Name: John Hodgson White Horse Song by tonymorris
Duration: 3 min 35 s
Description: Written by Tony Morris in 2007 for a film celebrating the 150 anniversary of the creation of the White Horse at Kilburn in Yorkshire which is the largest in acreage in the UK, it has become a favourite in Folk Clubs when he is performing around Yorkshire and the North East.

Written by Tony Morris in 2007 for a film celebrating the 150 anniversary of the creation of the White Horse at Kilburn in Yorkshire which is the largest in acreage in the UK, it has become a favourite in Folk Clubs when he is performing around Yorkshire and the North East.

The Songs of Tony Morris 1

John Hodgson's White Horse Song

John Hodgson White Horse Song

Dodgy Ditties

A Tax on Health

A Tax On Health

Wreck Of The Dandenong

This song about old Whitby Harbour tells it as it was in the times of James Cook and the two William Scoresbys and is not to be mistaken for a romantic song about James Cook with a similar name.

Old Whitby Harbour

Captain William Scoresby, inventor of the Crows Nest and famous whaling skipper of the Resolution and other ships brought back a Polar Bear from one of his Arctic Whaling Expedition which he allowed to swim in the River Esk at Whitby where he lived. the song tells the story. The reference to Nelson is because there is a famous lithograph of Nelson as a Midshipman on an Arctic Expedition belabouring a polar bear with the butt of a musket.

The Songs of Tony Morris 2

The Whitby Polar Bear

3. The Whitby Polar Bear

A song about the Ship In, Saltburn by the Sea, Yorkshire and its smuggling history with a reference to its foxhunting past as well.

5. Rattling

Philosophical look at beachcombing and driftwood.

Face On The Shore

A simple tale told by a ghost of sorts (from The Burning EP, released June 1, 2018) https://bluequidge.bandcamp.com/album/the-burning-ep-derelict-roller-disco-records-2018

The Man on the Bridge

The man on the bridge, the man on the brink.

Where I live is beside the river,
which I especially like when the
water is a calm, deep green, reflecting
the trees at dusk. Spotting oystercatchers
brings me luck.

I watch night-time double-deckers above
me, illuminated from the inside,
on the bridge.

I no longer bother to go to bed;
not since the wheel fell off my car three weeks
after it was serviced. Instead, from the
settee, I have seen gulls flying behind
me, heading in the direction of Mars
at first light.

But I was feeling strangely restless when
I looked out early one Sunday morning.
Perhaps the tawny owl brought me out of
that no-man’s-land between being awake
and asleep.

It was still dark, blustery, autumnal.
A piece of the picture made no sense—seemed
wrong. I scrunched my eyes, adjusting to the
murk. Then I instinctively telephoned
999.

“There appears to be a man on the bridge,”
I told the police operator.
My conversation with her became a
long one, as we waited for her colleagues
to arrive.

“A woman is with him—his partner by
the sound of it,” I said, describing
any developments as best I could.
“They are tussling. Now she is screaming.”
“Actually, I think I can hear that,”
the operator said.
“Yes, you probably can,” I replied.

He was this side of the barrier—
the suicide side—silhouetted
against streetlamp orange, swaying wildly
in the wind and lashing rain, his arms
crucifixion-like.

I have seen a few things in my life.
Never a man plummet to his doom.
Personally, I would prefer a
Virginia Woolf-style wading into
the river.

“Will there be a dead thump,” I wondered
inwardly, hearing it, “or more of a
high-velocity watermelon
exploding on concrete effect?” I winced.

“Think of the kids!” his partner cried out
to no avail; the man’s mind was made up.
She pleaded with the gloom: “Please, someone call
the police!”

At that point, the police van came crawling
warily across the bridge. The woman
fell silent.

So too did the wind, suddenly dropping.
It was as if everything was being
held in the palm of a giant hand.

The officers ascertained the man’s name,
asking for a chance, carefully coaxing.
Eventually, they hauled him out of
no-man’s-land.

A ringing telephone—a thank-you from
the police—jolted me back to the edge
of my drifting. Though “very poorly” (that,
I had already deduced), the man was
safe—cared for.

Afterwards, I remember the relieved
laughter of the officers on the bridge,
which merged with the whistling of birds, and a
gentle rain.

The Burning EP

The Man on the Bridge

Joint Winner in the 2018 'Bayfolk' songwriting competition

Feed the fish

A tongue in cheek song sung in the person/character of an imaginary stockbroker. Someone commented on Facebook that there were no folk songs about Stockbrokers. I took up the challenge and by the end of the day had written and recorded this song.

Stockbroker's Song

TONY MORRIS is an ‘Own Brand’ Performer‘Edutainer’.  Unaccompanied or accompanied by harp or lyre his traditional style songs tell stories. His humour is legendary. He plays some unusual/ethnic instruments. He is constantly writing new songs. He can be found on Facebook and Twitter and gets regular radio plays.

Tony’s Folk For Folk website www.tonymorris.org.uk has many links to other UK and Overseas Artists and Folk Clubs as well as links to Tony’s other sites and you can download tracks and even whole albums of his songs from links there to recognised download sites at low prices. Please feel free to sing his songs. 

Quotes: "There are few more inventive and off-beat writers of poems and songs than Tony Morris from Whitby." (Cutty Wren Folk Club Newsletter) and from Kevin Hall, “This wonderful man is a one off. Box of Frogs!!”

Many of his recorded songs have been played on the Bob Fischer programme on BBC Radio Tees (Bob Fischer introducing him as, “ The mighty force that is Tony Morris” and  "A charmingly eccentric fellow"). Tony Morris has recently appeared live on Tony Haynes twice weekly Folk and Blues (FAB) programme on Vale of York Radio where he can be listened to with tracks from other wonderful artists, accessible through Mixcloud (like the Mike Harding Programme). He has done a ‘down-the-line’ interview with Terry Youll of Harton Radio, another internet community radio, which has a listen again facility.

John Hodgson White Horse Song

tonymorris

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