title: Wa'ney Island Cockfight
text: # Wa'ney Island Cockfight
  
  "Wa'ney Island Cockfight" or "The Bonny Grey" is an English folk song, Roud 211. Variants of the song exist across northern England from Cumbria to Shropshire.
  
  ## Lyrics
  
  As with many folk songs, the lyrics vary depending on the source, with references to well-known local figures and locations in various regional versions. However, the central theme of a cockfight in which the "Bonny Grey" is an unexpected winner remains.
  
  Presented below are a small sample of the lyrics sung by Martin Wyndham-Reed on English Sporting Ballads, Broadside BRO128 in which the cockfight takes place on Walney Island.
  
  Come all ye cockers far and near
  
  I'll tell of a cock-fight, when and where:
  
  At Tummerel Hill I've heard them say,
  
  The Northscale lads had a bonny grey.
  
  Two dozen lads from Biggar came
  
  To Tummerel Hill to see the game.
  
  They brought along with them that day
  
  A black to match with the bonny grey.
  
  A sample of another set of lyrics from the Ballads & Songs of Lancashire, which places the cockfight in Liverpool, is presented below for comparison.
  
  Come all you cock-merchants far and near,
  
  Did you hear of a cock-fight happening here?
  
  Those Liverpool lads, I've heard them say,
  
  'Tween the Charcoal Black and the Bonny Gray.
  
  ## Recordings
  
  | Artist | Title | Album | Year |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | Martin Wyndham Reed | The charcoal black and the bonny grey | English Sporting Ballads | 1977 |
  | Fiddler's Dram | Wa'ney Island Cockfight | To See the Play | 1978 |
  