This character has always interested me, in fact he's the latest post on my blog:

http://beneaththebeat.blogspot.com/

He was a black street entertainer, active in Liverpool in the late 1800s. He died in 1902.

He used to have dolls dancing on a plank to entertain the children. Apparently he sang many minstrel songs from the US.

There is little or no information about him, save one quite rare photograph, which I've reposted on my blog.

No-one knows where he was born - Jamacia, West Indies, Africa and America have all been suggested. No-one really knows when he died, although some genealogists at the L&SW Lancashire forum have found a

1901:
DAVIES, Thomas Henry - Pauper - u/m - 41 - Occupation None - bn West Indies.
Toxteth Park Workhouse, Smithdown Road, Toxteth Park.
RG13 - Piece:3442 - Folio: 46 - Page:24

Thomas was often shortened to 'Seth' for some reason. Could Thomas Henry Davies of the Toxteth Workhouse be our wandering minstrel?

Mos famously he is remembered in the Glyn Hughes song:

The Ballad of Seth Davy (Whiskey on a Sunday)

Come day, go day
Wish in my heart it were Sunday
Drinking buttermilk thru the week
Whiskey on a Sunday

He sits in the corner of Bevington Bush
On top of an old packing crate
he has three wooden dolls that can dance and can sing
And he croons with a smile on his face

Come day, go day
Wish in my heart it were Sunday
Drinking buttermilk thru the week
Whiskey on a Sunday

His tired old hands tug away at the strings
And the puppets dance up and down
A far better show than you ever would see
In the fanciest theatre in town

Come day, go day
Wish in my heart it were Sunday
Drinking buttermilk thru the week
Whiskey on a Sunday

And sad to relate that old Seth Davy died
In 1904
The three wooden doll in the dustbin were laid
His song will be heard nevermore

Come day, go day
Wish in my heart it were Sunday
Drinking buttermilk thru the week
Whiskey on a Sunday

But some stormy night when you're passing that way
And the wind's blowing up from the sea
You'll still hear the song of old Seth Davy
As he croons to his dancing dolls three

Come day, go day
Wish in my heart it were Sunday
Drinking buttermilk thru the week
Whiskey on a Sunday