BCMG gave the world premiere of Birmingham Canal Songs on 10th September 2018.

"For tenor (Nathan Vale), accordion (Andreas Borregaard) and 3 percussionists (BCMG).

The text was specially commissioned from poet Liz Berry and makes use of Black Country Dialect."

I.

I sing a song of Birmingham, of Birmingham-on-Sea¹
Where time has thieved the coal and steel, the smoke, the glass and steam.

I sing a song of Birmingham, of Birmingham-on-Sea
Where time has gifted gorse and broom, hedge mustard, bittersweet.

I sing a song of Birmingham, of Birmingham-on-Sea,
Where laplove² spreads through lonely arms³, Phoenix to Winson Green.

I sing a song of Birmingham, of Birmingham-on-Sea,
Where low beneath a blue bricked bridge, my cuckoo⁴ calls for me.

II.

Come cuckoos⁵, come wenches,
in the jack-squalin⁶ eve,
the parish-lantern⁷ is rising
in the cut⁸ at Old Turn
like a dishle⁹ of cream
and the boats am rocking
so slow slow slow

Come sweethearts, come lads,
in the bob-howling¹⁰ dusk,
let your tillers grow idle
and trussen¹¹ yourself
to the singing black cut
where the osses¹² am nuzzling
so slow slow slow

Come lovers, come babs,
'long the towpath now hid
with black medick and clover
to lay yourself in, cowslip
and yarrow wild as a bed
where the wind is moaning
so slow slow slow:
come again love, again love,
slower so slow.

III.

When we lie together
in the lapping dark
the old names come tumbling
like lock water
into my mouth:

Foredrove, Baptists End,
Blowers Green, Friday Bridge,
Minerva, Oozells,
Horseley Fields, Gosty Hill.

Oh wait for me there, love,
come again to me there
and I'll hold you
the way the rope holds
the boat to its moor.

V.

Lay your ear to the blue brick
where the tunnel swallows light
and I'll sing you the owd¹³ words,
the lost words, the ghost words:
Black by day, red by night.
Ice breaker. Spoon Dredger¹⁴.
The tattooed anchor of jack squalor's
flight. Fly Boat¹⁵. Windlass¹⁶.
Coal, steel and spelter, glassblown,
brass. Bed-cupboard. Tranklements.
Little Wench. Ower Bab¹⁷.
Horsely Iron. Atlas. Atlantic Clock¹⁸.
Fore-end¹⁹, bye-boat²⁰, monkey box²¹.
Engine Arm, Pudding Green.
Withymoor Pit²². Farewell, Enchantment²³.
Sow's lughole, silk purse.
A boatman's vessel's his castle
and one day his hearse²⁴.

Text © Copyright 2017 by Liz Berry

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¹ line taken from a traditional broadside song about the arrival of the canals to Birmingham.
² bindweed
³ the (now mostly defunct) sections of the canal which led to factories/docks/pits etc were called 'arms'.
⁴ sweetheart
⁵ sweethearts
⁶ swallows or swifts
⁷ the moon
⁸ canal
⁹ cup or saucer
¹⁰ large moths
¹¹ trust
¹² horses
¹³ old
¹⁴ types of functional canal boats
¹⁵ fast boat service running 24 hours per day
¹⁶ tool for opening locks
¹⁷ working boat names
¹⁸ industries based at Gas St. Basin
¹⁹ boatman’s term for ‘bow’
²⁰ boat owned by a private owner
²¹ decorative box in a traditional boatman’s cabin
²² places on the Birmingham Canal Network
²³ working boat name
²⁴ direct quote from interview with an old BCN boatman. Deceased boatmen were carried down the cut in their boats to their final resting place