26o History of the 



that they were in the habit of meeting in each other's houses by 

 turns, and practising together the compositions, sacred and 

 secular, which our Country can boast in such rich abundance. 

 Many pieces of their own composing bear the impress of abiUty far 

 beyond mediocrity, and deserve to be more generally known. 

 Some of these have, indeed, already gone abroad in the world, and 

 are sung in places widely apart ; being admired by those who are 

 unable to recognise either their origin or authorship. 



I have in my possession a collection, in manuscript, of no fewer 

 than fifty sacred pieces, consisting of Psalm tunes and Chants, 

 composed by residents in the Dean Valley, and in other parts of 

 Rossendale, several of whom are still living. Large as this number 



coming down a moorland slope far away in front of us. As they drew nearer, 

 we found that many of them had musical instruments ; and when we met, my 

 friend recognised them as working people living in the district, and mostly well 

 known to him. He inquired where they had been, and they told him that 

 they had 'bin to a bit ov a sing deawn i'th' Deighn.' ' Well,' said he, ' can't 

 we have a tune here ?' ' Sure, yo con, wi' o' th' plezzur i' th' world,' replied 

 he who acted as spokesman ; and a low buzz of delighted consent ran through 

 the rest of the company. They then ranged themselves in a circle around 

 their conductor, and they played and sang several fine pieces of psalmody 

 upon the heather-scented mountain top. As those solemn strains floated over 

 the wild landscape, startling the moorfowl untimely in his nest, I could not help 

 thinking of the hunted Covenanters of Scotland. The altogether of that 

 scene upon the mountains, ' between the gloaming and the mirk,' made an 

 impression upon me which I shall not easily forget. Long after we parted 

 from them we could hear their voices, softening in sound as the distance grew, 

 chanting on their way down the echoing glen, and the effect was wonderfully 

 fine. This little incident on the top of Swinshaw is representative of many 

 things which often occur in the country parts of Lancashire, showing how 

 widespread the love of music is among the working-classes there. Even in 

 great manufacturing towns it is very common, when passing cotton-mills at 

 work, to hear some fine psalm tune streaming in chorus from female voices, 

 and mingling with the spoom of thousands of spindles. The ' Larks of Dean,' 

 like the rest of the Lancashire operatives, must have suffered in this melan- 

 choly time ; but I hope that the humble musicians of our country will never 

 have occasion to hang their harps upon the willows." — Home Life of the Lan- 

 cashire Factory Folk during the Cation Famine, c 23. 



