Hell's Kitchen | |
---|---|
Artist | Henry Perlee Parker |
Year | c. 1817 |
Type | Oil on Canvas |
Dimensions | 62.8 cm× 75.5 cm(24+3⁄4 in× 29+3⁄4 in) |
Location | Newcastle City Library, Newcastle |
Hell's Kitchen is one of the names of a famous painting showing many of the eccentrics living in the Newcastle area in the early 19th century.
Around the end of the 18th century and the early and mid 19th century there were many characters frequenting the town centre and Quayside of old Newcastle. These were characters who were described as "worthies", "props" or "eccentrics" and would later be more gently described as "unfortunates". All had some form of physical or mental disability, to different degrees, but were looked upon as "unfortunates" and generally liked, respected and looked after by the population of hard working inhabitants.
In or around 1817 the Devonport born, (now resident in Newcastle) painter, Henry Perlee Parker, painted his now famous picture of many of these characters. It shows 14 people (and a dog), all persons living in the area at the time. The painting is now known in some quarters as Hells Kitchen. This was the nickname of a room in The Flying Horse (later named the Princess Hotel followed by The Golden Bengal Indian Restaurant) in the Groat Market (off Collingwood Street), Newcastle, which was the setting for the painting.
It was a "down market" drinking house whose clientele allegedly included Blind Willy, the fiddler, Captain Starkey, Aad Judy, Cull Billy, Bold Archie, Bugle Nosed Jack, Doodem Daddum and Shoe-Tie Anty. It was reputed that the cellar contained a trap door to a hidden tunnel to the Quayside. [1]
Unfortunately the oil painting is now lost, but fortunately a Mr George Armstrong, a Newcastle engraver, had made a copy. This copy was published c1820 by E. Charnley, a bookseller in the Bigg Market.
An index provided with the engraving and printed at the bottom of the picture reveals the identities of these eccentric characters, many of whom were the subject of local songwriters. The list of the characters, (in alphabetical order) is :- Aud (or Awd) Judy, Blind Willie, Bold Archy (or Airchy), Bugle-Nosed Jack, Captain Starkey, Cull (or Cully) Billy, Donald, Doodem Daddum (with his Dog, Timour, added), Hangy (or Hangie), Jacky Coxon, Jenny Ballo, Pussy Willy, Shoe-tie Anty and Whin Bob. The portrait forms part of a collection held by Newcastle City Library. [2]
Among the copies are the following :-
The song, entitled "Newcassel Props" telling of some of these characters, was written by William Oliver
Geordie dialect words
The Newcastle Eccentrics of the 19th century
Newcassel Props
William Oliver
William "Willie" Armstrong
The Newcassel Worthies
Henry Perlee Parker
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Henry Perlee Parker (1785–1873) was an artist who specialised in portrait and genre paintings. He made his mark in Newcastle upon Tyne in the 1820s through patronage by wealthy landowners and through paintings of large-scale events of civic pride. Over a period of forty years his work was exhibited at the Royal Academy and the British Institution in London. Coastal scenes of fisherfolk and smugglers were a popular specialism. Through the distribution and sale of mezzotint prints of subjects such as William and Grace Darling Going to the Rescue of the SS Forfarshire, Parker became one of the north-east's best-known nineteenth-century artists. In Newcastle upon Tyne he was central to the setting-up of a Northern Academy for the Arts. Later, in Sheffield, he taught drawing at the Wesleyan Proprietary Grammar School, and in his later years he lived in Hammersmith, London. He had a large family and was married three times.
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The Newcassel Worthies is a famous Geordie folk song written in the 19th century by William "Willie" Armstrong, in a style deriving from music hall.
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Many Geordie songwriters used aliases, for whatever reason. This article lists many of these aliases, giving in some cases, where known, the real name, and in others, some of the songs or poems attributed to them.
The Newcastle Songster, by John Marshall is a volume of six chapbooks, giving the lyrics of local, now historical songs, but virtually no other information. It was published by John Marshall in stages between 1812 and 1826.