Victoria Bridge is located at the northern end of Deansgate and provides a quick thoroughfare into Salford. It was notorious as a market where traders would gather to fleece unsuspecting customers. The ballad’s author may, or may not, have intended to mislead the audience with other bizarre and outrageous goings on. The tune Harry Boardman gave to the ballad is ‘Stick to the Crater’, which works well.4
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[Manchester Ballads (Q398 8 S9) Volume 2, sheet 155]