THE UNTHANKS - "HERE'S THE TENDER COMING"



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 Druid's 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'l 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.

(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 - aqui)