Wor Peg’s Trip te Tynemouth

**“In tiv a fine masheen she ran”**
Donkey-pulled Linkleter bathing machines were for many years a permanent summer fixture on the Longsands.
Painting: *On Tynemouth Sands* by John Atkinson ~1900

The sun wes shinin i’ the west,
An’ aw wes shinin i’ me best,
An’ Peggy like a queen wes drest,
The day we went te Tynemouth, O.
Upon the sands, byeth happy, we
Injoy’d the breezes frae the sea,
An’ wish’d the day a week might be
Upon the sands at Tynemouth, O.

Alang the sands we myed wor way,
Like plodgers on a rainy day,
The lasses bonny feet display
Upon the sands at Tynemouth, O;
Sum fiddlers thre te myek thor brass
Played teuns te tice byeth land and lass,
For dancin steps nyen cud surpass,
Maw cumley Peg at Tynemouth, O.

The dancin deun, says Peg te me,
“Thor’s lasses bathin i’ the sea,
An’if ye’ll haud me claes”, says she,
“Aw’ll hev a bathe at Tynemouth, O.”
“No, Peg”, says aw, “no, dinnet gan!”
“What flaid”, says she, “are ye a man?”
In tiv a fine masheen she ran,
Te change her claes at Tynemouth, O.

Aw stud dumbfoonded, stiff, an’ mute,
An’ hoped she nivor might cum oot,
Te show her-sel te croods aboot,
That watch foaks bathe at Tynemouth, O.
At last, gud grashus, Peg fell doon
The steps,– aw thowt twes iv a swoon,
Up she gets iv a lang blue goon,
Amang the waves at Tynemouth, O.

Then Peg’s reed heed wes plainly seen,
Wiv figor that wad mense a queen,
Aw wish’d beside her aw had been
Amang the waves at Tynemouth, O.
Upon the shore,–the bathin deun,
Peg ful o’ live an’ full o’ fun,
Got on a cuddy’s back te run
Alang the sands at Tynemouth, O.

But plishur often wid brings pain,
Byeth sad an’ sair we sowt the train,
For Peggy’s hoops, she myed o’ cane,
Wes lost that day at Tynemouth, O;
She sadly sighed, wi’ leuk se meek,
An’ laid here heed agyen me cheek,
But kiss an’ cuddle myed her speak,
I’ cummin hyem frae Tynemouth, O.

The song was written by the music hall singer Joe Wilson in the 1880s. This was not long after both the Plaza and the Station were built, so it was a period of peak popularity for the place.

The song features in the ubiquitious Tynside Songs book published by T&G Allan in 1891.

Note about bathing machines: The Victorians well understood the health benefits of cold water bathing and were eager to take a dip now that the seaside had become more accessible. However, there was a strong taboo around revealing any part of the body and so bathing ‘machines’—covered carts that provided privacy while undressing—became essential facilities especially for women.

In this classic photograph from ~1890 the beach is full of Fry pleasure boats and Linkleter bathing machines. Buy a copy by clicking the image.

Penbal 1 – Lee Stoneman

No air-built castles, and no fairy bowers,
But thou, fair Tynemouth, and thy well-known towers,
Now bid th’ historic muse explore the maze
Of long past years, and tales of other days.
Pride of Northumbria!—from thy crowded port,
Where Europe’s brave commercial sons resort,
Her boasted mines send forth their sable stores,
To buy the varied wealth of distant shores.
Here the tall lighthouse, bold in spiral height,
Glads with its welcome beam the seaman’s sight.
Here, too, the firm redoubt, the rampart’s length,
The death-fraught cannon, and the bastion’s strength,
Hang frowning o’er the briny deep below,
To guard the coast against th’ invading foe.
Here health salubrious spreads her balmy wings,
And woos the sufferer to her saline springs;
And, here the antiquarian strays around
The ruin’d abbey, and its sacred ground.