History
Ridley sang the song at a concert in Balmbra's Music Hall on 5 June 1862. It is likely that on this occasion the song ended with the exhortation to see Ridley's show on the 9 June, and that the final verse was added for that later performance. Although the account of the trip to Blaydon is a fiction, the heavy rain and missing cuddy (horses) were reported in the local press.
The song was adopted as its marching anthem by the fighting men of the Northumberland Fusiliers (a Royal regiment from 1935) of Fenham Barracks, Newcastle upon Tyne.
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