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The Pretty Girls of Brummagem | Roud V1691 | Jon Wilks


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Published in 1833 by Whitings, a street ballad seller who appears to have had limited success in the songs world, the \"Pretty Girls of Brummagem\" has the kind of title you might associate with bawdy singsongs. However, it's quite the opposite, being something of a sweet, melancholy look at how various Brummie men of the pre-Victorian era attempted to get the courage up to go a-courting.

We hear from the cocksure dandy strutting down New Street with his \"killing pair\" of whiskers, the shopkeeper who fancies his chances but ends up on his arse, the chimney sweep who can only dream of going \"where there is fun done\", and the \"old gentleman of 64\" for whom the excitement of love is an antidote to his ailments.

I've yet to find another recording of this song, although it shares the catalogue number (V1691) with \"The Pretty Girls of London\". But even if I did find a recording or scored notation of it, the tune would be different. As with many broadsides, this song had no melody with it, and didn't recommend one either. I was given a facsimile of the song by Mrs Palmer, the widow of eminent folk scholar, Roy Palmer, and felt the words were too good to leave lying in a folder. So the tune is something I wrote to accompany them. I hope it does it justice.


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