Although David Appleton's parents and grandparents
were, like himself, born in Scotland, when he started
a dozen years ago to investigate his family history
he discovered to his surprise that two of his great-
grandparents were married in Newcastle. He has since
failed to find out anything about his great-
grandfather Appleton but he has now managed to link
his great-grandmother Mary Ann Denton to her mother
Margaret Lamb, Lambie or Lombie and her mother Jane
Curtis, and then go back through another five
generations of Curtises to one Robert Courteous who
married Isable Shawes in Gateshead in 1639.

This knowledge of his Tyneside ancestry has increased
David's interest, already considerable, in Tyneside
songs. Recently he has been doing some research into
one known as Dol li a which was first published in
1812 with a note saying it had been sung in Newcastle
between 1792 and 1794. One verse consists of the
lines Dolly Coxon's pawn'd her sark / To ride upon
the baggage cart and since two of the others refer to
regiments of militia it has been generally assumed
that Dolly was a young woman, perhaps one of easy
virtue, who followed soldiers from place to place.

However, using his family history expertise, David
has identified Dolly as Dorothy Coxon who was
baptised in All Saint's church in 1771 making her
only 11 or 12 when the song became popular. He has
come to the conclusion that it is likely to have been
written by children, probably boys who liked puns and
pretended to be soldiers, for some sort of game, so
he has completely recast the refrain from Dolli the
dillen dol, Dolli, Dolli to Dolly the dilly-daw, dawlie ,Dolly. A 'dilly-daw' is a Scots word for someone who is slow and slovenly and 'dawlie' is also a Scots word meaning slow - both are in Chambers's Scots Dictionary. He makes no apology for including such words in a song which already has a ‘Sark’ a woman’s undergarment usually translated as ‘shift’ or ‘chemise’ and in any case Dolly lived by the Tyne in an area occupied by large numbers of keelmen, many of whom were Scots. Although David hasn’t come to any conclusion about thr game itself, the aformentioned Janr Curtis might have know exactlynhow it fitted with the word, for she too ws baptised in All Saints Church less than four years after Dolly.

Here is David’s complete version of the song.

The Black cuffs is gawn away, Dawlie Dolly,

An that’ll be a crying day, Dolly, ah!

Dolly the dilly-daw, Dawlie Dolly,

Dolly the dilly-daw, Dolly, ah!

Dolly Coxon’s pawned her sark, Dawlie, Dolly,

To ride upon the baggage cart Dolly, ah!

Dolly the dilly-daw, Dawlie Dolly,

Dolly the dilly-daw, Dolly, ah!

The Green Cuffs is cumming in, Dawlie Dolly,

An that’ll make the lasses grin, Dolly, ah!

Dolly the dilly-daw, Dawlie Dolly

Dolly the dilly-daw, Dolly, ah!

This a cross word that David sent to Alec Watson to commemorate his 90th birthday

     A belated celebration by Dis

•   1. Base menials, badly treated, are unlikely to show this. (11)

•   7. Terrible noise – it makes one see red. (5)

  8. Fuel found in Moray town (an old penny for a gallon). (5)

  9. Prepares melody with bass finally going from beginning to end. (6)

11. How many of Burns’ dogs are found in stew-pan regularly? (3)

13. Comparatively easy? A b----- piece of cake. (3)

14 & 16.  Somehow Slim thrives; he makes things out of metal. (11)

18. It might be hard, playing Verdi. (5)

19. Ninetieth Miss E Anglia is lost, muddled after nitric oxide. (11)

Down

  1. Nice Lamborghini! He’s going north in it. (4)

•   2. Education: this month a noisy row ensues. (11)
•   3. Neil and Ian initially get into fights (in two different places) for birds from Shetland. (7)

•   4. Look both ways. (3)

  5. Cell tissue – surprisingly mine held out. (11)

•   6. A set of rules for Spooner’s cheap wind instrument? (6)
• 10. Slash substantial university salaries to start with. (7)

• 12. Major champion was victorious hugging women soldiers. (6)

15. On the phone, dispose of hermit’s dwelling. (4)

17. Ugly old woman in a Scottish bog. (3)

The Chambers Dictionary is recommended, though it does not give the proper noun at 12 down.