Dudley Boys, The

DESCRIPTION: "In the days of good Queen Bess... Coventry outdone the rest, Ya ha boys, O boys, the brave Dudley Boys." But now the boys of Dudley and Tipton have claimed their own. Soldiers had to interfere with a riot. Lord Dudley Ward arranged peace
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1972 (Palmer, Songs of the Midlands)
KEYWORDS: battle nobility work hardtimes labor-movement
FOUND IN: Britain(England(West))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Palmer-SongsOfTheMidlands, p. 88, "The Dudley Boys" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Jon Raven, _VIctoria's Inferno: Songs of the Old Mills, Mines, Manufacturies, Canals, and Railways_, Roadside Press, 1978, pp. 80-81, "The Brave Dudley Boys" (1 text, 1 tune)
Jon Raven, _The Urban and Industrial Songs of the Black Country and Birmingham_, Broadside, 1977, pp. 49-51, "The Brave Dudley Boys," "The Brave Doodley" (2 texts)
Jon Raven, _The Folklore and Songs of the Black Country Colliers_, Broadside, 1990, pp. 19-20, "The Brave Dudley Boys," "The Brave Doodley" (2 texts)
Roud #1131
NOTES [98 words]: A reference to "Dudley" in the reign of "Good Queen Bess"=Elizabeth I obviously makes us think of Robert Dudley (1532-1588), the fifth son of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who in time was made Earl of Leicester. He was important only because Elizabeth was strongly attracted to him -- according to John A. Wagner, Historical Dictionary of the Elizabethan World, Britain, Ireland, Europe, and America, Onyx Press, 1999, pp. 91-92, Dudley was the only man Elizabeth seriously considered marrying. But I can't see any connection between that Dudley and Coventry, or with this song. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: JRVI080

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