Edward "Ned" Corvan (c. 1830 – 1865) was a Tyneside concert hall songwriter and performer, and a contemporary of George "Geordie" Ridley.[1] His songs were printed in a modified Englishorthography designed to represent the traditional dialect of Tyneside in the middle of the 19th century, and are examples of Dialect Literature.[2]
Biography
Corvan was born in Liverpool[3] some time around 1830, but his family moved to Newcastle upon Tyne when he was four years old. His father died three years later.
Corvan was raised by his widowed mother who struggled to feed the family of four on her meagre earnings. After a brief career as a sail-maker Corvan joined Billy Purvis's Victoria Theatre. Here he tried his hand at a number of things, but found most success in the performance of local and comic songs. Ned then went on to join the Olympic where he enjoyed great success with songs such as "Astrilly". With this popularity he travelled the North singing his Tyneside songs, eventually settling in South Shields where he operated Corvan's Music Hall. After a number of years he gave up the establishment and returned to local singing.[4]
Playing successfully at concerts "of the free and easy type ... not specially noted for their refinement", he was respected as "a really expert violinist" and "unequalled ... as a comic singer of local ditties".[5]
He also "possessed very considerable gifts as an artist", often creating chalk likenesses of contemporary celebrities and local figures as part of his act.[6]
Corvan sang about survival on the edge of poverty and other working class experiences. He supported the seamen's strike of 1851 and gave money from his performances to seafarers charities. He sang not only for workers, but also "on behalf of – and in effect, from within – that network of communities" from which he came, and with which he still felt an attachment.[7]
Corvan was married to Isabella Arrowsmith and they had three children.[8]
Corvan died of tuberculosis on 31 August 1865 at the age of 35.
Although Corvan was not born a Geordie, he was considered "a consummate master of the patois of Tyneside".[15] Almost all of Corvan's works are examples of the traditional dialect of Tyneside (known as Geordie) in the mid-19th century.
References
^Allan, T. (1972) Tyneside Songs, ed. David Harker, pp. 387–94. Newcastle: Frank Graham (Orig. published 1862).
^Wales, K. (2006) Northern English: a Social and Cultural History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; Beal, J. (2002) "From Geordie Ridley to Viz: popular literature in Tyneside English". Language and Literature 9, 343-359.
^Harker, D. (1984) Review of Corvan: A Victorian Entertainer and His Songs by Keith Gregson. Popular Music, Vol. 4, Performers and Audiences, pp. 344–345. Cambridge University Press.
