Eric Boswell: The man behind Little Donkey who wanted to be known for more than Christmas songs

Eric Boswell, from Sunderland, wanted to be remembered for his body of work. Credit: Family photo

"Little Donkey, Little Donkey on a dusty road. Got to keep on plodding onwards with your precious load."

It is a song sung by school children in nativity plays, in different languages, right around the world.

But, a little known fact is that the man who wrote it came from Sunderland.

Little Donkey was by far the most famous song by Eric Boswell but it was not what he wanted to be remembered for.

Speaking to ITV Tyne Tees in 1995, he said: "Perhaps more importantly, we have the songs I've written over the last twenty odd years about my native North East."

Boswell died 15 years ago and now a new show, The Donkey, The Whippet and the Giant Leek, is aiming to ensure his work lives on.

It tells Boswell's story, using his songs, performed by international opera singers and his friends Graeme Danby and Valerie Reid.

Jarrow-born playwright Tom Kelly said: "I think, like anyone, you don't just want to be remembered for one poem or one short story or one play and he wanted to be known and remembered for the great range of songs that he wrote and greater range of music."

Eric Boswell, who was born in 1921, plays the piano as a boy. Credit: Family photo

Many of the songs are written in North East dialect and tell the stories of its people and places.

Valerie Reid said: "What we didn't want was, once Eric was gone, for everything just to disappear and not be sung.

"People know a lot of the famous Eric Boswell songs but there's a whole, massive amount of wonderful songs that we felt should be kept alive. They have a huge relevance to the North East and the North East culture."

Opera singers Graeme Danby and Valerie Reid are performing The Donkey, The Whippet and the Giant Leek. Credit: ITV Tyne Tees

The show will be performed around the region in the spring and is a homecoming for Mr Danby, who is from Consett.He added: "I can't wait.  It's a beacon in between Guillaume Tell, La Pasajera, La Traviata, Powder Her Face in Rijeka etc etc, I have Eric Boswell.  Who was incredibly famous with Little Donkey but who shied away from that, his life was his music in the North East.I have Eric Boswell, who was incredibly famous with Little Donkey but who shied away from that. His life was his music in the North East."Of course, Little Donkey features in the show, but that is just one part of the Eric Boswell story, and The Donkey the Whippet and the Giant Leek stays true to his spirit.Boswell himself said in 1995: "My main aim in life is to try and make people laugh because it is an awful, miserable world we live in, let's make 'em all laugh."

That is exactly what is hoped with this tribute.

Eric Boswell penned many songs in North East dialect, telling the stories of its people and places. Credit: Family photo

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