The Keel Row - English translation

Although this song was first published in Scotland, it’s usually associated with Newcastle-on-Tyne and the industrial northeast of England. Keels were the flat-bottomed boats used to carry coal along the Tyne, from the mines to the collier ships, steered by strong lads known as keelmen. Sandgate is the quayside district east of Newcastle where the keelmen traditionally lived and worked. This particular keelman seems to have been a powerful rower but a little less than graceful on the dance floor.