Modern Indian Theatre A Reader Nandi Bhatia

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Modern Indian Theatre A Reader Nandi Bhatia Digital
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Author(s): Nandi Bhatia
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Year: 2011
Language: english
A READER
Modern Indian Theatre
A Reader

edited Iry
NANDI BHATIA

OXFORD
UNIVB&SITY [Link]
 Contents

~
..
...... ~ -~ c-:h Jkr<Ibhc Frao« Grf'«1I'
... ,..,.. PoUnd Ponup Smypo rc
~ 1'::-... , ~ Tllrlry Uk""n" V,nnam
OrIfDIII • .a ~ . . . _ k Jo.don1 Uru\Tl'5ll)' l"r~
•...,l' _. (1I7UlQ otMtcounmd
Acknowledgements
~1t'I1r,J1& EMS LIBRARY
.. C'IIbd1J"'~""l'Pms.N_Orlhl EDC BANK 8 Modem Indian Theatre: An Introducticm by Nandi Bhati4 xi

o""""Un-" _2009 ~ II III~~~IIII II~III I ~ HI STORY, HI STORIOGRAPHY, AND THE

nr ........ althuuthorhaYebtr-nauc 7920954 NAN MOD ' MODERNITY' OF INDIAN THEATRE
[Link]- nP <lIdOni Ur\J\'n'Slty Prd5 (malo: Towards a Ge ncalogy of Indi an Theatre Historiography
Fine [Link] 2009 RAkesh 1-1. Solomon 3

AI """" - - t . - pan 01 dus pubbCilluon m.1.y 1M: ~produced. A HIstoriography of Modern Indian Theatre
. . . . . . ~ ....... or tn./UnUfftd, an any (onn or by any muf'ls, 31
Ananda JAI
• .~ ~.n ."mngofOxford Um~rsity Press.
• -~,..-ud t,r'-",Ot' unckr tcrmsagrecd ~i(h lhl:' appl"[Link] Reassem blin g the Modern: An Indian Theatre
q4. $ , 'lJfJttDorptUUioon. Enqulnd' con« m .m g rcprodu(Uon
....... .."..01.~ .hould be Stnl ( 0 the Rights Dcpanmcl1t:, Map since Independence
()diwd LQIWtftlry Pms, at the address abovr: Anuradha Kapur 41
T_ _ _ [Link] d'ID book In any omu binding or cO\'C'r The Critique of Western Modernity in
...... -1IIIIf'OI' thu _ concimoo on any acquircr
Post. lndependence India
e-,. .............. to U3U ,ht copyngtu holder of some of the pill'ces Aparna Bhargava Dhanuadker 56
. . . . . . . . ~ Tbr [Link] would be plcued (0 Mar from the owner o f
.... ._JIIOPrradnowkdJlMK"I an be [Link] in future editions. COLONIAL INFLUENCES, NATIONALIST
&saS-1.) 9'7J..O.I'·568595-4 SELF-EXPRESSION
ISBN· ID- 0- 19-568595'"
Differem Shakespcares: The Bard in Colonial/
r..,...."rrCUp:yxrfiSrd 10.5/ 13.2 Postcolon ial India
..,. . . GraphIc On.p!o, New Delh. 110 OSS
""-cd. Pad Pr.. New Dclh, 110020
Jyotsna Singh
~ br Chford Unrowwcy Pm.
n«:A""~;...s..[Link].d NcwOtIh.. 11000 1
 Contenb vii
1lko ".11011 [Link]"d; N.:niona list Discoursc in
1..,,, 19,h Ccntury [Link] Theatre
~ LANGUAGE, MYTH, AND MEDIA
97 Rcconstrllction o f Legend in Contemporary Panjabi
Por UIM The;;tt~ [Link] the Rise of Natio nalism in
South Indl.;!: Drama in India
327
S 7lIrodorr [Link] /JankaJ K. Smgh
Indian Drama in English: Tr:ln sc r~~don and
The Ind Ian People's T heatre Association : A Prciiminary the Indigenous Performance TradHlon
Sketch orrhc Movclllenr and the Organizati on 1942- 47 344
C/Jlistol'iJcr /Ja ime
MIIII1I1 BNttAChar')'~
158 Neo-Sanskritic and Naruralistic Hindi Drama
364
INTERROGATING THE NATION Diana Dimitrova
FROM THE MARGINS Panjabi Drama and Theater
392
Thc Politics of Translating Indian Dalit Drama with AlIlmjit Singh
Special Rcference to Bali Adugal (Scapegoats) < .
Encounter ofrhe Penormmg Arts and Modern Mass Media
406
S. Annstnmg
185
Ie Mathur
Rccreacing into Tribal Mansions: Race and Religion in Plays Drama on Television
KirtiJain 4 17
Wrinen by Parsi Zoroasrrians in India
NdMfrr £ Bhan«ha 200 STATEMENTS
In Search of Women in History ofMarathi Thearre, A Bill Empower the Government to Prohibit
[Q
1843 (0 1933 427
Certain Dramatic Performances
219
The Stage
Reform and Revival: The Devadasi and Her Dance &bindrallam Tagore 431
AMrit Srinivasan 233 Proscenium-arch Stage
'I Am oil Hindu': Assertions and Queries Satya Prasad Bama 435
V....u..v..J .... 261 National Theatre
Bellary &gbtHla 444
RETHINKING THE RURAL/ URBAN AND
FOLK/CLASSICAL BINARIES IN A National Thearre Wanted: A Non-Commercial Theatre
Haldoon Dhingr<l 447
POST-INDEPENDENCE INDIA
In lWeaa of <he 'Theam of Roo..' Towards a National Theatre
Kamalad~i Chattopadbyay 45l
..... AMWI6i 295
Organisational Principles
~::;':"~:rhe Life of Itama: Classical Traditions in IndulIl People's Theatre Association 4S7
_.1 i )fur hligious Folk Theatre of Nonhem India
312
In ,hofFonn
Up.! """ 46,
(ootC'[Link] IndIan Th,,-;ar~ a nd irs Relevance
n.u..,.
469

473

477
48\ Acknowledgements

The intellecrual impetus for this project came from several years
of research in Indian theatre history and criticism, which provided
the occasion for bringing tOgerher important materials that
supply multiple levels of engagement with the intersections of
theatre, performance, nationalism, modernity, colonial histories,
and decolonization. I would like to thank Oxford University
Press for its interest in this projeC[ . I \vish to thank Ira Raja for
her initial feedback and for help in locating contributors, Ananda
Lal for encouragement and for reinforcing the importance of this
llndertaking, the two anonymous reviewers for their insightful
comments and for providing additional references to important
source materials. I would also like to thank members of the
editorial team at Oxford Unive rsity Press for editorial assistance. I
gratefully acknowledge Nida Sajid and Suvadip Si nha for research
assistance. My colleagues Teresa Hubel, Anjali Gera·Roy, and
Jyotsna Singh read various drafts of the Introduction and provided
invaluable feedback for which I am very grateful. The Department
of English at the University of WeStern Ontario provided an
intellectually stimulating environment and a grant from the
University of Western Ontario facilitated my research travel to
the British Library and to libraries in India. Thanks are also due
to publishers, authors, individuals, and libraries that granted
permission to include articles or reproduce in this book materials
published elsewhere. Thanks to Prabhjot, Lam Singh, Ruby and
 · '(rlt:l1ds I'H' 111<)r;l1 s uppOrt
! m('lI1bcrs :lIH
.cL.1 &ndochufOlIlHY
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k ,~ lll)1, I wish t o .,hallk !'teet
Illy \\'or . III.
..,d tlH' (Mit '",t'ft'S' I l l , d cnjoy.l brc l'nVl rOll m c nr at
"",dlllg;a supporu\'C lUI
.vtJ ,,,1
ror p . ..1
homt' (~r [Link] lIIe
{O COfllpkrt' rillS book.

Modern Indian Theatre

An Introduction

It is important to see that India's tryst with modernity takes different

(necessarily comparable) forms in different languages. It is essential
for our self understanding that the unity o f Indian cultural expression
is achieved through the plurality o f linguistic (in this case theatrical)
expressions. For that reason rhe temlinology of 'regio nal' is misleading
when ie comes to cultural production. Each mode is u niquely important.
Each one is uniquely Indian. In that sense there is no regional theatre in
India. There are several, equally valid and legirimate Indian theatres.

-G. P. Dt:shpande, 1999, p. 95

Since Javed Mallick's pessimistic reflections on the poverty of

'Theatre Criticism in India Today,' in 2000,1 several studies have
been published, which emphasize the inclusion of theatre in the
theoretical and critical debates made possible by the increased
emphasis on the links between nationalism, imperialism, and
literatures from the colonized pans of the world. While suggesting
these directions in theatre scholarship, they have also initiated
inquiries into what constitutes modern Indian theatre, inevitably
locating its changing and contested relationship to modernity
in India's colonial and nationalist pasts, and [Link]

1 Javed Mallick, 2000, pp. 113- 17. Mallick identifies Rustom Bharucha as

o ne of the rew writers 'who, through their writings, have tried to raise the
standard of theatre scholarship in India'.
 • ~ lI"Idoon Th«tl re Art I"troductlon

~.prn~n( Of n o te :lInollS rhe reccntl y publ ,sl ll'd scud ". Modem Indion Theatre: An Introduction xiii
"PI"'~ 8h~"';J\" Dha dk ' , .... - . ICS arc
_~. \' -., r",~ cr s 'K.1t11'S "I /m/qX'nde"cc (200S)
4 ..w oUudhJl OaJI1I1 .1 'S /,- - ' 1'1 1 theatrical practices from a varicry of SHes in Africa.., the [Link],
U",,",~k . . 'ucfJa, (l)'S, 11II( Pe1jormlmccs (2006)
us book IIlrcrrog:nes the (Ten d s and development' Sou tb Asian an d t he settle r colonies of Australia and Canada.
U'I po Indc}X"ndcncc urban dr-u na in H indi Bengali M
t }~ W hile th is larger comparadve focus is both useful and ne.«sgry.
.nd K d ' . " arar 11 it becomes imperative, as Gilbert and Tompkins themselves point
.ann~ .a
In rdanon to irs colonial past. Oalm ia 's work .'
~[Link]
th for pro\'ldi ng an in·dep th ana lysis of sue},
" . . concerns
" out in PQSf.(;QloniAI Or",ma , that since Indian drama and theatre's
'histOly/practice is extremely complex, it is impossible to do
.u f)' d("\·tJo~d 10 Hmdl dra ma si nce rhe late nineteenth
justice to Indi an drama in a broadly comparatwe study. Moreover,
crnnul dun ng rhe Bhararendu Yug, continu ing rhl'ough h
the varieties of drama, dance, languages, and cultures t h at have
).J)" h~.nhr Yug in rhe 1920s, the modernist phase in the 196[0 e
in Au cnced Indian th eatre arc lrarl roo vast to consider in a text
and In [h~ work of avant-garde wo men playwrights/directo:~ other than one devoted to just India' (p. 7).
or the 19905. Other s tudies include Minoti Chatterjee's Theatre Heeding such calls regarding rhe importance of theatre, the
~ ~ ~. Nariona~ism and the Bengali Stage (2004), and current volume assembles an archive of critical essays, excerpts, and
.nldJ [Link] 5 Am ofAuthonty/ Acts [Link]: Theater and Politics theoretical and political statements written in English that reflect
'" C%nL:J1 and Pottcolonial lndia (2004), along with anthologies of upon the changing visions for theatre since the late nineteenth
plays such as T U[un 11.1 ukherjee's Staging Resistance: Plays by Women cemury. Such an exercise acquires special relevance because the
,n TrarJJiation (200S ), Erin Mee's Drama Contemporary: India (2001) place of theatre in the literatures of moderniry, Indian literature,
[Link] G.P. Oeshpande's Modern indian Drama: An Anthology (2 004): and colonial and post-colonial studies is marked by ambivalence
Togecher ~ich earlier work such as Ruscom Bharucha's Rehearsals and marginality. On the one hand, since the late nineteemh
of RLlolMtion: The Political Theater of Bengal (1983) and 71Jeatre and cemury, theatre has remained cemral ro social and political
tht World: Performance and the Politics of Culture ( 1992), and Jacob movementS through ami -colonial plays thar were subjected to
Saampickal's Voice to the Voiceless: The Power of People's Theatre in censorship under the Dramatic Performances Act of 1876. It was
J"Ju, (1994), this expanding corpus of critical work on Indian also an important fo rum for progressive writers and political
mearre is imporcanc for several reasons. First, ic indicates a growing activists in the early rwentieth century in many regions and has
helped raise concerns in post-colonial India through institutions
mtertst In Indian theatre history and points cowards the n eed for
such as the National School of Drama (NSD) as well as through
more work that subjects this highly pluralistic and diverse field to
the effort s of frin ge movemen ts in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s
critical scrutiny. Second, it emphasizes the political side of theatre
onwards. This is true especially of street theatre. The thematic
chat has received insufficient attemion as compared to its aesthetic range of modern theatre includes the politics of the British Raj ,
dimmsions, highlighting modern Indian theatre as a terrain that cond itions prevalent on tea and indigo plamations, workers'
.. me potencial to question and contest authoritarian s tructures rights, famines, the 1947 Partition, psychosocial fragmentation,
aIIrough the use of aesthetic forms that have been creatively fami li al problems and urban angst, concerns with women's issues,
tIDa:ed. In addition, it enriches and supplements the treatment of dowry problems, and t he rights of dalits, anlong ocher issues.
theatre in books such as Gilbert and Tompkins' Post-colonial These wide-ranging concerns have been addressed in a number
n...ry,
1'rIIaia, Politics (1996), ). Ellen Gainor's Imperialism of creative ways including mythological dramas, folk forms and
II!"'_ [Link] "" World Theatre, Drama and Performa nce (1995), rituals historical revivals transformed versions of Euro-American
Crow and Chris Banfield's An Introduction to Post-colonUd plays, ~otablyofShakesp~are and Brecht, and through avant-garde
which locate it within the comparative framework of experimentation. On the other hand, within (he expanding corpus
 .. ~ IndICHl Jh.o". An Introduclloo

ef~." cnnci m on th~ Ineralurc.'s of illdia it rem '"

' ...II1S t Ileg Modem Indian Theolre; M Introduction )(v
...... hAl rrc'rHTd the le2S1 otrnoU llt ofcritic.11I1trcnrio ll .l cl1re
AhhouSh n IS Jnlposslble to COwr (he [Link] terrain f acrQSS regiQns. IQcallries, and languages. My introduction alms
' . • 0 modc
InJun '~;lflT In ;l single ICXt , thl' pieces In the curre '" (0 pl'Ovide a contextual hi story that enables an mformed reading

'rr.a.k ~bour 'he O1Mlyent2.nglel11l'nts ofrrad ltlonal and nt

..
E
volu
me of rhe pieces in the current volume. ThiS demands, at the outset,
duslcaJ, folk i1nd ritualistic. and rural and urban t; uropean, ,w unpacking of the changing meanings of the term 'modem' for
orms and modcrn Indian thean e.
rrxnca:. In addltloll. they IIdd ress the overlaps in I " "
co omahst
FUflonall.'il , and Onellt.11ist positions that characterize and sha ' RET HI NKING THE ' MODERN '
modem theOl:t~. u 'tule n-prescnring .1 spectrum of p pc
'.
inCI udmg rh05(' 0 r playwnghts-d lrectors themselves .
erspectlves Although scholars identify playwrights such as Vijay Tendulkar
.. . , Important (Maralhi), Badal Sircar(Bengali), Mohan Rakcsh (Hind i), and Glnsh
\'01('('5 10 the4ltre cntlClsm and history practice and d" "
. " lreCtlon Karnad (Ka nnada) 'with creating a modern dramatic literature in
as ~'eU as rhe less mt1uential inreljections that are n hi ' I ndia' (see Met' 200 I), modem theatre's beginnings can be identified
onet e ess
[Link] for understanding the demands made on th " in the colon ial encounter that resulted in the influence of\Vestern
h
r. · . . eatre In
t e 100ce ofsocro-polmcaJ
. pressures and developments th "
, e a rticles and European models on local theatrical traditions. British theatre
1'('\~.a1 the muJC1-faceted, hybrid, and contested (ormatio f formed pare of cu ltural life as early as 1757 when Bengal came
modem IndiOlIl theatre. The critical essays conge fro m h' ns. a under th e rule of the East India Company, and saw a proliferation
. . IStonca/
O\~n.'lN'S to discussions of specific movementS and mo m " of playhouses, prominent among them being the Calcutta Theatre
. ~tsln
\"UIed locOltlons, languages, and socio-political coru:exts Be (built in 1775), the Sans Souci Theatre (opened in 1839), and
f 1_ ' • £I • cause
o O\~rtappmg InflUenCes amongst various dramatic pracri Chowringhee Theatre (bui lt in 18 13), wh ich flouri shed under the
th"'aJ f ' h ' ces, patronage of colonial offi cial s. initially restricted to the sabihs and
-, [erways ~. [Link] t earre srncdy along linguistic Or regional
lmts or neat diVl5lons of Sanskrit. traditional, European, o r folk memsahibs. theatrical activity spread among the local literati and
men of wealth who began stagi ng European plays at local theatres,
rhea~. ~ther: they point towards the complicity of theatre
schools, and college stages and, by the late nineteenth century,
hlSt~nogra~~y I.n promoting discrete and watertight divisions ar
resulted in the emergence of a stream of urban drama that was
s~c ~Im~ momentS. Additionally, they address theatre's influenced by [Link] traditions. Even though, as Partha
~o~ With the issues of class, caste, and gender, and the Chatterjee points out, it remai ned the 'least commended' aesthetic
...,., In ~lIch the nation came to be imagined from these varied
fo rm as compared to th e novel and poetry, by the late nineteenth
~~ at ~~ticaJ historical moments. Since performance cent ury, thea tre had developed into a broad-based entertai nment
atnsaruus a cntJcaJ aspect of modem theatre, the articles in in urban centres such as Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay and
dw CUlftnr volume also address issues pertaining to the role of attracted the largest middJe-class audience (Chatterjee 1993, pp.
-and<h<
... ' , -'." meanings of scenery, performance spaces,
m,.oau 7-8). \'(lith the simultaneous intensi fi cation of an anti-colonial
" . : : and Ian~ge. Overall, the articles confirm theatre's movement whose ideas permeated th e theatricaJ scene, modem
and paradoxiaJ relationship with modernity- both in thearre came to be Tlla rked by several paradoxes. Partha Chatterjee
~of'~andcontatr. Remaining tied, as it did, to the national identifies such paradoxes in the context o f theatre in BengaJ that
_... It repraenred contradictory positions, generated highly
••,..... acquired its modernity in the middle of the nineteenth century
F In amongst practitioners, and developed unevenly from rwo models: the modem European drama, which had found
a strong foothold in Bengal by this time, 3Jld Sanskri t drama,
'now restored to a repucation of classical excellence because of
_.M04.
W ..., IIIabs this point in the 'Introduction' to The Oxford
the praises showered upon it by Orientalist scholars from Europe'
 - ~ IndIOtl )'heofN An 'nll'oduChon

l(luut1Jft'
199J p . 7). TIn' 1,·lr;a~I'J >: ..1...serfS C haItC'jcc. la}, in
d" I of [Link];!; 'TIl(' IUt'!"ar), criteria that WOuld
Modern Inchon Theatre; An Introduction I!Y\;

dw .-dr~lIc om.1H 'icgll1cnt:uion rhat IS Implemented by lhe recurrent shift of the

Ih~ nC\I dr-un;1 IrHO !llt" pn vl leged domain f
...-unubI\ d Irrt'l 0 palllrcd bac kdrop' (Dallllia 2005, p. 36). For the Par-si thutres,
"-od 11,:11 ell/wre \\,15 . . . d C;lrly set by m odular forn'
.m rmn,JflO , . . S which peaked between the 1880!'> and lhe 1930s and contributed
,dt'd tn Europe' Ix'ouSt' 'cn n~s schookd 111 the traditions of 10 the 'first "modern" phase of Indian theaue' (Kapur 2006, p .
I"'" d~" .1' did not 1H-'("CSS.1niy apprO\'c of loca
E'[Link] , ...... ,) <
l convention S 91). modernity was channelled in the creation of new theatrical
7 8) [Link] Solol11on's assessment of modern India models through the use of traditional performances on European
d
(,bl "' pp. . "d d ·1 d · . I . n
IhUlrY ' ln tnt' current \'Ol unlt' proVl es eraJ e IIlS'g l~S mto SUch sryle proscenium sta ges. In doing so, they attempted to achieve
~ndoxd. He d.l.'iSlfies rhe three ~h.~es o.f theatre h,s~ory since a consciously viable commercial stage and to create expectations
Isr as the Onentalist phase begmnmg In the late e ighteenth about viewin g pleasures among consumers that became 'the very
antury. lht' high nationalist phase ( 19~O-47), and the pOSt_ fou ndati on of the entertainm ent bUSineSS- including the Indian
Indept:ndt'na nationalist phase. As attention came to be paid to cinema industry' (ibid., pp. 87- 8). In terms of themes. the Pars;
thOSt' rnrtt phases, the deo.,e/opmem of'modern ' th eatre through theatres' modernity derived frOm their international eclectic and
European contact saw a ruming back ro Sanskrit theatre, which hybrid repertoire of stories and forms dlat included the Persian
arne to bt' m-alued and revived as 'classical ' because of national ist Shah Nama , Arabian Nights, nineteenth century courtesan culture •
.upmmons and Oriemalist praise. This theatre, argues Solomon, stories from Shakespeare, and Victorian melodrama.
'sought to proj«c both modcrnity and Indianness in its style and While assessing the first five decades of the twentieth century,
subJ«f marrer, and thus constituted a fundamental component K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar has argued in 'Drama in Modem India' that
of tht' Indian intt'lligenrsia's grand nationalist enrerprise co the social reform and anti-colonial movements of a whole century
Invent, on the one hand, a pan-Indian nation-state that was and the two World Wars shaped the themes of modem drama in
modern ' bur which simultaneously artempted to bring about the various languages ofIndia . On the literary and critical front , the
m 'Imagined' nation into existence through a rerum to ancient influ ence of Marxism , psychoanalysis, symboli sm, and surrealism
were some influences that domi nated the eady twentierh century.
Hindu tradirions. The 'modern ' playwright'S problem in recreating
Besides, Iyengar also pays attention to the actor as a critical
thIS 'Indianness' as a result of colonial and imperialist influences
presence who 'helps [Q galvanize ... lrhe playl inca life' (ibid ., p. 8). In
constitutes, in G.P. Oeshpande's words, a political issue- po litical
Iyengar's words, 'The diverse illusions of the written word, spoken
btause 'the acceptance or partial acceptance or rejection of rpOst-
voice. vivid gesture. scenic display. and riot of colour and sou nd
EnlJghrenmenrJ modernity involves political choices and po litical
= '(1999, p. 91). somehow creare life in rhe theatre. and rhe imaginative actor's
pa rt is almost as important as the creative dramatist's' (ibid., p. 9).
The norian of modem1'cy PIaye d out mto · .
multiple s pheres Iyengar rhus makes t he actor a central feature of modern drama,
of [Link].1 life, including venues of performance. theatre emphasizing rhat the modernity of the acrcr is also being sh aped.
archJc«rure. :[Link]
. ' s pace, r19 h rmg,
. .
proscenIUm stages. the in pan, by t he co lon izin g influc nce. Wh ile he gives the example of
[Link] of theatre through the sale of ticke ts and a la te n ineteenth century Madras acmr, G.C.V. Srinivasachari) on
ftaI rho shih hom 'h
IMrumd . e actor-manager role to that of director.' For who m rhe Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. the chen Governor
. . . . . ~hc~~dra, the founding father of modern Hindi o f Madras, bestowed t he tirie of 'an Ind ian Garrick' for a supe rb
.... ebric r:;;:glllfied plays modelled after European drama perform ance in Shakulltala (ibid., p. 9), such ticies, which are ofren
........ DaImia, and scenography (Dalmia 2005). According u sed to bolster the repuration of theatre, the director) and the
-......I- Hanshchandra saw the chief characteristic p laywright, played an impo rtant role in accordin g modernity to
- . . .. rhe 'rq>eared c hange of scene, a narrative t heatre. Thus. it was not uncommo n for Gi rish C handra Ghosh
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Ballad—The Clerk’s Twa Sons.
Puzzen, C, poison.

“The doctor he’s a parfit plague,

An’ hauf the parish puzzens.”
Anderson. The Village Gang.

R.
Rackups, C, a game at marbles where the loser has to place his
knuckles on one side of a hole to be “fired” at with the taws of
the winners. “He mun stand his rackups” is a proverb implying
the necessity of accepting the consequences of misconduct,
defeat, or miscarriage of plans.
Rakin, C, wandering far or wildly.
“They ga rakin aboot widoot ayder errand or aim.”
Said of pedestrian tourists by a dalesman.
Rantin’, Ranty, S and C, wild, riotous.

“The rantin’ dog the daidie o’ ’t.”

Burns. Song.
Ratch, C, to search vigorously, to ransack.
“Ratch as ye will, ye’ll mak nowte out.”
 Said to hunters in a wood.
Reek, S, smoke.

“The death o’ deevils, smoor’d in brimstone reek.”

Burns. The Twa Brigs.
Riggin’, S, the roof (probably from Ridging primarily).
“Ane may like the kirk weel aneuch without aye riding on the
riggin’ o’ ’t.”—Proverb.
Rooers, C, (or rather Furness and Westmorland) oars.
“Why do you call them rooers?” “’Coase they irr rooers.”
“They call them oars elsewhere.” “They may co’ them what
they will, but if they roo wi’ them, they’re rooers.”
Conversation on Esthwaite lake.
Roose, S, praise, exalt.
”Roose the ford as ye find it.”—Proverb.
Rowp, S, auction; Rowp-crier, auctioneer.
“I canna pay’t an’ ye rowp me at the cross.”
Said by a hopeless debtor.
Rowth, S, abundance.
“Rich fouk ha’e rowth o’ frien’s.”—Proverb.
Rowe, S, roll.

“Where Cart rins rowin’ to the sea.”

Burns. The Gallant Weaver.

S.
Sackless, C, silly (originally, innocent).

“Our parson sweers a bonnie stick

Amang thur sackless asses.”
Anderson. The Village Gang.
Sairy, C, sorry.

“A sairy wife I trowe she’d mak

’At cudn’t muck a byre.”
Ibid. Betty Brown.
Sark, C and S, shirt (male or female).
“She won’t mend a sark, but reads novels, proud brat.”
Ibid. Elizabeth’s Burthday.

“Our women are nowadays a’ grown sae braw,

Ilk maun ha’e a sark, an’ some maun ha’e twa.”
Ross. The wee pickle tow.
Sarra, C, serve.

“The witch wife begg’d i’ our back-side,

An’ went unsarra’d away i’ the pet.”
Anderson. The Witch Wife.
Sauch, S, willow.

“Whereby the glancing waves o’ Clyde

Through sauchs an’ hangin’ hazels glide.”
Old Song—Bothwell Bank.
Scraffle, C, scramble.
 “We scraffelt on i’ this fashion, an’ it was quite dark afooar
we gat till Ammelside yatt.”
Betty Yewdale. T’ terrible Knitters i’ Dent.
Screes, C, sloping banks of fragmentary stone under precipices.

“Whoariver there’s screes

There’s mair steàns nor trees.”
Old Rhymes.
Scrimp, S, pinch, reduce.

“For lack o’ thee I scrimp my glass.”

Burns. On a Bank Note.
Scrowe, S and C, a lot of children, etc., rough or numerous.
“There’s sic a scrowe o’ Irishmen come ower frae
Skinburness.”—Said at Annan.
Scunner, S, shuddering disgust—noun and verb.

“An’ yill an’ whiskey ga’e to cairds,

Until they scunner.”
Burns. Ep. to Smith.
Sec, C; Sic, S, such.

“Feegh! sec a yen we’ve hed at Codbeck,

As niver was under the sun.”
Anderson. The Codbeck Wedding.
“Sic as ye gie, sic will ye get.”—Proverb.
Shap, C, to seem likely, or tend to.
“They’re shappin’ to gang heàm wid empty pockets.”
 Said of two losing whist players at a Merry Night.
Shinny, C; Shinty, S, a rough game played with knobbed or round
ended sticks—called in the south of England, I believe, hocky.
“Shinny’s weel aneuf if shins wer’ seàf.”—Old saying.
Sinsyne, S, since then.

“She charm’d my heart an’ aye sinsyne,

I canna think o’ onie ither.”
Song—O’er the Muir.
Skeich, S, shy, distant.

“Maggie coost her heid fu’ heich,

Look’d asklent an’ unco skeich.”
Burns. Duncan Gray.
Skirl, S, scream.

“White and bludy puddings rowth

To gar the doctor skirl wi’ drowth.”
Ferguson. St Andrews.
Skreich, S; Skrike, C, shriek.
“It’s time aneuch to skreich when ye’re strucken.”
Proverb.
Skurl, C, slide.

“Skurl, skurl the’ doon—I’ll kep the’, come thy ways,

I’ll leuk ahint me—niver mind thy claes.”
Ewan Clarke.
Slake, C, a light smear as of grease, etc.
 “Let’s tak’ slake an’ slake aboot till it’s done.”
Said in licking out a treacle pot.
Slape, C, slippery.
“I mun tell her fadder when I see him—she’s gittin’ varra
slape,” old John Howe of Branthwaite Hall called out when he
witnessed, by chance, a meeting of sweethearts on a lonely
road.
Slare, C, to walk slowly.
“He may be a sharp worker, but he’s a slarin’ walker.”
Said by a farmer’s wife of a new come man servant.
Slashy, C, sloppy.
“It was beginnin’ to thowe, an’ was varra slashy an’ cāld.”
Betty Yewdale. T’ terrible Knitters i’ Dent.
Slatter, C, slop.

“Wi’ jaws o’ yell some durty beuts

Pat loft seun in a slatter.”
Mark Lonsdale. The Upshot.
Sleekie, or Sleekit, S, sly, smooth.

“O we were sly, sly!

O, we were sly an’ sleekit.”
Song.
Slipe, C, to slip away, to “hook it.”
“Slipe, my lad, while thou’s weel. Slipe, I say, an’ let neàbody
see the’ gang.”—Said to a youth in a row.
Slocken, S and C, to slake thirst.
 “Ha’e ye any clippin’ drink left?” “No!” “Ha’e ye any common
yall? No! Ha’e ye any smo’ beer? No! Why than, hang it—ha’e
ye any pig-stuff? I mun be slocken’t wi’ summat!”—John
Kendall at Hawkshead Hall the day after the sheep-shearing
feast.
Smaik, S, a small boy, or other small animal.
“He’s but a smaik, but he’s a man at the books.”
Said of a schoolboy.
Smittal, C, infectious.
“As smittal as t’ Smo’-pox.”
Said of a successful male animal kept for breeding purposes.
Snape, C, snub, also blight.

“Yet tho’ sec bruolliments galwore

Oft snaip’t the whyet of our days.”
Stagg. Auld Lang Syne.
Sneck, C, latch.

“The Buckabank chaps are reet famous sweethearters,

Their kisses just sound like the sneck of a yett.”
Anderson. Bleckell Murry-Neet.
Sneck-posset, C. When a man has the door shut in his face,
figuratively or literally, he gets a sneck-posset.
“Glooar’d at me a bit, an’ than clyash’t dewar i mi feeace——
He g’e ma a faer sneck-posset.”
Rev. T. Clarke, Johnny Shippard.
Snell, S, cold and cutting.
 “There cam’ a wind oot o’ the north,
A sharp wind and a snell.”
Ballad—Young Tamlane.
Snirrup, or Snirp, C, to curl up the nose, etc.

“As seun as she fund I depended on labour,

She snirp’t up her nose an’ nae mair leuk’t at me.”
Anderson. The Lasses o’ Carel.
Snirt, or Snurl, C, the sound of imperfectly suppressed laughter.

“But seckan toke! nin could tell what aboot,

I stop’t my lugs for fear o’ snurtin’ oot.”
Graham. Gwordie and Will.
Snod, S and C, smooth, neat.

“Her cockermonie snoddit up fu’ sleek,

Her haffet locks hung wavin’ owre her cheek.”
Ramsay. The Gentle Shepherd.
“You’re making this road rough!” “Ey, but we’ll mak it snod
afoor we’re deun wi’ ’t.”
Reply of the road surveyor at Hawkshead.
Snowk, C, to snuffle audibly.
”Snowkin’ like pigs at a sew.”—Common saying.
Snug (as a verb), C, to nestle.
“We snugg’t in togidder.”—Ibid.
Sonsie, S, comfortable looking, also lucky.
 “Tall and sonsie, frank and free,
Lo’ed by a’, an’ dear to me.”
Lady Nairne. Kind Robin lo’es me.
“Whistlin’ maids an’ crawin’ hens are no sonsie.“—Proverb.
Sorn, S, to live on others, to sponge.

“Sornan frae place to place,

As scrimp o’ mainners as o’ sense or grace.”
Ramsay. The Gentle Shepherd.
Souch, S, the sound of gentle wind or breath.

“Hark how the westlin’ win’ souchs through the reeds.”

Ibid.
Spang-hew, S and C, to fling to the winds.
Spang-hewing is a cruel mode practised by school-boys of
putting birds, frogs, etc., to death. A stick is laid across a
block, the victim placed on one end and the other struck
sharply, throwing the poor animal high into the air, killing, and
generally, mutilating it.
Spats, S and C, abbrev. of spatterdashes—gaiters.

“Their stumps, erst used to philabegs,

Are dight in spatterdashes.”
Ferguson. Leith Races.
Speel, S, climb.

“Monie a time,
Wi’ you I’ve speel’d the braes o’ rhyme.”
 Ferguson. My Auld Breeks.
Speir, S, ask, enquire.
“A feul may speir mair questions than a doctor can answer.”
Proverb.
Spretty, S, covered with Sprett, a kind of coarse grass.

“Till spretty knowes wad rair’t an’ risket

An’ slypet owre.”
Burns. The Auld Mare Maggie.
Sprogue, C, a pleasure ramble.
“I’ve been to t’ top o’ Knock Murton.” “What took ye there?”
“I just went for a sprogue!”
Part of a conversation in Arlecdon.
Squab, C, a long low seat with a back.
“Sit on t’ squab till I bring ye summat to sup on.”—Said to
me once when I reached a farm house exhausted from
struggling through a snow storm.
Stammer, or Stummer, C, to stumble.

“Oft wittingly I stummer’t, oft I fell.”

Relph. Kursty and Peggy.
’Statesman, C, landed proprietor—Estatesman.
“It is a bonnie job, if gentlemen an’ gentlemen’s servants is
to ower-ride us steàts fooak.”
Said by an old lady at Coniston after a vestry meeting.
Stayvel, or Stayver, S and C, to walk in a listless manner.
 “Ther was hundreds o’ fwoke stayvelan aboot.”
Ritson. The Borrowdale Letter.
Stoore, S and C, dust.

“This day the kirk kicks up a stoore.”

Burns. The Ordination.
“The Bible ligs stoory abeun the door heid.”
Anderson. Caleb Crosby.
Stound, S and C, ache or pang.

“An’ aye the stound, the deidly wound.

Cam frae her e’en sae lovely blue.”
Burns. A waefu’ gate yestreen.
“It stoundit sare, an’ sare it swell’d.”
Relph. After Theocritus.
Straddel’t, C, brought to a stand.
“I think oald P—— was varra nār straddel’t iv his sarmon.”
Heard at the door of a Wesleyan chapel after service.
Sumph, S and C, a fool.

“An’ onie sumph that keeps up spite,

In conscience I abhor him.”
Rev. J. Skinner. Tullochgorum.
“I sit like a sumph, nea mair mysel’.”
Anderson. Barbary Bell.
Swap, S and C, exchange.
 “I trowe we swappit for the worse,
Ga’e the boot an’ better horse.”
Song—Carle an’ the King come.
“Lal Sim’s geane an’ swapp’d the black cowt.”
Anderson. Nichol the Newsmonger.
Swat, C, sit down, squat.

“Come, Cuddy, swat an’ tak’ a whiff.”

Anderson. The Cram.
Sweir, S, loath, unwilling.

“Forsooth they cried, anither gill.

For sweir we’re aye to gang awa’.”
Mac Phail. Song.

T.
Taggelt, C, a scamp.
“He mud know they wor o’ arrant taggelts an’ taistrels.”
Rev. T. Clarke. Johnny Shippard.
Taistrel, C, a good for nothing.

“Yae son proved a taistrel an’ brak up i’ Lunnon.”

Anderson. The Twee Auld Men.
Taws, S, a strap of thick leather slit into several tails; an implement
of punishment in Scottish schools.
“Never use the taws when a gloom ’ill do the turn.”
 Proverb.
Tawtie, or Tawtit, S, roughly matted (applied to hair or wool).

“Nae tautit tyke, though ne’er sae duddy.”

Burns. The Twa Dogs.
Teem, C; Toom, S, empty, pour out.

“About her lank and all o’er-teemed loins.”

Hamlet.
“And there toom thy brock skin bag.”
Ballad—The Fray of Suport.
Teul, C and S, a bad one (probably from devil).

“Let women deu what gud they can,

Thur wicked teùls ’ill lee.”
Jwohnny and Jenny.
Tew, C, harass, fatigue.

“An’ while they skew’t an’ tew’t an’ swet,

Wi’ monie a weary sidle.”
Mark Lonsdale. The Upshot.
Theek, S, thatch.

“An’ wi’ a lock o’ his yellow hair,

We’ll theek our nest when it blows bare.”
Ballad—The Twa Corbies.
Thir, S; Thur, C, these.
 “An’ sad an’ silent was the nicht
That was atween thir twa.”
Ballad—Clark Saunders.
“Thur taxes! thur taxes! Lord help us, Amen!”
Ewan Clark. Ballad.
Thole, S, endure.
“He that has gude crops may thole some thistles.”—Proverb.
Thowless, S and C, soft, inapt.

“Fortune aye favours the active an’ bauld,

But ruins the wooer that’s thowless an’ cauld.”
Ramsay. The Widow.
Threep, S and C, to aver, or argue, insistingly.

“An’ fowk wad threep that she did green

For what wad gar her skirl
An’ skreich some day.”
Ramsay. Christ’s Kirk on the Green.
“Some threep ’at the times ’ill get better.”
Anderson. Carel Fair.
Throssle, C, the thrush.

“The throssle, when cauld winter’s geane,

Aye in our worchet welcomes spring.”
Anderson. The Lass abeun Thirty.
Throughly, C, corpulent.
“Throughly? ey, a gud yard through an’ mair!”
 Said of Hannah Page, who sold toffy in Whitehaven.
Thyvel, C, a porridge stick.
“She’ll lick a lean thyvel ’at weds you.”
Said to a poor Schoolmaster at Workington.
Tine, S, lose; Tint, lost.
“Tine thimble, tine thrift.”—Proverb.

“O have ye tint at tournament

Your sword or yet your spear?”
Ballad—The Gay Goss Hawk.
Tip, S and C, a ram.

“She was nae get o’ muirlan’ tips,

Wi’ tawtit ket an’ hairy hips.”
Burns. Puir Maillie.
Tipe, C, to drink off.
“Tipe it up an’ hev anudder.”—Common fuddling invitation.
Toozle, S and C, to rub up, to ruffle or make untidy.

“I ance was abused i’ the kirk

For toozling a lass i’ my daffin.”
Burns. The Jolly Beggars.
Top-sark, C, an over-shirt, generally made of coarse woollen cloth.
“We cannot bed ye o’, but we can lend ye top-sarks.”—Said
to a weather-bound party at Cockley Beck in Seathwaite.
Towp, C, capsize.
 “The leevin surs! she towp’t her ower
Or yen cud say, ’Od bliss her.”
Mark Lonsdale. The Upshot.
Toytle, C and S, totter.
“Tak care thou doesn’t toytle intil t’ beck.”
Said to a top-heavy neighbour at Branthwaite.
Tryste, S, an appointed meeting, also to appoint a meeting.
“Crack tryste, crack credit.”—Proverb.

“I daurna tryste wi’ you, Willie, I daurna tryste ye here,

But I’ll meet wi’ you in heaven Willie, i’ the spring-time o’ the
year.”
Aytoun. Annie’s Tryste.
Tyle, C, to distress, as with pain or fatigue.
“I’s tyled to deeth wid this kurn. I’ve been kurning iver sen
mwornin’, an’ I seem as far off butter as iver.”
A farmer’s wife.

U.
Unco, S; Unket, C, strange, remarkable.
“A hungry care’s an unco care.”—Proverb.

“What, is there owte unket i’ your country side?”

Anderson. Bruff Reaces.
Up-bank, C, upwards.
 “Till watters run upbank an’ trees they grow down-bank,
We niver can leuk on his marrow agean.”
Anderson. Kit Craffet.

W.
Waistrel, C, an unthrift, a useless fellow.
The late Sergeant Wilkins, in reply to the Court, once
defined waistrel, not very accurately, as “something spoiled in
the manufacture, and sold at half price in the Lowther Arcade.”
Wale, S, choose, choice.

“For sake o’ gear

Ane wales a wife as he wad buy a mear.”
Ramsay. The Gentle Shepherd.
“The king o’ gude fellows an’ wale o’ auld men.”
Song—Auld Rob Morris.
Wankle, C, weakly, flaccid.
“As wankle as a wet seck.”—Common saying.
Wanter, C, one wanting a wife or husband.

“He leeves aw his leane, but he’s seerly to bleame,

When a wanter like me’s to be hed sa near heame.”
Anderson. Auld Robbie Miller.
Wanwauchtie, S, unable to drink freely (wan, un, and waucht a
hearty draught.)
“He’s unco wanwauchtie that scunners at whey.”—Proverb.
War-day, C, work-day—so distinguished from the day of rest.

“She cheerfu’ wrowte her warday wark,

Than sat down at her wheel.”
Rayson. Ann o’ Hethersgill.
Ware, S and C, spend.

“Jockey and Jenny they went to the fair,

Jockey gave Jenny a penny to ware.”
Children’s Rhyme.
Wat, S, know.
“She’s a wise wife that wats her ain weird.”—Proverb.
Waukrife, S, wakeful, or preventing sleep.
“Fleas and a girnin’ wife are waukrife bedfellows.”
Proverb.
Weird, S, fate, destiny.
“After word comes weird, fair fa’ they that ca’ me madam.”
Proverb.
Welch, C, saltless, insipid.
“What foats may poddish hev? They may be sooar, seùty,
sodden, an’ savvorless, soat, welsh, brocken, an’ lumpy!”
Common Saying.
Whang, C and S, a strip of leather, a piece cut off anything.
“The mergh o’ his shin bane has run down on his spur
leather whang.”
The Fray of Suport.
 “Wi’ sweet milk cheese i’ monie a whang.”
Burns. The Holy Fair.
Whick, C, alive, quick.

“Sec fashions I’ll not follow while I’s whick,

Lang as plain grogram and thur locks please Dick.”
Ewan Clark. The Faithful Pair.
Whiles, S, sometimes.

“Wha does the utmost that he can

May whiles do mair.”
Burns. Ep. to Dr. Blacklock.
Whins, C; Whuns, S, furze, gorse.
“When t’ whins is oot o’ blossom kissing’s oot o’ fashion.”
Proverb.
Whunstane, S, a kind of hard dark stone.

“Wha’s ragin’ flame an’ scorchin’ heat

Wad melt the hardest whun-stane.”
Burns. The Holy Fair.
Whuddering, S and C, shuddering or tremulous in sound.

“Whudder awa’ thou bitter, biting blast.”

Mactaggart. Mary Lee’s Lament.
Widderful, C, looking withered or unthriven.
“That barne leuks as widderful as if it was its oan gran’-
fadder.”—Said of an unhealthy child.
Wimple, S, to curl and wheel as running water.

“But I’ll big a bower on yon green bank sae bonnie,

That’s laved by the waters o’ Tay wimplin’ clear.”
Song—Bonnie Dundee.
Win, S, to make way, to get to.
“Ye maunna think to win through the world on a feather
bed.”—Proverb.
Winnock, S, diminutive of window.

“At yon farmer’s winnock, nichtly,

Still he taks his eerie stan’.”
John Johnstone. Bodkin Ben.
Winsome, S, winning, attractive.

“She is a winsome wee thing,

That sweet wee wife o’ mine.”
Burns. Song.
Wizzent, C, withered, shrunk.

“He keeps a lad’s heart in his wizzent āld skin.”

Stanyan Bigg. Granfadder Jones.
Won, S, to exist, to dwell.

“Kissing has wonn’d i’ the world

Sin ever there were twa.”
Old Song.
Worchet, C, orchard.
 “Our meadow sud be a girt worchet,
An’ growe nowte at o’ but big plums.”
Anderson. King Roger.
Wrowke, C, to disturb roughly, or stir up.
“I ola’s liked John, but I cared sa lāl for Grace ’at I cūd ha’
teàn her an’ wrowk’t t’ fire wid her.”
A Cumberland lady, about her children.
Wudde, S, mad.

“I’ve ridden a horse baith wild an’ wudde.”

Ballad—Kinmont Willie.
Wummel, C, to enter in a sinuous manner, as an auger bores.
“He’ll wummel his-sel’ intil t’ creuktest rabbit whoal i’
Siddick.”—Said of a terrier.

Y.
Ya, Yan, C, one; Ae and Yin in Dumfriesshire.
Ya is used when the noun indicated is named—yan, when it
is understood; thus—“How many fwoke was theer?” “Yan!”
“No’but yan?” “No’but ya man!” Ae and yin are used in the
same way. The use of the first is illustrated in the conversation
without consonants which is said to have come off in a shop in
Dumfries—Customer, referring to some cloth, asks, “A’ ’oo?”
Shopman assents, “Ou aye, a’ ’oo!” Customer again, “A’ ae
’oo?” Shopman, “Ou aye, a’ ae ’oo!” That is, “All wool?” “O yes,
all wool!” “All one (or the same) wool?” “O yes, all one wool!”
Yabble, C, wealthy (literally, able).
 “A varra yabble man i’ heeh life was wantan ta simma.”
Rev. T. Clarke. Johnny Shippard.
Yammer, S and C, to articulate quickly and indistinctly from any
feeling.

“Fareweel to the bodies that yammer and prowm.”

Song—Bide ye yet.
“There’s been a lang yammer in t’ papers last week.”
Dickinson. Scallow Beck Boggle.
Yewl, C, to weep.
“A lāl thing mak’s a barne yewl, an’ a lāl thing mak’s it
laugh.”—Proverb.
Yoad and Yad, S and C, a mare.

“Frae Tindal-fell twelve pecks she’d bring—

She was a yad fit for a king.”
Anderson. My bonnie black meer’s deed.
Yoke, S and C, to engage with, to set to, to put a horse to a
vehicle, etc.

“At length we had a hearty yokin

At sang about.”
Burns. Ep. to Lapraik.
“An’ they yoak’t it ageàn an’ laid at it wi’ t’ whup.”
Dickinson. The Ore Carter’s Wife.
Yowl, S and C, to howl.
“A dog winna yowl an’ ye hit him wi’ a bane.”—Proverb.
GEO: COWARD, PRINTER, 75, SCOTCH STREET, CARLISLE.
 A LIST OF BOOKS

PUBLISHED BY

GEO: COWARD, CARLISLE.

The SONGS and BALLADS of CUMBERLAND,
to which are added Dialect and other Poems; with Biographical
Sketches, Notes, and Glossary. Edited by Sidney Gilpin. With
Portrait of Miss Blamire. Small Crown 8vo. Price 7s.
(A New Edition in preparation.)
One of the most interesting collections of poetry which have been
lately published is the “Songs and Ballads of Cumberland.” How
many people know anything of Miss Blamire? Yet she was the author
of that most beautiful and pathetic of ballads beginning, “And ye
shall walk in silk attire.” Every one will, therefore, thank the editor
for the conscientious way in which he has issued her pieces, and
given us some account of her life. It was she, too, who wrote that
other beautiful ballad, worthy of Lady Anne Lindsay, “What ails this
heart o’ mine?” which, in our opinion, is poetry full of truth and
tenderness. Indeed, we should be disposed to look upon it as a
critical touchstone, and to say that those who did not like it could
not possibly appreciate true poetry.... We can only advise the reader
to buy the book, and we feel sure that he, like ourselves, will be
thankful to the editor.—Westminster Review.
We like the Cumberland Songs a good deal better than the
Lancashire ones which we reviewed a fortnight back. There is more
go and more variety in them; the hill-air makes them fresher, and we
do not wonder that Mr. Gilpin feels—now he has got “tem put in
prent”—
 Aw England cannot bang them.
We certainly cannot recollect a better collection.... While the
author of “Joe and the Geologist” lives, we shall rest assured that
the Cumberland dialect will be well represented in verse as well as
prose, though we suppose he cannot love to describe the roaring
scenes at weddings and the like that his predecessors witnessed....
The dialect is rich in reduplicated words—in good forms—in old
English words; and the volume altogether is one that should find a
place on the shelf of every reader of poetry and student of manners,
customs, and language.—The Reader.
The truly Cumbrian minstrel towards the close of the last century
seems to have approached the Scotch in his pictures of rural
courtship, and to have been still greater in his descriptions of
weddings, as of some other festivities of a more peculiar character.
He had a healthy and robust standard of feminine beauty, and his
most riotous mirth was more athletic and less purely alcoholic than
that which flourished in Burns’s native soil.—The Spectator.
These Cumberland lyrics—till now scattered—are on the whole
well worth the pains spent on their collection. In some cases, as in
those of Relph and Miss Blamire, there is evidence of real genius for
the ballad or the eclogue; and with respect to other writers, if the
poetic feeling be less deep, humour and keen observation are
displayed in dealing with the people and customs of a district which,
in its lingering primitiveness and time-honored traditions, is richer in
materials for fancy and character than regions which lie nearer the
metropolis.—The Athenæum.
It is seldom that a book compiled on the local principle contains so
much good matter as this collection of the “Songs and Ballads of
Cumberland.” In the pathetic vein, Miss Blamire is a host in herself;
and the humorous and “character sketches,” as we may call them,
by various hands, are more vigorous and picturesque, and less
vulgar or coarse, than is at all common in the works of local poets.
To some readers the peculiar dialect may be objectionable; but to
any one who can read Burns, it need be no stumbling-block to the
enjoyment of the varied contents of this elegant and well-arranged
volume.... The biographical and other notes are carefully and well
written, judiciously informative, and not too long.—Scotsman.
Cumberland has a goodly store of ballads, the natural offspring of
her hills and lakes, and fells and “forces,” a wealth of ballad
literature, in fact, whereof the Southron in general knows, we fear,
but little. Miss Susanna Blamire is a name of celebrity up North, the
poetess of Cumberland; and Robert Anderson and many others hold
almost equal repute there. Mr. Sidney Gilpin, himself owning a name
which has belonged to more than one Cumberland celebrity, has
collected and edited a volume of the dialect-songs and ballads, and
other specimens of the minstrelsy of his county, and offers it to the
appreciation of the English public. The “Songs and Ballads of
Cumberland” ought to be a welcome volume to all who can relish
the home-spun simple language of a genuine muse of the hills.
There is much true and tender poetry in the book, and much rough,
natural vigour.—Morning Star.
Cumberland has found in Mr. Sidney Gilpin an able and zealous
champion; and the present collection of her Songs and Ballads,
though not, perhaps, absolutely exhaustive, will decidedly extend
her poetic fame, and no doubt surprise many even among the
students of this peculiar lore.—Church and State Review.

F. Cap 8vo. Price 2s. 6d., in neat Cloth binding.

MISS BLAMIRE’S SONGS AND POEMS;

together with Songs by her friend Miss Gilpin of Scaleby Castle.
With Portrait of Miss Blamire.
She was an anomaly in literature. She had far too modest an
opinion of herself; an extreme seldom run into, and sometimes, as in
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