Album: Not Fooling Anyone
Buy now  from Harbour Town Records

Make sure you visit the groups website: http://www.peglegferret.com/, there's some lovely stories including how they got their name. Curious? Go and have a look!

The Songs:

All In A Day Glasgow/arrPLF

Written by Alex Glasgow for a T.V. documentary programme on the shipbuilding industry. In the song the workers comment that after all the celebrations and ballyhoo surrounding the ship launching ceremony it will be back to work as usual in the wet and cold on the following day for them … in those days there was a good chance of another keel to lay.

Hexhamshire Lass Trad/arr PLF
Comes from the John Stokoe collection, Songs and Ballads of Northern England first published in 1899. It is a song of anticipation and, as Benny has often described it, unrequited lust. Courtship was hard in them days!

Harry Simms Garland/arrPLF
From the pen of Jim Garland, who is better known for the song 'I don't want your millions mister'. Jim was a veteran of the days when being a union activist in the United States could mean imprisonment or even death. Jim used to introduce this song with the immortal phrase - 'this won't be pretty, because union songs are not pretty!' It tells the tale of Harry Simms, a 19 years old labour organiser, who was shot dead by the employers 'gun thugs' during the organising of the Kentucky coalfield by the National Miners Union in 1932. Makes good old British strike evictions seem good natured in comparison.

Grandfather’s Clock Formby/arr PLF
A parody of the popular American song, the inspiration for which is the timepiece in the George Hotel, Piercebridge, on the river Tees. This version which wanders into the realm of surrealty comes from the pen of George Formby Senior who was a bigger star in his time than the ukulele strumming George we all know. When Formby Snr. died he still had years of advance bookings in his diary. Benny pestered Mike Hockenhull for ages until he gave us the words. Ta Mike.

Davy Lowston Trad/arr PLF
This song concerns a sealing party who ended up marooned in Open Bay, New Zealand after their support vessel sank en-route to collect them. It is believed the song was written around 1814 in Australia. The story is based on a real life incident of 1804 in which one Davy Lawrieston and ten others were rescued by the vessel “Captain Bligh” after the ship due to pick them up foundered.

The Catch Trad/arr PLF
Defined in the New Everyman Dictionary of Music as.. “ A part song, in vogue in the 17th to 19th centuries, in which the voices follow each other in the manner of a canon or a round, with the difference that....the words thus mixed up acquire new and ludicrous meanings, often of an indecent nature.” A society called the Noblemen and Gentlemen’s Catch Club, founded in London in 1761 apparently still exists. We prefer to think of it as a Readers Digest Condensed Ballad, and use it as a singing /drinking game. If you mess your lines up you have to buy the beers. The winner (usually Benny) is the last one singing….standing or otherwise

John Barleycorn Trad/arr PLF
It is believed that the original John Barleycorn was based on a fertility ritual dedicated to the corn god. The poor victims of this ritual were slaughtered and dragged through the fields to ensure good crops!! Time has worked its changes and this version is more associated with the brewing of strong drink. A change for the better in our book.

Just One Spark Benny Graham/arr PLF
This one was written by Benny in 2000 as part of a play to commemorate the Wallsend pit explosion in 1835. When he was researching the subject he found that according to the coroner’s inquest the colliery safety arrangements were not faulted and all the officials had behaved in a proper manner !!…. The incident was attributed to possible carelessness in the use of naked flame by the miners. At the time of writing the Wallsend play there was a TV news report of an explosion in a mine in the Ukraine. The results of the subsequent inquiry were almost exactly the same as those of the Wallsend explosion. This song is for all those who have suffered in the past and for all those who undoubtedly will suffer in years to come.

A Mackerel Song Watson/arrPLF
The words are from Aaron Watson of South Shields in 1899.
Johnny Handle wrote the tune for inclusion in the Northumbrian Anthology. The song could have been written yesterday as today’s fishermen are facing similar problems multiplied by new technology and muddled by international politics.

The Sailors Way Trad/arr PLF
From the 1951 William M. Doerflinger collection entitled Shantymen and Shantyboys. The tune is commonly used for the epic ballad “ The Flying Cloud.”

Sair Fyeld Hinny Trad/arr PLF
Another song from the Stokoe manuscripts. It concerns the problems of ageing. We chose this song because it has a superb Northumbrian melody and the subject is something none of us can escape. The range of the tune makes it quite a challenge to sing. Over or under pitching can have dire consequences! There are those who attribute the basis of the Geordie yodelling tradition to this one song.

Strange Lover Is A Coal Mine Pickford/arr PLF
Written by Ed Pickford prolific composer of songs ranging from the hilarious to the serious. His song book is well worth a read (www.ed-pickford.co.uk). This song, which gives a strange persona to the coalmine itself, will evoke memories familiar to anyone brought up among the mining communities of the North East.

Old Admirals Stewart/arr PLF
This is fairly new to us but has been in Geoff’s repertoire for over 30 years. From the Al Stewart album Past, Present and Future the song concerns Admiral Sir John Fisher, who was at the time Britain’s First Sea Lord. He resigned in 1915 after a contretemps over Gallipoli with Winston Churchill then Lord of the Admiralty. He ended up watching the events of the early twentieth century from the sidelines waiting for the call to arms that never came.

Wild Goose Shanty / Essequibo River Trad/arr PLF
Two sea shanties, both of which are to be found in the folksinger’s Shanty bible “Shanties from the Seven Seas.” by Stan Hugill and the W.M.Doerflinger book.”Shantymen and Shantyboys”

Bio:

 Pegleg Ferret are Keith Pollard, Geoff Anderson and Benny Graham. They specialise in unaccompanied three-part harmony singing and lean towards material, which is either traditional or written in the traditional idiom. They have a bias towards industrial songs from the North-East of England but also perform a number of humorous songs. They were all in their teens when they first met and got to know each other through performing as solo singers around the local folk club circuit. They reformed in late 2001 after a layoff of several years and are thoroughly enjoying their new lease of life.
 

During their time together they have performed both nationally and throughout Europe and appeared on record, television and radio. The band has sung at many major festivals including the national at Loughborough and Durham . Pegleg Ferret were the first guests to be booked at the renowned White Horse Folk Club in Beverley.....better known as "Nellies" They recently sang at the Durham Miners Gala where the attendance was reported as being over 50,000 people. The Ferret recently played at the Whitby , Furness Traditions, Galloway, Lancaster Maritime, and Holmfirth Festivals.
 

Apart from their own, their album credits include work with Johnny Collins, Jim Mageean and Bob Fox. They have sung with many well-known singers and performers such as Robin and Barry Dransfield, Roger Watson, Johnny Collins, Silly Wizard, Phil Cunningham and June Tabor. The impromptu appearances as "Matt Emulsion and the Decorators," with some of the aforementioned artistes has been well received at several folk venues, including the National Festival.


Pegleg Ferret are available for clubs, concerts and festivals. In addition to their song repetoire they can provide workshops on Vocal Harmony, Industry in North East England, North East Mining songs and stories, Maritime songs, and a rehearsed reading and performance of the work by Alexander Barrass entitled "The Pitmen's Social Neet". With their extensive experience and repertoire they are able to design workshops or performances to meet specific requests or requirements.

For more details visit: http://www.peglegferret.com/

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