Chorus: 
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, 
"O, weel may the keel row that my laddie’s in.”

“O, wha’s like my Johnnie, Sae leish, sae blithe, sae bonnie?
He’s foremost ‘mang the mony Keel lads o’ coaly Tyne.
He’ll set or row sae tightly, Or, in the dance sae sprightly,
He’ll cut and shuffle sightly, ‘Tis true, were he not mine.” (Chorus)

“He wears a blue bonnet, blue bonnet, blue bonnet;
He wears a blue bonnet, a dimple in his chin.
And weel may the keel row, the keel row, the keel row,
And weel may the keel row, that my laddie’s in.” (Chorus)

Known also as “As I Came Thro’ Sandgate,” this song has been claimed by both the Scottish and the English. It is sometimes referred to as the national anthem of the Tyne River (just below the Scottish border). In Tyneside dialect, a “keel” is a boat. The “keelmen” wore blue bonnets. The song first appeared in print in about 1770. -- Maggie