ABSTRACT
Interest in ‘The Picturesque’ and the advent of Romanticism from the late eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries brought to the Lake District many literary and antiquarian visitors, keen to view not only the dramatic landscapes but also the local people and their ‘manners and customs’. The reports of these early tourists, and the glimpses of music making we catch in the writings of Wordsworth and his circle, offer insights into rural performances of folk music – social dancing in particular. During the same period, much dialect verse was published by vernacular poets in the region, who often chose to depict the lively scenes at merry neets and country weddings, complete with singing, fiddlers, clog dancers and more. Taken together, the reportage of both the educated visitor and the local poet offers a unique contemporary snapshot of the folk music, dance and song traditions of the Lake Counties of Cumberland and Westmorland.
The interest in ‘The Picturesque’ and the advent of Romanticism from the late eighteenth century brought many visitors to the Lake District, to view not only the dramatic landscapes but also observe the ‘manners and customs’ of the local people. Their reportage, taken together with the contemporary depictions of local festivities by vernacular/dialect poets, provides valuable insights into the music, dance and song traditions of the Lake Counties of Cumberland and Westmorland.
