People are fascinated by the sea, perhaps because they emerged from its waters in some primordial past and, like sea-shells, they carry its echo in their minds.Or perhaps because they, too, are creatures of light and movement – the sea’s characteristics. Whatever the reason, writers and artists frequently turn to the sea and the seaside for inspiration. As do bloggers going on holiday!
“I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside” is a British song written in 1907 by John A. Glover-Kind and made famous by music hall singer Mark Sheridan, who first recorded it in 1909.
The song captures the spirit of the times. Train travel for the masses had only started in the 1870s, when ordinary working people in Britain flocked to the coast to resorts such as Blackpool and Morecambe in the North of England for their first proper holidays. For Sheridan, born in the North-East, this song was his third big hit. He sang it dressed eccentrically in top hat and bell bottom trousers, encapsulating the sense of adventure and fun that his audiences must have felt.
“Oh! I do like to be beside the seaside
I do like to be beside the sea!
I do like to stroll along the Prom, Prom, Prom!
Where the brass bands play:
‘Tiddely-om-pom-pom!’
So just let me be beside the seaside
I’ll be beside myself with glee
And there’s lots of girls beside,
I should like to be beside
Beside the seaside!
Beside the sea!”
Quintessentialruminations 