Annotation:Berwick Johnny

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BERWICK JOHNNY. AKA and see "Barwick Billy," "Berwick Jockey (2)," "Go to Berwick, Johnny." This title appears in Henry Robson's list of popular Northumbrian song and dance tunes, compiled and published c. 1800. The Old English name Berwick has to do with a dwelling place or outlying farm involved with barley. The town of Berwick-on-Tweed the northernmost town in England and was constantly the scene of disputes with the neighboring Scots, so much so that it changed hands thirteen times since it was founded in 870 before passing finally to England in 1482. Queen Elizabeth I began a fortification of the city in 1558 (completed in 1565) called the Elizabethan Wall.

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