o the Natural History Museum at Barras Bridge, and of
Joseph Cowen, in Westgate Road.

THE KEEL ROW

As I came thro' Sandgate,
Thro' Sandgate, thro' Sandgate,
As I came thro' Sandgate,
I heard a lassie sing
"O weel may the keel row,
The keel row, the keel row,
Weel may the keel row
That my laddie's in

"O who is like my Johnnie,
Sae leish,[5] sae blithe, sae bonnie;
He's foremost 'mang the mony
Keel lads o' coaly Tyne
He'll set and row sae tightly,
And in the dance sae sprightly
He'll cut and shuffle lightly,
'Tis true, were he not mine!
[Footnote 5: Leish = lithe, nimble.]

"He has nae mair o' learnin'
Than tells his weekly earnin',
Yet, right frae wrang discernin',
Tho' brave, nae bruiser he!
Tho' he no worth a plack[6] is,
His ain coat on his back is;
And nane can say that black is
The white o' Johnnie's e'e
[Footnote 6: Plack = a small copper coin, worth about one-third of a
penny.]

He wears a blue bonnet,
Blue bonnet, blue bonnet,
He wears a blue bonnet,
And a dimple in his chin
O weel may the keel row,
The keel row, the keel row,
Weel may the keel row
That my laddie's in."

[Illustration]

CHAPTER V.

ELSWICK AND ITS FOUNDER.

Sailed from the North of old
The strong sons of Odin;
Sailed in the Serpent ships,
"By hammer and hand"
Skilfully builded.

* * * * *

Still in the North-country
Men keep their sea-cunning;
Still true the legend,
"By hammer and hand"
Elswick builds war-ships.

--(_Northumbriensis_).

For a mile and a quarter, along the north bank of the Tyne, stretch the
world-famed Elswick Works, which have grown to their present gigantic
proportions from the small beginnings of five and a half acres in 1847.
In that year two fields were purchased as a site for the new works about
to be started to make the hydraulic machinery which had been invented by
Mr. Armstrong.

In this undertaking he was backed by the wealth of several prominent
Newcastle citizens, who believed in the future of the new
inventions--Messrs. Addison Potter, George Cruddas, Armourer Donkin, and
Richard Lambert. At that time Elswick was a pretty country village some
distance outside of Newcastle, and the walk along the riverside between
the two places was a favou