Armstrong: The Pitman Poet. Newcastle upon Tyne: Summerhill Books. ISBN 978-1-906-72130-5. OCLC 912959994.
3. Lloyd, A. L. (1952). Come All Ye Bold Miners : Ballads and Songs of the Coalfields (1st ed.). London: Lawrence & Wishart. OCLC 1228210179 – via Internet Archive.
4. "Detective work reveals the true coalfield bard". Darlington & Stockton Times. 10 December 2010. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
5. Jackson, Dan (2021). The Northumbrians : North East England and Its People : A New History (2nd ed.). London: Hurst & Company. p. 184. ISBN 978-1-787-38600-6.
6. Atkinson, Frank (1977). Life and Tradition in Northumberland and Durham. London: J. M. Dent. ISBN 978-0-460-04243-7 – via Internet Archive.
7. "Medomsley Colliery". Durham Mining Museum. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
8. "East Tanfield Colliery". Durham Mining Museum. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
9. "Addison Colliery". Durham Mining Museum. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
10. "Putters". Durham Mining Museum. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
11. Paul, Ronald (2017). "Tommy Armstrong: Pitman Poet and People's Bard" (PDF). In Castro, Andrea; Granvik, Anton (eds.). Språkens magi: Festskrift till professor Ingmar Söhrman [The magic of languages: Festschrift for Professor Ingmar Söhrman] (PDF). Studia Interdisciplinaria, Linguistica et Litteraria (SILL) [Interdisciplinary, Linguistic and Literary Studies]: Report no. 8. Gothenburg: University of Gothenburg Press. pp. 191–202. ISBN 978-91-984451-0-7. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
12. Beynon, Huw (1986). "Tommy Armstrong: The Pitman's Poet" (PDF) (Working paper). p. 2.
13. Beynon, Huw (1987). "Introduction" in Armstrong, Tommy. Forbes, Ross (ed.). Polisses & Candymen : The Complete Works of Tommy Armstrong, the Pitman Poet. Consett: The Tommy Armstrong Memorial Trust. pp. 7–19. ISBN 978-0-951-40070-8. OCLC 24471485.
14. Palmer, Roy (23 September 2004). "Armstrong, Thomas [Tommy] (1848–1920)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/51479. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
15. Armstrong, Tommy (c. 1914). Me Aud Sangs (pamphlet). Publisher unknown. Cited by Paul, Ronald (2017) p. 193, Tilly, Ray (2010) p. 25, and Lloyd, A. L. (1964) p. 138.
16. Lloyd, A. L. (1997). Tommy Armstrong of Tyneside: Songs of the Great Balladeer of the Coalfields (CD liner notes). London: Topic Records. OCLC 422024917. TSCD 484.
17. Lloyd, A. L. (1964). "Das Leben eines englischen Bergarbeitersängers" [The Life of an English Miner Singer]. de:Jahrbuch für Volkskunde (in German). 10 (2): 133–143. ISSN 0171-9904. OCLC 243418054. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
18. Ford, Robert (1899). "Robin Tamson's Smiddy". Vagabond Songs and Ballads of Scotland: With Many Old and Familiar Melodies. London: Alexander Gardner. pp. 194–196. Retrieved 4 November 2024 – via Internet Archive.
19. Zierke, Reinhard (27 August 2023). "Go and Leave Me / Fond Affection". Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
20. Palmer, Roy (1979). A Ballad History of England from 1588 to the present day. London: B. T. Batsford. pp. 154–155. ISBN 978-0-713-40968-0. OCLC 5537122.
21. Vicinus, Martha (1974). The Industrial Muse: A Study of Nineteenth-Century British Working-Class Literature. London: Croom Helm. doi:10.4324/9781003492696. ISBN 978-0-856-64131-2. OCLC 780434274. Retrieved 27 January 2025 – via Internet Archive.
22. Tommy Armstrong Plaque Unveiling 11th June 2016 (video). Tanfield: Stanley Fringe. 11 June 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2024 – via YouTube. The Oakey Strike Evictions and Stanla Markit sung by Alan Crawford of the Tommy Armstrong Society. Plaque unveiled 7:40 mins in.
23. Unwin, Bruce (21 February 2011). "Pitman poet's headstone returns". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
24. Lloyd, Chris (30 September 2013). "A useful lass... or a killer?". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
25. Leatherdale, Duncan (26 August 2011). "They sang to their deaths". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
26. Webb, Sidney (1921). "Chapter IV: The Durham Miners' Association". The Story of the Durham Miners (1662–1921). London: The Fabian Society & The Labour Publishing Company. pp. 72–74, The Strike of 1892. OCLC 1077751634 – via Internet Archive.

Further reading

• Tilly, Ray (2010). Tommy Armstrong: The Pitman Poet. Newcastle upon Tyne: Summerhill Books. ISBN 978-1-906-72130-5. OCLC 912959994. A biography by a grandson of Tommy Armstrong.

• Armstrong, Tommy (1987). Forbes, Ross (ed.). Polisses & Candymen : The Complete Works of Tommy Armstrong, the Pitman Poet. Consett: The Tommy Armstrong Memorial Trust. ISBN 978-0-951-40070-8. OCLC 24471485. Music and lyrics of songs, with an introduction by the sociologist Huw Beynon.

• Armstrong, Tommy (1971). Tommy Armstrong Sings. Newcastle upon Tyne: Frank Graham. ISBN 978-0-902-83383-8. Lyrics of 25 songs introduced by Tom Gilfellon, past member of the High Level Ranters band.

• Lloyd, A. L. (1965). Tommy Armstrong of Tyneside: Songs of the Great Balladeer of the Coalfields (sleeve and liner notes for vinyl record). London: Topic Records. Topic Records id 12T122. OCLC 4459356. Brief biography, and notes on 14 songs.

External links

• Tommy Armstrong at Discogs
• Thomas Armstrong at Find a Grave
• Sunniside Local History Society: Tommy Armstrong
• The Tommy Armstrong Society (archived 21 January 2020)