the Pipe and Tabor compendium

the Pipe and Tabor compendium

essays on the three-hole pipe

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 1791‘Alciphron’s Epistles, in which are described the domestic manners, the courtesans, and parasites of Greece;’
by Alciphron; Beloe, William, Monro, Thomas
1792 song 1792‘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
married this very night—then she'll be out
of the way of this wicked devil of a land-lord (aside)
Pipe and tabor without…”
1782‘The Farmer.’ In Two Acts 1792 by O'keeffe, John
As performed at the Theatre-Royal, Smoke-Alley.

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,
the chase and every other diversion interesting to the man of pleasure, enterprize, and spirit

1793 poem

“…When the shrill pipe and tabor proclaim the light dance,
With transport I see my dear Mary advance ;…”

‘Kemmish's Annual-harmonist; or, the British Apollo; being a complete
lyric repository and banquet of amusement: containing the whims of the
night and day: with all the monstrous good, and convivial songs catches,
glees, duets, &c. ... the presidetn's companion; or, compleat toast-master.
For the better encouragement of this work, ... for the best song, ...
by September, 1793’

1793 poem ‘The Prize, a Ballad.’
(Founded on a true Story,) dedicated to the Earl of Mansfield.

“…And now the travellers take their leave.
They to the town advance,.
Where the merry pipe and tabor call
The buxom crew to dance….”

‘Poems’ by Burrell, Sophia, Lady

1793 poem ‘The British Mule’1793Hereford Journal - Wednesday 03 July 1793

1793 poem ‘Retirement’

“…Then let the tabor sound
— the dance we'll try…”

‘Poems’ by Burrell, Sophia, Lady

1794 poem

“…But, see where all the tiny elves come dancing in a ring,
With the merry, merry pipe, and the tabor, and the horn,
And the timbrel so clear, and the lute with dulcet string;
Then round about the oak they go till peeping of the morn.

And now, to punish me, she keeps afar her jocund band,
With the merry, merry pipe, and the tabor, and the lute;
If I creep near yonder oak she will wave her fairy wand,
And to me the dance will cease, and the music all be mute….

“in 'The Mysteries of Udolpho' by Ann Radcliffe

17941794'The Polite Songster; or Vocal Melody. Containing a collection of songs,
that are sung at the Theatres Royal, Vauxhall Gardens, Ranelagh'

1794 from 'The Age of Reason' by Thomas Paine, : 1794

1795 song 'Then I fly to meet my Love' Sung by Mrs. Mountain, ... Master Welsh.

“…When the light of day's departing.
And her beams bright Luna's darting,
When the raven journies home,
And the h ifer cease to roam,
When the merry pipe and tabor,
Calls the rustic swain from labour,
Then I seek the willow grove,
Then I fly to meet my Love,…”

‘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,
Pipe and tabor raise the voice,…”

‘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
and sentiments.’ 1795

1795 song sung in Oscar and Malina.

(Peasants)

“...LET the merry pipe and tabor
Tell the ending of our labour,
Take your glass each honest neighbour,
Hang all care and sorrow….”

‘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
of a hunting.’

 

1795 play

“SONG—RACHEL—
Courteous stranger,
Now free from danger,
And laughing at departed care and labour,
Thy cares unbending,
Thy journey ending,
Now frisk it to the merry pipe and tabor,…”

“ZARNO.
Let the tabor go bing bang,
The pipe shrilly play,
The sweet guitar go ting tang,
On Zarno's wedding day.”

‘Zorinski: a play, in three acts. As performed at the Theatre Royal, Hay-Market.’ by Thomas Morton

1795 village celebration: ‘THE SOCIABLE VILLAGE’


“…the venerable cottagers were to observe it as a jocund holiday, exempt from labour of any Kind. A pipe and tabor was to enliven the moonlight ballad…”


'The Observant Pedestrian; or, traits of the heart: in a solitary tour from Cærnarvon to London': in two volumes, by the author of The mystic cottager. 1795: Vol 1

1796 play1796'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.’
“…A procession of cottagers, preceded by a
pipe and tabor, and decked with garlands, now
arrested the general attention….”

‘The Pedlar. A Miscellany, in Prose and Verse’ by Dibdin, Charles

1797 poem [part]: 1797Hampshire Chronicle - Saturday 18 February 1797  
1797 song 1797‘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 play1797“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.”
1797 'Consisting of the most esteemed English plays. 1797: Vol 23 ' Bell's British Theatre

1798 poem ‘FAIR ELLEN, OR THE MANIAC’

“…The day was fix'd, the village throng
With pipe and tabor hail the dawn ;…”

'The Anti-Jacobin Review and Magazine'

1799 song 'AIR IN THE SHEPHERD S ARTIFICE'

“IN ev’ry fertile valley
Where nature spreads the grass,
Her silly conduct rally
To ev’ry lad and lass;
Where weary reapers labour,
With Sylvia gay, be seen,
Or, to the pipe and tabor,
Light tripping o er the green…”

‘A collection of songs, selected from the works of Mr. Dibdin,
to which are added the newest and most favourite American
patriotic songs’ by Dibdin, Charles

1799 poem by Anna Seward depicting an idyllic pastoral scene:

"....call thine ear
    To the gay viol dinning in the dale,
    With tabor loud, and bag-pipe's rustic drone
    To merry Shearer's dance;..."

Original Sonnets on Various Subjects and Odes Paraphrased from Horace. London

17991799A COLLECTION SONGS, SELECTED FROM THE WORKS OF MR. DIBDIN.
1799 poem

“…While the pipes and the tabors rend the air,
Haste neighbours to the fair….”

A COLLECTION SONGS, SELECTED FROM
THE WORKS OF MR. DIBDIN

1799 story

“...The rural pipe and tabor were placed, at Anna's request, under the shade of her beloved willow-tree—the merry notes
of music sounded, and the mountains answered to their strains….”

‘False friendship; or, nature in masquerade. A novel. Founded in truth. Consisting of letters which have actually passed between persons in fashionable life, upon the most affecting subjects. In two volumes. ‘... 1799: Vol 1

 
1799 ‘FINALE IN CHRISTMAS GAMBOLS’

“…The pipe and tabor’s sprightly tone,
The organ s sound sonorous,
The comic bagpipe and the drone,
Shall join the swelling chorus :….”

‘A collection of songs, selected from the works of Mr. Dibdin,
to which are added the newest and most favourite American
patriotic songs’ by Dibdin, Charles

1799 ‘BALLAD IN CHIRSTMAS GAMBOLS’

“COME here, come here, my pretty dear,
Leave business, care, and labour.
Christmas comes but once a year,
Come lads and lasses, come, and hear
My merry pipe and tabor : ..."

‘A collection of songs, selected from the works of Mr. Dibdin,
to which are added the newest and most favourite American
patriotic songs’ by Dibdin, Charles

1799 song 1799‘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.
With Sylvia gay be seen.
Or to the pipe and tabor,
Light tripping o’er the green….”

‘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,
No rest on my pillow I find ;
Believe me, wherever I run,
Your image still dwells in my mind."

[The word tabor possibly refers to pipe and tabor music in 1800].
In 'The Strawberry Tale', published in a collection of songs "which have been sung at Public Places of Amusement", called
'The New Entertaining Frisky Songster'

1800 poem ‘WHEN I FLY T0 MEET MY LOVE’1800‘The Songster's Miscellany; or, vocal companion : being a selection of the most approved songs, duets, &c.’
1800 song 1800‘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,
and soon discovered a jovial party dancing on the green….”

'The Spirit of Turretville: or, the Mysterious Resemblance. A romance of the twelfth century: ... In two volumes.' ... 1800: Vol 1

1800 story
“…In an odd angle of the isle I found the ship in safe harborage ;…they gave us a confused account of their having seen strange shapes, heard singular hollow noises, mingled with the hum of a thousand twangling instruments, and, at intervals, the sound of a pipe and tabor….”

‘Yarns of an Old Mariner’ by Clarke, Mary Cowden

1801 song from the play ‘The Corsair’, at the Haymarket Theatre, a duet: 1801 play

1801 story

“…off struck the merry pipe and tabor, two violins, with
a cymbal and triangle, which electrical magic
drew a number of puppets on the platform…”

‘Farther Excursions of the Observant Pedestrian,
exemplified in a tour to Margate, Vol II’

1801 poem ‘THE RICH MAN & THE BEGGAR.’

“…Rich downy couches on the marble laid
Above, the silk pavilion gayly swells,
Perfumes the breeze, the damps of eve repells
Their softest notes the pipe and tabor plays
By music rivall’d from the olive spray….”

European Magazine & London Review, Vol. 40,1801
by VictorianVoices.net

1802 ‘Characters - Egyptian Dancers’
“…They had brought with them two instruments, a pipe and tabour, and a kind of drum, made from
an earthen pot, on which the musician beat with his hands. They were seven in number- Two of them
began dancing, while the others sung…”

‘The Annual Register, or, a view of the history, politicks, and literature for the year. Volume 44 (New series), 1802’

1803 1803General 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.
The pipe and tabor by gay and lively airs, impart fresh spirits to the dancers, who scarcely touching the earth,
seem endowed with the power of flight. Suddenly a violent explosion is heard. Pipe, tabor, dancers all cease at once :…”

‘Women: their condition and influence in society’ by Ségur, Alexandre Joseph Pierre de, vicomte translated from French

1804 poem‘Fair Ellen of The Maniac’1804Northampton Mercury - Saturday 17 March 1804
1804 poem ‘The Naval Muse or Flights of Fancy’1804Hampshire Telegraph - Monday 25 June 1804

1804

"And let the young lambs bound
As to the tabor's sound !
We in thought will join your throng,
Ye that pipe and ye that play,
Yo that through your hearts to-day
Feel the gladness of the May."

source Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections
of Early Childhood William Wordsworth (lines 171-177)

A poem fragment by Henry Kirk White describes a Whitson celebraton:

"A day of jubilee, and oft they bear,
Commix'd along the unfrequented shore,
The sound of village dance and tabor loud,
Startling the musing ear of Solitude."

('The Poetical Works of Henry Kirk White', born in Nottingham, died from brain fever when studying at Cambridge.)

1805 poem 'The Captive Sailor' by Christian Milne1805

1805 song 'The Garland' starts:

"Hark, hark, hark, hark the merry merry pipe and tabor
lead the festive dance along
let us now forgetting labour
Haste to join the jocund throng" etc

a song by William Dixon in the form of a glee. One of "Six lively glees : for three voices NB These glees are within the compass of ladies voices"

1805 poem by Dibdin

1805The Port Folio 1805-05-25: Vol 5 Iss 20

1805 poem
‘TO *** ****, ESQ; AT *****, IN NORTH-WALES’

“…Raise, then, my friend, the genial fire,
And heap the blazing billets higher;
With plenty let thy board be crown'd
And briskly pass thy claret round,
And let the pipe and tabor sound :…”

'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
The cottager’s humble labor :
He works and sings, till late he hears
The ev’ning pipe and tabor ;
Then joy, so gay, concludes the day,
And pays him for his labor”

Jeff. Come, sir, move, if you please—
here comes the wedding procession of one of the villagers-
Phil. Then I’ll be off indeed.—
Farewell squire. So far, so good. [Exit,
Pipe and Tabor.
Enter Thomaso—Annie— and Peasants.
Thom. Ay, ay—dance away my lads

Enter Chorus of Peasants and Dancers .
DANCE AND CHORUS.
“Come, trip it, lads and lasses gay.
And join in varied measure,
To crown our neighbour’s wedding-day
With mirth and rural pleasure.
Then trip along,
And join the song,
To crown our honest labor :
Let merry dance Our time enhance,
To fiddle, pipe, and tabor”

Thomaso.

Trip away,
All so gay,
Pleasure ev’ry eye is read in ;
Dance so light,
This gay night,
All to hail our merry wedding
To the tabor, pipe, and fiddle.
In and out and up the middle"

'Catch him who can! : a musical farce, in two acts / performed with considerable success at the Theatre-Royal, Hay-Market' ;
written by Theodore Edward Hook, the music by Mr. Hook, Senr. By Hook, Theodore Edward

1806 poem ‘FAIR ELLEN, OR THE MANLAC”

“…The day was fix'd the village throng,
With pipe and tabor, hail the dawn?
But, ah! the sprightly nuptial song,…”

‘Weekly Visitor Or, Ladies' Miscellany’ 1806-05-03: Vol 4 Iss 27

 

1806 song1806

Page 31 – “Pipe and Tabor

Page 32
”… Let merry dance
Our time enhance,
To fiddle, pipe, and tabor”

‘Catch Him Who Can! : a musical farce, in two acts / performed with considerable success at the Theatre-Royal, Hay-Market ; written
by Theodore Edward Hook, author of The soldier's return,
Invisible girl, &c. ; the music by Mr. Hook, Senr.’

1807 poem1807 poem

1808 from a play called 'Harlequin Bonaparte'1808 playquoted in the Manchester Mercury - Tuesday 22 November 1808
Figure of Speech: 1808 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’
1808‘The British Theatre;’ or, A collection of plays, which are
acted at the Theatres Royal, Drury Lane, Covent Garden,
and Haymarket .. by Inchbald, Mrs., ed

1809 play ‘Paul and Virginia’
"Diego. Hence, ye idle pack, away,
Instead of hard and healthy labour,
Jigging to the pipe and tabor,
Serenading—masquerading,—
Go home, go home, and work, I say"

'Songs, duets, trios, chorusses, &c. in Paul & Virginia, a musical drama, in two acts: as performed at the Theatre-Royal, Covent-Garden.
The music composed by Mr. Mazzinghi and Mr. Reeve. 1800' by Cobb, James

1811 story

“…a troop of gypsies almost immediately engaged my attention : they were dressed in a fantastic manner,
their garments marked with magic figures-: one of these females flourished a tambarine, and gingled the bells
with inconceivable vivacity, while another sounded the pipe and tabour…”

'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,
The pipe is his trumpet, the tabor, his drum. “

From ‘The Knight of Snowdoun’ a musical drama, in three acts:
as performed at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden,
by Thomas Morton

1811 story

“…the round full notes of the flagellet, and the shrill,
but lively tones of the pipe and tabor, were wafted
on the breeze, interrupted now and then by the distant
burst of merriment among the happy peasants…”

'Rosalie : or the Castle of Montalabretti' by Rhodes, Henrietta

1811 play

[Pipe and Tabor, etc. are heard without]
Eh ! what do I hear ?...
[ Pipe and tabor, etc. without.]
See, my love, the peasants approach to greet us
their honest joy may inspire you with cheerfulness.

THE WIFE OF TWO HUSBANDS A MUSICAL DRAMA.
IN THREE ACTS. AS PERFORMED AT THE THEATRE-ROYAL,
DRURY-LANE. BY JAMES COBB.

1811 poem1811The Port Folio 1811-03: Vol 5 Iss 3

1811 story

“…the- whole of the company quitted the supper-rooms.
The music sounded the parting flourish; and the strains of the harp, the sawtry, the sistrum, and the pipe and tabor, echoed through the vast chambers of the castle,…”

‘An Old Family Legend, or, One husband and two marriages : a romance’ by Brewer, James Norris 

 

1812 from a poem by Kilnsey Crag
1812Leeds Intelligencer - Monday 08 June 1812
1812 poem ‘JOY, SORROW, AND CONTENT’1812'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'1813‘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
with a sportive dance; the minstrels, with their pipe and tabour, preceded the merry throng, where
happiness seemed to reign …”

‘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’1814'The words of the most favourite pieces, performed
at the Glee Club, the Catch Club, and other public societies ' by Clark, Richard ed

18141814The 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
that the pipe and tabor had in the lives of English people when he wrote in 1816:

"instead of giving way to the terrors of authority; and the youth of both sexes, to whom the pipe and tabor in England, or the bagpipe in Scotland, would have been in themselves an irresistible temptation .. "
Old Mortality (chapter 2)

1817 'King Arthur and His Round Table -
Canto 1' by John Hookham Frere

“…Minstrels and singers with their various airs,
The pipe, the tabor, and the hurdy-gurdy,
Jugglers and mountebanks with apes and bears,
Continued from the first day to the third day,
An uproar like ten thousand Smithfield fairs;…”

1817 poem ‘Reform’1817‘Poetic impressions : a pocket book, with scraps and memorandums’ by Lee, Henry

1818 historical story LEGENDS OF LAMPIDOSA.
From the European Magazine, October 1817.
'THE ENGLISHWOMAN.'1818Spirit of the English Magazines 1818-03-01: Vol 2 Iss 11

1819 satirical poem

“…How sweet to listen to the sounds
Of rustic noise, and health, and labour :
How better far than hirdy-girdy,
Play'd in town by beggar sturdy :
How sweet the dance, the pipe and tabor.-…”

‘Benjamin the Waggoner, a ryghte merrie and conceitede tale in verse. A fragment’ by Reynolds, John Hamilton

1819

" having inherited the musical taste and talents of his father, he has bitten the whole school with the mania. He is a great hand at beating a drum, which is often heard rumbling from the rear of the school-house. He is teaching half the boys of the village, also, to play the fife, and the pandean pipes; and they weary the whole neighbourhood with their vague piping, as they sit perched on stiles, or loitering about the barn-doors in the evenings."

'Bracebridge Hall or The Humorists' by Washington Irving [pseudonym Geoffrey Crayon] (1783-1859), American essayist, historian, and author who spent some years doing the Grand Tour in Europe.

John Keats poem ‘All these are Vile’1820

Sometimes contemporary literature describes pipe and tabor players providing the music
for village dances and also lists the tunes they played:

"A blind fiddler, a pipe and tabor, struck up Nancy Dawson,
and the vibrating floor soon gave proof that the dancers were strong and active. ...
The pipe and tabor stopped, and the blind man's arm being suddenly seized by his companion,
a long drawling squeak usurped the place of the merry notes of "The Black Joke."

('The Village Coquette', a novel in three volumes' by FJ, 1821)

1822 story

“…We’ve lived here in this stillness so long, that the sound of pipe and tabour
will stir my blood like a new come Greenland summer….”

'The Idle Man' 1822: Vol 2 Iss 1

1823 from ‘An Ode to the New Year’1823Staffordshire 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."

('The Every-Day Book' by William Hone, 1825-1826, May 23rd)

1823British 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.
Were Hume and Smollet, pipe and tabor, laid.
A police order seal'd th' historic page.
And sent him packing — Exit in a rage….”

‘Travels of my Nightcap, or Reveries in Rhyme; with scenes
at the Congress of Verona’ by Brydges, Egerton, Sir

1825 story

“…A procession seemed to be arranging itself there, which soon
began to move forward, with pipe and tabor, and various other
instruments of music…”

‘The Betrothed’ by Sir Walter Scott

In 1825 milkmaids' walked in procession on Mayday and danced outside the houses of their customers:

"In London, thirty years ago,
When pretty milkmaids went about,
It was a goodly sight to see
Their May-day Pageant all drawn out:-
Themselves in comely colours drest,
Their shining garland in the middle,
A pipe and tabor on before,
Or else the foot-inspiring fiddle.

They stopt at houses, where it was
Their custom to cry "milk below!"
And, while the music play'd, with smiles
Join'd hands, and pointed toe to toe. ...

(The "Mayer's Song a composition, or rather a medley, of great antiquity" from: May 1, Every-Day Book)

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
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ARTS AND SCIENCES, HISTORY, NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, BELLES LETTRES, etc, etc, etc’
by Charlotte Matilda Hunt

1827 newspaper report of a opera called the 'White Maid' at the Covent Garden Theatre, London 1827 songStar (London) - Wednesday 03 January
1828 book review - An essay on women in a ’ Review of New Books’: 1828 book review
1828 play 1828‘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
“…most of the neighbouring peasantry being invited to spend this joyous holiday at the vineyard…cheered
by the sound of the pipe and tabour—by the song and the merry jest…a space of open ground, occupied
by the youngest part of the peasants, who were dancing merrily to the sound of the pipe and tabor ;”

‘Restalrig or THE FORFEITURE’ - Vol. 2

 

top of page