Despite being a proud Geordie, I worked in Sunderland and went to uni there for 15 years. I loved it in all honesty, great laugh and banter. We love to hate each other, but when the chips are down, we'd be there with each other!
I met a lovely guy back in '74 from Sunderland when he came to Luton to work, he met my dad who happened to be from Newcastle and they hit it off straight away, infact my dad idolised him, we fell in love but I was only 16 and he was 21 and my parents said I was too young to get involved with him seriously, so when his work in Luton was finished (roughly 3mths later) he said he would come back for me when I was 18, we never stayed in touch so I didn't think he would come back for me, but when I was nearly 19 my dad came back from the Luton Labour club and told me Norman had turned up asking after me, my dad broke the news that I was now married and his face dropped, I was gutted and tried to find him but with no luck. I'm many years divorced now and I often wonder what happened to him. 'The love I lost.!! I've always regretted not waiting for him 😢
I was the interpreter for a lad from Sunderland and I was from Wallsend. As a soldier SAS I had to speak with the Queen Mother and they sent a Scotsman to be my Interpreter. The queen Mother said she loved my Geordie accent.
im a walker boy & Sunderland folk are the same as us, football caused bad blood , but i respect people from Sunderland , i think some Geordies could start a fight in an empty room
Great stuff Eddy. I once worked with a Sunderland lass, she was harder than any man I've ever known but took a shine to me. She took me back to her parents place to pick something up and her dad was a legend. She told him that I was a Geordie and in his best disgraced voice he told me. Well, you know why we hate the Geordies? I said, "no" he said, we built all the ships and you took them i.e. Sunderland yard Mackem and the Geordie lad's Takem (we took them as we were superior in our finishing skills) makes sense to me like! Great stuff!
I'm currently having my post graduate medical studies @ Newcastle. Lovely city with great friendly people. Struggling a bit with the accent but I'm gradually getting a hang of it.
I've always thought it was as the older gentlemen said: Make 'em and Take 'em. Ship building was huge in the wear valley but the complicated and higher wage job of rigging was done on Tyneside. The bit about 'Marra' was fascinating. Never heard that before. Would LOVE to see a video on the civil war era.
My father (1926 - 2012) was from Sunderland but moved away when he was about 10yrs old. He always said that he'd never heard "Mackem" when he lived there and folks always referred to themselves as Geordies. Either he had a bad memory or the term is more recent than we think?
Although I come from the south I was a Newcastle fan as a kid. Later in life I wanted to experience life in the north east so I went to study at Sunderland uni. Now I genuinely have a soft spot for both teams and north east football in general. The passion for the sport throughout the region is infections and cannot be replicated anywhere else to the same degree imo.
Seriously great rivalry, proud of our sunderland heritage. Greatest shipbuilding town, mines, engineering, ropery, glass making, Venerable bede. Not bad for a little place in the North East of England
@@135Ops From Durham Cathedral archives. Most of what is known about Bede’s life comes from a short note at the end of his book The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, written around 731. Nothing is known of his family, but he was born in about 673 near to the monastery of Wearmouth, and aged 7 was given to the monastery to be educated, as children often were at the time. His first teacher was Benedict Biscop, and then later he moved to the newly-founded monastery at Jarrow with Abbot Ceolfrith, where he would remain as a monk.
So you went more than once. Don't own anything with red and white stripes do you? My father wouldn't even use Signal toothpaste because it came out the tube with red and white stripes.
I love being a Mackem, I'm 47 & it's something I've always heard being said. I recall it mostly through football, being a fan of the red & whites, however I had heard the shipyards reference as my Dad worked for Doxfords in the late 70's and that would have been my answer. I also really enjoyed the explanation of Marra, which makes a lot of sense, though I have never used the word. I always thought it more of Durham word.
It was interesting listening to the explanation about the origins of the term "marra". The miner's version of the 'buddy-buddy system" ;) Another great video. (Love your new sidekick 🤣) You could always try contacting the history and or anthropology departments at the Universities of Newcastle and Durham to see if they have anyone who can point you in the right direction. 🙏 (Personally, I think the original Geordies were the miners from Durham and Northumberland before being appropriated by the people of Newcastle.) " Mackems, Geordies and ram-raiders: documenting regional variation in historical dictionaries" Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 July 2015
Inthe 70s we used to sing we are geordies, at sunderland games. Its due to the shipyards, when we went to to the docks in NEWCASTLE and take their jobs and take their money...
Your'a an historical fountain of North East knowledge Eddie. another great video. you must have scouted around to find particularly thick members of the Sunderland youth!
That gent at 6.40 ish minutes in this video was amazing and I had heard the Maccum n Taccum as he said as well. Loved the marra explanation from him. The more you know right
It's the only origin story i've ever heard of. Well done getting home with your kit. ;-) And that kid from shields proving his indisputable intelligence, what a champion.
You should do a video on the civil war and the history behind both Newcastle & Sunderland in that would be great to hear your perspective because the videos that I've watched so far you are sound so keep producing excellent content for us all to watch 👊
I've heard the ship building theory before but I'm surprised nobody mentioned that it's also the way they pronounce the the word "make" as "mak". Great video btw I love any local history stuff.
I lived in Newcastle for 10 years as a football consultant for Newcastle Utd. Originally from Leeds so I learnt a lot about makhams and takhams. Most I learned from managers and players at Newcastle and Sunderland
I arrived in Sunderland around 1956 and was unaware of the expression mackem and takem (which then got abbreviated to makem) until about the 80's. I realize it was a reference to a slight speech difference between Sunderland and Newcastle but initially all the people in the North East sounded the same - though to this day I have great difficulty with Pitmatic. I believe the local dialect features many Danish words due to the various contacts with invaders and settlers from the 600's. I once was doing a gig in Newcastle and the pub was full of guys in football strips (Magpies) and I said to the crowd, ''Please join in and singalong; we're from Sunderland and need all the help we can get.'' The bass player went white and as we survived pleaded I never do that again. :) I liked the Hollywood star crack you made just after the drunk guy promoted his channel. I find all speech difference fascinating which is just as well, as I currently live in Prague.
Great video with loads of humour as usual. I've only ever heard 'yee mackem, and we'll takem' story. Fascinating that there really isn't any concrete reason for Geordies or Mackems at the end of the day. The 'marra' story was very intesting to hear and laughed as he cut off Mr. a few too many sherberts to tell it, brilliant stuff. Also loved the honesty of the lad from South Shields. Would love to see a video on Civil War.
Eddie I was a Leazes end regular in the early 70's and we NEVER referred to Sunderland fans as Mackems. Called them other things of course..... I believe it started when Laurie Mc Menemy was their manager. McMenemy-Mackem Enemy. That's when it started. Never before. All this shipbuilding talk is rubbish. LOVE your channel.
Thanks , thoroughly enjoyed that. Bit of background: Supported Sunderland for about 50 years then saw the light (dismayed with the Premiership and EFL basically) and so have been going to support Gateshead for about 12 years now. I am from Washington originally and definitely NOT from Sunderland. Used to work and drink in both Newcastle and Sunderland and didn't hear the term 'Mackem' as applied to a group of people until the early 70s when, and I think you will like this, it was used among posher people I knew from Sunderland as a derogatory term for folk from the dock areas like Hendon. As for 'Geordie' : back in the 50s and early 60s just about all of us from north of Durham used the term for ourselves reflecting the Radio programme 'What Cheor, Geordie' and songs like 'Wherever ya Gan ya Sure To Find A Geordie.' It was always easier than trying to explain which pit village or town we might have come from. But in contradiction to that I find the miners' lamp stuff interesting. I was brought up to believe that miners North of the Tyne used 'Geordie' lamps and Durham miners used Davy lamps. Loved the bit about 'marras' , great story .
My understanding of where the term Mackem comes from is from the shipyard industry and also the wider use of the term Geordie in the North East came from George Stephenson's lamp otherwise known as the Geordie lamp so this video confirms my understanding.
I’m from Sunderland originally and left many years ago. I have to say watching this it is a rough rough place. On a positive note the blue sky looks nice
Hello bro, I used to live in Sunderland for 5 years. Unfortunately I'm french but I really love this city. A day I'm coming back for long. I really appreciate to have news update from my heart city. You made a good job. God bless you cheers hope meet you then around a tea cup why not . If you're agree say 100 % percent. 🎉🎉🎉🎉
I come from a mixed family- my eldest brother, my Parents and my uncle and cousins all support Newcastle and my younger brother, myself and next brother up in age all support Sunderland- grew up for the first few years in Hebburn and My Mam is from Jarrow- but then we moved to Washington in the early 80’s- none of us including my parents were born in Sunderland or Newcastle- mainly South Shields… when I left school I worked in Gateshead and Newcastle and found the people spot on… never had an issue… always had a bit of banter with workmates and loved a night out in Newcastle… weirdly when I get the train back up to the North East and see the Tyne Bridge etc it feels as much home as Sunderland does for me cos of the memories! I’ve always been referred to as a sand dancer, but I always knew the story of Mackems being to do with ship building and also how the people of Sunderland say make (mak)… usually more to it than that but there must be some truth in it with so many people also being passed down this story! All the best to all you people of the North East whichever side you come from or live - smashing bunch of people in this part of the world 👍👍👍
Good video, originally from there, left after 4 years in the merchant navy in the early 70's been living in the USA since then. My first years here got mistaken for german and dutch as the accent is so gutteral, I found my accent changing over time just so I wasn't constantly repeating myself, but if I am around anyone from that area it comes back instantly!
Great video Eddy, I live in Washington but I’m a Toon fan. Always worked with a mixture of Geordies and Mackems and had some great banter over the football. Sunderland folk are lovely people. TBH I don’t even know where the name Geordies came from 😂. The Scott’s say we’re just Scottish with our heeds kicked in 🤣
Grew up in Stanley so had a few Mackem mates, me Dad raised us as Newcastle fans though as he grew up in Gateshead and prides himself as the only true geordie in the family being born across the water in Newcastle. He’d have been livid known I knocked about with a few Mackems and they had to tuck their shirts in and zip up before they came in my house!
My understanding of the term Makem and Takem came from when shipyard workers from the wear built ships on the Tyne and took their wages back to Sunderland Sunderland
That put a smile on my face Eggie, funny not a Sunderland strip in sight. Growing up in N. Shields then college in South Shields Marine we heard the story re the ship building origin and it certainly is plausible back in the day when NE built ships for fun, that might be a canny follow up the heavy industry of the region, though that might take hours. Another top notch job long may you reign as our talk show ambassador for wor great area.
My grandad was born in Sunderland moved to Scotland in the 50s and met my gran had a massive family died in 2010 never lost his accent guy was a legend , been to Sunderland few times when I was younger bit of a rough area my grandad always said he grew it rough was born in the 30s so dosent surprise me ❤
I was on holiday in Cyprus this year, met a footy fan from Sunderland, having banter as I am Ipswich town fan, I asked him this. He said ship building, also. Makem and Tackem, sea trials
Great question eddy. I was adopted at 6 weeks old, by a makem family. Dad from whitburn, mam from silksworth. Lived in dunston most of my life. And my understanding from my parents, is the dialect. And, coz people mak things, and people tak them. I,e wee,s keys are these keys etc etc. By the way NUFC through and through.
When I was in hopital in Sunderland, I asked the same question. One chap informed me that people (on a Friday night) would congregate outside 'Mackeys' (a shop in the high street)......... hence Mackems.
I was told as a child that the mackem and tackem, from make them and take them, was from the shipyards, because in Newcastle or Northumberland we would say mek ‘em and tek ‘em instead. Down to small difference in the dialect?
Thanks for another interesting video Ed.. It's got to originate from ship building surely. The one thing that struck me was the majority of the people you spoke to were as thick as mince or short of a full shilling.
Being a bit of a history buff i have done a little past research into this and the word 'mackem' imo comes from the shipyards, on Wearside they built smaller ships and churned them out at a very good rate to aid war effort (WW1 & WW2) they were indeed then taken to Tyneside yards to be fitted out so the phrase came from Tyneside as in 'you makem we tak em' I don't believe the consonant C was used in those days. as the Tyne was building the bigger ships some of the smaller yards had room to fit out the smaller ships from the Wear yards.
Tom Armstrong what happened to your comment lol, it's clear you are clueless with regards to what they can actually build on the Wear, being a much smaller river means it can only build smaller ships lad, how many Battleships or Aircraft Carriers has the Wearside shipyards produced ? the answer is NONE ! and yes ships were taken to Tyneside yards for fitting out, not all the ships ut a good quantity, it made sense for quickness to get ships to the Tyne to aid the war effort.
This was great to watch. Really fascinating. Great accents by the way. Amazing how different you sound to us down in Bristol. When we came to SJP (we were actually once in the same division amazingly) my daughter genuinely thought the steward was talking in Italian 😄 Can I ask a probably daft question? Is there any detectable difference between a Geordie accent and a Mackey accent?
Hi Atty, great message thank you. Yeah there are distinct differences between the accents to us locals. I’m from Gateshead so I have an accent identical to Newcastle. Sunderland is 10-12 miles away and we can tell immediately a Wearside accent. For example, the word ‘Make’. We say ‘myache’. They say ‘mak’. Hence Mackem.
@@TynesideLife Thanks for such a prompt reply. I’ll listen out for such nuances in future! Newcastle was always my boyhood team. Got loads of stick at school as believe it or not Newcastle used to be on a par/sometimes even worse than Bristol City and.Bristol Rovers. When I found out how far Newcastle is it wasn’t practical, so now I follow City all over the country. To finally get to St James Pk to see us draw 2-2 was one of the best and most emotional days of my life. Walked all around and saw those Georgian style houses that used to be visible before the stadium grew. To then climb what felt like a 1,000 steps up to the away area, see for miles across Newcastle and hear ‘Local Hero’ played before the match choked me right up.
If you watch the 1973 (don't be jealous you 1950s dudes) cup final, the telly commentator refers to Sunderland as geordies . I think once upon a time 'geordie' was meant for the wider North east area. Mackem and tackem is where the term came from and a handy way to create separation from Newcastle and strengthen a sunderland identity.
1 of my friends is from Sunderland and occasionally while texting he will use local Mackem lingo occasionally and im just like "Huh? What are you saying?" It gets confusing occasionally (Find it hilarious tho) As im not from the NE area 😂 But god the accent i LOVE it could listen to someone from there talk for hours
People from Sunderland were known as Jamie's in the 1800's. It was Geordies from Tyneside Jamie's from Wearside. The battle of Boldon Hill was of course won by the Wearsiders as usual
Interested to read the reference re Jamie’s. Can you let me know where you read that please. I’ve done a video on the Battle of Boldon Hill. You’ll find it in my History playlist. There was no definitive victory from either side
I was told many years ago it was from the shipyards and the ship builders "We mackem you takem" or something like that. Sunderland is all just Greggs and betting shops now. Tragic. It used to be booming when i was a kid.
Excellent video Macum and takum We have Marras in west Cumbria I’d love a one on the civil war battle Quality stuff “I don’t like talking either” lol quality! Credit to the Sunderland public I thought there were some real super stars there.
I live in South Northumberland and av nivva been in Mackemland in me life . Me owldest Daughter used to live in Houghton le Spring , and I never went to her house but met up in Newcastle.
I live in Lancashire but was born and brought up in Seahouses Northumberland. Here in Lancashire they call me a Geordie along with people from as far south as Middlesbrough and they don't know what a Makam or a Takham is!
My mother grew up in Sunderland in the 1960's and she & her family & mates saw themselves as Geordies, not "Mackems". That term was unheard of apparantly.
It stems from the ships being build on the wear and sent up to the Tyne to complete fitting out and sea trials. It became prevalent in the 1970,s as the ship building industry came under pressure to survive (intense rivalry between Austin and Pickersgil & Swan hunters, the term was given to the Mackems by the Geordies as a ridicule on the wearside accent "we mak em and they Tak em". It is well known that in the seventies the Sunderland away football fans used to sing The Blaydon races etc and similar songs indicating they consider themselves Geordies, probably because of the lack of any different name or identity at that time
Another interesting video, I worked in Sunderland and got a lot of stick for being from Newcastle but always meant in jest. Did you know at one point 90 percent of the world's shipping was built on the Tyne or the Wear ?
I learned that Sunderland has shipbuilding in their history since the 1300's. In the 1800's one third of all uk ships were built in Sunderland. However, by the late 1800's early 1900s, with the introduction of metal production on the rise, Sunderland's shipbuilding took a decline due to rising competition. For me, it doesn't make sense why the term mackem suddenly became known at the time of their shipbuilding decline. You'd think the term would be evident alot earlier. That said, there's no other potential reason for it so perhaps it's true. Either way, it's interesting! Loved the bit about marra, as well. As a geordie, I've always thought the term mackem was a negative connotation but they see it as a term of endearment. Love the history, love the healthy rivalry. I've friends from Sunderland and we all miss derby days!
You picked a right bunch of wallopers to interview there like Eddie 😂
They don't call it Sundulund for nothing.
@@philgray1023 Geordie maggots
Yeah, Sunderland but
Those were all actually the local university faculty
@@briankelly5443 There are a few Brian.
Lost for words with the fella in the grey tracksuit….shame he kept interrupting the man who actually knew what he was talking about
Despite being a proud Geordie, I worked in Sunderland and went to uni there for 15 years. I loved it in all honesty, great laugh and banter. We love to hate each other, but when the chips are down, we'd be there with each other!
Wake up mate
Fuck that! SMB
Wtf u smoking
Would we shite..ftm.
15 years?
I met a lovely guy back in '74 from Sunderland when he came to Luton to work, he met my dad who happened to be from Newcastle and they hit it off straight away, infact my dad idolised him, we fell in love but I was only 16 and he was 21 and my parents said I was too young to get involved with him seriously, so when his work in Luton was finished (roughly 3mths later) he said he would come back for me when I was 18, we never stayed in touch so I didn't think he would come back for me, but when I was nearly 19 my dad came back from the Luton Labour club and told me Norman had turned up asking after me, my dad broke the news that I was now married and his face dropped, I was gutted and tried to find him but with no luck. I'm many years divorced now and I often wonder what happened to him. 'The love I lost.!! I've always regretted not waiting for him 😢
Thank you for sharing that moving story Shaz 😢
@@TynesideLife your welcome.!!
Bless you petal, that's really sad x
The word knacker is best described as lad in the white trackie called Ra 9 game r 😂
That lad from Sheilds made me chuckle 😃 another fantastic video Eddie 👌
I was the interpreter for a lad from Sunderland and I was from Wallsend. As a soldier SAS I had to speak with the Queen Mother and they sent a Scotsman to be my Interpreter. The queen Mother said she loved my Geordie accent.
im a walker boy & Sunderland folk are the same as us, football caused bad blood , but i respect people from Sunderland , i think some Geordies could start a fight in an empty room
I’ve lived all over the country and there’s folk like that everywhere unfortunately
Great stuff Eddy. I once worked with a Sunderland lass, she was harder than any man I've ever known but took a shine to me. She took me back to her parents place to pick something up and her dad was a legend. She told him that I was a Geordie and in his best disgraced voice he told me. Well, you know why we hate the Geordies? I said, "no" he said, we built all the ships and you took them i.e. Sunderland yard Mackem and the Geordie lad's Takem (we took them as we were superior in our finishing skills) makes sense to me like! Great stuff!
Great story Suki 😃
Ha ha I thought this anecdote was going to be so different at the start!
@@dangle250 dutty boy haha
So we did all the hard work and you slapped a coat of paint then went to the pub for dinner ? Sounds about right.
I'm currently having my post graduate medical studies @ Newcastle. Lovely city with great friendly people. Struggling a bit with the accent but I'm gradually getting a hang of it.
WEIRDO
Divnt worry kidda, you'll sharp get the hang of the way wi taak
Don't forget most of the Naval Fighting Ships were built on the Tyne.
I've always thought it was as the older gentlemen said: Make 'em and Take 'em. Ship building was huge in the wear valley but the complicated and higher wage job of rigging was done on Tyneside. The bit about 'Marra' was fascinating. Never heard that before.
Would LOVE to see a video on the civil war era.
Will do Mark 👍🏻
marra is another name for mate !
@@tomarmstrong5244some ships were taken to newcastle Tom. You need to stop asserting your opinions as fact.
It’s all on public record
My father (1926 - 2012) was from Sunderland but moved away when he was about 10yrs old. He always said that he'd never heard "Mackem" when he lived there and folks always referred to themselves as Geordies. Either he had a bad memory or the term is more recent than we think?
Interesting… 👍🏻
Although I come from the south I was a Newcastle fan as a kid. Later in life I wanted to experience life in the north east so I went to study at Sunderland uni. Now I genuinely have a soft spot for both teams and north east football in general. The passion for the sport throughout the region is infections and cannot be replicated anywhere else to the same degree imo.
WEIRDO YOU
Seriously great rivalry, proud of our sunderland heritage.
Greatest shipbuilding town, mines, engineering, ropery, glass making, Venerable bede. Not bad for a little place in the North East of England
I thought Bede was a Jarrow Lad?
@@135Ops From Durham Cathedral archives. Most of what is known about Bede’s life comes from a short note at the end of his book The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, written around 731. Nothing is known of his family, but he was born in about 673 near to the monastery of Wearmouth, and aged 7 was given to the monastery to be educated, as children often were at the time. His first teacher was Benedict Biscop, and then later he moved to the newly-founded monastery at Jarrow with Abbot Ceolfrith, where he would remain as a monk.
The shields lad is a pure legend 😂
Went to Sunderland only a couple of times in me life , both times genuinely felt like I was on enemy lines 😬😅
He's a diamond 💎
So you went more than once. Don't own anything with red and white stripes do you? My father wouldn't even use Signal toothpaste because it came out the tube with red and white stripes.
People from Shields called Sand Dancers its a type of Mackem
@@danielbell5487 yes DB. Paddy Conroys admin. Hope ya doing well pal
@@swc8544 oioi Pal all Good Cheers hope your Cushtie 👍😎
that guy recording you was doing my head in haha
The lad that answered "Sunderland" when asked where's does it come from, made me chuckle.
😂
I love being a Mackem, I'm 47 & it's something I've always heard being said. I recall it mostly through football, being a fan of the red & whites, however I had heard the shipyards reference as my Dad worked for Doxfords in the late 70's and that would have been my answer.
I also really enjoyed the explanation of Marra, which makes a lot of sense, though I have never used the word. I always thought it more of Durham word.
Great message 👍🏻
It's a word used in Ashington a lot too, it's from the mining communities
Eddie you’re top class man! The way you felt with him was spot on! N yeas would love to here more about the battle! Keep up the great work
🤛🏻
I'd be well up for a Battle of Boldon Hill Video Eddy, would be great in fact. 👍Look forward to it.
Yet again learned loads! I always thought the term Mackem was a recent thing and linked to football rivalry. Thanks Eddie
It was interesting listening to the explanation about the origins of the term "marra". The miner's version of the 'buddy-buddy system" ;)
Another great video. (Love your new sidekick 🤣) You could always try contacting the history and or anthropology departments at the Universities of Newcastle and Durham to see if they have anyone who can point you in the right direction. 🙏 (Personally, I think the original Geordies were the miners from Durham and Northumberland before being appropriated by the people of Newcastle.)
" Mackems, Geordies and ram-raiders: documenting regional variation in historical dictionaries"
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 July 2015
I’ll check it out Kevin cheers
Great job Eddie.
Entertaining interviews, and for the most part, the punters hadn’t a clue.
Inthe 70s we used to sing we are geordies, at sunderland games. Its due to the shipyards, when we went to to the docks in NEWCASTLE and take their jobs and take their money...
Your'a an historical fountain of North East knowledge Eddie. another great video. you must have scouted around to find particularly thick members of the Sunderland youth!
That sand dancer was class😂
The lad from Shields in the bus station spoke the most sense.
That gent at 6.40 ish minutes in this video was amazing and I had heard the Maccum n Taccum as he said as well. Loved the marra explanation from him. The more you know right
Definitely Paul 👍🏻
Would love to hear about that civil war battle Eddy! Keep up the great vids
It's the only origin story i've ever heard of. Well done getting home with your kit. ;-) And that kid from shields proving his indisputable intelligence, what a champion.
😂
We haven't had a derby in ages so would love to hear about that battle if u get around to it Eddie!! Grand content as always lad
You should do a video on the civil war and the history behind both Newcastle & Sunderland in that would be great to hear your perspective because the videos that I've watched so far you are sound so keep producing excellent content for us all to watch 👊
Will do Edward 🤛🏻
Definitely!
I've heard the ship building theory before but I'm surprised nobody mentioned that it's also the way they pronounce the the word "make" as "mak". Great video btw I love any local history stuff.
I lived in Newcastle for 10 years as a football consultant for Newcastle Utd. Originally from Leeds so I learnt a lot about makhams and takhams. Most I learned from managers and players at Newcastle and Sunderland
I arrived in Sunderland around 1956 and was unaware of the expression mackem and takem (which then got abbreviated to makem) until about the 80's. I realize it was a reference to a slight speech difference between Sunderland and Newcastle but initially all the people in the North East sounded the same - though to this day I have great difficulty with Pitmatic. I believe the local dialect features many Danish words due to the various contacts with invaders and settlers from the 600's. I once was doing a gig in Newcastle and the pub was full of guys in football strips (Magpies) and I said to the crowd, ''Please join in and singalong; we're from Sunderland and need all the help we can get.'' The bass player went white and as we survived pleaded I never do that again. :) I liked the Hollywood star crack you made just after the drunk guy promoted his channel. I find all speech difference fascinating which is just as well, as I currently live in Prague.
😂 Great message Jack 👍🏻☝️
Fantastic informative thanks.im from South Shields and it's Newcastle and Sunderland 50/50....here
Great video with loads of humour as usual. I've only ever heard 'yee mackem, and we'll takem' story. Fascinating that there really isn't any concrete reason for Geordies or Mackems at the end of the day. The 'marra' story was very intesting to hear and laughed as he cut off Mr. a few too many sherberts to tell it, brilliant stuff. Also loved the honesty of the lad from South Shields. Would love to see a video on Civil War.
Eddie I was a Leazes end regular in the early 70's and we NEVER referred to Sunderland fans as Mackems. Called them other things of course.....
I believe it started when Laurie Mc Menemy was their manager. McMenemy-Mackem Enemy. That's when it started. Never before. All this shipbuilding talk is rubbish.
LOVE your channel.
Thanks , thoroughly enjoyed that. Bit of background: Supported Sunderland for about 50 years then saw the light (dismayed with the Premiership and EFL basically) and so have been going to support Gateshead for about 12 years now.
I am from Washington originally and definitely NOT from Sunderland. Used to work and drink in both Newcastle and Sunderland and didn't hear the term 'Mackem' as applied to a group of people until the early 70s when, and I think you will like this, it was used among posher people I knew from Sunderland as a derogatory term for folk from the dock areas like Hendon.
As for 'Geordie' : back in the 50s and early 60s just about all of us from north of Durham used the term for ourselves reflecting the Radio programme 'What Cheor, Geordie' and songs like 'Wherever ya Gan ya Sure To Find A Geordie.' It was always easier than trying to explain which pit village or town we might have come from. But in contradiction to that I find the miners' lamp stuff interesting. I was brought up to believe that miners North of the Tyne used 'Geordie' lamps and Durham miners used Davy lamps.
Loved the bit about 'marras' , great story .
Great message Ken. Check out my Geordie video I did a couple of weeks ago 🤛🏻
So glad to discover your chanel. Thankyou
what a hoot that lad was with the cans, always wanted to be in every shot!
That South Shields lad knows the score
My understanding of where the term Mackem comes from is from the shipyard industry and also the wider use of the term Geordie in the North East came from George Stephenson's lamp otherwise known as the Geordie lamp so this video confirms my understanding.
Loving the historical content Eddie, would love to learn more about that battle on Boldon Hill 👍
Aye we brayed the geordies...again😂😂
I’m from Sunderland originally and left many years ago. I have to say watching this it is a rough rough place. On a positive note the blue sky looks nice
Hello bro, I used to live in Sunderland for 5 years. Unfortunately I'm french but I really love this city. A day I'm coming back for long. I really appreciate to have news update from my heart city. You made a good job. God bless you cheers hope meet you then around a tea cup why not . If you're agree say 100 % percent. 🎉🎉🎉🎉
Thank you 🙏
@@TynesideLife God bless Sunderland supporters for life
Really interesting stuff this. I'm quite fascinated by the whole north east history and the rivalry between the cities putting football aside
I come from a mixed family- my eldest brother, my Parents and my uncle and cousins all support Newcastle and my younger brother, myself and next brother up in age all support Sunderland- grew up for the first few years in Hebburn and My Mam is from Jarrow- but then we moved to Washington in the early 80’s- none of us including my parents were born in Sunderland or Newcastle- mainly South Shields… when I left school I worked in Gateshead and Newcastle and found the people spot on… never had an issue… always had a bit of banter with workmates and loved a night out in Newcastle… weirdly when I get the train back up to the North East and see the Tyne Bridge etc it feels as much home as Sunderland does for me cos of the memories!
I’ve always been referred to as a sand dancer, but I always knew the story of Mackems being to do with ship building and also how the people of Sunderland say make (mak)… usually more to it than that but there must be some truth in it with so many people also being passed down this story!
All the best to all you people of the North East whichever side you come from or live - smashing bunch of people in this part of the world 👍👍👍
Great message thank you Ian 🤛🏻
@@TynesideLife your videos are great mate… but please stop trying to find the people that don’t tie their own shoe laces to represent Sunderland 🤣🤣🤣
@@ianoo23 I didn’t need to try 😃
@@TynesideLife 🤣🤣🤣🤣
07:58 - Definitely a contender for the worst chat-up line of the year 😂😂
Good video, originally from there, left after 4 years in the merchant navy in the early 70's been living in the USA since then. My first years here got mistaken for german and dutch as the accent is so gutteral, I found my accent changing over time just so I wasn't constantly repeating myself, but if I am around anyone from that area it comes back instantly!
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Hope you had a bath when you got home Eddie 😉😂😂🤍🖤👍
😂
Great video Eddy, I live in Washington but I’m a Toon fan. Always worked with a mixture of Geordies and Mackems and had some great banter over the football. Sunderland folk are lovely people. TBH I don’t even know where the name Geordies came from 😂. The Scott’s say we’re just Scottish with our heeds kicked in 🤣
Haha! If you watch my Geordie video I did a couple of weeks ago, you’ll discover where the term came from 👍🏻
@@TynesideLife I’ll have a watch mate
Understand Newcastle got coal mining contracts off king george.....hence Geordies.
If ever you need to describe a mackem , every single one of them looked exactly like..
Bless em
Grew up in Stanley so had a few Mackem mates, me Dad raised us as Newcastle fans though as he grew up in Gateshead and prides himself as the only true geordie in the family being born across the water in Newcastle. He’d have been livid known I knocked about with a few Mackems and they had to tuck their shirts in and zip up before they came in my house!
Great video Eddy, very interesting stuff.
Hi Julie
My understanding of the term Makem and Takem came from when shipyard workers from the wear built ships on the Tyne and took their wages back to Sunderland Sunderland
That put a smile on my face Eggie, funny not a Sunderland strip in sight. Growing up in N. Shields then college in South Shields Marine we heard the story re the ship building origin and it certainly is plausible back in the day when NE built ships for fun, that might be a canny follow up the heavy industry of the region, though that might take hours. Another top notch job long may you reign as our talk show ambassador for wor great area.
Cheers Jim 🤛🏻
In 1892, newly-formed Newcastle United also wore red and white. Yes, it’s true.
My grandad was born in Sunderland moved to Scotland in the 50s and met my gran had a massive family died in 2010 never lost his accent guy was a legend , been to Sunderland few times when I was younger bit of a rough area my grandad always said he grew it rough was born in the 30s so dosent surprise me ❤
Great video by the way love it 😀
That was fantastic Eddie. Thanks , i smiled the whole way through. Brave man at times . Class
Best fans ever to come to anfield we’re Sunderland there max up there.
The 84 year old bloke was great for his age but he should curl up in embarrassment for not knowing the answer.
I was on holiday in Cyprus this year, met a footy fan from Sunderland, having banter as I am Ipswich town fan, I asked him this.
He said ship building, also. Makem and Tackem, sea trials
cheers again for the vids Eddie 🤣that kid from South Shields was kinda on point to be fair . 🤣🐜
Great question eddy. I was adopted at 6 weeks old, by a makem family. Dad from whitburn, mam from silksworth. Lived in dunston most of my life. And my understanding from my parents, is the dialect. And, coz people mak things, and people tak them. I,e wee,s keys are these keys etc etc. By the way NUFC through and through.
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@@jimmystokoe6917 what’s your point on that one Jimmy?
When I was in hopital in Sunderland, I asked the same question. One chap informed me that people (on a Friday night) would congregate outside 'Mackeys' (a shop in the high street)......... hence Mackems.
Really enjoyed this insightful vlog Eddy 👍. The shipbuilding story is most likely & plausible for the word Mackem.
Cheers Graham 🤛🏻
@@TynesideLife have a good weekend Eddy 👊
@@grahambell9831 you too Graham. I’m travelling up to do Ben Nevis. Weather isn’t good 😅
@@TynesideLife Blimey ! We'll change channels and look forward to your Ben Nevis video ( weather notwithstanding!!). 👍👍
I was told as a child that the mackem and tackem, from make them and take them, was from the shipyards, because in Newcastle or Northumberland we would say mek ‘em and tek ‘em instead. Down to small difference in the dialect?
Great video!
Al from Brisbane love what you do
Cheers Al 🤛🏻
Very interesting eddy enjoyed that
Thanks for another interesting video Ed..
It's got to originate from ship building surely.
The one thing that struck me was the majority of the people you spoke to were as thick as mince or short of a full shilling.
The combed forward hair and gormless face, identifies them before they even open their mouths.
Being a bit of a history buff i have done a little past research into this and the word 'mackem' imo comes from the shipyards, on Wearside they built smaller ships and churned them out at a very good rate to aid war effort (WW1 & WW2) they were indeed then taken to Tyneside yards to be fitted out so the phrase came from Tyneside as in 'you makem we tak em' I don't believe the consonant C was used in those days. as the Tyne was building the bigger ships some of the smaller yards had room to fit out the smaller ships from the Wear yards.
Cheers Dave 🤛🏻
Tom Armstrong what happened to your comment lol, it's clear you are clueless with regards to what they can actually build on the Wear, being a much smaller river means it can only build smaller ships lad, how many Battleships or Aircraft Carriers has the Wearside shipyards produced ? the answer is NONE ! and yes ships were taken to Tyneside yards for fitting out, not all the ships ut a good quantity, it made sense for quickness to get ships to the Tyne to aid the war effort.
This proves there is no no go area for wor Eddy! Classic man!
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Off to pilgrim street for interview today love watching these videos mate
Great video love to see the battle between Sunderland and Newcastle roundhead and the Royalists Mike UK
Apparently the mackems got help by the Scots and won
So why are those from South Shields, Sanddancers? Another video Eddie?
There’s two or three theories Martyn. I may do a video 👍🏻
This was great to watch. Really fascinating. Great accents by the way. Amazing how different you sound to us down in Bristol. When we came to SJP (we were actually once in the same division amazingly) my daughter genuinely thought the steward was talking in Italian 😄 Can I ask a probably daft question? Is there any detectable difference between a Geordie accent and a Mackey accent?
Sorry should say Mackem accent - predictive text is a mare
Hi Atty, great message thank you.
Yeah there are distinct differences between the accents to us locals.
I’m from Gateshead so I have an accent identical to Newcastle.
Sunderland is 10-12 miles away and we can tell immediately a Wearside accent.
For example, the word ‘Make’. We say ‘myache’. They say ‘mak’. Hence Mackem.
@@TynesideLife Thanks for such a prompt reply. I’ll listen out for such nuances in future! Newcastle was always my boyhood team. Got loads of stick at school as believe it or not Newcastle used to be on a par/sometimes even worse than Bristol City and.Bristol Rovers. When I found out how far Newcastle is it wasn’t practical, so now I follow City all over the country. To finally get to St James Pk to see us draw 2-2 was one of the best and most emotional days of my life. Walked all around and saw those Georgian style houses that used to be visible before the stadium grew. To then climb what felt like a 1,000 steps up to the away area, see for miles across Newcastle and hear ‘Local Hero’ played before the match choked me right up.
@@attycray4395 wow! Another great message mate 🤛🏻
Check out Vic and Bob’s old skits of geordies and Sunderland people to get exaggerated versions of the accents 😂
Micky at 2:12 said what I'd always heard.
Good video, mate!
If you watch the 1973 (don't be jealous you 1950s dudes) cup final, the telly commentator refers to Sunderland as geordies . I think once upon a time 'geordie' was meant for the wider North east area.
Mackem and tackem is where the term came from and a handy way to create separation from Newcastle and strengthen a sunderland identity.
Love history please about the Boldon Hill battle
Learned where "marra" comes from now. Up my way in Northumberland we use that word a lot
1 of my friends is from Sunderland and occasionally while texting he will use local Mackem lingo occasionally and im just like "Huh? What are you saying?" It gets confusing occasionally (Find it hilarious tho) As im not from the NE area 😂
But god the accent i LOVE it could listen to someone from there talk for hours
People from Sunderland were known as Jamie's in the 1800's. It was Geordies from Tyneside Jamie's from Wearside. The battle of Boldon Hill was of course won by the Wearsiders as usual
Interested to read the reference re Jamie’s. Can you let me know where you read that please.
I’ve done a video on the Battle of Boldon Hill. You’ll find it in my History playlist. There was no definitive victory from either side
I was told many years ago it was from the shipyards and the ship builders "We mackem you takem" or something like that. Sunderland is all just Greggs and betting shops now. Tragic. It used to be booming when i was a kid.
Excellent video
Macum and takum
We have Marras in west Cumbria
I’d love a one on the civil war battle
Quality stuff
“I don’t like talking either” lol quality!
Credit to the Sunderland public I thought there were some real super stars there.
I know West Cumbria very well Jimmy 👍🏻
Did you have to wear a Kevlar vest to interview in Sunderland?
😂
Great video Eddie 👍
I live in South Northumberland and av nivva been in Mackemland in me life . Me owldest Daughter used to live in Houghton le Spring , and I never went to her house but met up in Newcastle.
Av nivver been owa the north side of the tyne ever, or ever been to spewcastle, so there you gan sham on both sides you allah bowing plebs
As always Eddie a great video. I'd love to see one on the Battle at Boldon Hill. I live quite close to it. Pity Rocky 4 got involved
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I live in Lancashire but was born and brought up in Seahouses Northumberland. Here in Lancashire they call me a Geordie along with people from as far south as Middlesbrough and they don't know what a Makam or a Takham is!
Ahhh so
Many memories in that place.
My mother grew up in Sunderland in the 1960's and she & her family & mates saw themselves as Geordies, not "Mackems". That term was unheard of apparantly.
That’s right 👍🏻
Thanks for another interesting video and thanks for doing your civic duty - yes, I saw you on a 'Litter pick' this morning! 😀
I silently go about keeping our streets clean of litter 😁
@@TynesideLife Top man,I hate seeing litter in the streets and parks too.
It stems from the ships being build on the wear and sent up to the Tyne to complete fitting out and sea trials. It became prevalent in the 1970,s as the ship building industry came under pressure to survive (intense rivalry between Austin and Pickersgil & Swan hunters, the term was given to the Mackems by the Geordies as a ridicule on the wearside accent "we mak em and they Tak em".
It is well known that in the seventies the Sunderland away football fans used to sing The Blaydon races etc and similar songs indicating they consider themselves Geordies, probably because of the lack of any different name or identity at that time
Great message mate 👍🏻
Sunderland is like the snide bootleg copy of a 4k BlueRay sold in pubs by the fish and meat man.
There is no E in Blu-ray .
Another interesting video, I worked in Sunderland and got a lot of stick for being from Newcastle but always meant in jest. Did you know at one point 90 percent of the world's shipping was built on the Tyne or the Wear ?
Didn’t know that 👍🏻
That just doesn’t sound right mate, I’d like to know where you got that number from, and what time period you’re talking about?
90% sounds very high when you consider that Belfast, Barrow, Glasgow and Birkinhead are the ports where most ships have been built in the UK.
@@KryptonitetoallBS It was in the 1920's and 30's, 75% off all ships afloat were built on Wearside.
Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia was made in Newcastle and shipped down there in kit form too.
I learned that Sunderland has shipbuilding in their history since the 1300's. In the 1800's one third of all uk ships were built in Sunderland. However, by the late 1800's early 1900s, with the introduction of metal production on the rise, Sunderland's shipbuilding took a decline due to rising competition. For me, it doesn't make sense why the term mackem suddenly became known at the time of their shipbuilding decline. You'd think the term would be evident alot earlier. That said, there's no other potential reason for it so perhaps it's true. Either way, it's interesting! Loved the bit about marra, as well. As a geordie, I've always thought the term mackem was a negative connotation but they see it as a term of endearment. Love the history, love the healthy rivalry. I've friends from Sunderland and we all miss derby days!
It was a derogatory term for them, used in the Tyneside shipyards. I remember my uncle telling us not to use it and why it’s not very nice.
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Fascinating again. I heard the term "marra" a lot when i was at college in ashington.
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