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Music in the parish in early Stuart times


from The Barwicker No.80
Dec. 2005



This article brings together information on musical references to music in Barwick in the first half of the 17th. century. It is difficult to set them in context because we know so little about the social life of the parish at this time. Therefore this article poses more questions than it answers and we may in time be able to relate research to the parish to make a clearer understanding of the little we know.

In 'The Barwicker' No.62 there is an article "Reverend Timothy Bright, Doctor, Author and Inventor of Shorthand" which refers to his will made just before his death in 1615. The will contains the following bequest to his

"much beloved brother, William Bright, Bachelor of Divinity, and public preacher of God's word in the town of Salop in the County of Salop . . . . .and these my instruments of music called the Theorbo with its case, and the Irish harp, which I most usually played upon."


This one of the earliest, but not the first, reference to the theorbo in England. The earliest known is of the architect Inigo Jones attempting to bring one home from Italy in 1605; it was impounded by customs and excise, as a 'Popish engine'! Also Angelo Notari, an Italian singer and theorbo player, was working at the English court in 1610, and published a collection of songs with theorbo accompaniment in London in that year. There is also a handful of references in early Jacobean literature, but they are fairly rare.

However, bearing in mind that this is the rector's last will and testament and he possessed the instrument long enough to play it, it would have been one of the earliest in England. The theorbo is a member of the lute family. It is not usually a solo instrument. It is used to accompany, as in this case with his "usual" instrument, the Irish harp, or provide a basso (deep) continuo part in a group of instruments. Therefore, unless the rector was a singer, he needed others of his standard with whom to play. The theorbo would have been a very expensive item; they cost about £15 throughout the 17th. century and at this early date would be imported from Italy in all probability. His income from being rector brought him about £30 a year.

It appears that all the music published for the theorbo at that time was Italian and would have been expensive. The alternative would be for the musician to adapt the music written for other instruments or "play by ear". This indicates that he was a devoted musician along with his other accomplishments. Such music making requires either an audience to whom to play or other devoted musicians with whom to play. We are unlikely ever to find which. One can only speculate who was living in the vicinity and would participate in or appreciate such music making. It is unlikely that he would use either instrument for liturgical purposes as there is evidence that both the theorbo (and the Irish harp in Elizabethan times) were regarded as having "papist" anti-monarchist associations. The Irish harp was known to be used to accompany dancing. While it is possible that the rector played for dancing, it is most unlikely (by our knowledge of say Victorian social habits) that a man of the cloth and in such an elevated standing in the community would do such a thing . But was he a man with the common touch and did his music making stretch to the men and women of the parish? We do have evidence of music making in the parish at this time.

In the accounts of Londesboro Hall which are held in the library at Chatsworth House, there is one entry of a payment of 1s. to the "Barwick Waits" at that period. This is the only reference to Barwick having waits. On the Waits web site Chris Gutteridge defines the waits as:

"Waits started out as City or Town gatekeepers and night watchman, who were issued with, or supplied themselves with a musical instrument - usually a shawm, also known as a wait-pipe - with which to sound alarms or to signal that all was well. By the end of the fourteenth century, they were minstrels who played for civic functions, religious services and for private functions. They also acted as night-watchmen, touring the streets, playing their instruments and calling out the hours and weather, etc. This would seem an intolerable nuisance to present-day town dwellers, but attitudes to sleep have changed, and citizens were no doubt comforted by the knowledge that the waits were trudging the streets in the cold and dark, ensuring that all was peaceful, whilst they were snug in bed.

Other important functions of the Waits were as an alarm clock on dark winter mornings, to rouse the town; and to welcome important visitors at the town gates. They would also, for a fee, play a 'Hunts-up' outside the bedroom windows of visitors and private individuals who needed an early morning call, and they called on wealthy visitors to the town and played outside their lodgings in the hope of remuneration.

When not required for their civic duties, Waits would often go on tour, visiting country seats of the aristocracy, and playing in towns which lacked Waits of their own, sometimes helping out with civic ceremonies.

For their civic and watch-keeping duties, waits played loud, or 'haut' instruments- principally shawms, and later sackbuts, curtals, cornetts, etc. but for other occasions they played whatever was suitable - string instruments, pipes bagpipes, etc."


The Barwick waits must have been considered good enough to travel nearly to Market Weighton and to be paid to play before the owner of the Hall. This is the only reference to the waits in Barwick. It is doubtful if we will ever find any more evidence of their existence. Was their musical accomplishment in any way due to the influence of Timothy Bright?

We do have further evidence of music making in the parish during this period although it is not clear whether the provider of music was a parishioner or not. In his account of his 1639 travels in the north of England, John Taylor, the Water Poet, wrote:

"From Yorke I rode after dinner to Tadcaster, and so to a place called Kidell, where at a poor ale-house I was glad of entertainment and had the company of a tinker who made pretty musique with his Banbury kettledrum, there was also with him two drovers and 35 hogs, which were to be driven on the morrow seven miles further to Leeds market, this good lodging and company, I past the night with all, and on the morrow I road to the town of Leeds."
The poor ale-house would probably be the "Fox and Grapes" in an earlier form. In place of the car park, it seems to have had a pen or sty to house 35 hogs overnight. This is the only evidence we have that local pubs were places of musical entertainment, although it would be surprising if they weren't. Detailed sources of information on early music have failed to come up with any information on Banbury kettledrums.

HAROLD SMITH


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