Larks of Dean
Encyclopedia
The Larks of Dean were a society of musicians formed in Rossendale
, Lancashire
in northern England during the mid-eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth century. They were known in the local dialect as 'Th' Deighn Layrocks'.
between Rawtenstall
and Burnley
, part of the area in which the textile industry expanded massively during the Industrial Revolution
. In 1835 the Scottish writer George Hogarth
noted 'In the densely-populated manufacturing districts...music is cultivated among the working classes to an extent unparalleled in any other part of the country', in his Musical History, referring to the industrialised parts of England. Soon after, in 1862 Edwin Waugh
describing Manchester
in the Cotton Famine mentions 'swarms of strange, shy, sad-looking singers and instrumental performers in the work-worn clothing of factory-operatives'. Making music provided one of the few ways to find relief from the hardship of working in the new mill factories of Lancashire. The Larks of Dean were one notable group of musicians that grew from this situation, as well as from the non-conformist religious background of the area.
chapel was built in 1750 and rebuilt later in Goodshaw in 1760. Nuttall was the minister until his death in 1792. Richard Hudson was another preacher working with Nuttall who was responsible for the religious music that was a feature of the worship. Goodshaw Chapel became a magnet for music. The group who called themselves The Larks of Dean carried their instruments over the rough moorland terrain every Sunday to perform in the Chapel. The tradition flourished for a century until the Chapel closed in 1860.
tunes collected together from the Larks of Dean. The earliest dated appears to be 1745, and the Rev. John Nuttall's two sons, James and Henry contributed most, with Henry composing about 100. Other composers were John Hargreaves, Reuben Hudson, Abraham and Robert Ashworth, and other members of the Nuttall family.
There are many stories of practices going into the early hours, even of Sunday sessions continuing into Monday. In addition to their own music, the Larks of Dean loved the music of George Handel. One member is said to have walked well over 20 miles just to look at a copy of Samson
. Several members of the Larks of Dean were great characters. One remarkable member was Robert o' t'h Moss (Ashworth), and Thomas Newbigging tells the story of him playing a hornpipe on his cello; when an old deacon exclaimed "Robert, that's an idle tune", he replied, "There are no idle tunes."
Today's the Larks of Dean Quire, based in Bury
, Lancashire continue this tradition, though their singing of hymns, psalms, anthems, and carols, are mostly performed unaccompanied, and they have their own Larks of Dean Quire website http://www.larksofdean.co.uk/. A collection of instruments and manuscripts belonging to the original Larks of Dean are on display in Whitaker Park Museum, Rawtenstall
.
s of the area. These paths are exposed and high, potentially dangerous in the winter months. The musicians would have walked these paths to reach their place of worship and music-making. Edwin Waugh
, in his 'Home-Life of the Lancashire Factory Folk during the Cotton Famine' gives a vivid but historically interesting insight into the lives of the Larks of Dean in the following passage:
"Up in the forest of Rosendale, between Deerply Moor and the wild hill
called Swinshaw, there is a little lone valley, a green cup in the
mountains, called "Dean." The inhabitants of this valley are so
notable for their love of music, that they are known all through the
vales of Rosendale as "Th' Deighn Layrocks," or "The Larks of Dean."
"In the twilight of a glorious Sunday evening, in the height of
summer, I was roaming over the heathery waste of Swinshaw, towards
Dean, in company with a musical friend of mine, who lived in the
neighbouring clough, when we saw a little crowd of people 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."
Rossendale
Rossendale is a local government district with borough status. It is made up of a number of small former mill towns in Lancashire, England centered around the valley of the River Irwell in the industrial North West...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
in northern England during the mid-eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth century. They were known in the local dialect as 'Th' Deighn Layrocks'.
Background
Dean is a small community within the east Lancashire valley of Rossendale, near WaterWater
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
between Rawtenstall
Rawtenstall
Rawtenstall is a town at the centre of the Rossendale Valley, in Lancashire, England. It is the seat for the Borough of Rossendale, in which it is located. The town lies 18 miles north of Manchester, 22 miles east of the county town of Preston and 45 miles south east of Lancaster...
and Burnley
Burnley
Burnley is a market town in the Burnley borough of Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Brun....
, part of the area in which the textile industry expanded massively during the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
. In 1835 the Scottish writer George Hogarth
George Hogarth
George Hogarth was a Scottish newspaper editor, music critic, and musicologist. He authored several books on opera and Victorian musical life in addition to contributing articles to various publications....
noted 'In the densely-populated manufacturing districts...music is cultivated among the working classes to an extent unparalleled in any other part of the country', in his Musical History, referring to the industrialised parts of England. Soon after, in 1862 Edwin Waugh
Edwin Waugh
Edwin Waugh , poet, son of a shoemaker, was born in Rochdale, Lancashire, England, and, after a little schooling, apprenticed to a printer, Thomas Holden, at the age of 12...
describing Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
in the Cotton Famine mentions 'swarms of strange, shy, sad-looking singers and instrumental performers in the work-worn clothing of factory-operatives'. Making music provided one of the few ways to find relief from the hardship of working in the new mill factories of Lancashire. The Larks of Dean were one notable group of musicians that grew from this situation, as well as from the non-conformist religious background of the area.
Chapels and music
Non-conformist religion had been an important feature of working-class northern British life since the evangelical awakening of the first part of the eighteenth century. As in many similar communities chapels were built throughout Rossendale during the following years. Influenced by the preacher John Nuttall a small BaptistBaptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
chapel was built in 1750 and rebuilt later in Goodshaw in 1760. Nuttall was the minister until his death in 1792. Richard Hudson was another preacher working with Nuttall who was responsible for the religious music that was a feature of the worship. Goodshaw Chapel became a magnet for music. The group who called themselves The Larks of Dean carried their instruments over the rough moorland terrain every Sunday to perform in the Chapel. The tradition flourished for a century until the Chapel closed in 1860.
The music
There are well over a thousand psalm and hymnHymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
tunes collected together from the Larks of Dean. The earliest dated appears to be 1745, and the Rev. John Nuttall's two sons, James and Henry contributed most, with Henry composing about 100. Other composers were John Hargreaves, Reuben Hudson, Abraham and Robert Ashworth, and other members of the Nuttall family.
There are many stories of practices going into the early hours, even of Sunday sessions continuing into Monday. In addition to their own music, the Larks of Dean loved the music of George Handel. One member is said to have walked well over 20 miles just to look at a copy of Samson
Samson (oratorio)
Samson is a three-act oratorio by George Frideric Handel, considered one of his finest dramatic works. It is usually performed as an oratorio in concert form, but on occasions has also been staged as an opera...
. Several members of the Larks of Dean were great characters. One remarkable member was Robert o' t'h Moss (Ashworth), and Thomas Newbigging tells the story of him playing a hornpipe on his cello; when an old deacon exclaimed "Robert, that's an idle tune", he replied, "There are no idle tunes."
Today's the Larks of Dean Quire, based in Bury
Bury
Bury is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Irwell, east of Bolton, west-southwest of Rochdale, and north-northwest of the city of Manchester...
, Lancashire continue this tradition, though their singing of hymns, psalms, anthems, and carols, are mostly performed unaccompanied, and they have their own Larks of Dean Quire website http://www.larksofdean.co.uk/. A collection of instruments and manuscripts belonging to the original Larks of Dean are on display in Whitaker Park Museum, Rawtenstall
Rawtenstall
Rawtenstall is a town at the centre of the Rossendale Valley, in Lancashire, England. It is the seat for the Borough of Rossendale, in which it is located. The town lies 18 miles north of Manchester, 22 miles east of the county town of Preston and 45 miles south east of Lancaster...
.
Wandering Minstrels; or, Wails of the Workless Poor
Dean is a small settlement about 3 miles due east of Goodshaw Chapel. The places are not connected by road, rather by several of the countless footpaths that criss-cross the moorlandMoorland
Moorland or moor is a type of habitat, in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, found in upland areas, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils and heavy fog...
s of the area. These paths are exposed and high, potentially dangerous in the winter months. The musicians would have walked these paths to reach their place of worship and music-making. Edwin Waugh
Edwin Waugh
Edwin Waugh , poet, son of a shoemaker, was born in Rochdale, Lancashire, England, and, after a little schooling, apprenticed to a printer, Thomas Holden, at the age of 12...
, in his 'Home-Life of the Lancashire Factory Folk during the Cotton Famine' gives a vivid but historically interesting insight into the lives of the Larks of Dean in the following passage:
"Up in the forest of Rosendale, between Deerply Moor and the wild hill
called Swinshaw, there is a little lone valley, a green cup in the
mountains, called "Dean." The inhabitants of this valley are so
notable for their love of music, that they are known all through the
vales of Rosendale as "Th' Deighn Layrocks," or "The Larks of Dean."
"In the twilight of a glorious Sunday evening, in the height of
summer, I was roaming over the heathery waste of Swinshaw, towards
Dean, in company with a musical friend of mine, who lived in the
neighbouring clough, when we saw a little crowd of people 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."