England: history of the pipe and tabor
'Regency' literature (1790 - 1829)
Mentions of the pipe and tabor in Regency times, poems often printed in newspapers; songs and plays at London theatres.
1791 essay ‘Alciphron’s Epistles, in which are described the domestic manners, the courtesans, and parasites of Greece;’ by Alciphron; Beloe, William, Monro, Thomas |
||||||||||
1792 song ‘The muses banquet, or vocal repository, for the year 1792. Being the newest and most modern collection of songs, duets, trios, &c. ‘ | ||||||||||
1792 play:
“Farmer B: Right neighbour, we'll have Betty and Jemmy |
1792 story “…a fisherman having placed himself by the side of the river, took a pipe and tabor out of his pocket, and began a very sprightly air….gave notice to the piper, by some means or other, to desist ; so that before we were half over the river he put up his musick and walked away;…” Sporting Magazine : or, monthly calendar of the transactions of the turf, |
|||||||||
1793 poem “…When the shrill pipe and tabor proclaim the light dance, ‘Kemmish's Annual-harmonist; or, the British Apollo; being a complete |
1793 poem ‘The Prize, a Ballad.’ “…And now the travellers take their leave. |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
1794 poem
“…But, see where all the tiny elves come dancing in a ring, “in 'The Mysteries of Udolpho' by Ann Radcliffe |
1794'The Polite Songster; or Vocal Melody. Containing a collection of songs, |
|||||||||
1794 from 'The Age of Reason' by Thomas Paine, : | ||||||||||
1795 song 'Then I fly to meet my Love' Sung by Mrs. Mountain, ... Master Welsh. ‘The Vauxhall Songs for the Year 1795.’ |
1795 song ‘ADDITIONAL AIRS INTRODUCED IN THE OPERA OF INKLE and YARICO.’ - ADDITIONAL VERSES IN THE FINALE, “…WHILE all around rejoice, ‘The Modern Songster, or the new roundelay; a select collection of the newest and most admired songs. To which is added, a collection of toasts |
|||||||||
1795 song sung in Oscar and Malina. (Peasants) “...LET the merry pipe and tabor ‘The Jovial Songster, or, Sailor's Delight: a choice collection of cheerful and humourous songs, that are sung by the brave tars of old England, and other merry companions, ... including, among other diverting subjects, the sailor's description |
||||||||||
1795 play “SONG—RACHEL— “ZARNO. ‘Zorinski: a play, in three acts. As performed at the Theatre Royal, Hay-Market.’ by Thomas Morton |
1795 village celebration: ‘THE SOCIABLE VILLAGE’
|
|||||||||
1796 play'Lock and Key. Songs, Duets, and Finales, in Lock and Key, etc.' by Prince Hoare page 14 |
||||||||||
1796 play “… At setting sun, our labour done, We'll trip to pipe and tabor ; No store of wealth, But jocund health …” ‘Bannian Day-A Musical Entertainment, in Two Acts,’ performed at the Theatre Royal, Hay-Market; by Brewer, George |
1796 story
‘THE COURT OF HYMEN. A VISION.’ ‘The Pedlar. A Miscellany, in Prose and Verse’ by Dibdin, Charles |
|||||||||
1797 poem [part]: Hampshire Chronicle - Saturday 18 February 1797 | ||||||||||
1797 song ‘The new whim of the night; or the town and country songster; (for 1797.) Containing a choice collection of the most approved songs, sung at the Theatres Royal, Vauxhall, Sadler's Wells, |
||||||||||
1797 play“Before I would follow unlawful game …, I would thrust my pipe through my tabor, chuck it into the river, and myself after it.” “ I shall stick to my tabor and pipe, and sing away the loss of one place, till I can whistle myself into another.” 'Consisting of the most esteemed English plays. 1797: Vol 23 ' Bell's British Theatre |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
1799 song ‘The Turnpike Gate; a comic opera in two acts, as performed at the Theatre Royal Covent Garden’ |
||||||||||
1800 poem 'In Ev’ry Fertile Valley' “…Where weary reapers labours. ‘The Fashionable, or, London and Country Songster.’ Number 4 |
1800 poem 'Your eyes have ta'en captive my heart' "...The dance and the tabor I shun, [The word tabor possibly refers to pipe and tabor music in 1800]. |
|||||||||
1800 poem ‘WHEN I FLY T0 MEET MY LOVE’‘The Songster's Miscellany; or, vocal companion : being a selection of the most approved songs, duets, &c.’ | 1800 song ‘The Great Monster Song Book : the largest and best collection of songs ever published.’ |
|||||||||
1800 historical story “…Hugh strolled alone toward the cottage. As he approached, he heard the sound of the pipe and tabor, 'The Spirit of Turretville: or, the Mysterious Resemblance. A romance of the twelfth century: ... In two volumes.' ... 1800: Vol 1 |
1800 story ‘Yarns of an Old Mariner’ by Clarke, Mary Cowden |
|||||||||
1801 song from the play ‘The Corsair’, at the Haymarket Theatre, a duet: |
||||||||||
1801 story “…off struck the merry pipe and tabor, two violins, with ‘Farther Excursions of the Observant Pedestrian, |
1801 poem ‘THE RICH MAN & THE BEGGAR.’ “…Rich downy couches on the marble laid European Magazine & London Review, Vol. 40,1801 |
|||||||||
1802 ‘Characters - Egyptian Dancers’ ‘The Annual Register, or, a view of the history, politicks, and literature for the year. Volume 44 (New series), 1802’ |
||||||||||
1803 General Evening Post - Thursday 13 January 1803 |
||||||||||
1803
story:
“…A company of young girls now arrive, and separating Zuniida from Elerz, compel her to join in the dance. ‘Women: their condition and influence in society’ by Ségur, Alexandre Joseph Pierre de, vicomte translated from French |
||||||||||
1804 poem‘Fair Ellen of The Maniac’Northampton Mercury - Saturday 17 March 1804 | ||||||||||
1804 poem ‘The Naval Muse or Flights of Fancy’Hampshire Telegraph - Monday 25 June 1804 | 1804 "And let the young lambs bound source Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections |
|||||||||
A poem fragment by Henry Kirk White describes a Whitson celebraton:
|
||||||||||
1805 poem 'The Captive Sailor' by Christian Milne | 1805 song 'The Garland' starts:
|
|||||||||
1805 poem by Dibdin The Port Folio 1805-05-25: Vol 5 Iss 20 |
1805 poem “…Raise, then, my friend, the genial fire, 'Miscellaneous Poetry' by Coxe, Edward |
|||||||||
1806 play 'CATCH HIM WHO CAN.' ACT I. SCENE I. A Country View in the Neighbourhood of the Castle. Enter A groupe of Peasants, and Dancers, with Janet, Chorus and Dance. “All hail to he Sun ! that gaily cheers Trip away, 'Catch him who can! : a musical farce, in two acts / performed with considerable success at the Theatre-Royal, Hay-Market'
; |
1806 poem ‘FAIR ELLEN, OR THE MANLAC” “…The day was fix'd the village throng, ‘Weekly Visitor Or, Ladies' Miscellany’ 1806-05-03: Vol 4 Iss 27
|
|||||||||
1806 song Page 31 – “Pipe and Tabor” |
||||||||||
1807 poem |
||||||||||
1808 from a play called 'Harlequin Bonaparte'quoted in the Manchester Mercury - Tuesday 22 November 1808 | ||||||||||
Figure of Speech: 1808 | ||||||||||
1808 story “…The pipe and tabor call forth the fawns to dance in woods…” ‘Lettres choisies de Mme de Sévigné, et français et en anglais ... Tome premier second’ |
1808 song in play
‘INKLE AND YARICO’ |
|||||||||
1809 play
‘Paul and Virginia’ 'Songs, duets, trios, chorusses, &c. in Paul & Virginia, a musical drama, in two acts: as performed at the Theatre-Royal, Covent-Garden. |
||||||||||
1811 story “…a troop of gypsies almost immediately engaged my attention : they were dressed in a fantastic manner, 'A winter in Paris; or, Memoirs of Madame de C****': by C., Madame de |
||||||||||
1811 comic song “The little wily conqueror beckons us to come, |
1811 story “…the round full notes of the flagellet, and the shrill, 'Rosalie : or the Castle of Montalabretti' by Rhodes, Henrietta |
|||||||||
1811 play [Pipe and Tabor, etc. are heard without] THE WIFE OF TWO HUSBANDS A MUSICAL DRAMA. |
1811 poemThe Port Folio 1811-03: Vol 5 Iss 3 |
|||||||||
1811 story “…the- whole of the company quitted the supper-rooms. ‘An Old Family Legend, or, One husband and two marriages : a romance’ by Brewer, James Norris |
||||||||||
1812 from a poem by Kilnsey Crag Leeds Intelligencer - Monday 08 June 1812 |
1812 poem ‘JOY, SORROW, AND CONTENT’'Fancy's wreath; being a collection of original fables and allegorical tales, in prose and verse, for the instruction and amusement of youth' by Miss Elliot |
|||||||||
1813 poem 'LOW AMBITION; OR THE LIFE AND DEATH OF Mr. DAW'‘Poetical Vagaries; including Broad Grins’ by Colman, George | ||||||||||
1813 story “…the vintagers were assembling after the toil of the day in an adjacent glade, to finish the evening ‘Anselmo; or, The day of trial. A romance. In four volumes’. by Hill, Mary |
||||||||||
1813 story “…Maidens, united in bonds of amity and artificial roses, come dancing to the pipe and tabor;…” ‘The Heroine: Or, Adventures of a Fair Romance Reader’ by Eaton Stannard Barrett |
1814 song ‘Glee for 4 Voices’'The words of the most favourite pieces, performed at the Glee Club, the Catch Club, and other public societies ' by Clark, Richard ed |
1814The Moralist 1814-07-14: Vol 1 Iss 6 |
Sir Walter Scott, who was Scottish and had an interest in old Border tales and ballads, understood the place
|
|
1817 'King Arthur and His Round Table - “…Minstrels and singers with their various airs, |
1817 poem ‘Reform’‘Poetic impressions : a pocket book, with scraps and memorandums’
by Lee, Henry |
1818 historical story LEGENDS OF LAMPIDOSA. |
|
1819 satirical poem “…How sweet to listen to the sounds ‘Benjamin the Waggoner, a ryghte merrie and conceitede tale in verse. A fragment’ by Reynolds, John Hamilton |
|
1819
|
|
John Keats poem ‘All these are Vile’ | |
Sometimes contemporary literature describes pipe and tabor players providing the music "A blind fiddler, a pipe and tabor, struck up Nancy Dawson,
|
|
1822 story
“…We’ve lived here in this stillness so long, that the sound of pipe and tabour 'The Idle Man' 1822: Vol 2 Iss 1 |
|
1823 from ‘An Ode to the New Year’Staffordshire Advertiser - Saturday 11 January 1823 | |
During his 'Travels in France During the Years 1814-1815' Archibald Alison describes: "the young dancing to the pipe and tabor, or singing in little groupes" |
|
Dancing is often associated historically with certain folk customs such as the Whitson Ale: "The modern Whitson Ale consists of a lord and lady of the ale, a steward, sword-bearer, purse-bearer, mace-bearer, train-bearer, or page, fool, and pipe and tabor man, with a company of young men and women, who dance in a barn."
|
|
British Luminary - Sunday 05 January 1823 | |
In 1824 'Redgauntlet: Letter 12' by Sir Walter Scott Wandering Willie, the blind Borders fiddler, has just arrived at the gig he was to play at with the writer; the company is already dancing; is another fiddler playing his gig? "my companion was attracted by a regular succession of sounds, like a bouncing on the floor, mixed with a very faint noise of music, which Willie's acute organs at once recognized and accounted for, while to me it was almost inaudible. The old man struck the earth with his staff in a violent passion. 'The whoreson fisher rabble! They have brought another violer upon my walk! They are such smuggling blackguards, that they must run in their very music; but I'll sort them waur than ony gauger in the country .-- Stay--hark--it 's no a fiddle neither--it's the pipe and tabor bastard, Simon of Sowport, frae the Nicol Forest; but I'll pipe and tabor him!--Let me hae ance my left hand on his cravat, and ye shall see what my right will do...... universal shout of welcome with which Wandering Willie was received-- the hearty congratulations--the repeated 'Here's t' ye, Willie!'--Where hae ya been, ye blind deevil?' and the call upon him to pledge them--above all, the speed with which the obnoxious pipe and tabor were put to silence, gave the old man such effectual assurance of undiminished popularity and importance" |
|
1825 poem “…And in his trunk, 'midst brooches, chains, and rings. ‘Travels of my Nightcap, or Reveries in Rhyme; with scenes |
1825 story “…A procession seemed to be arranging itself there, which soon ‘The Betrothed’ by Sir Walter Scott |
In 1825 milkmaids' walked in procession on Mayday and danced outside the houses of their customers:
|
|
1826 encyclopaedia entry “…As the pipe and tabour enliven the dance, the fife and drum animate the soldiers…” ‘The Little World of Knowledge ARRANGED NUMBRICALLY.DESIGNED FOR EXERCISING THE MEMORY, AND AS |
|
1827 newspaper report of a opera called the 'White Maid' at the Covent Garden Theatre, London Star (London) - Wednesday 03 January | |
1828 book review - An essay on women in a ’ Review of New Books’: | |
1828 play ‘The elbow shakers! or, thirty years of a rattler's life : a burlesque extravaganzical burletta, in one act / (founded on the "Gambler's fate", "Thirty years of a gambler's life", as performed at the Theatres Royal) ; by Frederick Fox Cooper, Esq. ; printed from the acting copy, with remarks ; to which is added, a description of the costume,-cast of the characters,- entrances and exits,-relative positions of the performers on the stage,-and the whole of the stage business ; embellished with a fine engraving, by Welch, from a drawing taken in the theatre by Seymour.’ by Cooper, Frederick Fox |
|
1829 historical story CHAPTER XXII and CHAPTER XXIII ‘Restalrig or THE FORFEITURE’ - Vol. 2 |
top of page