The Seaton Terrace Lass
This poem first appeared in the 1864 collection: The Collier Lad and other Songs and Ballads, where it was entitled The Collier Lass. It was subsequently revised, re-named and included in the four collections of 1878, 1886, 1888 and 1892. Seaton Terrace is near to Seaton Delaval, on the road towards Earsdon. The poem is narrated by a 'Bebside laddie' and so may have been intended as a companion piece to the Lad of Bebside.
My love at Seaton Terrace dwells,
A hale and hearty wight,
Who lilts away the summer day,
Also the winter night;
The merriest bird with rapture stirr’d,
Could never yet surpass
The melody awaken’d by
The Seaton Terrace lass.
Chorus:
Her like is not in hall or cot;
And you would vainly pass
From Tweed to Wear for one to peer
The Seaton Terrace lass.
She’s graceful as a lily-wand,
Right modest too is she’
And then ye’ll search in vain the land
For one as fair as she;
And what she’ll do, with ease she’ll do,
And still her manner has
A charm would make a stoic woo
The Seaton Terrace lass.
Discomfort flies her dark brown eyes,
And when the men folk come
All black and weary from the pit,
They find a welcome home:
Her brothers tease her, and a pride
The father feeleth as
Again he meets, again he greets
The Seaton Terrace lass.
When day is past and night at last
Begins to cloud the dell,
She’ll take her skiel and out she’ll steal,
And meet me at the well;
Then, oh! how sweet the moments fleet -
Yet sweeter shall they pass,
That night the Bebside laddie weds
The Seaton Terrace lass.
With a ready-made chorus, this was clearly a poem to be made into a song. I omitted some passages which praised her domestic abilities and the tune is in the style of some local ballads of the period.
Original poem (from 1886 & 1888 collections)
My love at Seaton Terrace dwells,
A hale and hearty wight,
Who lilts away the summer day,
Also the winter night;
The merriest bird with rapture stirr'd,
Could never yet surpass
The melody awaken'd by
The Seaton Terrace lass!
Chorus - Her like is not in hall or cot;
And you would vainly pass
From Tweed to Wear for one to peer
The Seaton Terrace lass.
She's graceful as a lily wand,
Right modest too is she
And then ye'll search in vain the land
To find a busier bee;
Like silver clear her iron gear,
Like burnished gold, the brass -
For tidiness there's none to peer
The Seaton terrace lass.
Chorus - Her like is not, etc.
More restless than a clucking hen
About her, Minnie stirs;
"Go, jewel, knit your fancy net,
And I will scour the floors."
"Enjoy the day, a-down the way
Where greenest grows the grass;
No help I need," replies with speed
The Seaton terrace lass.
Chorus - Her like is not, etc.
She'll nit or sew, she'll bake or brew -
She'll wash the clothes so clean,
The very daisy pales beside
Her linen on the green;
Then what she'll do, with east she'll do,
And still her manner has
A charm would gar a stoic woo
The Seaton Terrace lass.
Chorus - Her like is not, etc.
Discomfort flies her dark brown eyes,
And when the men folk come
All black and weary from the pit,
They find a welcome home;
Her brothers tease her, and a pride,
The father feeleth as
Again he meets, again he greets
The Seaton Terrace lass.
Chorus - Her like is not, etc.
When day is past and night at last
Begins to cloud the dell,
She'll take her skiel and out she'll steal,
To meet me at the well;
Then, oh! how fleet the moments sweet -
Yet fleeter shall they pass,
That night the Bebside laddie weds
The Seaton terrace lass.
Chorus - Her like is not in hall or cot;
And you would vainly pass
From Tweed to Wear for one to peer
The Seaton Terrace lass.