Ron’s a rent collector from Newcastle on the Tyne
He never turns doon a drink; whisky, beer or wine
The snow was fallin doon this one particular day
When an old woman invites him in and this to him did say
I’ve got just the thing for you Titty fa la, titty fa ley
To warm you through and through Titty fa la, titty fa ley
And he went where it was hot, thinking he would get a tot,
But porridge is al’ he got Titty fa la, titty fa ley
Tra la la la la la o’er the wall is oot
When w’put wa hoose up for sale, w’got loads of nosey parkers
Who would caall around at aawkward times, when you’re in the bath and starkers
Y’knew they didn’t want to buy, they would aalways mek an excuse
Oh the trials and tribulations when tryin’ to sell ya hoose
There is a place in Newcastle’s West
Lately it has had bad press
Though people there think it’s the best
The bonny banks of Benwell
In the North of England there’s a beautiful land,
A Kingdom of castles and silvery sands,
Where the wall built by Hadrian, the Emperor, stands,
That’s Northumbria
CHORUS : So here’s to the memory of Tommy Armstrong
He was the pitman poet, righting all life’s wrongs
In the words of his poems which are now folk songs
Here’s to the memory of Tommy Armstrong
He was the pitman poet, recording life and times
In the late eighteen hundreds in his verses and his rhymes
When the main source of earnings was working down the mines
And sometimes the wages there were paid back in fines
Mitford Music 