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Description: | This collection forms a selection of songs written in the late nineteenth century by W. Bowness of Westmorland. The book was published in London, by Whittaker and Co. in 1868. Keith Gregson, in his introduction to 'Cumbrian songs and ballads', gives a concise account of songs and ballads in this area during the nineteenth century. The period was, he says, 'bounded in terms of songs and ballads in the border counties, by the works of Robert Burns to the north and those of Geordie Ridley, Joe Wilson and Ned Corvan to the east. During the heart of the period itself, the songwriters of Cumbria - Robert Anderson and Susanna Blamire, in particular - had important contributions to make to the British song and ballad world. Composing words and setting them to the popular tunes of the day ... these Cumbrians left many songs of merit which have since been neglected'.Many of the songs in this and other Cumbrian and Westmorland songbooks do of course have strong Scottish influences and most of the tunes to which they were sung were undoubtedly Scottish. However the majority of the songs still reflect the nature of Cumberland life at the time and for this reason alone are valuable in their own right. A particularly isolated counties, Cumberland and Westmorland have a strongly preserved dialect and the rural nature of the area is reflected in songs which centre around relationships between market and farm, man and woman, and the surrounding landscape. ; Songs and poems by W. Bowness | Publisher: | Whittaker and Co. T. Wilson Ave Maria Lane ; LondonKendal ; Cumberland | Rights holder: | rights holder : Border History Museum | Temporal: | start=1861;end=1900; | Source: | Folk Archive Resource North East | Identifier: | farne:H1600000 | Go to resource |
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