Celebrated poet and author Mike Duff has written a special poem for the relaunch of SalfordOnline.com’s history features section.
Mike, dubbed a ‘local laureate’ for his sparky, wry compositions, was inspired by Eccles on a visit to the town to meet SalfordOnline.com Local History editor Tony Flynn.
Polymath Mike is perhaps best known for his novels Low Life and The Hat Check Boy, which tell searing stories of two-bit criminals in scally prose, full of quick-wit gags and stand-out characters.
His most famous – in his 2008 collection ‘Of a Mancunian’ – are the likes of Nancy “Dickybird” Cunningham, a woman so tough that she could clear the vaults of the roughest pubs in Collyhurst, and Patrick “Parkey” Grant, king of the Victorian Salford scuttler street gangs, who was fatally stabbed in a fight.
In 2004 Mike won the BBC’s Poem for Manchester competition with his composition In the Rain, which is still on show in Piccadilly Place to this day.
I don’t care if you’re black, chinese
white or tan don’t care if you’re old, gay, a woman or man
you can sit down next to me
if you’re mancunian
He has the inimitable power to make words leap off the page and stick in the mind, so SalfordOnline.com was overjoyed when Mike offered this ditty to us, inspired by the rich history of the Albert Edward pub on Church Street.
The prettiest girl in Eccles
I met her in a pub smoking shelter
head over heels it was helter skelter
Her husband he didn’t like smoking
we just sat there laughing and joking
smile sublime and face of freckles
the prettiest girl in all of Eccles.
She bent low and passed a Rizla
the sun shone down such a sizzler
she took out make up addded lippy
I said,’Listen love it’s turning nippy’
smile sublime and face of freckles
the prettiest girl in all of Eccles.
A kiss across a table quite frantic
one shared Zippo so romantic
looked up at the sky turning cloudy
she said “I’ll meet you behind the Aldi”
smile sublime and face of freckles
the prettiest girl in all of Eccles.
I was in love it was such a crisis
me on remand and her with psoriasis
cupped her hand and lit a Benson
she fell in love without pretension
smile sublime and face of freckles
the prettiest girl in all of Eccles.
And now I sit here two years later
all alone Oh God how I hate her
knock on the door I don’t answer
love at first sight it was cancer
smile sublime and face of freckles
the prettiest girl in all of Eccles.
Find out all about the past, present and future of our great city in SalfordOnline.com’s History pages.
Main image: Mike Duff, by Brian Stark
